The King Is Looking For You

Pastor Joel @ Lakewood Church

It's easy to live guilty sitting on the sidelines in self pity. God is not in the condemning business, he's in the restoration business.

• MEPHIBOSHETH
• 2 Samuel 4
• Son of Jonathan, David's best friend. She dropped him and he became cripple.
• Sometimes in life well-meaning people can put you at a disadvantage.
• They tripped but we have to pay for their mistake.
• It's easy to make excuses especially when it wasn't your fault.  But you have to take the hand that you were dealt and make the best of it.
• A lot of times people aren't giving you something because they don't have it.
• Mephibosheth ended up living in poverty.
• Your location doesn't change your identity.
• When you gave your life to Christ you were made royalty.
• Revelation 1:6 NIV 
• ...and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 
• 2 Samuel 9
• Years later David (the King) went looking for Jonathan's son.
• Luke 15: Parable About the Lost Sheep
• Jesus's parable about the lost sheep.
• In the natural you're lost but the shepherd will leave the 99 to come looking for you.
• David gave all of the land back to Mephibosheth
• He was restored.
• Religion can make God mean but God is not looking for you to condemn you,  but to restore you.
• Luke 4:18
• “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,    because he has anointed me    to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners    and recovery of sight for the blind,to set the oppressed free....
• Mephibosheth had settled in Lo Debar
• It's easy to settle in place of no pasture and/or communication.
• Mercy is all about God not giving us what we deserve.  God doesn't write us off when we make mistakes.
• Prodigal Son
• The younger son asks for his inheritance before the father dies, and the father agrees. The younger son, after wasting his fortune (the word "prodigal" means "wastefully extravagant"), goes hungry during a famine, and becomes so destitute he longs to eat the same food given to hogs, unclean animals in Jewish culture.
• He then returns home with the intention of repenting and begging his father to be one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. Regardless, the father finds him on the road and immediately welcomes him back as his son and holds a feast to celebrate his return, which includes killing a fattened calf usually reserved for special occasions. 
• John Osteen's first marriage didn't work out and his church wrote him off so he left the ministry for 2 years.
• Romans 11:29
• God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
• God knows where you are and he's not going to stop until he puts you back where you're supposed to be.
• Psalm 147:3 NIV 
• He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 

Victoria Osteen @ Lakewood Church

On the phone with son who thanked her for something that she did for him and then shared something that he did because it would make her happy. He thanked her with his actions.

• Hebrews 13:15-16
• Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
• The closest thing to God is helping hurting people. That's how we express our gratitude with our actions.
• Let's show God that we want to please him.

• We're blessed to be a blessing.

Let It (Unforgiveness) Go

Bishop T.D. Jakes @ Lakewood Church

If you don't give forgiveness well then you can't receive forgiveness well.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore bretheren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not comformed to the ways of this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that good acceptable and perfect will of God!

• Unforgiveness is when you get stuck in a place of pain.

• We have no provision for offense because we have developed a methodology for dealing with it.

• If you do well vertically but don't do well horizontally then are you really living a crucified life?

• If you don't think you are a good person then you won't like "me" thinking you are a good person, so you will find someone who sees you the way that you see yourself (i.e. Abusive relationships)

• Unforgiveness is not natural, it's a learned behavior (methodology) and if you can learn it then you can unlearn it. I NEED TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF MY MIND.

• When you hold yourself back people aren't meeting the real you. And you hold yourself back because of unforgiveness (i.e. remember what happened last time...)

• Unforgiveness is not attacking the other person, it's attacking you. (high blood pressure, sleepless nights, etc...) It's like drinking poison hoping the enemy dies.

• I'm commanded to forgive, I'm not commanded to trust. If someone has betrayed trust they have the responsibility to get it back.

• God is giving me time to unlearn destructive behavior.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre

Let It (The Silent Frustration) Go

T.D. Jakes @ Lakewood Church

Luke 15:11-32

25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"

• Imagine looking at this family from the neighbor's perspective.

They were obviously doing well. Even though everything looks good you don't know know what's going on in the inside.

• We've lost a little of that facade and the "last frontier" is what's going on in our head.

• The prodigal son gets all the attention and no one says anything about the son who is doing good.

• v.26 You can tell there hadn't been a party in a while because the "good son" said, "what's going on."

• v.28 The older brother became angry but he was already frustrated. He probably had to work harder. The dad was probably always saying "I wonder when brother is coming home" and etc...All the while he's thinking I'm here being faithful and working hard, can you be happy that I'm here.

• Sometimes it's hard to determine the makeup from the man.

• v.28 when the brother went out, the father went after him...he same father who celebrated the one who came home. The Lord says, "Before you miss my party, I'm coming out to get you."

• God is too wise to allow my happiness be predicated on someone else's behavior.

• It's time to let go of the silent frustration.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre