God's Love

Jonathan @ Level 56

1. We know God loves us becaue He has a plan and purpose for our lives.

• PSALMS 139:13-18 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my bodyand knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.Every day of my life was recorded in your book.Every moment was laid outbefore a single day had passed. ow precious are your thoughts about me, O God.They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them;they outnumber the grains of sand!And when I wake up,you are still with me!

• Isiah 41:13 For I hold you by your right hand—I, the LORD your God.And I say to you,'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.

• Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

2. We know God loves us because we are His masterpiece.

• Isaiah 64:8 And yet, O LORD, you are our Father.We are the clay, and you are the potter.We all are formed by your hand.

• Jeremiah 1:4-5 The LORD gave me this message: " knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apartand appointed you as my prophet to the nations."

3. We know God loves us because He sent His son to die on the Cross for us.

• John 3:16 "For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

•Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm

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

How Miracles Work

John Maxwell @ Lakewood Church

1. How a Biblical Miracle works in my life?

• When there is a need sensed by a few.

• Each individual understands his or her responsibility and gives his or her all regardless of the odds.

* Hot & Cold Analogy: The people were anxious to hear Jesus but they had no idea what was going to happen. God has things waiting for you.

2. There is no miracle without a problem.

• The seed of a miracle is a problem or a need.

• The people didn't seem aware of the problem, but the disciples did.

NEED #1 Mark 6:34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

NEED #2 Mark 6:35-36 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat."

3. The disciples sensed the need but only had suggestions.

• v. 35 (see above)

• This is how a lot of us pray!

4. The disciples wanted Jesus to do everything so when He told them to do it they were shocked.

• Mark 6:37(a) But Jesus said, "You feed them."

• God wants to partner with us.

5. John 6:9 "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?"

SIDE NOTE: The kid probably didn't want to give up his lunch.
* It's hard to care for others when you are comfortable.
* The request made no sense at all.
* The kid didn't need Jesus but they understood their responsibility regardless of the odds.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Some of us need to let go of that which gives us security (Trust Jesus with your lunch.)

2. Jesus can d a lot with a little.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm

Accepting People For Who They Are

Pastor Joel @ Lakewood Church

• GOD is the potter, not me. Only God can trully change people. When we work overtime to change people into us.

1 Corinthians 3:7 It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow.

• The same God that made the butterfly made the locust. The same God that made the poodle made the butterfly. The same God that made the horse made the mule. The same God that made me [Joel] made my brother Paul!

Colossians 1:16 for through him God created everythingin the heavenly realms and on earth.He made the things we can seeand the things we can't see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.Everything was created through him and for him.

• When we're always trying to change someone, there is an underlying tension.

• We are drawn to people who have stengths that are different than ours. Not everyone has it all we all have weaknesses and we are supposed to make allowances for those not change them.

Colossians 3:12-13 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

• Our job is to love people...accept them...encourage them...

• The other person may not change but I can. I don't have to spend years reacting negatively to those differences.

Proverbs 18:22 The man who finds a wife finds a treasure,and he receives favor from the LORD.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm

Yes Is In Your Future

Lakewood Church

Joel Osteen

• On the way to the yes there will be NOs. People get discouraged and stop trying.

• If I knew I was 20 NOs away from my yes it would just be something that I'd cross off of my list.

2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

90% of all first time businesses fail 90% of all second time businesses succeed, but 80% of all first time business owners never try again.

• What would that 80% of people have done if they had known they were only one NO away from success.

• Be Persistent

Zig Zigler: Tried 4 times to get a hotel room.

Jeanine Turner: Got a big break with Northern Exposure but went through 1000 NOs before she got it.

Thomas Edison: 2000 failed attempts.

• God wouldn't give you the dream without having a plan for you to see it come to pass.

• The people that are close to us often look at us in our own power, not I God's. We serve a supernatural God.

1 Kings 18:41-46

V. ...44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea."So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"

• I am not defined by my past, I am prepared by my past.

VICTORIA OSTEEN Talk

• I have a designer label.

• Don't let your thoughts push you around.

1. You are in charge of what you think and what you do. No one can push your buttons unless you let them.

2. If something always happens to cause you to stumble plan for the next time so it becomes a stepping stone.

• When you refresh someone they will go and refresh someone else. So bring your Tithe to the storehouse.

1. Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre

Be A Now Person

Lakewood Church
Pastor Joel!

• A lot of us say, "as soon as 'X' happens then I'll do 'Y'", but intentions do not equal obedience.

• God will not ask you to do something without giving you the ability to do it.

Proverbs 1:31-32 Well, you've made your bed-now lie in it; you wanted your own way-now, how do you like it? Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.

• The Wiz-Kid of Wallstreet

Hebrews 3:15 As has just been said:"Today, if you hear his voice,do not harden your heartsas you did in the rebellion."

• God's plan doesn't get stopped because of my inactivity, I just miss what God has in it for me.

Esther 4:14 If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this."

• Now is the time to wake up.

Joel 3:9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:

• I'm closer to reaching my dream than I've ever been.

Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

• Think about what you're doing.

Haggai 1:1-7 n the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built. Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

• Your faith will heal you.
Matthew 9:20-22

-- Sent from JRochelle's Palm Pre

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