Latest / A Better Tomorrow / Keep Your Walls Up Joel Osteen

Transcript

Keep Your Walls Up Joel Osteen · A Better Tomorrow

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Well, God bless you. Always a joy to come into
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: your homes. And if you're ever in our area, please
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: stop by and be a part of one of the services.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: But thanks so much for tuning in. And thank you
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: again for coming out today. I like to start with
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: something funny. And I heard about this man. He was
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: sitting on an airplane next to a beautiful single lady.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: They struck up a conversation, and he asked her what
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: kind of men she liked. She said, well, I like
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Native American Indian men with their high cheekbones and their
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: golden tan skin.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Plus, I like Jewish men.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: They're so brilliant and successful. And then I like good
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: old boys from the South with their long southern drawl.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: What's your name? He said, my name is Geronimo Bernstein,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: but my friends.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Call me Bubba.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: This is my Bible. I am what it says I am.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I have what it says I have. I can do
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: what it says I can do. Today, I will be
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: to talk to you today about keeping your walls up.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: It's easy to go through life letting everything get on
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the inside, offended by what somebody said, worried about a
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: problem at work, upset because of a negative report. We
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: can't stop all these things from happening. The key is
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: to have walls built up so we don't allow everything in.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: The scripture says to build yourself up. One translation says
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: to edify yourself. The word edify is where we get
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: the word edifice, meaning building. This is saying, if you're
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: going to stay encouraged, if you're going to enjoy your life,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: you have to build up these walls to where you
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: don't allow the negative, the offense, the worry, the frustration
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: into your spirit person. We only have so much emotional
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: energy each day. You will have opportunities to spend it
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: on things that don't matter.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Stuck in traffic, stressed out, frustrated.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: You are spending emotional energy that you need for your
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: own goals, your own dreams. Or upset about what somebody
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: said about you. Thinking about how you're going to pay
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: them back. Calling a friend, can you believe they said that?
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: That's emotional energy you're not going to have for your
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: own family to play with your children at night. It's
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: not only doing you a disservice, you're doing them a disservice.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: you've got to put some walls up. Quit allowing everything
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: on the inside. If you'll stay in peace, God will
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: fight your battles for you. And this is the reason
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: many people don't enjoy life. Coworkers not treating them right,
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: sours the whole day. A problem at home, they're so worried,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: it's constantly on the forefront of their mind. There's always
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: something keeping them offended.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Frustrated, stressed.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: It's like a dark cloud follows them everywhere they go.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: That cloud would leave if you would quit letting that
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: get into your spirit person. It may come to your
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: mind and You can't stop people from saying things. You
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: can't prevent all the negative, but you don't have to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: allow that to get into your spirit. You can dismiss
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: it and say, you know what? I'm not dwelling on it.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not going the next three days worried, playing out
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: all the what ifs, wondering why they said that. Proverbs says,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: above all else, guard your heart.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: You can't be passive.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: And let everything in. You've got to be proactive and
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and put some walls up.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Guard what you dwell on. Be selective what you.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Give your time and attention to. Your destiny is too
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: important to allow poison in. The truth is, we all
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: have challenges.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: We all have.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: Things that come against us, but there are certain problems,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: certain situations I tell my family, my staff, I don't
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: want to know all the details. Don't give me the
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: two-hour version, give me the 20-second version. I don't need
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: to know what they said and how upset she was
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and how it's not going to work out and they
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: think you're too much of this. My attitude is, leave
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: me in my ignorance. Just give me the bottom line.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: We've got a problem. That's fine.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: God knows all the details.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: You can't put poison into you over and over and
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: expect to live a positive, faith-filled life. And I know
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: we make good decisions when we have good information. but
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: sometimes we're getting too much information. We like the juicy details.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: It feeds our flesh, but it poisons our spirit. A
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: man said to me a while back, Joel, I heard
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: so-and-so was talking about you.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: He said that, and I stopped him right there. I said,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: you know what? I don't really want to hear it.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: It's not going to benefit me in any way to
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: hear the negative details.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I put some walls up. I'm going to guard my heart.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: I need my emotional energy for my assignment to fulfill
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: my destiny. I'm not going to let that poison in.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: My philosophy is just give me the bottom line. Joel,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: he thinks you're a lousy person.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: That's fine.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I can handle that. Now don't give me the expanded version.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: He also said he thinks you smile too much and
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: your accent is annoying, your dog's ugly.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Do me a favor. Give me the cliff notes.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Give me the condensed version.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: Here's why.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: It's a lot easier to keep the poison out if
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: you never hear it in the first place.
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: Now, don't get on social media.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Don't go on the Internet and read every negative comment
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: about you written by people that have to hide behind
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: a computer screen to remain anonymous. Young people, students, don't
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: read everything written about you at school. It's a lot
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: of bullying these days through the internet, social media. You've
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: got to be disciplined to not go there. It's very
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: tempting to think, well, let me just see what they're
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: saying about me. One phrase can poison you. You end
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: up defensive, trying to overcompensate, insecure. No, don't even go there.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: There are enough issues to deal with where we don't
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: have a choice. Don't make it harder on yourself by
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: taking in things that are unnecessary. And if you do
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: hear people talking about you, pay it no mind.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Give it no attention. It's a distraction.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Instead of getting upset, instead of feeling badly about yourself, remember,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: they don't talk about ordinary people.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: They talk about exceptional people.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: They wouldn't be talking about you unless you were a
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: cut above.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Take it as a compliment.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: In a race, nobody focuses on the people in last place.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Nobody finds fault and criticizes those that are bringing up
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the rear. All the focus is on the winners. That's
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: where the attention, the study, and the analyzing, the critiquing is.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: If people are critiquing you, finding fault, trying to discredit you,
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: it's because you're winning.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: You're out front. You're making a difference.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: I've learned the more favor on your life, the more
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: opposition it will stir up. Some people won't like you
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: simply because of the blessing God put on you. This
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: is what happened with Cain and Abel. They were Adam
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: and Eve's two sons. Cain ended up killing Abel. What's
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: interesting is Abel honored God with his life. He was
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: a person of excellence. He went around being his best.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: He had God's blessing and favor on him. He never
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: did anything wrong to his brother Cain. He didn't disrespect him.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: didn't cheat him, didn't lie about him. Cain hated Abel
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: simply because of the favor on Abel's life. You have
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: to accept the fact that some people will not like
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: you and there's nothing you can do about it.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: It's not about you.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: It's about the favor God put on you. I've heard
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: it said this way, the more vertically aligned you are,
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: the more you honor God, the more horizontally challenged you'll be.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: A vertical relationship can create horizontal conflict. Can you deal
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: with the fact that not everybody can handle your success?
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Not everybody will celebrate God's blessing and favor on your life.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: You have to be wise enough to realize these people
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: don't like me, but it's not about me. I'm not
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: going to be offended. I'm not going to spend time
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: seeing how I can win them over, lose sleep thinking
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: about what they said about me. No, I'm not going
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: to waste my emotional energy on something that I cannot change.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: I know it's because of the favor of God on
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: my life. That's how you keep your walls built up.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: Think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. When she said
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: yes to the angel that she would have a baby
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: without knowing a man, she had to accept the fact
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: that she would be misunderstood by some people the rest
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: of her life. The blessing, as great as it was,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: brought controversy. It brought opposition. She was celebrated by some
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: and looked down on by others. There are times like Mary.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: You have to accept the fact I may be misunderstood
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: by certain people. They may try to push me down,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: make fun of me, but it's not about me. It's
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: about the blessing.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: God put on my life.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: The real question today is, can you handle being blessed?
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: David faced this as a teenager. He was out in
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: the shepherd fields taking care of his father's sheep. One
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: day his dad asked him to take lunch to his
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: brothers that were out in the battlefield. They had a
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: much more prestigious, exciting position. David was stuck taking care
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: of sheep. When David arrived with the food, you'd think
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: the brothers would be appreciative. I mean, he was doing
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: them a favor. But one of the brothers named Eliab
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: tried to embarrass David. He said in front of all
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: the men, David, what are you doing here? And with
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: whom have you.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Left those few sheep?
