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  • 2 days ago
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00:00so honored to have you in the house of the Lord we're gonna have a great summer here at Lakewood
00:05thanks for what the scripture says when you're planted in the house of the Lord you will flourish
00:09every week I want you to keep that in your heart when you walk out Lord I think I'm gonna flourish
00:14this week in every good area we speak that blessing over you and if you're visiting we're
00:19very honored to have you I love to meet you I'm always in the lobby back there after the service
00:25kind of by the bookstore and be my joy to shake your hand if you got a minute but
00:29again thanks for coming out I want to ask you when you see yourself on the big screen can you
00:34give our TV audience a great big Lakewood welcome well God bless you it's great to be with you today
00:43and I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast our YouTube channel
00:48social media and you can come visit us in person we'd love to have you be a part of one of our
00:54services I'd like to talk with something funny and somebody sent me this funny thought and I kind
00:59of liked it but here's how it goes in the beginning God created the earth and rested then God created
01:06man and rested next God created women and since then neither God nor man has rested a lady asked my
01:15father one time she said where would you men be without us women my father smiled and said in the garden of
01:22Eden say it like you mean it this is my Bible I am what it says I am I have what it says I have I can do
01:32what it says I can do today I will be taught the word of God I boldly confess my mind is alert my heart
01:40is receptive I will never be the same I'm about to receive the incorruptible indestructible ever living
01:48seed of the word of God I'll never be the same never never never I'll never be the same in Jesus name
01:56God bless you
01:57if you'd like to open your Bibles to Esther chapter 5 you're welcome to Esther chapter 5 we'll put
02:05scriptures up on the screen as well and most of you know we have great services all week the Spanish
02:11speaking two o'clock this afternoon then we got a conference coming up and a lot of great things you
02:17can check out the web a lot of good areas we can help you in but again honored to have you with us
02:21today I want to talk to you today about not counting on people sometimes we're getting our worth and value
02:29from how people treat us if they're kind and compliment us and invite us to their event acknowledge our gifts
02:38then we'll feel good about ourselves we have their approval their validation and it's great when people
02:44are for us make us feel valuable but the problem with counting on people is people can change people
02:53can get busy people can become jealous people can be discouraged they can't keep you cheered up
02:59they have their own issues they never compliment themselves they're probably not going to compliment
03:05you and instead of looking to people you have to go to God no matter how much someone loves you and
03:12how much they want the best for you they can't give you everything you need they can't always be
03:19there to cheer you up keep you encouraged feeling confident let them off the hook that's a lot of pressure for
03:26someone to know they have to keep you fixed they have to compliment you three times a day tell you how great
03:33you are how you're going to make it they want the best for you but at some point they'll let you down
03:39they're human god never designed us to get that all from people but from him and yes he'll use people
03:47but don't be surprised when he pulls that back and you don't get from them what you used to he's teaching
03:54you to depend on him and not their approval their compliments their encouragement because that's
04:01temporary that's dependent on what's going on in their life and sometimes the acceptance the approval
04:08we're longing for from people they don't have it to give nobody gave it to them the way you want them
04:16to love you respect you and make you feel important they never saw that growing up nobody put that in
04:23them are you trying to get something from someone that they don't have to give trying to convince that
04:30co-worker to acknowledge just one time that you're talented that you have good ideas or that family
04:38member to accept you include you make you feel welcome no matter what you do it's like you're
04:44secondary not good enough no stop counting on people to give you something they don't have they love
04:51you sure they're a good person if they had it they would give it try a different approach god i know
04:58you accept me you approve me you call me a masterpiece you said i can do all things through christ
05:05get your approval from almighty god sometimes we're trying to get something from a person
05:12that's never going to give it not because they can't give it but they don't want to they're never
05:19going to be for us never show us respect never acknowledge our gifts that's okay everyone is not
05:26supposed to be for you if you don't realize this you'll get stuck trying to change people's mind
05:32thinking i got to win them over and prove that i'm a good person convince them that they're wrong about
05:39me all that's going to do is frustrate you cause you to live stress you have to let it go and move
05:46forward you don't need their approval well joe they don't respect me you don't need their respect
05:53they don't acknowledge my gifts you don't need their acknowledgement you know what they are a
05:59distraction the enemy would love for you to waste your time trying to change something that you can't
06:06change living stressed over someone that doesn't really matter they cannot stop your destiny
06:13them not being for you doesn't lessen your value not recognizing your talent downplaying your
06:21accomplishments treating you like your inferior that doesn't change the fact that you're a
06:27masterpiece that you have seeds of greatness that you're wearing a crown of favor why are you
06:33wasting time trying to get something from someone that they're never going to give jesus told his
06:40disciples when you go into a city and they don't accept your message they don't welcome you he didn't
06:47say stay there and try to convince him to change tell them how good you are how sincere prove your
06:54talent no he said shake the dust off your feet and move on he was saying don't waste another minute
07:02trying to convince people to like you respect you include you come see you we spend too much time
07:10trying to win people over that are never going to be for us trying to get something that they're never
07:17going to give and this can be difficult especially when it's people close to us we long for approval
07:24from our relatives the people we look up to but think about david in the scripture his father didn't
07:31really believe in him he discounted him and left him out in the shepherd's fields when samuel came
07:38to anoint one of the sons as the next king he thought david it's not him he's too small too young
07:45he's not as talented as his brothers david could have lived bitter upset trying to convince his
07:52father to change his mind but he shook it off and moved forward when he took lunch to his brothers
07:58they were in the army in another city and he was being kind doing them a favor the oldest brother
08:07eliab belittled him in front of the other soldiers he said david what are you doing here and what did
08:14you do with those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of he tried to make david feel small
08:20insignificant you would think his brother would say david thanks for coming so far thanks for being so
08:27kind and generous but people may not give you what you deserve sometimes they don't have it it's just
08:34not in them other times they're jealous competitive or they're bitter from things that have nothing to
08:41do with you it's easy to try to defend and prove and win over because we want people's approval but
08:50what if you knew they were never going to give it if you became superman you were the greatest
08:56kindest most loving talented person ever yet they're still going to discredit dismiss downplay who you are
09:04it's much better to do what jesus said shake the dust off and move on be kind be respectful but don't
09:12try to win their approval you don't need it they're a distraction when that brother disrespected david
09:21the scripture says david turned and walked away his attitude was i don't need your respect you don't have
09:29to believe in me you don't control my destiny but had david tried to change eliab's mind and convince
09:36him that he was good talented i'm not what you think he would have been so distracted arguing trying to win
09:46him over that he wouldn't have heard goliath up on the mountain don't miss your assignment trying to
09:53convince people to be for you that are never going to be for you fighting battles that don't matter
09:59shake the dust off and move forward when my father went to be with the lord and i stepped up to pastor
10:06the church there was a man that had been close to our family and had been here for many years he called
10:14and told me how happy he was for me then he went on to tell me how to run the church how to lead the
10:21staff and who to hire what i should speak on and the changes i should make he was very opinionated and
10:28very strong i was very insecure and very quiet but something on the inside rose up like a lion
10:37i didn't say anything to him but i thought you are not going to squeeze me into your mold i may look
10:44weak but you have another thing coming and he was for me as long as i was doing what he wanted
10:52he gave me his approval as long as i was in his box the problem was i didn't like anything he told me
11:01he didn't bear witness to my spirit i had to decide am i going to do what god's called me to do
11:08or am i going to try to please this man and stay in his good grace and i knew if i did what god put
11:15in my heart he'd get upset he'd be offended he'd look down on me but the scripture says it is better
