Prospering Under Pressure

Pastor Nick @ Lakewood Church

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

Matthew 11:28‭-‬30 NLT

Vacation Blues: Smashed Rental Car, Sick Daughter, stitched son, flu wife

The question is how are we carrying pressure? How can you live at peace in the midst of pressure.

None of us are accidents and we have been designed with a unique purposes. We were created with a need to carry pressure. Purpose and pressure go hand in hand. We need a healthy sense of pressure to operate at our best. You've been graced for your race. You've been equipped for your trip.

Self-imposed unnecessary pressure.

Basketball vs Football

Pressure will push you to act out of nature and/or compromise.

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 

Hebrews 12:1 NLT

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.

Hebrews 12:2 NLT

Cabin pressure constantly adjusts depending on where the airplane is and that's what we should do.

Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft, in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for passengers and crew flying at high altitudes.

Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11‭-‬13 NLT

http://bible.com/116/php.4.11-13.NLT

• Find a promise

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.

Psalms 119:143 NLT

• Fight to worship

But the time is coming—indeed it's here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

John 4:23 NLT

Adjust and choose to worship because your worship will fight for you. Allow you pressure to produce a sound.

It's hard to worry and worship at the same time.

You don't worship because all is good but because He is good.

Living Guilt Free

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church

We all make mistakes but living guilty wears you out and stops your progress. Guilt can keep you from your progress.

The enemy wants you to live with a dark cloud. If someone is bringing up your mistakes thats the accuser.

When you ask for forgiveness, God forgives you and forgets.

God makes you righteous. All of our righteousness is as a filthy rag.

• For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Romans 5:17 NIV

BE BOLD

• The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Proverbs 28:1 NIV

I may not feel worthy, holy, blameless or righteous but God has made me that way.

BAGGAGE

We go through carrying things that we were never designed to carry. If the enemy can't get you off track then he will try to weigh you down.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

Hebrews 12:1 NIV

RECEIVE THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS LIKE A CHILD

Children know how to receive a gift.

There should be a convinction but once you ask for forgiveness the price has already been paid.

• WE SERVE AN ALL-KNOWING GOD BUT HE CHOOSES TO STEP OUT OF CHARACTER

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

Isaiah 43:25 NIV

• Receive God's mercy. When you're tempted to ask for forgiveness turn it into gratitude. Father thank you for your mercy in my life. 

• Stop giving yourself time in the penalty box.

A lot of times we categorize our mistakes. 

JONAH

Jonah did the total opposite of what God asked and got in a lot of trouble but God never gave up on him. 

But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, 'Salvation comes from the Lord .' "  And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 2:9‭-‬10 NIV

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you."

Jonah 3:1‭-‬2 NIV

After Jonah's mistake He repented then God put him back in the game. God doesn't do timeouts.

SAMPSON

Sampson had made a lot of mistakes but God never gave up on him. 

Then Samson prayed to the Lord , "Sovereign Lord , remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.

Judges 16:28‭-‬30 NIV

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Romans 8:1 NIV

FEELINGS DON'T ALWAYS TELL US THE TRUTH

You may not feel holy, righteous, or guiltfree but you are because God says so.

DON'T ASSIST THE ENEMY, RESIST THE ENEMY

The enemy always talks to you about your past but that's when you tell him about your future!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7 NIV

Victoria Osteen @ Lakewood Church

Remembering the good is important for our life and our family. The negative tries to weigh you down and alter your life. 

We live out of experiences so choose to remember the good. It can stifle relationships and skills. This is not what God wants.

John 16:33 NIV

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

There's a transforming power in remembering what God has done because then we can remember what He can do!

2 Peter 1:12 NIV

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

Celebrate with festivals.

Sometimes we forget what we should remember, the joy, the victory, and the success. Then we remember the things that we should forget, the defeats, the pain, etc...

Loosen the grip of past negative experiences and put together the pieces of your God story.

Rewrite your story and rehearse it in your mind. The only reason to get out of your past is to not live in it.

If God isn't holding our past against us then why are we letting it have power over us. 

Stones of rememberance

Joshua 4:2‭-‬7 NIV

"Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight."  So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord . When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

Modern Memorial Stones: cars, degrees, etc...

Sylvester Turner

Tomorrow will be a better day than today. 

Psalm 78:4 NIV

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord , his power, and the wonders he has done.

We should be laying down memorial stones so that my memorial stones can be stepping stones for those who come after me. 

Houston We Have A Promise

John Gray @ Lakewood Church
2012 Was the Launch Pad

2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT
For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding "Yes!" And through Christ, our "Amen" (which means "Yes") ascends to God for his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:22 MSG
Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

Isaiah 43:19 KJV
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

God is so concerned about launch that he is deeply concerned about the preparation.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Launch window is a term used in spaceflight to describe a time period in which a particular launch vehicle (rocket, Space Shuttle, etc.) must be launched. If the rocket does not launch within the "window", it has to wait for the next window.

WEIGHT CHECK
Hebrews 12:1 KJV
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Anything not on board wasn't supposed to be there.

There is a perimeter around the rocket. The devil can talk but he can't touch.

I'm a unique representation of God's creative genius and if there is a problem I can check the training manual.

WAIT CHECK

Sent from my Galaxy S®III because Jeniro is on the go!

The Biggest Loser's Allen "Buddy" Shuh

Allen "Buddy" Shuh @ Lakewood Staff Connection

Romans 12:1 I-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Part of God's plan for us is that we fly.

1. Caterpillar
• Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...

• Catepillars have all those legs so they can try to do everything themselves, but God wants to give us wings.

• His son learned about health at school and his son asked him if he was fat.

• Weight is a problem that you can't hide so it's a source of constant embarrassment and insecurity.

• In addition to problems, like keeps happening. Buddy lost his daughter to spinibifida and couldn't afford the funeral costs.


2. Cocoon
• Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

• God puts you in a waiting period with people who think different that you do. Buddy refers to Dolvett Quince (his trainer), Mark (another pastor), Jeremy (the biggest loser).


3. Metamorphosis
• Buddy lost 130lbs and has gone from a 5x shirt and 54 pants to a Large Shirt and 36 pants.

• He is a spokesperson for an organization that provides financing for parents who can't afford the funeral costs for their children.

• He has taken steps to sew healthy habits into his family and his community (walking with his family after dinner, health programs in local schools, etc...)

Q/A

Everyone in your family (household) has to be on the same plan.

The reveal was in the White House.

Buddy's 7-year-old didn't recognize him until he started talking. (John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.)

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm

Set Aside EVERY Weight

Marcos Witt
September 5, 2010

Get Rid of the Weight That's Keeping us From Getting to the Finish Line

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

° Undisciplined
Discipline: controlled behavior. Associated with being teachable and accountable.
1 Cor 9:24: You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win.

° Unfocused
Keep your eyes on the prize (not circumstances, the news, other people's opinions, etc...)
Heb 12:2: Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.
Olympian who dropped the torch.

° Uncommitted
Commitment: sticktuitiveness
Proverbs 15:6 The lives of God-loyal people flourish; a misspent life is soon bankrupt.

° Sin: My personal stuff that I don't really share with anyone.
Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre