Thanking God in Advance

Pastor Joel!

¤ There is always a waiting period, there is a trial of our faith. When it is hard, the seed lies dormant.

¤ When you give God praise, you are strengthened. Praise makes you strong and moves you forward.

¤ Romans 4:20 NLT

Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

¤ Temptations to worry should be a reminder to praise God.

¤ You only need to pray for something once, after that you should switch over to praise.

¤ Matthew 15:21-28 NLT

After beggIng in verse 23 Jesus ignored her but in verse 25 she came and worshiped him, pleading again, "Lord, help me!" She then spoke the truth to him in verse 27 and he rewarded her for her faith.

¤ Daniel 10:12-13 NLT

Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.

¤ Anyone can quit, but I'm better that that. The battle may be rough but as long

¤ Jeremiah 33:10-11 NLT

"This is what the LORD says: You have said, 'This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.' Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah's other towns, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing, 'Give thanks to the LORD of Heaven's Armies, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!' For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.

1 Samuel 17

Me and God are a majority.

1 Kings 18:41 KJV

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.

**********Victoria Osteen************

Hold Fast Your Profession of Faith

Hebrews 10:23 NLT

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

If you have to hold tightly to something, then that means that something is going to try to take it away.

Things will come against you but it is not greater than what is for you.

Ephesians 5:16 NLT

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

We should redeem the time and glean from the experience.

Your words can help you hold tightly.

Jeniro is on the go!

It's Only a Test

Tests show us weaknesses in our character and when we pass the tests we get promoted.

1 Peter 4:12 AMP

Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you.

Instead of being discouraged or going through self-pity we can choose to keep our joy. God uses people to rub off our rough edges sometimes.

When you start to rule over your emotions then certain buttons won't work. God is more interested in changing me than he is in changing my circumstances.

When you sow a radical seed of obedience you will reap a radical reward. Pressure can bring impurities to light.

As long as you're a child then you won't receive the inheritance. The more we mature, the less we depend on others.

James 1:12 NLT

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Don't fight against everything that's hard.

**********Victoria Osteen************

PRESS IN & PRESS ON

Lamentations 3:23 NLT

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

· We know that we can start over but we don't know how to receive it.

Philippians 3:13 NLT

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,

· There is nothing that we can do about the past and it doesnt represent your future.

Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

· We have to do some forgetting.

Psalm 27:13 NKJV

I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

Hebrews 12:1 NLT

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Jeniro is on the go!

You've Been Framed

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church

Hebrews 11:3 KJV

Through faith we understand that the worlds were FRAMED by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

· God won't let you get so far off course that you ruin your destiny.

· God knows how to protect you from everything, even yourself.

· David experienced the frame in 1Samuel 25. He was going to go confront Nabal but Abigail met him on the road and talked him out of it.

· Jonah experienced the frame through a whale that swallowed him and spit him out on dry land. (Jonah 2:10 KJVAnd the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.)

· The more you pray the tighter the frame gets.

· Acts 9:4-6 KJV

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

· Notice that Jesus said "I am Jesus whom you persecute" God takes it personal when people kick against your frame.

· Psalm 91:7 KJV

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

· 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 KJV

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

VICTORIA OSTEEN

Develop a mindset of praise because when you praise you can't explain.

When you harbor resentment it overshadows the desire to do right.

Sometimes it's more important to do right than to be right.

James 1:19-20 NLT

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

In marriage instead of becoming one someone wants the other to become like them. Sometimes you have to study and adapt.

Disappointment and frustration are temporary; your relationship is forever. Family is a gift from God.

You can create what you want with the words that you speak.

Jeniro is on the go!

Resisting Temptation: There's An App For That

Every week, I serve some awesome pre-teens at Lakewood Church through Level 56.

Level 56 is our exciting, high impact service designed exclusively for 5th and 6th graders. Our tweens discover an exciting new world where they can hang out with friends, enjoy games and fun activities and learn leadership and social skills through biblical principles that will prepare them for the future.

This month we are ministering on the topic Resisting Temptation: There's an App for That

Bottom line

There’s no better way to escape temptation than to run from it, and the best way to flee temptation is to be prepared for it.

Key Passages

• Genesis 19:10-17

Two men reached out and pulled Lot inside the house, locking the door. Then they struck blind the men who were trying to break down the door, both leaders and followers, leaving them groping in the dark. The two men said to Lot, "Do you have any other family here? Sons, daughters—anybody in the city? Get them out of here, and now! We're going to destroy this place. The outcries of victims here to God are deafening; we've been sent to blast this place into oblivion."   Lot went out and warned the fiancés of his daughters, "Evacuate this place; God is about to destroy this city!" But his daughters' would-be husbands treated it as a joke. At break of day, the angels pushed Lot to get going, "Hurry. Get your wife and two daughters out of here before it's too late and you're caught in the punishment of the city."   Lot was dragging his feet. The men grabbed Lot's arm, and the arms of his wife and daughters—God was so merciful to them!—and dragged them to safety outside the city. When they had them outside, Lot was told, "Now run for your life! Don't look back! Don't stop anywhere on the plain—run for the hills or you'll be swept away."

• Genesis 19:23-26

...The sun was high in the sky when Lot arrived at Zoar. Then God rained brimstone and fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah— a river of lava from God out of the sky!—and destroyed these cities and the entire plain and everyone who lived in the cities and everything that grew from the ground.   But Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Memory Verse

• James 4:7 

Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Objectives

For students: -To discover the story of Lot -To identify temptation -To develop tools to fight temptation

Summary

There’s no better way to escape temptation than to run from it. But temptation isn’t like a pack of wild animals pursuing us. It comes at us when we least it expect it, and it’s hard to see the danger. We need to prepare ourselves for tempting situations, be ready to give an answer when we are tempted, and be ready to run when there’s no other choice.

*******************My Personal Notes*******************

I think that this is an excellent lesson for our preteens. They are getting to an age where there are a lot of temptations that they have been warned about! This story teaches them to listen, obey without hesitation, keep moving forward, and to love others.

Listen, Obey, Move Forward

Lot hesitated and had to be lead out of the city. Another lesson is to keep moving forward. Sometimes we make the right decision and flee temptation but we keep looking back instead of moving forward. We wonder "what if" and question ourselves right out of doing the right thing. Lot’s wife looked back at the city after the men told her not to do this. She had to pay the price. 

Love Others

Another lesson is that God wants us to help those who love Him. When Abraham found out that the cities would be destroyed he pleaded with God to save his nephew. Many times we know that someone else's decision may lead them to a bad outcome and our love should compel us to help that person flee the temptation to do the wrong thing