11:22to please god than to please people when we come to the end of life we're not going to stand before
11:29people we're going to stand before god and i didn't take his advice i went the way i felt in my heart
11:37he wasn't happy he was upset but i've learned if you try to keep everyone else happy you're going
11:44to be unhappy to fulfill your assignment there will be people that don't approve don't accept
11:51misunderstand you can't worry about all that i knew he was never going to give me his approval
11:59he was never going to be for me but that's okay i didn't need his approval i didn't need him to cheer
12:05me on if i had done it his way here's what i know it would have never been enough there would
12:12always be some way i wasn't measuring up need to do more of this joel less of this striving straining
12:18trying to keep him happy make sure he respects me that's no way to live take the pressure off you
12:26don't need people's applause do what god put in your heart and you'll hear his applause he's the
12:32one that matters promotion doesn't come from people it comes from god and the funny thing and
12:40all credit to god but the church grew and we moved here into the compact center i've had books media go
12:47out all over he never once acknowledged it he never once called back and said joel i'm so proud of you
12:54it's amazing what god has done my point is he was never really for me he was for manipulating me
13:01controlling me if you don't do what i want i'm not going to give you my approval i'm not going to
13:08respect you do yourself a favor shake that dust off and move on quit worrying about if you're going to
13:16fall out of someone's good grace trying to get something that they're never going to give
13:22or if they do give it it's going to be conditional as long as you stay in my box then i'll approve you
13:28you don't need them they're a distraction if you're not aware you'll waste time and energy
13:36trying to win them over letting people manipulate you being frustrated life is too short to live that
13:44way you have a destiny to fulfill there was a man in the scripture named haman he was a high-ranking
13:51official in the persian empire the right-hand man of king erxes he had this prominent position
13:58working daily with the king and when he walked out of the palace people would bow down to show their
14:05respect that was their tradition but there was a jewish man named mordecai that wouldn't bow down
14:12he would only bow to jehovah well everywhere haman went people would show their respect walking down
14:19the street or going to a restaurant in the city square people were constantly acknowledging haman
14:26showing him honor you would think he wouldn't worry about mordecai not given the time of day one person
14:35won't bow big deal hundreds of others do but verse 5 says when haman saw that mordecai would not kneel
14:43down or pay him honor he was filled with rage he was furious not because someone tried to harm his child
14:52steal his funds take his position all because one man wouldn't show respect he was so angry so offended
15:02verse 6 says he decided it was not enough to just get rid of mordecai alone but he was going to
15:10annihilate all the jewish people was so consumed trying to get something from mordecai that mordecai was
15:18never going to give that he got distracted lost his focus now he's not just upset with mordecai
15:25he's going to try to wipe out tens of thousands of people because one man won't show him respect
15:32when you look at it from the big picture it's almost comical you're going to upend your whole life
15:39take these drastic measures because one man has offended you one person won't approve you won't
15:47celebrate your position the fact is mordecai not bowing down wouldn't have stopped haman's destiny
15:54he could have ignored it thought i don't need his respect he doesn't control my purpose but it was a
16:01trick to get him off course engaged in a battle that didn't matter trying to get something from someone
16:08that they were never going to give how many of us are doing like haman so focused on what someone
16:15won't give us joel they won't approve me they don't show me respect they won't compliment me
16:21they don't invite me to their gathering they don't recognize my talent we can get so set on changing them
16:29fixing them proving to them that we get distracted and miss our assignment you don't need their respect
16:37you don't need them to be for you it may be someone close to you a relative a co-worker that
16:44should compliment you they should be grateful and show you respect you deserve it you have the
16:49position you've been good to them but you can't make people give you something make them like you
16:56make them before you that's a test are you going to get distracted trying to get something that they're
17:04never going to get live upset trying to pay them back change their mind do like david turn and walk
17:13away don't pay it any attention if you needed their respect their validation their support you would have
17:22it god is not going to withhold any good thing you need if they're withholding it they can't stand
17:29against god the right attitude is i don't need it yes i wish i had it but god i'm not depending
17:36on what people give or don't give my trust is in you i get my value my worth my encouragement from you
17:44well queen esther was a jew and she heard a haman's plan to destroy her people she asked the king
17:53if he would have dinner with her and haman she was going to tell him about this plot well haman was
17:59so happy he was being honored by the king verse 10 says he gathered his friends in his home and bragged
18:07about his wealth the honors the king had given him and how he'd been promoted over the other leaders
18:14how queen esther had invited him to a private banquet which is her and the king was so excited feeling
18:22good about himself then he said the next verse but all this is meaningless to me as long as i see
18:29mordecai sitting there at that palace gate he had all these great things going for him position
18:35influence friends honor but one man wouldn't show him respect one man wouldn't give him what he wanted
18:44instead of letting it go shaking the dust off he stayed focused on it he thought i gotta fix
18:51mordecai if it's the last thing i do you know it was the last thing he did he lost he lost his life
18:58trying to get something from someone that they were never going to give and i realized this was the plan
19:05of god to save the jews but look at the principle when you get so focused on trying to get something
19:12from someone that doesn't want to give it or perhaps they don't have it to give then you'll get
19:19distracted trying to prove and convince and pay back do yourself a favor if you don't get it shake
19:27it off you don't need it quit counting on people to give you what only god can give go to him for your
19:35approval your validation your worth because i can promise you there will always be someone that doesn't
19:42give you what you want what you deserve what they should these are tests we can get offended like
19:50haman get distracted and try to win them over change their mind or we can do like david and turn and walk
19:58away a friend of mine grew up in a single parent home at five years old his father walked out of his
20:07life and wouldn't have anything to do with the family or him as a child he longed to see his father
20:13longed for the the approval but the dad wouldn't return his mother's calls as a teenager he would send
20:21his father's letters father's day cards birthday cards hoping for some kind of reply but nothing
20:28the psalmist said god will be a father to the fatherless sometimes people don't give us what they
20:36should children should have love acceptance approval from their parents but life can happen
20:43people aren't around they never got it as a child they don't know how to give it this young man never
20:51got offended didn't grow up bitter and trying to prove to people he was okay his mother was always
20:58reminding him how he was made in the image of god and that he was a masterpiece approved and accepted by his
21:05heavenly father 30 years old his father reached out and said he wanted to see him my friend took his
21:13two little girls flew to a different city and showed up at the house the wife opened the door and said i'm
21:19so sorry but your dad has changed his mind he doesn't want to see you after all you can imagine how
21:26heartbreaking discouraging finally got his hopes up going to get approval from his father but it never
21:33happened some people it's not that they don't want to they just don't have it to give he learned that
21:41his father had been abandoned as a child and there were all these wounds and hurts that he had never
21:48dealt with the amazing thing is my friend is one of the most happy kind generous talented people that you
21:56will ever meet his children are now grown and successful you would never know that he didn't have a great
22:02upbringing it's because he learned to go to god and not to people get your value your worth your approval
22:10from your heavenly father because if you're trying to get it from people you can be disappointed
22:17people can let you down people have issues things that they didn't get it's easy to find fault man why
22:24wasn't i raised in a better environment why won't my spouse encourage me more why won't my friend
22:31acknowledge my accomplishments why don't they give me credit it's almost like they owe me something i'm
22:37expecting you to give me this a better way to live is nobody owes me anything my heavenly father takes
22:45care of me if not we're dependent on people to keep us happy our spouse to cheer us up our friend to make
22:53us feel valued this co-worker needs to show me respect so i feel good about myself need to get that
23:00parent that walked away to acknowledge how great i am let them off the hook quit going to people and
23:07start going to god second timothy four the apostle paul was talking about opposition and things that
23:14had come against him he said in verse 10 demas has forsaken me and gone to another city someone he was
