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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 have you with us today. I hope you'll stay connected with us all through the week.
You can download our daily podcast, listen to the messages anytime, or you can go to our YouTube channel, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, but thanks for tuning in. I like to start with something funny. I heard about this pastor. He found a dead mule on the church grounds. He called the health department. They said they couldn't pick it up without authorization from the mayor.
Well, the mayor was known to be rude and hard to get along with. When the pastor called, the mayor didn't disappoint. He started ranting and raving. Finally said, why did you even call me? Isn't it your job to bury the dead? The pastor asked God for the right response. He said, "'Yes, mayor, it's my job to bury the dead, "'but I always like to notify the next of kin first.'"
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 keep on walking.
We all have things that we're believing for, dreams to come to pass, problems to turn around. We have the promise in our heart, but nothing is happening. We prayed, we believed, but we don't see any signs of things improving. It's easy to get discouraged and think it's never going to work out. But most of the time, God doesn't do things instantly. There will be a waiting period.
Thoughts will tell you it's too late. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. But just because you don't see anything doesn't mean that God is not working. As you keep believing, keep praising, keep doing the right thing, you're going to see things begin to change. Many times the miracle is in the process. It happens when you keep being obedient.
Don't be frustrated because you're not seeing immediate results. What you're believing for is still on the way. In Luke 17, there were 10 lepers sitting by the side of the road. As Jesus came passing through on his way to Jerusalem, they begin to shout, Jesus, have mercy on us and heal us. Jesus could have gone over and healed them right there.
He could have spoken to them and caused that leprosy to suddenly disappear. But he did something interesting. He said, go show yourselves to the priest. Well, leprosy was contagious. They were forbidden to be around people. They had to live in colonies, isolated from society. Jesus asked them to do something that didn't make sense, something out of the ordinary.
They could have thought, once I'm healed, once I see my skin clear up, then I'll go see the priest. But faith says you have to believe it before you see it. You have to act like it's on the way when you don't see any sign of it. These lepers started walking toward the priest. It could have been several miles, maybe taking them most of the day.
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Chapter 2: What encouragement does Joel Osteen provide for those feeling discouraged?
He sees you stretching when you could be shrinking back. Now, I believe for many of you, you're about to walk into your healing, walk into your freedom, walk into a great spouse, walk into abundance. As you keep walking, you're going to see God show out in your life. Many of the miracles Jesus performed required an act of obedience. His first miracle, turning water into wine.
He told the staff at the wedding to go fill up these large pots with water. They had to do something that didn't make sense. They could have said, Jesus, we need wine, not water. What good is this going to do? The obedience is what brought the miracle. Without them filling the water pots, there would be no wine. Is God asking you to do something that doesn't make sense?
To step out in faith when you don't have the experience? To forgive that person that did you wrong? To pray for others that need healing when you're still not feeling well? Is he asking you to bring him five loaves and two fish when you need to feed thousands? It's not so much what you're doing.
It's the obedience When you prove to god that you're going to do the right thing even when it's hard Even when it doesn't make sense, then you're going to see god do awesome things in your life In the Old Testament, there was a widow. Her husband had died and left her in great debt. She finally ran out of funds. Now the creditors were coming to take her two sons as payment.
The prophet Elisha showed up and asked her what she had in her house. She said, I don't have anything except a small jar of oil. He told her to go out and borrow as many empty containers as she could find. That didn't make sense.
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Chapter 3: How can waiting periods impact our faith and expectations?
What good was it going to do to borrow empty containers? She could have said, Elisha, I need full containers. I need provision. I need funds. What God asked us to do doesn't always make sense. His ways are not our ways. Many times it's simply a test. If you'll obey, the miracle will follow. Don't talk yourself out of what you know God is telling you to do. Sometimes it seems ordinary.
You're asking God to promote you. He's saying, get to work on time, produce more than you have to. You're asking God for healing. He's saying, eat healthier, exercise, get more sleep. You're believing for your child to get on course. God is saying, help that neighbor's child, invest into that young man. It doesn't have to make sense. That's what faith is all about.
This widow went out and borrowed all these empty containers. I can see her knocking on door after door. The neighbor's thinking, what does she need my container for? She doesn't have any food, no reason for it. But faith makes room for provision. You can't wait till it happens. You have to make room for it when you don't see any sign of it.
You have to talk like it's on the way, plan like it's on the way, think like it's on the way. After working all day, she came back to her house. Now she had a couple dozen empty containers. Elisha told her to pour the little oil that she had into one of the empty containers. She could have said, Elisha, that doesn't make sense.
What good is that going to do to just transfer the oil from one container to the other? But instead of talking herself out of it, she poured that little bit of oil and kept pouring and pouring and pouring She couldn't believe it.
She filled up the first empty container then another and another The oil never ran out until all the containers were full She sold the oil not only had enough to pay the creditors, but she had plenty left over to live off of But none of this would have happened if she had not been willing to do something that didn't make sense.
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Chapter 4: What biblical story illustrates the importance of obedience in faith?
