God bless you. It's great to be with you today and hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, our YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services.
But I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about this young man one day. He was talking to God and he said, "God, what's a million years like to you?
" God said, "A million years to me is like one second to you. " He said, "Well, God, what's a million dollars like to you? " God said, "Son, a million dollars to me is like one penny to you.
" He thought about it. Said, "God, will you give me a penny? " God said, "Yeah, just a second.
" All right, y'all. 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 a never doubt mindset.
We all face situations where we don't see a way out. How we can get well or how we can accomplish a dream or how our family can be restored. all the facts say it's not going to happen.
That's when these thoughts of doubt and discouragement come. If we're not careful, we'll live worried and give up on what we're believing for. But Paul said in Ephesians 3, "Never doubt God's mighty power to work in you and accomplish infinitely more than your greatest request.
" God didn't say never doubt how you feel. Never doubt because of medical report. Never doubt the financial struggle.
We're human. Doubt comes to us all. These times we think, "This doesn't seem possible.
" But we're looking at it in our own ability. But God said, "Never doubt what I can do. Never doubt my mighty power.
Never doubt God can open doors you can't open. Never doubt God can heal you despite the diagnosis. Never doubt God can bring the right people, divine connections.
Or maybe your child is off course and running with the wrong crowd and you could live stressed, not able to sleep. God is saying, "Never doubt I can turn him around. Never doubt I can bring him into his purpose.
" But what causes us to get discouraged is when we look at circumstances only in our ability. Seems too big, too much, too late. That's okay.
You're not doing life by yourself. There is a force for you greater than any force trying to stop you. At times you'll feel at a disadvantage and what you're up against is bigger and stronger and you don't have the connections, the funds, the courage.
On your own, you're stuck. But never doubt God's mighty power. He stopped the sun for Joshua.
He parted the Red Sea for Moses. He brought three teenagers out of a fiery furnace without the smell of smoke. He opened prison doors for Paul and Silas.
He raised Lazarus back to life. He took Gideon from afraid and insecure to a mighty hero that delivered the Israelites. He healed my mother of terminal cancer.
He gave us a basketball arena to have church in. The scripture says, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord? " You may have some situations that seem over your head, impossible.
I'm not saying you're not going to feel doubt. I'm saying never doubt God's mighty power. Never doubt what the creator of the universe can do.
That setback, that impossibility, it's a setup for him to show out in your life. The way you conquer doubt is switch over from what you can do to what God can do. Amen.
When my father passed and I stepped up to pastor, I felt inadequate over my head. I didn't have the training, the experience. My dad had this big personality, strong and powerful, but I was more quiet and reserved.
All these thoughts bombarded my mind. Joy, you're not enough. You don't have what it takes.
You're going to get up there and look like a fool. The truth is, I had doubts in my ability. doubts whether I was strong enough, doubts whether the church would make it.
But what kept me going, the reason I didn't give into my doubts was because I never doubted what God can do. I believe that he is all powerful. That nothing can stand against him.
That when we are weak, his power shows up the greatest. I kept reminding myself, you're the God who chose me before I could choose you. You're the God who knew me before I was formed in my mother's womb.
The God who goes before me and makes crooked places straight. The God who fights my battles. The God who has crowned me with your favor.
You're not doing life on your own. Quit focusing on just your ability, your talent, your resources. That's going to cause you to doubt.
But to reach your destiny, you're going to face things that are over your head, where you're outnumbered. You don't have the experience, the funds, and that legal situation should sink you. This is when many people quit believing, lived worried.
Try a different approach. God, I may have a lot of good reasons to doubt in my life, but I am never going to doubt your mighty power. I know you're still on the throne.
You still bring dead things back to life. You still heal the sick. You still multiply the loaves and fish.
You still take those who are afraid and make them into mighty heroes. Anyone can get discouraged. Anyone can talk themselves out of it.
I'm asking you to be a neverd person. Never doubt what our God can do. Never doubt his mighty power to turn things around.
Never doubt his favor to open doors you couldn't open. Never doubt his restoration to give you beauty for the ashes, to pay you back for the wrongs, to turn your mourning into dancing. See, when we go through difficulties and things that are not fair, the never lies start playing.
You'll never be happy again. You'll never meet someone new. This loss, this breakup, how you were raised, that put you at a disadvantage.
Don't believe those lies. God knows everything you've been through. Every hurt, every injustice, every lonely night.
