Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. We enjoy spending this time with you.

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So God bless you. Always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and we know God has great things in store for you. God rewards the people that seek after him. I know that you or you wouldn't be watching or you wouldn't be here today. So bless you today. If you're ever in our area, come out and see us. I promise you.

We'll make you feel right at home, but thanks for tuning in. I like to get started each week with something kind of funny. You know these are not doctrinally correct. They're just to make us laugh.

But I heard about this husband and wife. They were celebrating their 60th birthdays together. Suddenly an angel appeared and said God was going to grant them each one special request. They were so excited.

The wife said my request is that we'd be able to travel all over the world and poof when the smoke cleared she had tickets in her hand. The husband hung his head in shame. He said my request is that I'd be married to a woman 30 years younger than me.

And poof when the smoke cleared he was 90 years old.

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 how you are an extraordinary person. We all face challenges and we all have obstacles to overcome. But if we can keep the right perspective, it'll help us to stay in faith.

One thing I've learned is average people have average problems. Ordinary people have ordinary challenges. But here's the key. You're not average. You're not ordinary. You are extraordinary. God breathes his life into you.

This means you can expect average problems. You can expect ordinary challenges. You are exceptional. And exceptional people face exceptional difficulties. But the good news is we serve an exceptional God.

And when God allows a problem in your life, he doesn't match it to the size you think you are. He matches it to the size of your destiny. God knows what you're capable of. He sees your potential. When you have an incredible problem, instead of being discouraged, you should be encouraged knowing that you're an incredible person and you have an incredible future.

Why are these people talking about me at work? Why are they trying to make me look bad? Listen, they don't talk about average people. They don't talk about ordinary people. They talk about exceptional people. That's why they're talking about you. It's no big deal. Just shake it off and move forward. It comes with the territory.

I had a reporter say to me last week, Joel, I've done all my research on you. I've got to tell you, you have an extraordinary amount of critics. I smiled and said, it's because I'm an extraordinary person.

Well, how come every time I try to go forward, Joel, every time I try to pursue my dreams? I have major challenges. It's because you're a major person with a major future. The enemy would leave you alone if you weren't a threat. He wouldn't bother you if you weren't headed for great things.

You need to dig your heels in and say, I'm not going to be discouraged by these problems. It may be big, but it's not too big for me. I'm not going to go around complaining because somebody's talking about me. I'm not going to get upset because I'm struggling a little in my finances. I'm staying in faith knowing that the enemy wouldn't fight me this hard if he didn't know God had something great in store.

You understand the size of your problem is an indication of the size of your future. If you have a big challenge, that means you have a big future. Don't go around complaining. Why did this happen to me? Why did my plant close down? Why did my love one die? Why do I have this sickness? No, that obstacle is not there to defeat you. It's there to promote you.

If you will stay in faith, right past that difficulty, you'll see a new level of God's favor. This is what happened to David. He would still be known as a shepherd boy if it were not for Goliath. He faced an extraordinary problem. Goliath was three times his size. He was a skilled warrior. He was the leader of that army. Here David was a teenager. He didn't have any formal training. He had no equipment, no arm.

In the natural, David didn't have a chance. What was God doing? That didn't seem to make any sense. But God wouldn't have presented David with that extraordinary challenge unless he already knew that David was an extraordinary person. No doubt David felt average. I'm sure he felt ordinary just taking care of his father's sheep. Nothing special about him. But when David heard Goliath taunting the people who were in the army, he was like, oh, I'm sorry.

Taunting the people of Israel. Something rose up on the inside that said, David, this is your time. This is your destiny. I believe at that moment a seed of faith took root in his heart. And he began to realize he was not average. He was not ordinary. He could feel those seeds of greatness. His mind told him, David, you're crazy. You're never going to defeat this man. You're going to get out there and look like a fool.

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