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Joel Osteen (1:17)

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. God bless you. It's great to be with you today. I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our Daily podcast or YouTube channel Social media and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services, but I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this pastor. He bought a new horse. He trained it to respond to Praise the Lord meaning giddy up and Hallelujah meaning woe. Every time he said Praise the Lord, the horse took off running. When he said Hallelujah, it would quickly stop. One day he was out riding and the horse got spooked, took off running straight toward the cliff, going full blast. In the panic, he couldn't remember what he taught the horse. He said, bless God. Glory. Amen. Nothing happened. The last moment he shouted hallelujah. The horse came To a screeching halt just inches before the edge of the cliff. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, praise the Lord. 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 born with a blessing. When you have a generous spirit, you're always giving your time, your resources being a blessing. Those are seeds you're sowing that will not only make your life more rewarding, but it's impacting your children and family line. There's a generational blessing. When you live generously. Your giving, your faithfulness, you may not see the full harvest of those seeds. Some of it is being stored up for those that come after you. Your children will harvest what you planted. Your great grandchildren will come into favor because of you. Your giving is being credited to their account. It doesn't mean that you won't be blessed. But because you have a generous spirit, you will see running over blessings, blessings that spill over to the next generation. The scripture says when you honor God with your giving, he will pour out blessings you can't contain. That means you can't contain it in your lifetime. It's too much for one generation. It's going to get passed down to your family line. I'm living in blessings today that I didn't earn. People that went before me were generous. They made sacrifices to help others. They honored God with their life. And now I'm reaping favor from the seeds they sow. Every time you give of your time, your talent, your resources, you are storing up blessings for your family. They're going to walk into favor, see doors open. The right people show up because of your generosity. It's a running over blessing. You were faithful and it ran over to your great grandchildren. They can't explain it. Seems like a lucky break. No, that's a generational blessing. They're reaping a harvest from the seeds you sowed. Genesis 4. Abraham had to go rescue his nephew Lot. He'd been captured by these bandits. And Abraham and his men snuck up in the middle of the night and attacked the opposition. They got Lot, his family, all the possessions back. Plus they gathered up the enemy's spoils. Was a great victory. As they were returning, Melchizedek, the high priest, Congratulate him verse 20 says, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. He recovered. The first place in the scripture where we see the tithe, 10% of our income. Abraham didn't have to do this. It wasn't required. But Abraham was a giver. He recognized it was God's favor that brought him the victory. He wanted to bless the high priest with some of the spoils to show how God was first place in his life, how he was grateful for what God had done. That seemed like a nice thing to do, just being generous. But it was more significant than that. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had a son named Levi. Levi was four generations after Abraham. Hebrews says Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham. For although Levi was not yet born, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's loins when he gave the tithe to Melchizedek. This is saying Abraham gave that gift. He honored God and his great, great grandson, a young man he had never met, had not yet been born, was credited with giving tithes. Levi came out of the womb with favor he had nothing to do with. He was born with a blessing because his grandfather was so generous. Notice the principle. When Abraham gave, he didn't just see favor. The scripture says he had an abundance of cattle and sheep, one of the wealthiest men of his day. But his generosity didn't just impact him. It was credited to his great grandson's account. Four generations later, Levi showed up with a blessing. Because of Abraham's giving. Let's live our lives in such a way that our descendants are born with a blessing. You can impact future generations by living generously. You'll not only see God bless you, but there will be blessings you can't contain blessings that flow down to your children, your grandchildren. I realized I didn't get here by myself. I didn't have the skill, the courage, the faith to make all this happen. I was born with favor in my account that I had nothing to do with. My grandfather on my mother's side was a giver. He had a rough childhood. He lost his father at 8 years old and was passed from family to family. Nobody wanted him. He lived out on a barn on his own. He could have been bitter, gone through life with a chip on his shoulder. But you have to take the hand you've been dealt and make the most of it. Nothing that's happened to you has to stop your purpose. He met my grandmother and they got married at 18. My grandfather got a job at The Exxon refinery in Baytown. For 40 years, he never missed a day of work. He was faithful. When he retired, he'd come to Lakewood during the week to do repairs and help the staff. And I would see him underneath the portable buildings working on the plumbing. He was generous. When he passed at 94 years old, we were going through his belongings. We found a notebook where he kept a record of all of his giving. It was handwritten. $6 to Central Baptist Church, his tithe, $8 to the Lakewood Building Fund, $4 to Missions. Every gift, year after year, recorded in this book. But he wasn't the only one keeping records. God sees the sacrifices you make. He sees you going the extra mile, giving, serving, helping others. He's not only going to bring that back to you, pressed down, shaken together. But there's going to be some running over, some that's going to be credited to your children, to those who come after you. No wonder I'm blessed. I was born with a blessing. I can't take credit for it. I had a grandfather that honored God, that lived generously with his talent, his resources. Now I'm walking in favor that I can't explain good breaks that I didn't earn. It's a generational blessing. It's because those that went before me stored up favor, stored up mercy. Freely it's been given to me. Now I'm going to freely give it to others. I'm going to make sure I store up plenty in my children's accounts. Let's live in such a way that our grandchildren, our great grandchildren, four or five generations later, like Levi, they're born with a blessing because of you. You went the extra mile. You stayed late to help that friend. You came early to serve at church, you stretched to support the ministry. All those gifts are being credited to those who are coming after you. You can't contain all God's going to do. I'm not saying he's not going to bless you, but one lifetime is not enough. It's going to spill over to your family line, to future generations. I