He said in Isaiah, he will pay you back double for the unfair things that have happened. Instead of dwelling on the never lies, come over to the never doubt mindset. Yes, I've had some bad breaks, but I know this is not how my story ends.
God, I believe your mighty power is at work in my life. that you're a God of justice, that you won't just bring me out, but you'll bring me out better than I was before. This is what David did.
He was a teenager out in the shepherd's fields taking care of his father's sheep. He was the youngest of eight sons and his brothers were all in the army and prestigious positions, but he was stuck in the fields, lonely and at a disadvantage. One day his father asked him to take lunch to the brothers and they were in another city.
That's when he heard Goliath taunting the Israelites, making fun of God's people. All the Israeli soldiers ran and hid. They were so afraid.
I mean, Goliath was a giant. He stood over 9 ft tall. But something rose up in David, a fire on the inside.
He said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? " He went to King Saul and told him he wanted to fight Goliath. Saul said, "David, you're just a boy.
You're too small, too young. You don't have the training, the experience. Don't let people talk you out of what God put in your heart.
" There will always be a Saul in life, someone telling you what you can't do. you're not good enough. That business won't make it.
You're not going to get well. Do yourself a favor. Tune all that out.
They don't control your destiny. They didn't breathe life into you. They didn't call you, equip you, anoint you.
God did. David went out to face this giant. He was almost twice David's size.
And Goliath had a full set of armor, a shield that weighed 125 pounds. He was their most skilled warrior, the champion of the Philistine army. And here David had no formal training, no armor, no shield.
All he had was a slingshot and a few stones. How could he have this boldness, this faith when all the circumstances were against him, opposition much bigger, and people telling him not to do it? He gives us his secret.
He said, "Goliath, you come against me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. " He was saying in effect, "Yes, I doubt my size. Yes, I doubt my equipment.
Yes, I doubt my training. But I will never doubt the mighty power of my God. I may be half your size, Goliath, but I know the God in me is more powerful than anything you can do.
I may only have a slingshot, but I know this slingshot with the favor of God is more powerful than your weapons. David wasn't discouraged because of his lack of size, lack of resources, because he knew God was fighting for him, that he had a secret weapon, something that King Saul couldn't see. David's father that left him out in the fields, he didn't recognize it.
Goliath couldn't see it. When he first saw David, he laughed and said, "Am I a dog that you'd come at me with a stick? " David put a stone in that sling and slung that rock, hit Goliath in the forehead, and knocked him unconscious.
David had less equipment, less training, but never doubt God's mighty power working in you to accomplish not just what you're hoping for, but infinitely beyond your wildest dreams. On the way to your destiny, there will be giants. You can't become all you were created to be without opposition.
Then the thoughts will come, ah, the sickness is too big, and your business is not going to make it. This family issue will never resolve, you're right where David was, looking at a giant twice your size. You can do what the other men in the army did.
Run, hide, get talked out of your dream. Or you can deal with doubt. a different way like David.
Not denying the giant. Not psyching yourself up. I don't feel fear.
I don't really have this problem. It's okay to be honest. God, I have doubts in what I can do.
This giant looks way over my head. I know in the natural I don't have a chance, but God, I will never doubt your mighty power. I know you are fighting my battles.
You are breathing on my slingshot. you will show yourself strong in my life. When I say never doubt, I don't mean you're not going to have doubts about your ability.
Thoughts telling you it's not going to work out. Those thoughts come to us all. But you have to have this knowing, this trust that even though I may doubt my ability, God, I will never doubt what you can do.
I received an email from a young woman. She was born with spinoipida at two years old. She had to have surgery to untether her spinal cord.
And her parents were told she'd never be able to walk, run, any kind of physical activity. They had all these good reasons to doubt and doubt that she would live a normal life, doubt that she could go to school, doubt that she'd ever be married. They were facing a giant medically speaking.
She would be in a wheelchair and limited. These parents had been coming to Lakewood for many years and they understood what is impossible with men is possible with God. And they never tried to deny the facts, deny the medical report, but they didn't let the doubt stay.
They didn't dwell on their lack of ability and what the report said. Their attitude was, "Even though we don't see a way, God, we know you have a way. We may doubt what we can do, but we will never doubt your mighty power, God.
You can do what medicine cannot do. You can heal our daughter, but sometimes we're not seeing breakthroughs, and our giant is not falling because we're only looking at our ability. We don't have the resources, and medically speaking, we can't get well, and this relative looks like they'll always be off course.
We're looking at it in the natural, but God is supernatural. He's going to do things that go beyond reasoning and beyond logic. Things that are out of the ordinary.