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: He was trying to belittle David, make him feel small,
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: discredit him.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: He was saying, in effect, David, you're not important. You're
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: a shepherd boy.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Don't be surprised if God's favor on your life stirs
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: up opposition in other people.
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: It will stir up envy, jealousy, criticism.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: There was no reason for Eliab to be jealous. David
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: was younger, smaller, out in the shepherd's field. In other words,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: making minimum wage. Eliab was in the army. He had training, expertise, influence.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Why was he spiteful?
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: He could sense the favor on David's life.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure David was tempted to be offended, get upset, discouraged,
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: thinking I'm going to pay him back.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: No, David understood this principle. The scripture says David.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Turned and walked away. He ignored the insult. Why?
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: He had his walls up. If David would not.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Have walked away, if he had not kept his heart pure,
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: he would have never made it to the throne. If
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: you don't learn to walk away from an offense, not
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: dwell on what they said, not be upset because how
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: they treated you, it can keep you from the fullness
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: of your destiny.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Here's the key.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Don't waste your time trying to win over people that
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: are never going to be for you. Don't waste your
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: energy trying to convince people to understand you that are
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: determined to misunderstand you. Your time is too valuable to
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: try to prove to people that you really are okay.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: Try to prove to them to accept you.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: No, you're not the problem. It's the favor they see
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: on your life. That's what they can't handle. Now you
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: just run your race, focus on your goals. God will
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: bring the right people into your life. You don't have
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: to play up to people. Let them manipulate you and
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: control you like a puppet. No, if they don't want
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to be your friend, let them go.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: They're not a part of your destiny.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: If they don't accept you, blow them a kiss goodbye
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: and move forward with your life.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: I read a statistic that I liked.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: It said 25% of the people you meet won't like
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: you and never will. 25% won't like you but could
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: be persuaded to. 25% will like you, but could be
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: persuaded to not. And 25% will like you and stand
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: by you no matter what. Life gets a lot freer
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: when you realize this person that doesn't like you, they
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: don't give you the time of day, they're unfriendly, don't
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: worry about it. Don't go the next two years frustrated,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: trying to win them over, recognize they're just one of
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: the 25% that are never going to like you. You
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: could bring them flowers every day, give them a compliment
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: every hour, mow their lawn every week, but that old goat,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, that person is still not.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Going to like you.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: You shouldn't waste your time trying to win them over.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: trying to prove to them that you really are okay.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Let it go. That's a distraction.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: You don't need their approval to become who.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: God has created you to be.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: I knew this couple years ago, and I really liked them.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: I went out of my way to be friendly, but
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: they were never really friendly back to me. They would
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: be cordial and say hello, but always felt like there
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: was something that was keeping them from accepting me. I
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: couldn't understand it, especially as nice and good looking as
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: I am. I went overboard trying to help them. I
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: introduced them to people I knew. In fact, one contact
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: led to them starting a business together. And eventually they
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: moved to another city, had to relocate. I found people
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: to help them move, gave them a gift for their
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: new home. In spite of all these things that I did,
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: they never really gave me the time of day. A
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: few years later, I got word back that they were
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: talking about me and they didn't feel like I'd done
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: enough and I just hadn't treated them fairly on and on.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: I thought to myself, I could not have done anymore.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: I wish I knew back then what I know now.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: It would have saved me a lot of frustration.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: They were just one of the 25% that were never
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: going to like me. I was spending my emotional energy
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: trying to win over somebody that was never going to
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: be won over. You got to come to the place
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: where you can say, I'm at peace with them not
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: being at peace with me. I'm at peace not being
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: their friend. I don't have to be in their group
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: to enjoy my life.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Stay in peace. Keep those walls up.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Too many people allow everything to come in. They live
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: from offense to stress to frustration to discouragement. You got
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: to guard your heart. Nobody can do this for you.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: The scripture puts it this way. Think on things that
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: are pure, things that are wholesome, things that are of
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: a good report. It doesn't say think on the offense.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: Think on the people that won't accept you. Think on
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: your problems all day. No, think on good things. That's
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: how you keep your walls built up. If it's not positive, hopeful, productive, faith-filled,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: then don't dwell on it. You can't live a positive
