Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you.
It's great to be with you today and I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, our YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. But I like to start with something funny. And one day Adam was feeling very lonely. God said, Adam, I'm going to make you a companion.
It's going to be called a woman. This person will cook for you, wash your clothes. She'll bear your children, never ask you to get up in the middle of the night. She will always agree with you. If you do have a disagreement, she'll be the first to admit she was wrong. Adam said, wow, God, what will a woman like this cost? God said an arm and a leg. Adam said, what can I get for a rib?
And the rest is history. All right, y'all say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same in Jesus name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about progress under pressure.
We all have times when we feel pressure. We're dealing with a health issue or people have done us wrong, a door closed on our dream. There's pressure that comes from raising children, pressure to pay bills, pressure from a conflict at work. If we don't handle it the right way, pressure will cause us to get stuck and live worried, feeling overwhelmed.
But if you're going to reach your destiny, you have to learn how to make progress under pressure, to keep moving forward despite opposition, despite uncertainty, despite being misunderstood. You can't control everything that happens on the outside, traffic, a cranky coworker, a health issue, but you can control what happens in you.
And often we think, once I get through this tough season, then I'll get my joy back. Once these people quit talking about me or my boss gives me credit, when I get out from under this pressure, then I'll have a good attitude. But if you're waiting for the pressure to subside, you're going to be waiting your whole life. The enemy would love for us to become paralyzed by the pressure.
We're so focused on what's come against us. We put everything on hold, waiting for the pressure to go away. Then we'll move forward. But the pressure is a sign that something amazing is coming. You wouldn't be facing pressure if you didn't have something significant in you. This is not the time to get discouraged. Strength back. This is the time to say, I've come too far to stop now.
This may be difficult, but I know I'm armed with strength for this battle. Greater is he that's in me than what's coming against me. You can not only handle the pressure, but you can thrive in that pressure. God gives you grace for every season. The more pressure, the more strength you'll have. The more difficult, the more determination. The more adversity, the more favor.
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Chapter 2: What does it mean to make progress under pressure?
He used to be called Saul. He was the greatest enemy of the church, constantly threatening believers, having them arrested and put in jail. But on the road to Damascus, he was suddenly converted and became a follower of Christ. The problem was none of the believers would accept him. They weren't sure that he had really changed. For 14 years, they wouldn't have anything to do with him.
He was misunderstood and judged by his past. But instead of living frustrated, waiting for people to accept him, he went out to the non-Jewish people, the Gentiles, and shared the message of Christ year after year with no support from the disciples, nobody believing in him. You may be where Paul was, misunderstood by people. They don't give you the credit, look down on you.
You could easily slack off, live bitter. Do like Paul, keep shining despite who's not for you. Keep being your best despite who doesn't give you the credit. You're not working under people, you're working under God. He's keeping the records. You don't need their approval, you have Almighty God's approval.
Acts 21, Paul was in the temple sharing his faith and these people got upset and started stirring up trouble, falsely accusing him, saying that he was trying to start a riot. All these lies and rumors. And before long, this angry mob started attacking Paul and beating him and they dragged him out of the temple. We're about to kill him. Another time, Paul was put in prison for sharing his faith.
The deepest dungeon is hands and feet in chains. Imagine the pressure he was under. He could have been overwhelmed. This is too much. This is not fair. But at midnight, sitting in that dungeon, he wasn't complaining. He wasn't bitter. He was singing praises to God, thanking him for his goodness.
What you do in your times of pressure will determine whether you get stuck there or you see God show up and do what you can't do. When you have a song of praise and you're declaring his greatness, thanking him for what he's promised, that pressure will turn into power. You will overcome what should stop you. You'll defeat giants that were much bigger, outlast opposition much greater.
While Paul was singing praises at midnight, there was a great earthquake. The prison doors flung open, the chains came off his feet. He walked out a free man. But sitting in that prison could have been the end of Paul's story. The pressure got to him, couldn't handle it. Paul had this never give up mentality. He knew God wouldn't have let him get in that pressure if he couldn't handle it.
We can all have a good attitude when things are going our way.
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Chapter 3: How can pressure lead to personal growth?
People are for us. The family's healthy. Business is prospering. That's no problem. The real test is what do you do when pressure comes? How do you respond when people do you wrong? The medical report wasn't good. Setback in your business. How you deal with pressure will either cause you to shrink back and be overwhelmed or Or you can do like Paul and keep singing praises in the prison.
Keep doing the right thing despite being misunderstood. Keep taking those steps of faith despite the opposition. See, I'd love to tell you the pressure is going to go away. Then you can take new ground. But the fact is, before you see new levels of your destiny, there will be new levels of pressure. Forces trying to convince you that it's too much. You can't accomplish your dream.
You're not going to get well. Just settle where you are. No, keep pressing forward. Keep declaring the promises. Keep thanking God that he's working. The pressure is a sign that something amazing is in front of you. When my father went to be with the Lord, that was the biggest challenge I'd ever faced.
I knew I was supposed to pastor the church, but all these thoughts told me, Joel, you're not qualified. You don't have the experience. Nobody's going to listen to you. I could have become paralyzed by the pressure, shrunk back, played it safe. But I took that step of faith and I've discovered that God will never let you face pressure that you can't handle.