You couldn't plan it. You couldn't put it on paper. It's going to defy the odds.
Every day, her mother would exercise her little legs. And the whole time speaking faith over her and declaring and thanking God for her healing. At 11 months old, much to the doctor's surprise, she started walking.
They couldn't explain it. She joined the children's choir here at Lakewood. She loved to sing and dance.
But at the age of 10, there was a problem with her spinal cord and she had to have an emergency surgery. When she woke up, she was paralyzed from the neck down. The doctor told her unfortunately she would never be able to walk again.
They did everything they could medically speaking, but they came to the end of their ability. Of course, doubts flooded her mind. The doctors can't do anything, and I can't even move.
She could have stayed there defeated, bitter, angry. But she said, "God, you did it for me once. I know you can do it for me again.
" She told the doctor, "I walked in here on my own, and I will walk out of here on my own. " Every circumstance said she was paralyzed. Her life was limited.
Just accept it. But on the inside, she could hear God whispering, "You will walk again. " There will always be two voices competing for your attention.
The voice of doubt and the voice of faith. Often the doubting voices are the loudest. They'll bombard your mind.
You can't get well. You can't break this addiction. Your business won't make it.
You wake up in the night and the thoughts are still coming. But if you'll get quiet, there's another voice. A still small voice.
Is God speaking to you saying, "I'm fighting this battle. This too shall pass. You will recover.
Healing is coming. Freedom is coming. Abundance is coming.
Now you get to choose. Will you let the voice of doubt play and worry and dwell on the negative not going to happen thoughts? Or will you do what Paul said and say, "No thanks.
I will never doubt what God can do in my life. God, I know your mighty power is greater than anything trying to stop me. That's what allows God to do more than you can ask or think.
But the tension is we may doubt our own ability. We may have thoughts because of the medical report, the financial situation. That's okay.
The key is to never doubt what God can do. If you'll take the emphasis off of your ability, what you have, what you can control, and put that emphasis on what God can do, that's how you stay in faith. That's what causes God to show out in your life.
When she told the doctor that she was going to walk out of that room despite being told she was permanently paralyzed, she said she felt her toes begin to move. That was the start of the miracle. Little by little, she got better.
Her therapist told her out of all of her patients with spinoipida, she was the only one that could walk without a brace. My friend Elena went on to graduate from college. She got her master's degree.
Last weekend, I dedicated her beautiful baby girl with her husband and family. That's what happens when you never doubt God's mighty power. Sure, we may doubt what we can do, but you're not on your own.
The most high God is working in your life. He's all powerful. He created the universe.
He has you in the palm of his hand. You may be in a situation like Elena. You don't see a way out.
The odds are against you. And you could easily let all this doubt fill your mind and talk you out of your healing, convince you that you're limited. You have to remember who's on your side.
The God who caused Elena to walk when she was supposed to be paralyzed. The God who changed a city council member's mind and gave us the compact center. The God who turned a shepherd boy David into a king.
The God who brought water out of a rock. The God who gave Sarah a baby at 90 years old. The God who took Joseph from the pit to the palace.
The God who made Elisha invisible to the enemy. The God who gave Isaac a hundred times more than he planted in a famine. The God who multiplied the five loaves and two fish to feed thousands.
Who we talking about? That's our King. That's our God.
Never doubt his mighty power. Cuz when you live from this place of faith, that's when giants fall. That's when supernatural healing comes.
That's when doors open that we can't open. That's when God will do infinitely more than you can imagine. Few years ago, we were headed to one of our nights of hope in another city and we left the hotel and drive into the venue.
It started at 7:30, but traffic was really bad on the freeways. All backed up and supposed to take us 30 minutes, but we had already been driving an hour and didn't look like we would make it on time. and our assistant called the venue and told them what was happening.
They said, "Don't worry, we'll send the police to come get you. " These two police officers met us on the freeway. One of the officers got in our car to drive.
He pulled onto the shoulder and started passing everyone up. People were looking at us, honking, like, "What are you doing? Get back in line.
" He didn't pay any attention. He just kept going. Once the traffic cleared, he didn't drive the speed limit.
He drove 65, 70. We passed by other police officers. They didn't stop us.
When they saw the officer driving our car, they just waved. When we got downtown, he didn't wait for the light to turn green. If it was clear, he ran the red light.
Other officers on the corner, they just waved. No problem. Here's the point.