Are you missing your miracle because you're reasoning everything out? You're looking at it all in the natural. God is supernatural. He'll ask you to do things that you may not understand. After Moses died, God raised up Joshua to lead the Israelites. The earlier generation never made it into the promised land. Because they complained and doubted, they wandered in the desert for 40 years.
Now the children of that generation had grown up. Joshua was their new leader. They were headed to the promised land, but they had to cross the Jordan River.
there were no bridges in that day the problem was it was the rainy season and the Jordan was in flood stage it was over a hundred and fifty feet wide with violent currents rushing down from the melting snow Joshua was familiar with this type of scene as a young man he was there when Moses held up his staff and the Red Sea parted he had seen God make a way
When these two million people came to the Jordan River and saw how swollen it was and how strong the currents were, they didn't want to have anything to do with it. I can imagine Joshua did like his mentor Moses. He held up his rod and said, Lord, please let these waters part. Everyone was watching with great anticipation, but nothing happened.
Joshua thought, God, this is my first test to show these people that you're really with me. Don't leave me hanging here. God promised Joshua, as I was with Moses, I will be with you. He didn't say, I'm going to do for you everything I did for Moses. God does things different ways. You have a unique anointing. There's a distinct calling on your life.
You don't have to copy someone else, try to be what they are, prove your worth, prove that you measure up, walk in your own anointing, walk in your own calling. The Jordan River didn't part. Joshua had to make a decision. Are we going to turn around and go back, wander more in the desert, or are we going to keep walking? Joshua's attitude was, we've come too far to stop now.
God, you wouldn't have promised us this land if you weren't going to give us the victory. Instead of turning back, Joshua put the priest out in front. He told all the people, let's keep walking. I can hear them say, excuse me, Joshua, do you not see there's a violent raging river a few hundred feet in front of us? There's nowhere to go. Joshua acted like he didn't hear them.
His instructions were keep on walking. There will always be people that try to convince you to turn back. Your dream is too big. The opposition too strong. Nothing's working out. Just accept it. You have to do like Joshua and have a made-up mind. I'm going to keep walking. I'm going to become all I was created to be. The priest got right up to the water.
It was do or die, now or never, but the water still didn't part. They looked back at Joshua one last time, thinking surely he's going to retreat now. Surely he'll come to his senses. Joshua answered with three simple words, keep on walking. The scripture says when the priests got in the water, when their feet got wet, suddenly the waters begin to push back.
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Chapter 5: How does the story of the lepers teach us about believing before seeing results?
All 2 million people went through on dry ground. Miracles happen when there's obedience. God doesn't give us all the details. He doesn't show you how it's going to work out. May not happen like you've seen happen with your family. There may not be any sign of things changing. Like Joshua, every circumstance may say, it's not going to turn around, go back. No use believing for your dreams.
It's too late. You'll never get well. It would have happened by now. Don't believe those lies. Keep walking. God is not moved by what's not moving. He's not intimidated by waters that aren't parting, by how big the obstacle is, by how impossible it looks. In fact, many times God will wait on purpose till the river is in flood stage. He'll wait till the experts say there's no way.
The odds are against you. So when he turns it around, everyone will know it was his favor, his power, his goodness in your life. You may have situations you don't see how it can work out in your health, your finances, your relationships. You're tempted to quit believing. If Joshua were here today, he would tell you, keep walking. You're on the verge of a miracle.
Those waters are about to open up. Now you may have to get your feet wet. May not happen like with Moses where the waters part first. You can see your way clearly. You know exactly how it's going to work out. Sometimes God waits to see if you're going to trust him when the waters haven't parted. Are you going to believe when you don't see any sign of things changing?
You don't feel like you have the strength, the courage, the ability. If you'll just keep walking, praying, expecting doors are going to open that you couldn't open. Healing that defies the odds. Freedom from things that have held you back. Some Jordan rivers are about to part. Things you've been standing in faith for, for a long time, it's about to come to pass. It's not going to be ordinary.
It's going to be the hand of God. When God parted the Red Sea for Moses, the waters opened before the people went through. They could see their way clearly. It was a great miracle, but that doesn't take as much faith when you know where the funds are coming from, the medical report's good, your child is excelling. Those people wandered in the desert for 40 years.
But when God parted the Jordan River for Joshua, when the people had to get their feet wet and keep walking when it didn't look like it was working, that group of people made it into their promised land. I believe it's significant. When you don't see how it can work out, but you keep walking, you keep believing, you keep being good to people, that means you're about to enter your promised land.
God is setting you up to go where you've never been, to see favor you've never seen. Now don't complain because the water is not parting. That doesn't mean God is not going to do it. That's a sign that what he's up to is bigger than you've imagined. You may be at the Jordan River right now. Nothing is changing. God is waiting to see, are you going to turn around and go back?
Joel, I prayed, I believed, but my dreams didn't come to pass. These people at work stopped me. I couldn't break the addiction. The waters didn't part. You're right where Joshua was. Didn't work the first time. The obstacle looks impassable. The river is swollen. The problem bigger than it's ever been. That's a test. You have to get your feet wet.
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