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: life thinking negative thoughts.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: You won't have a blessed.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: Day thinking about the offense and how unfair it was.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: You're not going to enjoy your life dwelling on your problems, worried, anxious,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: wondering if it's going to work out.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: No, you've got to guard your heart.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And I'm not talking about ignoring problems, acting like they
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: don't exist, shirking our responsibility. I'm talking about not letting
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: it get down on the inside. There are a lot
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: of things that we cannot change. Trust is saying, God,
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to let this upset me. I can't
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: make them like me. I can't make it work out
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: my way. But God, I know you're still on the throne.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: You're fighting my battles. So I'm going to stay in
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: peace and enjoy my life anyway. I learned this principle
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: from my father. He didn't live offended, upset, discouraged. He
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: learned how to keep his walls up. One time a
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: staff member came to him, told him about this big
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: problem in one of the departments of the church. It's
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: a complicated situation. Several people were involved. This staff member
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: was very stressed, almost panicked. He said to my father,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: what are we going to do? My father said, we're
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: not going to do anything right now. I'm going to
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: put it on a shelf and pray about it. That
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: was one of my father's favorite sayings. He didn't let
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: the panic, the worry get on the inside.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: He had his walls up.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: Most of the time, this big problem, This big situation
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: that he could have lost sleep over, could have worried about,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: over time, eventually, it would work itself out. When a
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: problem arises, it's easy to get riled up and think, well,
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: I've got to do something about this right now. I've
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: got to immediately solve this. No, be still and know
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: that he is God. Have the attitude like my father.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I'm going to put this on a shelf. I'm going
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: to pray about it, and I'm going to trust God
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: to work it out.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: If you allow the.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Panic in, then the worry will come. Then the stress,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: you won't make good decisions. God works when we're in peace.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: That's why you have to constantly guard your heart all
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: through the day, stuck in traffic. No, I'm not going
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: to let this stress in. At the office, somebody's playing politics,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: leaves you out.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: That's okay. I've got my walls up.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: I'm staying in peace. The grocery store, somebody's rude to you.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: You're tempted to get upset. No, I'm guarding my heart.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: I'm not letting that poison in. If you'll keep your
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: walls up, then when worry comes, offense, negative comments, it's
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: just like you have a big sign on the outside
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: that says you're not welcome here. I believe we can
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: get to the place where nothing offends us. That should
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: be our goal. I don't say this arrogantly, but you
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: cannot offend me. You know why?
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: I won't give you that power. Here's the key.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Nothing can offend you without your permission. People can say
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: whatever they want, but you have the right to ignore it.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: They can leave you out, but you have the right
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: to have a good attitude anyway. They can try to
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: belittle you, discredit you, but like David, you have the
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: right to walk away and enjoy your day. A man
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: said to me after a service one time, Joel, I
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: just didn't get anything.
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: Out of your message today. It just wasn't for me.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I thought to myself, I can't help it if there's
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: something wrong with you. I just smiled and said, well,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: you know what? I hope you come back next week.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: I know it will be.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: Here's the key.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: If you allow someone to offend you, you are giving
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: away your power. Years ago, a lady said to me,
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: the reason I quit coming to church, the reason I
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: haven't been there in two months is because everybody was
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: talking about me. I didn't say it, but I was thinking, lady,
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: everybody doesn't even know you. If you sit over here,
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: the people that sit up there probably have never even
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: seen you. Tens of thousands of people came up. She
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: thought everybody was against her. I wanted to say, no offense,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: but you're not that popular.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: Here's my point.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: When we're easily offended, everything is magnified. Everything is blown
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: out of proportion. Everybody's treating me badly. No, it was
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: just Eliab. He was the only one. Everybody's talking about me. No,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: everybody doesn't know you.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Put some walls up.
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: Quit giving away your power. Quit letting those offenses in.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Start ignoring the negative comments. Don't pay any attention to
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: the Eliabs. If the favor of God wasn't on your life,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: they would leave you alone. That opposition is a sure
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: sign God's hand is on you. He has an assignment
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: for you. There is something amazing in your future.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Now, do your part and quit.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: Allowing the same things to upset you, the same people
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: to get on your nerves. the same traffic to stress
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: you morning after morning, the same relative at the family reunion.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: To frustrate you.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Friends, life is too short to live that way. Every
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: day is a gift from God. What if you found
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: out you weren't going to be here in six months?
