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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, and social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. I'd like to start with something funny. I heard about this lady.
She had just gotten out of choir practice, and she was so fired up, she put a Honk If You Love Jesus bumper sticker on her car. At the intersection, she was digging in her purse and didn't notice the light had changed. She said, I was so excited to find out the guy behind me loved Jesus. He started honking, so I rolled my window down, waved real big, said, I love Jesus too.
She said, I found out a whole lot of people love Jesus. Everyone started honking. One man even screamed, Jesus Christ. She said, after we shared all that love together, I was the only one that made it through the intersection alive. 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 God's purpose will prevail. Before you were born, God gave you an assignment, something to accomplish. He's already lined up the right people, the resources, what doors will open and what doors will close.
You're not just wandering through life, hoping to get a good break. You are walking out a divine purpose. Your steps are being ordered. Even things you don't understand, God wouldn't have allowed it if it wasn't going to move you toward your destiny. Everything is serving His plan. You don't have to fight closed doors, get upset when your plans don't work out.
God is behind the scenes orchestrating, maneuvering, positioning you for what He has in mind. Proverbs 19 says, "'You can make many plans, but the Lord's purpose will prevail.'" God's purpose is stronger than your plans. And I don't mean that in a negative sense, but sometimes we plan things that are less than God's best.
We're planning this level that we've always seen, but God is going to take you to new levels. He's going to cause you to set new standards and break barriers of the past. God's purpose is stronger than opposition and people that come against you, try to hold you back. It's stronger than the environment that you're in or how you were raised and things you can't control.
You didn't choose which family you would be born in. You didn't choose how you'd be raised, what battles you'd have to fight, negative things that were passed down. You could think you're at a disadvantage, but God knew everything you would have to deal with. What he has purposed will override all that. Just ask a lady in the scripture named Esther.
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Chapter 2: How can I align my life with God's purpose?
It's pushing back forces of darkness. It's defeating enemies of sickness, addictions, dysfunction, things you can't defeat on your own. Not only that, it's opening doors, parting seas, bringing you through on dry ground, making ways where there was no way. This is the God we serve, fighting for you, favoring you, sustaining you, defeating your enemies.
You are not at the mercy of people, circumstances, who's not for you, what's the economy like, what family did I come from? His purpose overrides all those things. Sickness won't prevail. His purpose will prevail. Nothing can snatch you out of God's hands. The opposition may be stronger, people with more influence, more resources, but they are no match for our God. He created the universe.
He flung stars into space. Who can stand against our God? Yes, I know, on your own, it may not be possible, but you're not on your own. There's something God put on you before you were born, a purpose, a calling. an assignment that's not just up to you. It's His sovereign will. It's something He's decided that will happen. There's nothing we can do to change His sovereign will.
He will bring it to pass. Now there's a conditional will where our choices impact our future. We make bad decisions. There are consequences, heartache, delays. We make it more difficult, but God's sovereign will, his purpose for your life cannot be changed. Just ask Jonah. God told him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach to the people, but he didn't want to go.
He got on a boat going the opposite direction. But you can't override what God has purposed. You can run, but you can't hide. God knows how to get his way. You can do it the easy way, or you can go the hard way. Jonah chose the hard way. He ran. There was a great storm, so unusual, so uncommon. The crew asked, who's on board that's causing all this trouble?
Well, Jonah was man enough to admit the problem. He said, I'm the one. The crew was so grateful, so kind, they threw him overboard. That should have been the end, but God had already called an Uber. He had a whale waiting for Jonah. It swallowed him, took him to the shore and spit him out on dry ground. God said it again, go to Nineveh. This time he went.
Your mistakes didn't cancel the assignment God has for you. You may delay it. You may make it more difficult, but his purpose will prevail. Now quit being frustrated over what didn't work out the way you thought. When you understand this principle, you won't fight closed doors and live stressed because that coworker leaves you out or worried about your health. Stay in peace.
God is fighting for you. So many times we're trying to force things to happen and manipulate this situation, control this outcome. That's not our job. Our job is to honor God, keep Him first place, and trust Him with the outcomes.
When things happen that don't make sense, the right attitude is, God, I don't understand this, but I thank you that your purpose for my life will prevail, that nothing can stand against the assignment that you've given me. It's very freeing to know it's not just up to you.
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Chapter 3: What role does divine timing play in our lives?
The fact is, it was working for you. It had to happen to get you to where God was taking you. Moses was born into an environment that was chaotic and dysfunctional. The leader of Egypt, the Pharaoh, was afraid the Hebrew people were getting too big. They were multiplying so fast they could overtake the Egyptians. So he ordered all the Hebrew boys, two years old and under, to be killed.
Looked like Moses was born at the wrong time, under this death decree. Soldiers come into houses looking for the male babies. Well, God could have had him born a few years earlier, a few years later, then we wouldn't have this problem. But God is doing things we can't see. What we think are bad breaks and random, many times are the strategic hand of God.
I'm sure Moses' mother was so stressed and so upset. She's got this beautiful baby. She can't understand why this has happened. But instead of living sour, giving up, she hid baby Moses. For three months, she risked her own life trying to save her son. When he got too big, she put him in a basket and sent him down the Nile River. You can imagine letting your baby go.
There were snakes, alligators, all kinds of danger. But it just so happened that Pharaoh's daughter was out taking a bath. She heard the cries coming from the little basket. When she saw baby Moses, it was love at first sight. She took him in the palace and adopted him as her own child. Well, Moses was raised in royalty.