It may feel like it's too much, but by faith, you have to take hold of his strength. When I did, I felt the power and anointing, a favor to do what I had never done.
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Chapter 4: What should you do when facing overwhelming pressure?
And the truth is the pressure didn't go away, but God sustained me in the pressure. Those lies will come. It's too much. You can't handle it. It's over your head. That's the enemy doing what he does best, trying to use the pressure to intimidate, overcome to where you shrink back and miss your destiny. Do like Paul, be bold, be determined and move forward under pressure.
And that's what I've had to do. I've seen God's favor, but it hasn't come without pressure. It was pressure when my mother was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Felt overwhelming, no way out. We could have given up and succumbed to the negative report, but we chose to believe another report that God was restoring health back into her.
We believed despite the doubt that was bombarding our mind. When you can make progress under pressure, that's when God can do miracles. There was pressure when that property was sold out from under us and we couldn't build a new auditorium. There was pressure when we were one council member short for the compact center vote.
There was pressure when a company filed a lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. There was pressure when I married Victoria. I mean, not that one. There was... There was pressure when we had to raise funds to renovate this place, $100 million. There was pressure dealing with the critics and naysayers. What am I saying? If you run from the pressure, you're going to run from your destiny.
If you let the stress and worry and can't do it thoughts overwhelm you, then you'll shrink back and miss the greatness that God put in you. You have to do it afraid. Go forward when thoughts are telling you, there's no way, it's too much, it's never gonna change. Those are all lies to keep you from your purpose. And this is what happened with the Israelites.
They wandered in the desert for 40 years because they didn't handle pressure the right way. They complained, it's too hot. What are we gonna eat out here? Moses, why'd you bring us in the desert to die? Yes, there was pressure. Yes, it seemed overwhelming, but they had seen God part the Red Sea.
They had seen him drown their enemies, give them manna each morning for breakfast and bring water out of a rock. They saw God protect, provide and make ways, but they had a short memory. They gave into doubt, fear and intimidation. When you feel that pressure, thoughts telling it's never going to work out, shrink back, live defeated, you need to look back and see what God has done in your life.
Look at the times you were outnumbered, but he made a way. You should have been harmed, but he kept that car from hitting you. He opened doors you couldn't open. He kept your child out of trouble. He has not brought you this far to leave you. That pressure is a sign that a new level of your destiny is coming. Now do your part and keep making progress under pressure. Don't wait for it to go away.
Face that pressure with faith. God, this may be too much for me, but I know it's not too much for you. There's nothing that can stop what you've purposed for my life. Get your mind going in the right direction. If you think weak thoughts, you're going to have a weak life. If you think defeated thoughts can't do it, then that pressure is going to overwhelm you. Think victory thoughts.
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Chapter 5: How did the Apostle Paul handle pressure in his life?
You have can-do power. You are not abandoned. God never leaves you. He's the fourth man in the fire.
Yes, we get knocked down, but we get back up and keep going And i'm not telling you today that you're not going to have pressure But I am telling you it doesn't have to stop you You have the most powerful force in the universe on your side That pressure is a sign that you're headed toward the great things god has for you Make sure you're magnifying the right thing
not the problem, not the betrayal, not the sickness. Magnify your God, the great I am, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, our healer, El Shaddai, the God who is more than enough. Paul went on to say, these light afflictions are temporary. You can get to the point where like Paul, whatever comes against you is light. You're not moved by the pressure. The trouble doesn't discourage you.
The naysayers don't offend you. The bad report doesn't take your joy. The giant doesn't scare you. You see it as a light affliction. You know that you and God are a majority, that he wouldn't have allowed it if you couldn't handle it. When Jesus was about to be crucified, he went to the garden of Gethsemane one night to pray. Gethsemane means the place of pressing.
It's where they pressed olives and made olive oil. Jesus was under so much pressure that he sweat drops of blood. His capillaries burst and the blood flowed. He asked his disciples to stay up and pray for him, but they fell asleep. And He was in so much agony that he fell down. He said, father, if you can take this cup from me, but not my will, let your will be done.
At that point, angels came and strengthened him. Got up and he told his disciples that they could continue to sleep, but he was going to go and fulfill his destiny. His greatest place of pressure is what gave birth to his greatest power. He was then crucified and rose from the dead. We don't like the pressure, but that's what gives birth to power.
If you'll handle the pressure the right way, you'll come out with something you would have never had without the trouble, without the adversity, greater power, greater favor, opportunity that you've never seen. And it's interesting that the disciples fell asleep. Jesus asked for their help. He wanted their support, their encouragement. But when he needed them the most, they let him down.
There are some battles that you have to fight alone. People that you were counting on won't be there. Friends not available, coworkers busy. This is between just you and God. If you'll dig down deep and say, God, this is difficult. I'm sweating. I don't see how, but I believe that you have a way. I know you're fighting my battles and that you'll get me to where I'm supposed to be.
That's when the angels will come. You'll feel a supernatural strength to keep moving forward. You'll see God do what only he can do. How are you handling pressure? Are you letting it overwhelm you, take your joy, cause you to shrink back? Try a new approach. Turn that pressure into power. Keep making progress despite what's coming against you. Doing the right thing when it's hard.
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