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: You learned that your time was coming to an end.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: How many of the things that upset you now would
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: you allow to continue to upset you? How much of
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the offense, the frustration, the stress, would you continue to
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: let in? If you don't keep your walls up, it
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: can keep you from the fullness of your destiny.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: When we come to the end of life.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: I can't think of anything that would be much sadder
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: than to have to look back and think, why did
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I waste so many days worried? Why did I live
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: stressed out? Why did I let those people keep me offended?
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Why didn't I guard my heart?
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: You can make that decision right now. Jesus put it
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: this way, very simple. Stop allowing yourself to be upset.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: He didn't say, I'll take away the offense, the rejection,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the disappointments, the stress. No, those things will come. You
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: can't allow them to upset you. In other words, you
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: got to put your foot down and say, that's it.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: I'm done worrying about my finances, my children, my health.
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: I'm not letting that worry in. I'm done being stressed
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: every time my plans don't work out. I'm not letting
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: the stress in. I'm done living sour because I had
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: a disappointment.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: I didn't get the promotion.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: I'm not allowing that poison in. Now the thoughts may
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: come to your mind, but don't let them get into
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: your spirit. Don't dwell on them. What we continually think
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: about drops down into our spirit.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: That's when it can poison us.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, when an enemy was going to
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: attack a city, the first thing they would do many
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: times would take these stones and throw them into the
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: wells to try to clog up the water supplies. These
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: people were called slingers. They would sling the stones from
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: a great distance. Once the water supply was cut off,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: the people would have to come.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: Out of the city. That's when they would attack. In
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: the same way, every one of us.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Has a well of good things on the inside, put
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: there by our creators. A well of joy, well of peace,
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: well of creativity, a well of victory.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: The scripture says.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: The problem too many times is we've allowed these slingers
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: to clog up our wells. When somebody says something derogatory,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: tries to discredit you, you know what they're doing? They're
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: throwing a stone towards your well. If you get offended... upset,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: thinking I'm going to have to pay them back, then
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: that stone lands in your well. It starts to clog
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: up the joy, the peace, the victory. They've accomplished their goal.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: But when you keep your wall.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Up, you don't get offended. You let it go.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: No big deal. That stone hits the wall, bounces off.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: And causes no damage. We all have slingers in life.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: You can't go through the week without having stones of
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: judgment thrown at you. Stones of offense, stones of doubt,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: stones of self-pity. We can't stop the slingers from slinging
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: the stones, but we can choose to have our walls
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: up and not let it affect us. And some of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: you today, you're not enjoying your life, you're enduring your life.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: It's because your well has become clogged. You've allowed some
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: of these stones to get in. Now it's keeping you
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: from experiencing the fullness of life, the fullness of joy.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: The good news is it doesn't have to stay that way.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: You can unclog your well. If you will forgive the
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: people that hurt you, let go of what didn't work out,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: shake off the offense, the bitterness, the disappointment, then the
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: well of good things put in you by your Creator
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: will begin to freely flow once again.
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: You will experience those rivers.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Of living water. That's my prayer for you today, that
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: you will see God's goodness in a new way, the
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: abundance of His favor. Now make the decision with me
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: to keep.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Your walls up. Guard your heart.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Remember, you only have so much emotional energy each day.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Don't waste it on things that don't matter. Don't spend
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: it trying to win people over that are never going
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: to be won over.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: Use it for your own goals, your own dreams.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: If you will keep those walls up and like David,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: walk away from offense, then I believe and declare no
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: weapon formed against you will ever prosper. You will rise
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: above every challenge, overcome every obstacle, and become everything God's
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: created you to be.
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: In Jesus' name.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: We never like to close our broadcast without giving you
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Would you pray with me?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: Just say, Lord Jesus.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: in a good Bible-based church.
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: Keep God first place.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: He's going to take you places that you've never dreamed of.