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. Well, God bless you. It is always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and we know God has great things in store for each one of you.
If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and see us. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. These are the finest people in all of Houston right here at Lakewood. So come on out sometime. We'd love to have you. I like to get started each week with something kind of funny. And I heard about this couple. They'd been married for over 60 years.
They were at a church fellowship and somebody asked them the secret of their success. The man told how he always treated his wife with respect and he took her on trips all over the world. He said, in fact, for our 25th wedding anniversary, I took her to Beijing, China. Everybody kind of clapped. Somebody spoke up and said, what'd you do for your 50th anniversary?
He said, I went back and picked her up. All right, hold up your Bible. 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 how we are in a controlled environment. Sometimes it may feel like life is out of control. Things can get kind of hectic in our finances, in our health, with a family issue. But you have to remind yourself, even though my circumstances feel out of control, God is still in control.
And when things don't go our way, the stock market goes down, the hurricane hits, you get bad news concerning your health. Understand, none of that is a surprise to God. God is still on the throne and we need to come back to this place of peace. We don't have to live life stressed. We don't have to go around worried because our plans didn't work out and We went through a disappointment.
Now we're uncertain about the future. No, we can stay in faith knowing that we are in a controlled environment. That means nothing can happen to us without God's permission. No sickness can end your life before you fulfill your divine purpose. No financial difficulty can keep you from your God-given destiny.
No person that's hurt you in the past or even someone that may hurt you in the future can keep you from becoming all God's created you to be. God knew everything you would go through and the good news is He has already laid out a plan of victory. God knew every person that would do you wrong. He's already laid out your vindication. God knew every disappointment.
He's already laid out new opportunities. God knew everything that would be stolen. He has already laid out your restoration. You're in a controlled environment. I think about how when the disciples were in a boat and a great storm arose, Jesus didn't panic. He didn't get upset and think, what are we going to do? No, he's the one that told them to get on the boat. He knew the storm was coming.
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Chapter 2: What does it mean to be in a controlled environment?
And let me assure you, it's not going to start with you. You're going to fulfill your divine destiny. You're going to overcome every obstacle. You're going to defeat that sickness. You're going to beat that addiction. You're coming out of not enough into the land of more than enough. Whatever you touch is going to prosper and succeed because you honor God.
His blessings are going to chase you down and overtake you. Why don't you let those seeds take root in your heart today? I know some of you are facing things that could easily steal your joy. You could easily go around upset and worried, but God is saying, I've got you in the palm of my hand. The storm may be raging. The wind may be blowing, but I'm in control of the storm.
I'm not going to let it overwhelm you. Everything is going to be all right.
Chapter 3: How can we find peace when life feels out of control?
That's what it says in Isaiah 43 too. You will go through the flood, but you will not drown. You will go through the river, but you will not go under. Let me add one. You'll go through the hurricane, but you'll come out alive and well. How about one more? You'll go through the fire, but one translation says you'll come out without even the smell of smoke.
You may feel like you're in the fire, but God's saying you're coming out. And you're not going to come out beat up, bedraggled, half dead. You're going to come out without a bruise, without a blemish, better off than you were before. You need to get your second wind. You need to dig your heels in and say, that's it. I'm done living depressed, discouraged, worried. I know I've got a provider.
I've got a protector. I've got a defender. I've got a deliverer. I've got a way maker. I'm in a controlled environment. I saw a report on the news. This man was filming a movie. He was in a helicopter over the ocean. He was the lead actor. And in this particular scene, he was supposed to hand something from the helicopter to the people in the boat below.
And so the helicopter got real close to the water and it hit an unusual burst of wind and the pilot lost control. It started spinning around and around and finally crashed into the water and it quickly began to sink. After about 30 seconds, the pilot's head popped up. He was okay. People were so relieved that he was alive, but there was no sign of this other man, the lead actor.