The reason we could break the law was because the law was riding with us. Without that officer, we'd have got pulled over, probably got a ticket, but because the law was in our car, we could supersede the speed limit. We weren't bound by normal limitations.
In the natural, it may be impossible for you to get well. The laws of medical science, like with Elena, like with my mother, say, "There's no way. " The good news is someone is riding with you that supersedes those laws.
God can do what medicine cannot do. He made your body. He can bring healing and there's no explanation where it doesn't make sense.
But if you just focus on the natural logical, your ability, what the experts say, you're going to live limited because there will be giants you can't overcome and dreams you can't accomplish and doubt will come, cause you to shrink back. You have to remind yourself who's riding with you. You're not in that car, so to speak, by yourself.
Jesus took the wheel. The most high God is ordering your steps. The reason you can break the law is the law is riding with you.
The God who controls the universe. He's not limited to the laws of nature, the laws of science, the laws of finance. He makes streams in the desert.
He caused oil to never run out for three and a half years for a widow in the Bible. Supernatural provision. He sent ravens to feed Elijah by the brook during a famine.
We look at our finances, what we make, we run the numbers. If I get this increase and save this much and maybe get a bonus, that's all good. But what God is going to do is not natural, not ordinary, something you can't calculate.
He's not limited to your job, your boss, the economy, the family you come from. He supersedes those things. One touch of his favor will put you into overflow, into abundance, into more than enough.
When you're tempted to doubt, remember who's in your car. This is where Moses missed it. He was in the desert leading the Israelites, and God had brought them out of slavery.
They were headed toward the promised land, but the people got tired of eating the mana each day. Something like bread that formed on the ground. They came to Moses complaining, "We don't want this food anymore.
We want meat like we used to have in Egypt. " Moses was frustrated. Went to God and told them what they were saying.
God said, "All right, Moses. I'm going to give you meat, not for a day, not for a week, but for a month. You'll have all the meat they could ever want.
" Moses said, "God, there are 600,000 men out here, plus the women and children. If we butchered all of our flocks, all of our cattle, we wouldn't have that much meat. " Moses was looking at it only in his ability, only in what they had.
He told God all the reasons he couldn't do it, how there were too many people. That's just not possible. When he finally finished, God asked him a simple question.
He said, "Moses, when did I become weak? " He was saying, "Did you forget I spoke worlds into existence? I created the universe?
Do you think somehow that I lost my power? " God shifted the wind and millions of quail flew in from the ocean. There were so many quail that they gathered them up all day, all night, and the next day, too.
The scripture said, "Every family gathered no less than 50 bushels of quail. " It was Costco size. Not one dinner.
They got quail in bulk. Here's what's interesting. Quail don't normally fly that far from the water way out there in the desert.
But God shifted the wind and out of the ordinary, the quail came into the camp. You don't know what God's about to shift in your life. We look in the natural, Joel, not me, man.
I'm stuck in my career. This sickness is permanent. I'll never meet someone.
We're saying that can't be quail out here in the desert. That's not possible. Why don't you tune out all that doubt and get in agreement with God?
God, I believe you have some shifts coming my way. Sudden turnarounds, healing, good breaks, abundance, things I can't explain. Never doubt God's mighty power.
Sure, you may doubt your ability, your strength, your resources, but never doubt what God can do. You may be in a situation like Moses. You don't see how it can work out.
All the facts tell you it's not going to happen. It's too late, too hard. God is asking you what he asked Moses.
When did I become weak? You will never face a giant that God can't bring down. Never an obstacle that you can't overcome.
never a dream that he can't bring to pass. Instead of telling him all the reasons it can't happen, why don't you do like David, look at that obstacle and say, "I come against you, not just in my might, not just in my ability. I come in the name of the Lord God of Israel.
I know who's driving my car, a God who supersedes natural laws. " You wouldn't be hearing this if God wasn't up to something. This is an important time.
You have to let faith rise up. You're on the verge of seeing something you've never seen. The enemy will work overtime trying to talk you out of it.
No, no, no. The giant's too big. You can't feed people in the desert.
God is saying, "Never doubt my mighty power to accomplish infinitely more than you could ever imagine. " If you'll have this never doubt mindset, I believe and declare you're about to see giants come down. Like Elena, supernatural healing like Moses, a shift, supernatural provision, breakthroughs, the fullness of your destiny in Jesus' name.
And if you receive it, can you say amen today? I'd like to give 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.
" If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. And we'd love to send you some free information on your new walk with the Lord. You can text the number on the screen or go to the website.
But I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place.
