Therapy Clinic, one of Europe's leading aesthetic clinics, has arrived in Cheltenham. With over 100,000 five-star reviews and more than 10 million treatments performed, therapy are industry leaders in laser hair removal, cosmetic injections and advanced skin treatments. With over 85 clinics globally and a team of more than 200 doctors, therapy deliver safe, doctor-led treatments at accessible prices. For verification, head to therapyclinic.com or visit therapyclinic.cheltenham today, located on the High Street. Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Thank you for being here, you may be cheated. So good to be in the house of the Lord. I'll never forget one Saturday afternoon when I was 16 years old. I walked in the kitchen and my father was grilling hamburgers that Saturday afternoon. I was like, yeah, I'm hungry, Dad. He said, great. He said, can you run to the store for me and pick up a few little items? I just need some mustard, some pickles, just a couple little items. I said, absolutely. I mean, I was 16 years old just waiting to get behind the wheel. Any excuse to drive and I was right there. So he went to give me his keys and as he was giving me the keys, he said, now look Victoria, he said, I want you to go straight to the grocery store. I want you to come straight back and don't open the passenger side window. Don't roll it down because it's off the tracks. And he said, I have to get it repaired next week. So don't open the window. I took the keys from his hand and I rushed out the back door, jumped in the car, cranked it up, drove down the street to my best girlfriend's house and picked her up. I said, we're going to the grocery store. As we were on our way to the grocery store about to leave the neighborhood, we saw some of our friends who lived in the neighborhood walking down the sidewalk. So we started waving. I said, let's pull over so they can see us driving. So we pull over. I said, roll down the window so we can say hi. She looks at me and she said, I thought she said the window was broken. I said, it's okay. It'll be fine this time. This one time won't hurt anything. So she rolls the window down and we talked to our friends and I'll never forget as I was driving off, she was rolling that window back up. And it was as if time stood still. That window shattered in one million pieces. I looked at that window. I couldn't believe it. Millions of pieces. I looked at my girlfriend. I said, you're going home with me. Listen, I'll never forget driving that car home thinking, what am I going to tell my father? Drove up the driveway, walked in the back door and there he stood in the kitchen. With the biggest knot in my throat, I said, dad, I got to tell you something. I did everything you told me not to do. I said, dad, I shattered your window. Please forgive me. I couldn't believe what I had done. But you know that Saturday afternoon as a 16 year old girl, I'll never forget my dad's response to me. As I looked at my father and he looked back at me and I'm sure he was disappointed. He looked at me with eyes of compassion. It was as if he looked past my failure, past my mistake. Somehow he saw a daughter on a journey and he showed me unconditional love that day. He didn't berate me. He didn't tell me how terrible I was. Somehow he found it in himself to look over my faults and show me his love. Can I tell you if an earthly father can do such a thing? How much more does our heavenly father look at us today? Through eyes of compassion and love, so often we feel like he's looking at our mistakes, counting our failures against us. But can I tell you the scripture says when we were yet sinners, before we even knew what was right and what was wrong, he looked down through the corridors of time and he said, I love you unconditionally. That is the heart of the father. Now your story might not be the same with your earthly father. I don't know, but I can tell you it has helped me understand the love of my heavenly father. You see that day I had to do something. I had to admit what I did and then I had to ask for forgiveness. Then I took it one step further. I had to receive his forgiveness because see it was up to me at that point. Was I going to make a decision that my father loved me and that he indeed forgave me? And I could shake off the shame, shake off the guilt because see there was something real important that I needed to do. I needed to have a relationship with this father in my life. And if I was going to draw back and not feel like I was good enough, I would have never come and asked him for the keys again. But guess what? I did. I asked him for the keys again and he gave them to me. I'm saying all that to say some of you have shrunk back. You're not asking God for the keys again. You're saying he couldn't possibly want that for me. How could I possibly achieve that? Man, I make a mistake all the time. I can't get to where God wants me to be. If I even ask him, will he even hear me? Can I tell you? Your heavenly father is not looking at what you're doing wrong. He's looking at what you're doing right. He sees your two good moves. Yeah, you may have blown it. You may have even blown it yesterday. But can I tell you when you come and you say, God, forgive me? He sees us as a work in progress. We are sons and daughters in progress. And he's not holding that against us. See, I got to tell you something. When I asked my dad for the keys again, he didn't say to me, well, don't forget what you did. Don't forget how you wronged me. He didn't come at me with guilt and condemnation. And I want to remind you today, if you're not asking for the keys because you feel guilty, maybe a little ashamed, maybe you can't even believe God would do that, that is not of God. That is the accuser. And those are the things you're going to have to shake off and make a decision today. When I ask God for forgiveness, he freely forgives me. He pardons me. Luke 12 says, he takes great pleasure in giving you the kingdom. That tells me he's got some keys for you today. You got to ask him, don't walk timid before God. He likes boldness. He likes tenacity. Listen, God says, come boldly before the throne of grace so you can obtain mercy and find help in your time of need. See, there's the key right there. You've got to be bold. You've got to ask for forgiveness. You've got to receive it. You've got to forgive yourself. And then you've got to know that God's going to help you get to where you need to be. Amen. He's a good father. He is an amazing father today. It's easy to feel stuck in life, wondering why things aren't changing and worrying if it'll ever happen. But there's a better way to wait. I'd love to send you my new resource called Pray It Forward. This book is a collection of prayers and promises from the scripture to help you pray boldly to strengthen your faith. While you're waiting, it's important to keep your mind filled with hope and expectancy. When you pray in faith, believe in what God promised, that's what moves the hands of God. That's when you'll see doors open. Healing begins to come. Breakthrough is in your family. Don't let doubt hold you back. Pray it forward. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount, we'd love to send you a copy of Pray It Forward, Guided Prayers for Faith and Breakthrough. Inspired by real life answered prayers, Pray It Forward will help you speak God's promises over your life and over the people you love, trusting that when you ask in faith, God is already at work preparing victory ahead of you. You can take these prayers and scriptures and pray them forward. They'll build a momentum of faith that carries you past obstacles and into the promises God has spoken over your life. As you meditate on these truths, you won't be tossed back and forth by finances, health challenges, or relationship struggles. Instead, you'll be able to boldly pray with faith that is immovable and strong, and you'll be filled with peace, assurance, and joy. Don't let circumstances control your future. Pray the truth of God's word forward in faith and watch the mountains in your life begin to move. When you pray the promises, what God has spoken over your life, those are powerful prayers, and that's when God shows up and does what only He can do. Thanks so much for being with us. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day, and we appreciate your prayer and support. Your generosity helps us take this message of hope to people around the world. A special thank you to our champion of hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of Pray It Forward, guided prayers for faith and breakthrough available this month by simply visiting us at joelosteen.com or call 888-567-JOL. You can also receive the Pray It Forward Companion Prayer Journal designed to help you engage in scripture, personalize faith-filled prayers, and put God's promises into action. With an additional gift, you can receive the Pray It Forward prayers essential collection that centers around a prayer bowl with scripture cards designed to help you physically release what's been weighing on your heart. This collection creates a powerful prayer rhythm for your life, helping you focus your thoughts, speak God's word boldly, and stay anchored in hope when circumstances try to shake you. You can request these inspiring resources by calling 888-567-JOL or logging on to joelosteen.com today. Call or click anytime, 24 hours a day.