23:22counting on left him verse 14 alexander the coppersmith did me great wrong but the lord
23:28will repay him verse 16 at my trial no one came to support me everyone deserted me but the lord stood
23:37by my side and gave me strength the lord will rescue me from every attack the lord will bring me safely
23:44through look at all the times people let him down walked away and weren't loyal he could have been
23:51bitter why did this happen trying to pay them back but every time someone did him wrong he said the lord
23:58will help me the lord will pay me back the lord will rescue me the lord will bring me safely through
24:04he wasn't depending on people he was depending on god if he was counting on people he would have been
24:11discouraged and given up demas left him his main man he'd been good to demas he'd mentored him but he
24:19abandoned paul went to another city at his trial no one came to support him his whole staff friends
24:26followers people he had been good to sorry paul you're on your own there will be these times that
24:34people can't give you what you need they're good people but they're busy they're tired when you need
24:41them they can't make it don't get bitter don't try to make them feel guilty look at all i've done for
24:48you if they can't give you what you're looking for the support the encouragement the validation
24:54you don't need it from them as you mature as you grow god will wean you off of what you used to have
25:03like a mother takes away a bottle so the baby can grow and eat real food god will take away
25:11what a person is giving you so you won't be dependent on them you don't need a crutch you
25:17don't need someone to always keep you fixed cheered up motivated that's good for a season but you have
25:23to learn to get that from god and not people because one of your people may be a demas you thought i was
25:31going to say a demon a demas maybe that too demas left you when you really needed him or a peter he
25:39said jesus i'll always be with you you can count on me but when the soldier showed up he denied that
25:46he knew jesus or a king saul he invited david to the palace he was all for him until david started
25:54getting more attention more favor he killed a giant now saul was throwing spears jealous trying
26:01to take david out that's why you can't count on people they can change it's great when they give
26:08you the support the love the compliments sure god will have people that are there for you like that
26:13loyal kind amazing but sometimes god pulls them back you have to recognize what's happening
26:21you're growing up god's getting you prepared to go to new levels where you're going you can't depend
26:28on people it's between you and god second samuel david told his staff that he wanted to take a census
26:36and see how many people they had but god told david specifically to not count the people one of the
26:44commanders said david we can't take a census you know god instructed us not to do it david insisted
26:50they ended up doing it but it's interesting that god didn't want them to count god counted the
26:57people when he fed the five thousand five loaves and two fish he had them sit in groups of 50
27:02god counted gideon's men said you got too many the scripture says god counts the number of hair on our
27:09head it wasn't so much that god didn't want david to count the people he didn't want david to count on
27:16the people he didn't want him to rely on the numbers and on do they like me do they respect me
27:24are they for me don't count on that because sooner or later a demas will show up a saul a mordecai that
27:32won't give you what you want if you're counting on people you'll get distracted trying to win them over
27:38discouraged because they won't do what you want are you trying to get something from someone that's
27:44never going to give it like hayman frustrating yourself trying to convince this person to like
27:51you respect you approve you take the pressure off you don't need their approval don't lose your focus
27:58trying to get from them what god can give they don't have to be for you their disrespect will not
28:05keep you from slaying giants from taking thrones from setting new standards they don't control your
28:11destiny quit counting on the people and go to god if you'll do this i believe and declare god is going
28:19to strengthen you favor you fight your battles you will rise higher encompass dreams and become all
28:27you were created to be in jesus name and if you receive it can you say amen
28:33let's pray together if you have five minutes just stick with me we'll seal it in prayer lord thank
28:41you for what we've heard today i know it falls on great ground faithful people here at lakewood and
28:46many watching and listening lord show us areas that we're depending too much on people lord help us to
28:54see any kind of things that are holding us back and lord we commit today we're gonna let people off the
29:00hook lord we're gonna give them the grace to to be who they are but lord we're gonna look to you
29:06and lord i thank you that we're gonna know that's a sign that you're growing us up taking us to new
