Victoria Osteen - Exceptional You
"We honor you today, and we thank you for everything that you've done. We thank you, you are a good God, and we will worship you all the days of our life. In Jesus's name, amen". You know, I was thinking about this earlier, and I just want to encourage you with this thought. You know, sometimes in life we try to make things happen on our own. We're looking for our good breaks, we're looking for the right people, we're looking for opportunities, and that's all good.
But when we're struggling to make things happen, I believe that that is not good for us, so let's take another approach, and that approach would be all through the day, just under your breath, when you're feeling like you're struggling, when you're wondering when you're going to get that good break, when are your prayers going to be answered, if you'll just stop and say, "God, I receive everything you have for me. God, you've got good things stored up for me today, and I am not going to struggle, and I'm not going to worry, but I'm just going to be in a receiving mode". When you go into a meeting, "Thank you, father. I receive everything I need for this meeting". When you go in to see your family after a long day's work, take one deep breath and say, "God, thank you I'm receiving everything I need to be a good husband, a good wife, a good mother. Thank you, father, that I don't have to struggle, but I'm just receiving".
You see, the Bible says no good thing will he withhold for those who walk uprightly. God's not withholding your answers. God's not withholding those good breaks. He's not holding on to those prayers, waiting for you to get it right. If you see it or you don't see it, you should always be receiving what God has for you. I believe that's how we're going to live that exceptional life. You know, someone asked me, "Why did you name your book 'exceptional you'"? See, it is because I believe that each one of us have been called to live this exceptional life that Jesus came to give us. I believe that God is an exceptional God, and he fashioned and formed us and created us into his exceptional image. He filled us with gifts and talents. He gave us qualities so that we could produce the exceptional in our life.
You see, we're not common. We're not ordinary. We're exceptional. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God has you on a path that is uniquely your own. We're all in a different path, because no two paths are alike, but God's got us all on the road to victory. You see, we can't lose sight of whose we are and who we are. You see, when we lose sight of who we are, we take these God-given attributes and we have a tendency to reduce them down in our own minds. We think we're not good enough, we're not qualified enough, but you have to live this truth today: you are exceptional because God made you that way. See, God formed you, and he fashioned you, and he says you are exceptional.
In Ephesians 1:4, it says that God chose us before the foundation of the world. He adopted us to be his very own. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to, and in that adoption, he brought us in to a family, his family. He not only placed tremendous value and worth on our life, but he labeled us "Property of God". Your identity today is a child of the Most High God. When you understand who you belong to and you really value what God has placed on the inside of you, that's when you're going to be able to stand up against challenges, overcome obstacles. See, you're not going to be tossed to and fro wondering if you're good enough. "Is God helping me"? No, you know the Creator of the universe is in full control of your life, and his thoughts for you are for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Don't disqualify yourself when God has already qualified you. Sometimes we discount what we have, but God will never discount us. In Matthew, it tells a story about Jesus. He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. He was led into the wilderness, and he came upon the enemy. Now, he was weak. He was hungry. He was tired. He was vulnerable. See how I say that word? Vulnerable. My kids make fun of me so much because I don't know how to say that word, vulnerable. Okay, let's move on. He was facing the enemy and, you know, it's interesting because the first thing the enemy did was challenge his identity, challenge who he was and his worth. He was hungry, so the enemy offered him some stones and said, "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread". "If you are the Son of God".
See, questioning who he was, challenging his worth, his value, his capability. See, we know that Jesus could turn stones into bread, because we see later on in that chapter that he took a little boy's sandwich, and he fed 5,000 with it. See, he could make some bread, but he wasn't going to make anything that the enemy told him to make. He wasn't going to answer to the enemy. He wasn't going to accept his challenge. You know what he did? He answered him with this: "It is written, 'man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'".
You see, the enemy is still roaming around. He's still trying to challenge and disqualify us. We don't have to prove our self. We don't have to answer to him. See, Jesus wasn't going to get out of his timing. It wasn't yet his time. God hadn't told him to multiply the bread. God didn't tell him to turn those stones into bread. The enemy was trying to get him to step out of his time and do something to prove who he was. You see, you and I don't have to prove who we are to any enemy, to any opposition, to any circumstance that we're facing. You may be facing a challenge right now. You don't have to prove yourself.
The enemy may be saying, "If God loves you, then why are you going through this? If God loves you, if you are a child of God, why are you divorced"? You see, he wants you to take offense and say, "God, why am I doing this"? But when you know who you are, you can say, "God, I know I'm going to get through this, and I'm going to come out of it better, more qualified than I went in". You see, don't forget who you are and whose you are. You are exceptional.
I love this story I heard Joel's father tell. It was a story about he and his friend, Jesse, and they went to a high school football game, where Jesse's son was playing ball, and so Jesse was so excited to take daddy o, that's what I call him, to see his son play football. So, they're sitting in the bleachers, and this young man was having a bad day out on the field. Every time he would get the ball, he would just fumble it. Any time he tried to get it down the field, he just seemed to drop it, or someone would just take it from him, so he had one more chance, and they're sitting on the edge of their seats, and he got the ball under his arm, going to take it down the field. He stepped to the right, and he stepped to the left.
All of a sudden, these two big, old guys came and just tackled him, just took him to the ground. Well, my father-in-law was like, "Oh, what do I do? What do I say"? He's sitting there so quiet, a little bit embarrassed for Jesse, and then a few minutes later he felt this elbow going in his ribs, and he looked at his friend Jesse, and Jesse said, "John, did you see my son's two good moves"?
You see, that was a proud father, a father who was cheering his son on even on a bad day, and sometimes we think that God is sitting in the bleachers just watching us fumble through life, just saying, "Why can't they get it right"? Almost hanging his head in embarrassment, but can I tell you, you serve a good God? You have a loving Heavenly Father who not only cheers you on, who not only supports you, but he came down from heaven to help you along the way. It's up to us to make a decision. We are exceptional.
Hey, just because you're exceptional doesn't mean you're not going to face challenges, but through those challenges you can develop these exceptional attitudes, these exceptional choices, because really, to produce exceptional is all about your choices, and it's about your attitude. You see, God wants you to have an attitude of victory. He doesn't want you to have an attitude of defeat. See, every day we have the opportunity to hit the reset button. God's mercies are new every single day. We can adjust and we can align our self to God.
Hey, if you feel yourself getting off course, just make the necessary adjustments to get right back in line with God. He's right there. He's cheering you on. He is saying, "Get up and go again". You see, you can't fail unless you quit. Don't disqualify yourself. You know, when we walk in this exceptional, this exceptional life, we are giving an invitation for those around us to come in and be exceptional. We're giving them permission to be exceptional. Why is that? Because when we know who we are, we reflect who we are on other people. That means we don't judge. That means we have mercy. We extend grace. They see our influence, and it allows them to have a picture of exceptional that they can follow.
You see, I believe that our friends and our family are watching us, and we have a tremendous influence, so know this today: you are exceptional because God made you that way. In fact, I believe I'm looking at exceptional people right now, because if you weren't exceptional, you wouldn't be sitting here today. You wouldn't be pressing through those obstacles and those challenges you're facing. You wouldn't be coming to this altar believing that you serve a God that can help you. You see, if you weren't exceptional, you would have already quit, and you would have already given up, so I just believe today because you are exceptional, God is helping you produce that exceptional life. You will overcome your challenges. You will defeat every enemy. You will go to new levels, because if God is for you, who dare be against you? Amen? Amen. He's an awesome God, and we love him so much today.