amen when I was a little girl I loved to go to the beach with my family we would get to the beach and I remember so well we had this huge red umbrella that we drilled down in the sand we'd put our beach blanket out get our ice chests get our spot ready for a day at the beach and as soon as it was set I'd take off to the water I could spend hours out in the waves just having such a good time and one day I had been out there seems like for several hours in fact I had made it to the second sand bar now if you know what those sand bars are they they're deep spots and then you get on the sand bar and it's like you're on the shore you can be way out and you can be just up to your knees so I had made my way all the way out to the second sand bar I wanted my family to see me from shore because I thought I am really done well today so I stood up and I began to wave my hands looking for my family I was searching everywhere for where our spot was where we had set that red umbrella what I realized I could see a lot of people I could see a lot of things but I couldn't spot my family well I got kind of panicking as a little girl I thought I gotta find my family where did they go so I swam as quick as I could worked really hard to make it to shore looking for my family or walk to the left all the way as far as I could couldn't find him turned around walked to the right looking and looking for my family when at a distance I spotted that red umbrella and can I tell you as a little girl that was a happy moment for me I thought there they are I'm safe and everything is okay you see what I didn't realize was when I was out in that water those under currents were slowly taking me down the beach it was so subtle I was playing mind in my own business but they just drugged me all the way down the beach about two to three hundred maybe more feet down the beach I didn't even realize what was happening to me you know in life it can be much like that there are undercurrents in life trying to drag us off get us off course from where we are supposed to be I hear these comments a lot I was raised in church my whole life I went to church I don't know how I got so far away from God spoke to a woman the other day she was telling me how happy her marriage was until they began to argue until they begin to not be able to see eye-to-eye she said we were so happy at first she said but now we've drifted apart we've separated things just aren't the same you see those are the results of the undercurrents that are trying to destroy our life to get us off course and those are the things that we need to pay attention to because they can be so subtle we don't even realize that they're happening undercurrents can be many different things can be hanging around with the wrong people the wrong friends going places and being with people that don't have the same values that you do you this is what the Bible says about that it says bad company corrupts good character it actually says don't be misled don't be misled under currents can be bad attitudes can be selfishness laziness anger see these are the things that can separate families these are the things that can cause us to lose good jobs successful careers you see if I would have just paid attention to where I was in relation to where that red on bella was I could have kept my position see the undercurrents were there and they were dragging me off because undercurrents will always have that tendency to drag us but I could have made the necessary adjustments to get back in line see I could have positioned myself back to where I needed to be I think about Sampson in the Bible many of you know his story the prophets predicted his birth he was a man that had an amazing destiny lined out for him he had this supernatural strength that God had given him he was talented God had positioned him in an amazing position but he was weak in his morality he got his eyes on the wrong things he let his guard down you see he didn't keep the position that he had those undercurrents in life dragged him off and he never was everything he could have been can you imagine if he would have just got up during the day at some point if he would have just said to himself am I on the right course am i focused am i aligned with my purpose am i treating people right and our am i respecting what God has given me am i walking humbly before him honoring him with what I do can you imagine if he would have done that the life he could have lived he would not have had to suffer so much pain and he wouldn't have ended up in the hands of his enemy you see we all need to deal with these undercurrents see they don't go away life is full of undercurrents life is full of distractions temptations you see we all make mistakes we all fall down sometimes but we don't have to stay down we can realign and readjust ourselves we just got to be willing to ask ourselves the questions every day am i fulfilling my destiny am i honoring god you know it's kind of like getting off your diet and eating some ice cream and then you go well I'm so off my dad I'll just go get the whole gallon you know we do this some time in fact they say that most of life is just habits can I tell you we've got to look at our habits we've got to see if these habits are serving us serving our family creating the life that we were in we intended to have you know sometimes these things just seem small and insignificant but can I tell you it's so small things that aren't taken care of that can do damage throw in our words around being disrespectful in a relationship saying things that we want to you see you could say to yourself look I'm just letting off a little steam they know I love them they deserve it they shouldn't have done that see we can make excuses for these little things all day long showing up to work late thinking you know my boss isn't here he doesn't even come to 8:30 I don't know why he expects me to be here at 8 o'clock surfing the internet when the company is paying you not being your best see these seem small but these are the small things that can turn into big issues in our life if we're not careful the scripture says it's the small foxes that spoil the vine it's those things that we don't always pay attention to they're subtle they like to cause us to move from the position that we are supposed to be you see if you found yourself drifting in areas today I want to tell you you can refocus you can realign yourself it's not too late to correct you can start today listen to what it says in Colossians 3 - it's to set your mind on things above not on earthly things you know what that means it means set your mind on the higher things set your mind on the things of value the things of importance the things that enrich your god-given destiny you are full of gifts and talents you got to set your mind on where you want to go with those gifts and talents creating an atmosphere that brings joy and love and forgiveness you see just like that red umbrella marked my spot if I would have just set my mind on it I could have kept my position we've got to set our mind on honoring God set our mind on living a life of integrity set our mind on fulfilling the dreams that God has put in our heart don't think they're too big you've just got to set your mind on them and they'll come out of you you know today let me just say this the Bible says lay aside those weights those sins that's so easily come against us to get us off course listen God knows how easy it is you are not a failure if you have sinned you're not a failure if you've moved out of your direction there is no mistake that you've made today that will take you from your destiny God loves you with an everlasting love and he's saying it is easy so you have to set your mind maybe you need to ask for forgiveness today maybe you need to go to a family member and say hey listen I have messed up I'm gonna set my mind set my heart on being a good husband why father whatever it is today you can start and begin again I believe that you've got an amazing future in store for you I believe that God is saying to you I know it's easy but I've given you the power to overcome the currents of life you may have to wade in these currents but you can control your life in these currents I believe and declare today that God has a bright future in store for you bigger than you can ever I think are imagined he's going to open new doors of opportunities for you he's going to make up lost time for you he's gonna get you to where you need to be in Jesus name and if you believe that shut a great big amen your partnership makes this ministry possible your faithful and consistent monthly support makes you a champion of hope the vision of Joel Osteen ministries is to use every avenue available to present the hope of Jesus Christ to people everywhere we know it is this hope and the transforming power of the gospel that makes an eternal difference in people's lives to 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