He learned protocol, leadership, how government works, and how to lead large groups. None of this was random. Moses' mother could have never known that 80 years later, that little baby would be the one that would come back to the palace and deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. When God told Moses to go speak to the Pharaoh to let the people go, Moses walked into a familiar environment.
He'd grown up in a palace. He understood how everything worked. God was preparing him back as a child for what he had planned decades later. And some of the opposition Bad breaks, things you go through now won't make sense. It seems random, but you don't know what God is up to. It looks like it's setting you back, but really it's setting you up.
Moses being sent down the Nile, being raised by a different family, that trouble was actually transportation. Wasn't the enemy, it was God getting Moses into position to accomplish his purpose. The assignment God has for you will take you through some detours, delays, betrayals. You have to trust that His purpose is at work. It's not always about your comfort. It's about your calling.
There will be these times you're uncomfortable. You don't like it. God, I don't want to send my baby down to Nile. Why was he born at this time? You can't see what God is up to. Trust him. He's promised his purpose for your life will prevail. You can't see it now, but later on you will see it was all necessary.
A few years after Victoria and I were married, there was a knock on our door one Saturday morning. I answered it and a police officer was standing there. Of course, I was alarmed. He handed me some papers, smiled real big and said, somebody must not like you. It was a lawsuit. The people that had bought the house we'd moved out of were suing us over the plumbing. I wasn't the builder.
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Chapter 4: How does God orchestrate events in our favor?
But if you look at everything on the surface, try to understand it right now, it won't make sense. Moses' birth in that troubled time was necessary for something God had planned for him 80 years later to deliver his people. What if God is doing something in your life now you don't understand, but 80 years from now?
40 years from now, or like with me, 13 years later, it's going to be instrumental in you fulfilling your purpose, something much bigger than you've imagined. When you're tempted to be frustrated, things aren't working out, keep this phrase down in your spirit, God's purpose for your life will prevail. The bad breaks didn't stop it.
The delays, the lawsuits, the Pharaohs trying to make your life miserable. God's purpose overrides all those things. He's your way maker. He parts red seas. He'll slay your giants. He'll call you out of the shepherd's fields and anoint you when you're overlooked. He'll close the mouths of hungry lions. He opens prison doors in the midnight hour.
If Lazarus was here, he would tell you even when you're in a tomb wrapped in grave clothes, he'll call you back to life to finish your assignment. If Sarah was here, she would tell you, even at 90 years old, if he's promised you a child, he'll bring it to pass.
If my father was here, he would tell you, even if you were born into poverty, even if you don't have the education, the resources, you can still leave your mark and set a new standard for your family. If my mother was here, she would tell you, even if you've been diagnosed with terminal cancer, even if you're given a few weeks to live, if it's not your time to go, you're not going to go.
God's purpose will prevail. Not the cancer, not the addiction, not the dysfunction, not your mistakes, but what God has purposed will override every bad break, every person trying to hold you back, every injustice. His hand is outstretched towards you right now. It's a hand of healing, a hand of provision, a hand of favor. What He has purposed for your life is right on schedule.
You didn't miss it. Mistakes didn't cancel it. Bad breaks didn't override it. The trouble didn't stop it. The trouble positioned you. Everything is serving God's plan. Now quit trying to figure it out. Believe in those lies. You must be off track. You must have done something wrong. No, God is ordering your steps. His calling on your life has not changed.
The route may not be what you expected, but you're still going to get to the destination He has for you. Can I tell you, it's going to be better than you imagined, bigger than you dreamed, more rewarding than you thought possible. Deuteronomy 31 says, the Lord said to Moses, the time has come for you to die. The time wasn't determined by the enemy, by circumstances, by sickness, by accidents.
God has numbered your days. He determines when you're going to come to be with him. Moses could have been killed by the soldiers born at the wrong time. killed in the Nile River, tumped over as a baby and drowned. Could have been killed at 80 years old when he went to the Pharaoh to tell him, let the people go.
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Chapter 5: What examples from scripture illustrate God's purpose?
I make you my Lord and Savior. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. We'd love to send you some free information on your new walk with the Lord. You can text the number on the screen or go to the website. But I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place.
Every day we can live discouraged, angry, depressed, defeated. Is it possible to turn these negatives into an outlook filled with purpose, happiness, and joy?
Every day we make choices, how we see ourselves, how we respond to challenges, how we approach what's in front of us. I've written a devotional called Today I Choose, Devotions for a Better Life. It's designed to help you make those choices on purpose, to choose faith over fear, peace over frustration, and kindness over offense.
Each day is filled with scripture and practical encouragement to help you live with confidence and victory. You can't wait to see what kind of day it's going to be. You have to decide ahead of time. When you do, you can step into a more blessed, fulfilled life. I'd love to send you a copy.
As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount, we would like to send you a copy of Today I Choose, devotions for a better life. Every day begins with a choice, and this inspiring book is packed with powerful devotional truths that will help you in the specific challenges you face in life, including...
Today I choose to turn down the noise, to believe what I cannot see, to be happy, to trust God's timing. They will transform your attitude, your outlook, your entire day. As you embrace these biblical principles, you'll see problems dissolve, hope restored, mountains move. Choose the joy and happiness God has chosen for you.
Be sure to request your copy of Today I Choose, Devotions for a Better Life, available this month by simply visiting us at joelostein.com or call 888-567-JOEL. Call or click anytime, 24 hours a day.
When you make choices based on what God says about you, you're going to live happier, have more peace, and you'll be a bigger blessing to others. Thanks so much for being with us today. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. We sure appreciate your prayer and support. Your generosity helps us take this message to people around the world.
A special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. And until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you.
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