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Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message.
Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has great things in store for each one of you. He rewards the people that seek after him. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you these are the finest people of all of Houston right here at Lakewood. We'll make you feel right at home, but thanks for tuning in.
Thanks for coming out again. I like to start with something funny each week. And I heard about this lady that died and she found herself standing at the pearly gates. St. Peter said, you can't come in yet. You have to correctly spell a word. She said, what word? He said any word. So she spelled the word love L O V E. Peter said, welcome to heaven.
Then Peter asked if she would take his place for a moment. He instructed her to just follow the same procedure if anyone else should come up. Well, in a few minutes, the lady sees her ex-husband walking up. She can't believe it. She says, what are you doing here? He said, I just had a heart attack. Did I really make it to heaven? She said, not yet. You have to correctly spell a word. He said, what word? There was a long pause and she said, Czechoslovakia. Laughter
All right, hold up your Bible. 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 what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about the God of acceleration.
One thing I've learned is God doesn't always follow a natural timetable. You can be going along, being your best, living a life that honors him, and all of a sudden you come into favor to where you're thrust years ahead. What should have taken you five years, you accomplished in less than a year. What took your parents a lifetime to achieve, you achieve in a fraction of the time.
We are living in a day where God is speeding things up. I want you to get this down in your spirit. God is going to take you further, quicker than you've ever imagined. In your career, maybe it should take you 20 years to work your way up to the position you really want. Or that business should take 20 years to really build up and make it successful. Now you need to get ready. The God of acceleration is about to show up.
He's going to give you breaks that you didn't earn. He's going to move people so you can be promoted. He's going to help your gifts and talents come out to the full. It's not going to be business as usual. It's going to be business as unusual. You're going to look up and say, how did I get to where I am so quickly? Should have taken me 20 years and here I am five years later. That's the God of acceleration, speeding things up, thrusting you years ahead.
Maybe in your health, you've been told that it's going to take five years to recover from that illness. Five years of therapy and treatment and taking medicine. Now, the good news is God has another timeline and he's saying, I made your body. I know how to correct what's wrong. And if you'll stay in faith, I can speed up the process. You're going to get well quicker than you thought.
I talked to a gentleman last week that had had a stroke a while back. He was a young man in his early 50s. He had lost almost total control of his left side. He couldn't move his left arm and he had to drag this left leg and part of his face was paralyzed and
I asked him about his prognosis and he told through his slurred speech how the doctors had said it would probably take between three and five years of going to therapy five days a week for him to just regain partial control of the left side.
They clearly stated he would never be able to lift this left arm like he had before. I told him what I'm telling you. God can speed things up. He's in control. Keep believing. Keep hoping. I saw him six months later. The first thing he did was lift his arm way up in the air. He said, Joel, give me a high five. I said, I thought you said it was going to take five years to do that. He said, that's what they told me, but I did it in less than two months.
His therapist told him, I've been doing this for 30 years and I've never seen anything like this. What is that? God accelerating things. God is doing it faster than it's been done before. That's the day we're living in.
Some of you think that it's going to take years to accomplish your dreams and years to get out of debt and years to overcome that addiction. No, you don't know what God is up to. In your future, He has explosive blessings, blessings that will thrust you years ahead. You may be facing a sickness, but your attitude should be, Father, I want to thank you that you're accelerating my recovery. Thank you that I'm going to get well quicker than I've been told.
Maybe in your finances, when you run all the numbers and the projections and the calculations, you don't see how you could get out of debt for 122 years. But don't ever rule out the God of acceleration. He has ways to promote you that don't fall into your calculations.
Instead of going around thinking it's never going to happen. I'm so far behind. This is impossible. No, our report should be, I know I serve the God of acceleration. It may look like it's going to take 50 years, but I'm not moved by what I see. I'm moved by what I know. And I know right now God is speeding things up. He has increased and promotion coming my way. And I'm expecting his favor to accelerate things in my life.
That's what happened to us. When God gave us this beautiful facility, the former compact center, it thrust our ministry probably 50 years down the road. The respect and influence this gave us could have taken us our whole lifetime to earn on our own. But one touch of God's favor and it thrust us many years ahead.
My father went to be with the Lord 11 years ago this week. I was thinking about how just 11 years ago, I was working behind the scenes. I had never ministered before. I didn't go to seminary, never trained to do this. Most ministers start off in their early 20s. By the time they're 35, the age I was when my father went to be with the Lord and I took over, they already have 15 years experience.
But friends, God knows how to make up for lost time. He knows how to speed things up. And I went from never ministering before to ministering to people all over the world. And I say this humbly and respectfully, but God has thrust me far past the influence and the reach that my father ever had.
My father laid the foundation, but here's what I've learned. God wants every generation to increase. He wants you to accomplish what your parents did much quicker. And he is going to accelerate things in your life to where you look up and say like me, how in the world did I get to where I am?
How did I end up being a minister that's seen all over the world on television when a few years ago, I wouldn't even get up in front of the church and make the announcements? Friends, God's dream for your life is much bigger than your own. There is potential on the inside that you have not yet tapped into. There are seeds of greatness that are not only gonna take root, but God is going to accelerate bringing them to pass. He's going to make up for lost time.
You may have been in the background for years working hard, or maybe you've been overlooked for promotion that you deserved. Don't worry about it. Don't get discouraged. God is keeping the records. And when it's your time, he's going to thrust you to the foreground. You're not going to be sitting on the sidelines wishing you could do something great. No, you'll be in the game. You'll be making a mark that cannot be erased. God knows how to make up for lost time.
I think about the first miracle Jesus ever performed. He turned water into wine. He just attended a wedding. Afterwards, he was at this big reception, a big celebration. And right in the middle, they ran out of wine. Jesus' mother, Mary, came up and told him about the problem. Jesus said, mom, why are you telling me that? I can't do anything about it. My time has not yet come.
I can imagine Mary just smiled and she said to the workers, do me a favor. Whatever he asked you to do, just do it. Mary knew what he was capable of. And there were six stone water pots over to the side. They held about 30 gallons each. Jesus said to the workers, fill those pots up with water. They filled them up. And then he said, now dip out some of the water, which was now wine, and take it to the host of the party.
When the host tasted it, he called the groom over and said, this is amazing. Most people serve the best wine first. And then when people have had a lot to drink and they don't know any better, they'll bring out, you know what I mean? I don't, I don't drink, but anyway. Then they'll bring out the less expensive wine, but you've done just the opposite. You've saved the best wine for last.
And I was reading about how long it takes to make wine. It's a very lengthy process. It starts by, of course, planting the seed in the ground and the vines have to grow and produce grapes. The grapes have to develop. When they get mature and just right, they pick the grapes and eventually it's made into wine.
But the process from the time they plant the seed to the time they have wine is typically three to five years. And that's just average quality wine. But the better quality wine takes between five and seven years to make.
Not only that, to increase the quality and make it more valuable, sometimes they will age the wine, put it up on a shelf and leave it years and years. You've seen wine that's 20 years old, wine that's 30 years old. That would be considered the best wine. Here's what I want you to see. The first miracle Jesus ever performed, he took what should have taken 20 years and he did it in a split second.
What was normally a 20 year process, he did in a moment of time. You may think, how can I ever get to where I'm supposed to be? I am so far behind. No, God can take what should have taken you 20 years and get you there in a split second. Maybe it should take you years to get well, but just like Jesus sped up the process of making wine, he can speed up the process of you getting well.
Maybe in the natural, it should take you 20 years to pay your house off. You've run the calculations. That's according to the laws of economics. But the good news is God is in the accelerating business. He can give you one good break that'll thrust you 30 years down the road. What happened? He turned your water into wine. He sped up a natural process.
This is all a part of the Ephesians 320 decade. God is going to speed up natural laws and take you further quicker than you've ever imagined. It's one thing to go far and accomplish a lot in 80 or 90 years. That's great. That's commendable. But God wants to take you further quicker.
In other words, he wants you to accomplish 80 years worth of goals in half the time, or who knows, a quarter of the time. Maybe in the natural, you can see how one day you'll pay your house off 20 years from now. You've got it all calculated. Or you can see how one day you'll get that position that you really want. If you keep working hard 10 years from now, 20 years from now, your supervisor will retire. You'll have the seniority. You've got it all figured out.
It's good to have goals and plans and vision. But what I want you to see is God is accelerating things. In the coming days, he's going to turn your water into wine. That promotion should have taken you five years, but you need to get ready. God is speeding things up. That business should take 10 years to get off the ground. But right now, God is working behind the scenes. You know what he's doing? He's filling up your water pots.
That problem you're dealing with could drag on for another 20 years, but God is going to condense the time. It's going to work out much quicker than you thought. I talked to a lady several months ago. She was here in town from another state at the medical center. She had just been approved to be on the list for a liver transplant. She was told it would take between three and five years. She didn't know she could make it that long.
I encouraged her that God could heal her without the transplant or God could speed things up and cause it to happen sooner. We prayed and she went on her way. Few weeks later, I saw her back in the lobby again and she had a wristband from the hospital. I thought maybe something was wrong. She smiled real big and said, Joel, you are looking at a woman that has a brand new liver.
She got a call two weeks from the hospital after she had been put on that transplant list. It just so happened they had this liver available and didn't work out for anybody else. They said, if you can get here tonight, this is your liver. She jumped on a plane and immediately went into surgery. The good news is there were no complications. And she said, Joel, I feel better today than I felt since I was a teenager.
What happened? God turned her water into wine. God took what should have taken five years and did it in one month's time. That's the day we're living in. God is accelerating things. The apostle Paul said there in Ephesians 2, 7, in the ages to come, we would see the surpassing greatness of God's favor.
Paul wrote this ages ago. The day we're living in is the ages to come that he was talking about. I don't know about you, but I'm expecting acceleration. I'm expecting to go further, faster than I can in my own natural ability. I'm expecting God to show himself strong on my behalf.
And if you too will take the limits off of God, you will see God do amazing things. You'll look up and say, how in the world did I get to where I am? I'm not the most qualified, but I'm running the company.
I'm not the most talented, but they all ask me for advice. Or I never went to seminary, but I've got a pretty big church. Or it should have taken me till I retired, but I already paid my house off. One touch of God's favor can put you 30 years down the road. One good break, one promotion, one inheritance, one divine connection. Well, you say, Joel, you're just getting everybody's hopes up.
I don't believe God's going to accelerate things in my life. I don't believe this is going to happen for me. Then this is not for you. This is for believers. This is for people, people who will rise up and say, yes, Lord, I know you're the God of acceleration.
And if you did it for the wedding party years ago, if you took a 20 year process and did it in a split second, then I know you can accelerate things in my life. I know you can thrust me years and years ahead.
I have a friend that's 32 years old and right after he got out of college, he went to work at this huge corporation. I've known his parents and family for many years. They're good people. They love the Lord, but they've never risen any higher than they were 30 years ago. He just stayed at the same level as their parents and grandparents and there's nothing wrong with that, but I believe God wants every generation to increase.
And this young man has a big vision for his life. His dream was to one day be running a major corporation.
He started at the very bottom level at that company working in sales. He just kept giving it his best day in and day out. After three years, he was already in the top 5% of sales. They promoted him to a manager. The next year, he got a new account. It was the largest account in the company's history. That one good break immediately made him by far the top salesperson.
At 28 years old, he was appointed vice president. He covered all the Southwest. Things continued to fall into place. His boss left and went to another company. He got another promotion.
The CEO of this huge corporation was only 51 years old. Looked like he had another 20 years in him. But one day, unexpectedly, he went to the board and said, I'm going to resign and I would like to nominate this young man as my successor. They voted and today at 32 years old, he is the youngest CEO in that corporation's history. He is running a major company. They have thousands and thousands of employees.
Friends, that's God accelerating things. In the old days, that could have taken a lifetime, but in the day we're living in, God is turning water into wine.
It could have taken a lifetime to achieve, but if you will believe, if you will put your trust in him, if you'll live your life that honors God, then like this young man, God will give you good breaks. He'll open the right doors. He'll move people out of the way. He'll cause you to stand out in the crowd. He'll let his face shine down on you and you will accomplish goals in a fraction of the time.
This is what happened to David. As a teenager, God put a big dream in his heart. He knew one day he was going to do great things, but year after year went by and he didn't see anything happening. He was stuck out in the lonely shepherd's fields taking care of his father's sheep. Nobody knew him. He didn't have any influence. Nobody paid him much attention. Now I'm sure he felt like he was falling behind, like he would never get to where God wanted him to be.
One day, David went out and faced Goliath. He didn't have any military training. All the odds were against him, but he knew the most high God was with him. And when David defeated Goliath, in a split second, he became an instant national hero. In a split second, he had this influence and credibility that could have taken him his whole lifetime to earn on his own. What happened? God turned his water into wines.
One touch of God's favor thrust him many, many years ahead. What's interesting is God used an obstacle to promote David. When you face giants in your own life, disappointments, setbacks, things don't work out, don't get discouraged. That adversity could be the very thing God's gonna use to promote you. That could be where you see God speed up the time and you accomplish something that should have taken you your whole lifetime.
And like David, you may feel like that you've fallen behind. You're not where you'd hoped to be in life. You've got big dreams in your heart, but you haven't had any good breaks. Doors have closed. You haven't seen things work out. It's easy to get discouraged.
But let me challenge you. If you will just keep being your best day in and day out, if you will live a life that honors God, God will not only make up for lost time, but he will thrust you further. He will do more than you can even ask or think.
Years ago, a friend of mine wanted to buy some property to build a school on. He had a few acres, but he needed more. Right behind him, there were 10 acres directly connected to his property. He had paid $4,000 an acre for his land. And when he inquired about the 10 acres behind him, they said they wanted $25,000 an acre, more than five times what he had paid.
He prayed about it, but he just didn't feel good. He didn't think those 10 acres were worth a quarter of a million dollars. So he passed. He said, no thanks. Down deep, he was very disappointed. He knew he was supposed to build this school. That was the dream God put in his heart. A year went by and he didn't see anything happening. Another year and three years, four years. He felt like he was falling way behind.
The good news is God has not forgotten how to turn water into wine. God knows how to take a 20 year process and cause it to happen in a split second.
One day out of the blue, this government official came by his office unannounced, never even invited him. And he said, we've got 120 acres right out in front of your property. It all has street frontage. It's been foreclosed on five times. We've sold it and had to take it back again and again. But he said, I've been authorized to sell you this property if you're interested in it. Just make us an offer and we'll see if we can't work something out.
It just so happened that that 120 acres had nine buildings on it that he could easily use for a school. Right then and there, he offered the man $200,000. The man shook his hand and said, you've got a deal. He got all 120 acres with nine buildings, much better property for less money than they wanted for the 10 acres behind him. That one good break thrust him years ahead.
Now, he not only has a beautiful campus, but he has enough property for the next generation to expand. What happened? God turned his water into wine. God took what should have taken him 50 years and gave it to him in a split second. Some of you today, you've been through setbacks. Something didn't work out. It's taken longer than you'd hoped, but you need to get ready. God is about to make up for lost time. Right now, he's filling up your water pots.
You may not see how you could ever get to where you want to be, but don't ever rule out the God of acceleration. He can give you one good break that will put you 30 years down the road. One touch of God's favor and you'll go from thinking that it's never going to happen to saying, wow, God, you've amazed me with your goodness. You've done more than I can even ask or think.
One time in the Old Testament, David and his men were out protecting the borders of Israel. While they were away, some bandits came into their hometown, attacked the city, burned it down, stole all their possessions, and kidnapped their wives and children. It was the greatest defeat that David had ever suffered.
When he and his men came back and saw the city in ruins and realized that their families were gone, they wept until they could not weep anymore. David thought it was over. He didn't think he would ever get to where God wanted him to be. You've heard that saying, when you're down to nothing, God is up to something. It looked like a permanent setback, but the fact is God was in complete control. God was getting the water pots out. God was about to make up for lost time.
David and his men shook off that discouragement. They went out and attacked the enemy. And the scripture says they recovered everything that had been stolen. They got their wives and children back. They got their possessions back. Not only that, on that same day, King Saul was killed in another battle and David was appointed king. This all happened just three days after his greatest defeat.
Just three days from his darkest hour, David not only saw God help him overcome an obstacle, but God promoted him and put him on the throne of Israel. What am I saying? In your darkest moment, you could be just 72 hours from your greatest victory. Sometimes we think...
It's going to take me years and years to get out of this problem. This is a major challenge. I don't see how it could ever work out. No, God still knows how to turn water into wine. God can accelerate your victory. You don't know, like David, it could be just 72 hours before your situation turns around. It could be just 72 hours before you get the break you need. Could be just another three days before that problem is totally resolved.
Like David, God is not going to just bring you out. He's going to bring you out promoted. He's going to use that adversity to thrust you years ahead. Now I want you to get these two words down in your spirit, further, quicker. God is speeding things up. You're going to see acceleration in your life. It's not going to take you your lifetime to accomplish your dreams. God is breathing in your direction. It's going to happen in a fraction of the time.
It's not going to take you 30 years to pay off your house. Supernatural increase is coming your way. It's going to happen quicker than you think. It's not going to take you 10 years to get out of that problem, 10 years to overcome that addiction, 10 years to get out of debt. No, God is going to cause things to fall into place to where it happens suddenly much faster than you thought.
You may be facing today the greatest challenge that you've ever faced. Or maybe you just went through the greatest setback in your whole life. But remember, just like David, you could be just 72 hours away from your greatest victory.
Friends, we are living in the day that Paul talked about where we're going to see the surpassing greatness of God's favor. This is the day when God is speeding things up. And I'm asking you to make room for acceleration. Get up every morning and say, Father, I want to thank you that you're accelerating things in my life. Thank you that you're turning my water into wine.
If you do that, you will see God do amazing things. You will not only accomplish every dream and overcome every obstacle, but it will happen quicker than you think in a fraction of the time to where you think, how in the world did I get to where I am so quickly? Here's how. It was the God of acceleration. Amen. Do you believe it today? Do you receive it?
We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take you places you've never dreamed of. God has put a specific dream in your heart.
Maybe it's a dream for a better career, a blessing that enables you to bless others, to be in a healthy, loving relationship, to launch your own business or ministry endeavor. We all have dreams, but sometimes setbacks and opposition can rob us of our dreams. So how do you make your dreams a reality?
One way you know it's a God-given dream is you can't accomplish it on your own. We never thought we'd be having church in a former basketball arena, but this is what can happen when you take the limits off of God. When you believe what God put in your heart, that's when He steps in and makes ways where you never saw ways. I'd love to send you my newest book, It's Time to Dream Again. It'll help you to hold on to what God promised and not get discouraged by how impossible it looks or how long it's taking.
You are closer than you think. God's working behind the scenes right now. Stay in faith. You're going to see the greatness of God bring your dreams to pass.
As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount to the ministry this month, Joel and Victoria would like to send you this dream-releasing, life-affirming book, It's Time to Dream Again. You might sense that your dreams have been buried, but with this book, you'll see that they are actually a hidden treasure just waiting to be uncovered and come to life.
God's plan for you is significant. His dreams for you are beyond what you could imagine. Don't wait another day. It's time to dream again. This book will help you gain a fresh perspective for your dreams and to believe for everything God has put in your heart. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is making a difference around the world.
Remember, you can watch the services live online every Sunday. Download the daily podcast or our YouTube channel. Listen on Sirius XM. We will keep you encouraged and inspired. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of It's Time to Dream Again today. Visit joelostein.com or call 888-567-JOEL.