A minute went by, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, still nothing. People were fearing the worst. But about five minutes later, all of a sudden his head popped up out of the water and he too was perfectly fine. Later, he told how he had been knocked unconscious. When he came to, he was very disoriented and couldn't find his way out.
But he said, I'd like to thank the rescuers and especially the man that grabbed the back of my neck and maneuvered me through the helicopter and gave me that big push up to the top of the water. The people listening said, what are you talking about? There were no rescuers. You were down there by yourself. big tears began to come down his cheeks.
He looked up to the heavens and he said, then I want to thank God because it was his hand that lifted me up. What's my point? If it's not your time to go, you're not going to go. All the forces of darkness cannot take your life. God always has the final say. And it may look like that cancer is going to beat you, but you need to keep telling yourself, no sickness is going to take my life.
No accident is going to shorten my divine destiny by a single second. I'm in the palm of God's hand. I'm in a controlled environment. One time in the Old Testament, a major army had come against the people of Israel. They were much bigger, much more powerful. In the natural, the Israelites didn't have a chance.
But every time this enemy army made any kind of move, the people of Israel were already there waiting for them. If they decided to attack from the north, the Israelites would beat them there and cause them to change their plans. If they decided to sneak up in the middle of the night, the people of Israel were up, ready, waiting for that battle.
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Chapter 4: What examples illustrate God's control over our circumstances?
And in the difficult times, you have to remind yourself that payday is on its way. God is a faithful God. And if you'll keep doing the right thing, honoring him, expecting his favor, God has promised he will pay you back. In fact, God said he'll make your enemies pay you back. It's like this little old lady I heard about. She lived way, way out in the country.
I mean, she was so far out in the woods, the June bugs didn't show up till August. Every morning she'd go out on her front porch and she'd just thank God she was alive and thank God that he was supplying all of her needs. Her neighbor thought she was a little off of her rocker. He was always making fun of her, telling her she was just wasting her time, giving her a hard time.
He didn't believe in the things of God. One morning he heard her thanking God that he would provide groceries for the week. He decided to play a trick on her. He went to the grocery store, got a few bags of groceries. The next morning early, he snuck over there and put them on her front porch and then went around the side of the house and hid.
When the lady came out and saw the groceries, she started rejoicing, saying, God, you did it again. You brought me groceries for the week. The man came out of hiding and he laughed and laughed. He said, I told you so. I told you you were wasting your time. God didn't put those groceries there. I did. The lady started rejoicing even louder.
She said, God, you not only brought me groceries, but you made the devil pay for it. Friends, God is in control of our enemies. You don't have to try to get even. You don't have to try to pay people back. God is your vindicator. If you'll stay on the high road, God will even use your enemies to bless you. You remember Mordecai in the scripture?
He was the one that encouraged Esther to rise up and take that step of faith. There was another man by the name of Haman. He worked directly with the king and Haman did not like Mordecai. He's always pushing him down, always trying to make him look bad. But Mordecai understood this principle.
He knew he was in a controlled environment and as long as he'd keep doing the right thing, being his best, God would be his vindicator. And one night, this king couldn't sleep. So he asked an assistant to bring in the records of everything that had happened in that city. In other words, to bring in the history books.
And it just so happened, the king opened to the exact page where it talked about where Mordecai had done a great deed and had kept the city from harm. That was not a coincidence. That was God causing the king to see the right thing. And if you'll stay in faith, God will cause the right people in your life, your boss, your supervisor, your clients, to see what he wants them to see.
God can make things happen that we can't make happen on our own. It's called the favor of God. And one touch of God's favor can thrust you years ahead. One touch of his favor can take you from borrowing to lending. Or like Joseph, it can take you from the prison to the palace. It can take you from working at that business to owning your own business.
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Chapter 5: How does faith help us navigate difficult times?
It means that nothing in life happens by accident. There are no coincidences, no random events. You didn't just happen to get that job and happen to marry that person, happen to be here today. No, the creator of the universe was directing your steps. All along the way, God was carefully orchestrating every detail of your life.
