This is a great audio message given by Pastor Joel Osteen titled, 'Armed with Strength'. This is an awesome message for those of you who need inspiration today to stand strong in the face of adversity. Each segment is 10 minutes. I have typed a 2 1/2 minute transcript of this message below for my readers who need to use Babel Fish to translate. I recommend that you listen to the rest. This is an amazing message. ENJOY!
I heard a story about a man that was in a post office with his small son. When the little boy saw the pictures of the people on the wall that had committed crimes. At the top it said the 'ten most wanted' and at the bottom it said in big bold letters 'armed and dangerous'. The little boy was intrigued by it. He asked his father what it meant. The dad explained how those people had done wrong and now the authorities were trying to find them. The little boy thought about it for a minute and said, 'dad why didn't they just keep them (the criminals) when they took their picture?' Leave it to a child to say the truth.
But I was thinking if the enemy had a post office, do you realize that your picture would be up there. That's the way he (the enemy) see's you, 'armed and dangerous'. YOU have the POWER to live in VICTORY! You have the POWER to ENDURE tough times. But this isn't going to do us any good if we have the wrong image on the inside. You can't go around thinking somehow that you're a victim. Joel, I'm having to work two jobs to make ends-meat. I've got this sickness that I've been dealing with. I've got these problems at the office. NO you're NOT a victim, no matter what comes your way in life, the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE has already INFUSED YOU with His 'can do power! YOU have everything you need and nothing is too much for you. If it was God would NOT have allowed it.
When times get tough you have to remind yourself, 'I have the strength to overcome'. 'God has given me the power to endure'. Every morning when we first get up we need to POWER UP. In other words, we need to get our minds going in the right direction. Thinking thoughts like, 'I'm ready for this day'. 'I'm equipped, I'm empowered'. 'I've got my armor on'. 'I've got my shoe's of peace, I've got my belt of truth, I've got my helmut of salvation, I've got the shield of faith, I've got the sword of the Spirit speaking God's Word'. What are we doing, WE ARE receiving God's strength! WE ARE getting EMPOWERED for the day!
But so many times when we first wake up, we say 'oh lord, is it already time to get up?' 'I don't want to go into work today'. 'Oh man I've got so many problems my back is still hurting me'. 'Do I have to go to school?' All that's doing is just the opposite, draining our strength, draining our energy. The battle is taking place in our minds. Many people don't realize, they're making plans to have a lousy day. They wonder why they can't live in victory. Why they can't overcome. It is because they are defeated in their thoughts. They say things like, 'I can't do this.' 'It's too hard for me.' 'I don't have what it takes.' NO GET RID of that and re-program your computer. All through the day we should be thinking thoughts like, 'I AM well able.' 'I can do what I need to do.' 'Nothing's too hard for me, I'm MORE THAN a conqueror.'
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