29:11levels and i just thank you father that we receive your approval today all that people won't give lord
29:18we just receive you smiling on us approving us accepting us putting that crown of favor on our lives
29:26and lord i just speak your victory over your people as they go out this week their children
29:31your angels watching after them protecting them guarding guiding a favor-filled week in jesus name
29:38with our heads bowed in prayer just a couple minutes if your heart stopped beating in the next few minutes
29:45are you at peace with god do you know where you'd spend eternity if you died a little while from now
29:52if not i would love to pray with you i'm not here to condemn anybody i'm here to help you find a new
30:01beginning i know this comes from a personal relationship with jesus christ in just a moment
30:09if you're not at peace with the lord or maybe you are a christian but you've grown cold toward god
30:15you know you need to rededicate recommit your life to christ if that's you in just a moment i'm going
30:22to ask you to take a step of faith and stand right where you are and we'll pray together i can't think
30:29of a better time to get on the road to victory than right now god is not mad at you your sins have
30:37already been forgiven all you have to do is accept the free gift of christ's salvation will you do it
30:44today the enemy will whisper in your thoughts do it next week do it another time listen the bible says
30:52today is the day of salvation you're not hearing this by accident well joe it's embarrassing to stand
30:59in front of everyone have people at the house i can't lift my hand listen to what jesus said if you
31:05won't be ashamed of me before people then i won't be ashamed of you before my father in heaven
31:12i'm going to give you a great opportunity to show god that you're not ashamed of him if you're not
31:19at peace with the lord or you just need to recommit rededicate you need to need that new beginning
31:26that fresh new start if that's you would you be bold take that step of faith and stand right where
31:33you are and we'll pray together would you do that come on lakewood let's give them a hand
31:37as they stand all over the building
31:40come on don't put it off i feel like there ought to be others your heart's beating fast
31:49don't go home without peace anybody else up top still standing lakewood anybody else anybody else
31:56watching
31:57well god bless you and please remain standing if you don't mind but i got to tell you how proud we
32:06are of you i know that took courage to stand and i know this the angels are rejoicing in the heavens
32:12right now god will never be ashamed of you because you took this step of faith the scripture says that
32:18whoever calls on the name of the lord will be saved i want to help you to call today do you mind
32:24all praying this after me lord jesus i repent of my sins come into my heart
32:32i make you my lord and savior amen we're going to send in one more moment i want to tell you again
32:40how much we love you i also want to give you a personal invitation and a challenge to come back and be
32:46with us on a regular basis we ask new believers give us the next year of your life just like you go to
32:54work for the next year make it a priority that you're going to be here every time you can i'll
32:59make a promise to you before that year is over your life will never be the same for the better
33:04we're going to help you grow and become who god's created you to be i know you're busy on sundays a lot
33:11of times it's a day off but i can promise you this there is a blessing on your life when you get into
33:18a community of faith and put god first place your new week will go better and we'd love to have you
33:24here at lakewood you can join some of our teams i'm not i don't mean put you to work i want you to
33:29meet some amazing friends greeters ushers choir the young people we've got thousands of volunteers
33:34you can get on a team people that'll love you there'll be lifelong friends you can make if you'll
33:39come and get plugged in i hope you'll take me up on that hey after service right over here
33:42there's a room called new beginnings if you need anything information prayer anything i'm gonna be
33:48that way you got a moment too busy today stop by sometime i'd love to meet you and your family
33:54great classes after service as well but know this the moment you stood up god washed away all your
34:00sins your mistakes your failures you are starting with a fresh clean slate write it down in your bible
34:07it's june 22nd 2025 a new day of victory in your life in jesus name amen amen well let's all stand
34:15together if you would please thanks for coming out today how many of you going home better off than
34:20you were before amen all right guys let me speak a blessing until we meet again may the lord bless you
34:27and keep you may the lord show you his favor and have mercy on you and may the lord watch over you
34:33and give you his peace god bless you we love you very much have a favor-filled week see you back