If we could pull the curtain back and look behind the scenes, we would see God pulling the strings just like a puppet, manipulating things, arranging events, strategically causing you to be at the right place at the right time. You're not just randomly going to work each day, coming home, doing your thing. You are a person of destiny. Before you were born, God laid out a plan for your life.
He has an assignment for you to fulfill. The good news is God has already lined up the right people, the right breaks, the right opportunities. You are meeting people now that very well may somehow, someway be instrumental in your life even 20 or 30 years from now.
I remember when I was in my mid-20s, there was this situation in a business dealing that looked like it was going to take a lot of time and energy and resources to get corrected. I knew I was in the right, but it seemed like it was going to be months and months for it ever to be straightened out, and I sure wasn't looking forward to it.
But one day out of the blue, I got a call from this gentleman that was in charge and he told how he had straightened everything out. It was over. And I was so relieved. And of course I thanked him and told him how much I appreciated him taking the time to see it my way.
He said, Joel, what really did it for me was my grandmother's best friend lived down the street from where your family lived when you were growing up. And she told my grandmother, one time when you were about 10 years old, you were riding your bike down the street and she was struggling to get her garbage cans out and you got off your bike and you went over and helped her.
And that made a big impression on me. And as he was telling me this, I thought to myself, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know if I'm the right person, but I'll definitely take credit for it.
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Chapter 6: What role does divine intervention play in our lives?
But the truth is, I did not even remember that, yet a simple act of kindness was still making an impact in my life some 20 years later. That was not a coincidence. God knows the end from the beginning. He knows what we're going to need in the future. God had to have that lady coming down the driveway at the exact right time. I had to be riding my bike at the exact right moment.
If I'd gone back to get a drink of water, if she'd gone in to answer the telephone, we wouldn't be talking about it. That was the creator of the universe directing my steps down to the minute details. I thought it was just a random event, but I've since learned that nothing in life happens by chance. We are in a controlled environment. That means I'm not meeting you by accident.
You didn't come across my path by happenstance. God ordained before the foundation of time that our lives would intersect. My life will be better off because of spending this time with you. I'm drawing strength. I'm drawing encouragement. Who knows, you may hear something today or even have some kind of feeling, some kind of impression that will affect you years from now.
Something that will give you encouragement. Something that will give you insight. Maybe you'll be going through a difficult time and all of a sudden God brings this up out of your spirit and you realize it's exactly what you needed to keep pressing forward. I received a letter from a lady that went to one of our events in New York City.
She told how a couple of years later, one morning she woke up early before her alarm went off. And when she awakened, she could hear our little daughter singing the song that she sings at the end of these events. It's a simple little song. It says, "'Come just as you are. "'Come believe, come receive, come and live forever.'" And it was so clear in her mind.
She could see us standing on the platform together. She was just reliving it. She could hear Alexandra's little voice, so innocent, so pure. And it really ministered to her that night. And as she lay there in bed, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace and just an extraordinary sense of God's presence. About 30 minutes later, the phone rang. It was her father.
She was kind of startled because nobody called that early normally. Her dad said, I just want to remind you, it was three years ago today that mother went to be with the Lord. The exact time of her death was 5.30 in the morning. That was the exact moment that she woke up with that song playing in her spirit. What am I saying?
God is depositing in you everything you need for now and everything you're going to need in the future. You may just be listening to a song. You may be just talking to a friend. You may just be reading a scripture. You don't think twice about it, but the fact is God is depositing that in your spirit because he knows it's going to strengthen you in the days ahead.
There are no coincidences with our God. I read an article in the newspaper about this mail carrier. She was out delivering the mail one day like she always did, but she noticed a package that needed to be at a certain address by noon. And typically she wasn't in that neighborhood until after two o'clock. So she had to change her route.
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