My notes from Sunday 2/2/14
8:30 am Service at Lakewood Church
This year it’s been on Joyce’s heart to preach about attitude.
We can’t do anything apart from God but anything God asks us to do He gives us the ability to do.
Everybody wants to have a good life.
But not everybody is doing what they need to be doing to have that life.
Passivity is one of the devil’s greatest deceptions.
Very few people are willing to do what’s right even if they’re the only one that’s doing it.
Today we’re talking about a patient attitude.
5 areas about impatience
Joyce has overcome certain degrees of impatience because impatience was probably her number one weakness.
Joyce used to be very impatient with God.
God doesn’t always do things on our timetable.
It can be frustrating when you know God is able but not doing it (yet).
No matter how aggravated you get you won’t rush God.
You may as well learn how to wait well.
My times are in Your hands.
I know You have a plan for me.
No devil in hell can keep me from God’s perfect plan.
It’s hard when you see the dream so clearly and you know it’s what God wants for you.
But God has to prepare you for the thing.
Impatience with People
How do you act while you’re waiting in line?
With a slow or incompetent clerk?
Joyce used to pray about which line to get in.
Because she’d almost lose her salvation over slow clerks.
She was so aggravated.
But God always led her to the slowest line.
Impatience in the vines Greek dictionary defined as a fruit of spirit that only grows under trial.
People fear patience because they don’t want trials.
But when you have patience you are perfect and entire wanting nothing.
Joyce then had to deal with no clerks after mastering the slow clerks.
How do you act when you ask someone to do something and they don’t do it the first time?
How do you act when someone brings you something totally different than what you asked for?
Our bad attitudes make people who are doing their best feel bad.
God puts us with people that irritate us on purpose.
Won’t do you any good to try to get away because God will give you a new batch.
And flash – God is using you on somebody else.
God’s got a plan.
Most of the time Joyce treats people pretty good because she realizes it offends God to mistreat people.
To represent Christ we need to have a patient attitude.
You can be impatient with yourself.
Joyce told God this is what it is.
You knew what You were getting when You picked me.
I’m tired of apologizing for myself (not that God was asking her to apologize).
Learn how to enjoy yourself with all your imperfections and all your weaknesses knowing that you are no surprise to God.
God loves you unconditionally and won’t give up on you.
There’s the area of being impatient with objects and things.
Joyce has a problem with packaging.
A bottle of eye drops with all the child proofing.
Joyce gets frustrated with opening difficult things.
This year Joyce’s goal is to be free from being upset with packaging.
The way to get free is to go over it until it doesn’t bother you anymore.
Joyce also has a stray disobedient hair.
She got frustrated and cut it yesterday but now it’s too short.
Another impatience issue is when you can’t fully enter in to what you’re doing because you’re already focused on the next thing.
(Impatience with the Present Moment)
So you’re never anywhere because your mind is always somewhere else.
Joyce has trouble staying where she’s at.
‘Let’s get to that next thing’.
When riding in the car and close to home Joyce takes her seatbelt off.
Her daughter said “Mother would you let me park the car before you get out of it?”
If you’re fast you’re probably married to a slow one.
If you don’t have patience with God you’ll get into works of the flesh.
My bright ideas on how to get what I want in my timing instead of waiting on God.
In Genesis we saw Abraham and Sarah tired of waiting on God so Sarah got a bright idea.
Joyce was very good at “bright ideas”.
Nothing works unless it originates with God.
He’s the author and the finisher and He’s not obligated to finish anything He didn’t start.
How can you discern works of the flesh?
Works of the flesh don’t work.
God isn’t asking us to do anything but believe and do what He says when we get instructions.
Joyce was frustrated trying to make her ministry go.
Frustration equals works of the flesh.
It means you’re trying to make something happen that only God can do.
Works of the flesh = frustration.
You can’t make one of your relatives love God.
If they don’t want it for themselves you’ll just ruin your life trying to force it on them.
Pray for them and let God work.
They’ll probably act worse before they act better.
You ever pray for someone and think “well that didn’t work”?
Joyce used to pray that Dave would stop liking sports.
Get a realization that what you’re doing isn’t working.
Let God be God in your life.
Only patience allows us to enjoy the present moment that we have.
If you don’t want to be where you are then you're not enjoying your life.
If you want to drive the devil mad learn how to enjoy every single thing that we do no matter how mundane it is.
God doesn’t want us just to enjoy Fridays and vacations and parties.
He wants us to enjoy every single solitary moment that He gives us.
The greatest present is the present moment that we have.
Take the time and get honest and ask how much of my life do I really enjoy?
John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows).
One of the greatest tragedies is not to enjoy every moment.
Joyce wasn’t enjoying her ministry because she was so intent on making it grow.
Hundreds of people in ministry aren’t enjoying it because they were trying to get somewhere else.
The greatest job in the world yet all these ministers were miserable because they were so focused on growth, what they didn’t have, etc.
We’ll be happy when…
Bigger church, bigger house, better job, etc
If you can’t enjoy life now you never will.
It’s about attitude.
Joyce is intent on glorifying God in her everyday life.
It’s about what we do when we leave here (church).
How do you act in line at the store?
How do you behave when God isn’t moving as fast as you want Him To?
Will you have enough wisdom to not compare your children?
We can love all our children but not like them.
Joyce wants to save us some trips around the mountain.
You’re not going to rush God.
Learn how to enjoy the drive to work in the morning.
Learn how to enjoy that person that annoys you.
Learn how to enjoy that job before you get the promotion you want.
Do you know how many people would love to have the job you hate?
Remind yourself of these things when you’re by yourself.
Set your mind and your attitude every single day.
We are anointed to live ordinary everyday life in a supernatural way.
Don’t expect the spectacular all the time.
God is in the ordinary.
James 5:7 So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.
Patience doesn’t feel good.
The farmer waits and waits.
Only God knows when the seed will come up out of the ground.
But the farmer keeps doing what he knows to do.
Water and nurture.
He waits expectantly.
The big reason why we’re unhappy at times is because we’re waiting without expectancy.
Something happens when we aggressively expect something good to happen.
Today may be the day…
The devil wants us to be hopeless.
Be full of expectancy.
I’m expecting something good to happen to me today.
I‘m expecting something good to happen through me today.
Your physical being will respond.
You’ll feel better.
We all get tired of doing what we’re doing at times.
Joyce would love to get in a church service and have nothing to do.
To sit and have no responsibility.
She gets tired of always being responsible for something at all times.
You never get one side of anything without getting the other side.
The promotion brings more responsibility.
Joyce wishes she could do this without asking people for money
We always want something we don’t have and in the process miss what we do have.
When somebody does something wrong don’t forget all they do right.
Expectancy
She admires Paul Osteen’s missionary work
Joyce is a 5 star missionary; she’ll get up and go but she’s not the tent type.
When Joyce is having one of those moments when her get up and go has got up and gone…
"Lord You know how old I am…"
You knew what You were getting when You picked me.
I’m tired of apologizing for myself (not that God was asking her to apologize).
Learn how to enjoy yourself with all your imperfections and all your weaknesses knowing that you are no surprise to God.
God loves you unconditionally and won’t give up on you.
There’s the area of being impatient with objects and things.
Joyce has a problem with packaging.
A bottle of eye drops with all the child proofing.
Joyce gets frustrated with opening difficult things.
This year Joyce’s goal is to be free from being upset with packaging.
The way to get free is to go over it until it doesn’t bother you anymore.
Joyce also has a stray disobedient hair.
She got frustrated and cut it yesterday but now it’s too short.
Another impatience issue is when you can’t fully enter in to what you’re doing because you’re already focused on the next thing.
(Impatience with the Present Moment)
So you’re never anywhere because your mind is always somewhere else.
Joyce has trouble staying where she’s at.
‘Let’s get to that next thing’.
When riding in the car and close to home Joyce takes her seatbelt off.
Her daughter said “Mother would you let me park the car before you get out of it?”
If you’re fast you’re probably married to a slow one.
If you don’t have patience with God you’ll get into works of the flesh.
My bright ideas on how to get what I want in my timing instead of waiting on God.
In Genesis we saw Abraham and Sarah tired of waiting on God so Sarah got a bright idea.
Joyce was very good at “bright ideas”.
Nothing works unless it originates with God.
He’s the author and the finisher and He’s not obligated to finish anything He didn’t start.
How can you discern works of the flesh?
Works of the flesh don’t work.
God isn’t asking us to do anything but believe and do what He says when we get instructions.
Joyce was frustrated trying to make her ministry go.
Frustration equals works of the flesh.
It means you’re trying to make something happen that only God can do.
Works of the flesh = frustration.
You can’t make one of your relatives love God.
If they don’t want it for themselves you’ll just ruin your life trying to force it on them.
Pray for them and let God work.
They’ll probably act worse before they act better.
You ever pray for someone and think “well that didn’t work”?
Joyce used to pray that Dave would stop liking sports.
Get a realization that what you’re doing isn’t working.
Let God be God in your life.
Only patience allows us to enjoy the present moment that we have.
If you don’t want to be where you are then you're not enjoying your life.
If you want to drive the devil mad learn how to enjoy every single thing that we do no matter how mundane it is.
God doesn’t want us just to enjoy Fridays and vacations and parties.
He wants us to enjoy every single solitary moment that He gives us.
The greatest present is the present moment that we have.
Take the time and get honest and ask how much of my life do I really enjoy?
John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows).
One of the greatest tragedies is not to enjoy every moment.
Joyce wasn’t enjoying her ministry because she was so intent on making it grow.
Hundreds of people in ministry aren’t enjoying it because they were trying to get somewhere else.
The greatest job in the world yet all these ministers were miserable because they were so focused on growth, what they didn’t have, etc.
We’ll be happy when…
Bigger church, bigger house, better job, etc
If you can’t enjoy life now you never will.
It’s about attitude.
Joyce is intent on glorifying God in her everyday life.
It’s about what we do when we leave here (church).
How do you act in line at the store?
How do you behave when God isn’t moving as fast as you want Him To?
Will you have enough wisdom to not compare your children?
We can love all our children but not like them.
Joyce wants to save us some trips around the mountain.
You’re not going to rush God.
Learn how to enjoy the drive to work in the morning.
Learn how to enjoy that person that annoys you.
Learn how to enjoy that job before you get the promotion you want.
Do you know how many people would love to have the job you hate?
Remind yourself of these things when you’re by yourself.
Set your mind and your attitude every single day.
We are anointed to live ordinary everyday life in a supernatural way.
Don’t expect the spectacular all the time.
God is in the ordinary.
James 5:7 So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains.
Patience doesn’t feel good.
The farmer waits and waits.
Only God knows when the seed will come up out of the ground.
But the farmer keeps doing what he knows to do.
Water and nurture.
He waits expectantly.
The big reason why we’re unhappy at times is because we’re waiting without expectancy.
Something happens when we aggressively expect something good to happen.
Today may be the day…
The devil wants us to be hopeless.
Be full of expectancy.
I’m expecting something good to happen to me today.
I‘m expecting something good to happen through me today.
Your physical being will respond.
You’ll feel better.
We all get tired of doing what we’re doing at times.
Joyce would love to get in a church service and have nothing to do.
To sit and have no responsibility.
She gets tired of always being responsible for something at all times.
You never get one side of anything without getting the other side.
The promotion brings more responsibility.
Joyce wishes she could do this without asking people for money
We always want something we don’t have and in the process miss what we do have.
When somebody does something wrong don’t forget all they do right.
Expectancy
She admires Paul Osteen’s missionary work
Joyce is a 5 star missionary; she’ll get up and go but she’s not the tent type.
When Joyce is having one of those moments when her get up and go has got up and gone…
"Lord You know how old I am…"
Expectancy helps her get on track.
She is expecting to be a blessing.
She starts getting excited and enthusiastic.
We need to live with expectancy.
A lady dreaded going home to her son; they were having a lot of problems.
She said I’m expecting something good in the car on the way home, and shortly after she got home he told her he loved her.
He hadn’t said that in a long time.
Stir yourself up in the Lord.
Do it with expectancy.
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