was 18 years old, and one evening my parents were dressed up and about to leave the house and wasn't a church night. And I asked where they were going. My father said there was a new police chief in town. He was the first African American chief in Houston, and they were going to welcome him. I said, that's great. Do you know him? They said, no, we've never met him. I said, did someone invite you? They said, no, nobody invited us. I said, do you know other people there? They said, no, Joel, we're just going to make him feel welcome, let him know that we support him and we're praying for him. That struck me as being so odd. You don't know him. You don't have to go. Nobody's expecting you. But my parents were givers. They loved to invest in people, to encourage. They were always for the underdogs. If someone wrote you off, my parents would be there to tell you, you can still do it. If you failed, you made a mistake, they'd be there to lift you up, to help restore you, to let you know God has another chance. He went to the reception and met Chief Brown and told him how they believed in him and how all of Lakewood would be praying, just sowing a seed of friendship, just being kind, letting him know that they care. 21 years later, my father had gone to be with the Lord, and I'd been pastoring for three years. The church was growing. We needed a larger auditorium. We couldn't find any property to build. A friend called and said the Rockets basketball team was going to move out of the compact center. We should try to get that building for Lakewood. It was owned by the city. When he said that, something came alive on the inside, I knew we were supposed to go after it. He said, joel, you should call the mayor and ask him about it. But I'd only been pastoring a short time, and nobody knew who I was. Thought, I can't call the mayor. He's not going to take my call. Then I remembered who the mayor was. It was no longer Police Chief Lee Brown. Now it was Mayor Lee Brown, the same man my parents befriended 21 years earlier. Daddy may have gone, but that favor was stored up in my account. I called the city. Fifteen seconds later, the mayor was on the line. He said, joel, what can I do for you? I told him how we were interested in the compact Center. He said, joel, I think Lakewood having the compact center would be great for the city of Houston. I thought, how can this be happening? Why does he want to go out of his way to be good to us? That wasn't something I did. That was the blessing that came from my parents. Generosity. At 18 years old, I wondered why they were going. That seemed odd. But when you live a generous life, you don't know what you're storing up. You don't know how God is not only going to bless you, but bless those that come after you. On my own, I didn't have the clout, the influence the experience. But there was favor in my account. When you look back over your life, how many challenges have you overcome that should have stopped you? Obstacles too big, dreams too great. But somehow you had the strength to outlast. The door opened. The company chose you. The sickness turned around. Somehow you got pregnant. When they said you couldn't have a baby, there are good breaks you can't explain. Turnarounds you didn't see coming. Favor that thrust you ahead, it's because someone in your family line stored up blessings for you. Someone gave, sacrificed, served. Those blessings ran over into your account. They couldn't contain it. Now you're being promoted. You're seeing favor. It's a generational blessing. It's like Levi. You were born with a blessing. You had relatives that sowed seeds. They didn't reap the whole harvest. Some of those seeds were designed to bloom in your life. Now you're reaping from what they sow. But my father always dreamed of building a large auditorium like the Compact Center. In fact, in one of his messages, way before we moved in, he said, one day, we're going to buy the Summit. That's what this place was called back then. He never saw it in his lifetime. He went to be with the Lord. But sometimes God will put a dream in your heart that. That your children will fulfill. Your grandchildren you will see further than you can go. Your vision may be greater than you can accomplish, but God is birthing that in your spirit so that future generations can step into what you're seeing. The good news is your generosity, the way you honor God, your obedience, your faithfulness. Those seeds are accruing for your children, for your family line, like me and Mayor Brown. There will be destiny moments for those that come after you, where doors open. The right people show up to bring to pass what God put in your heart. They will reap the harvest of some of the seeds that you've sown. Now, keep doing the right thing. Keep being generous. Keep encouraging that friend. Keep taking care of that elderly neighbor. Keep giving to support God's work. You're not only going to see increase, but there will be running over blessings, blessings that you cannot contain in the scripture. Jonathan was King Saul's son, and he was best friends with David. And Jonathan had an incredibly generous spirit. He was next in line to be the king after his father passed. But he knew God's hand was on David. He went out of his way to be good to David. He could have been jealous, competitive, thought I got to push David down, not let him get my position. But he was just the opposite. David came from a low income family and they were shepherds. Jonathan was raised in royalty in the palace. He understood protocol and how things operated. When David came to the palace, Jonathan took him under his wing and helped him learn how everything worked, how to serve and how to carry himself. When King Saul became jealous of David and was trying to kill him, Jonathan protected David, shared secrets to keep him safe, and came up with a plan so he wouldn't be harmed. If not for Jonathan, David may not have fulfilled his purpose. When David was about to take off running from King Saul, Jonathan met him out in the field first. Samuel 18 says Jonathan took off his robe and gave it to David, along with his armor, his sword, his bow and his belt. Look at Jonathan, a giver. Not only incredibly generous, but he's given it to someone that's going to take his position. God help us to be that way. Not so selfish and insecure and competitive that I can't bless someone going to go where I want to go, that I can't be good to someone that's going to pass me up. When you can pass the test of being good to people that are going further, then God can entrust you with greater influence and greater resources. When you're unselfish, you're comfortable helping others get ahead. You are sowing a seed for a running over blessing. God's not only going to reward your generosity, but your children. Those that come after you are going to be born with a blessing. Your giving is being credited to their account. David and Jonathan hugged each other goodbye. David took off into the desert, Saul chasing after him. They would only see each other one more time. It's significant that on one of their last encounters, Jonathan was giving all these gifts. As David hid in the caves month after month. I can imagine many times he looked at his robe and thought about his good friend Jonathan, how much he loved him, put on his belt, picked up his sword and thought, Jonathan gave me this. He was constantly reminded of Jonathan's generosity. Not just material things, but how Jonathan helped him navigate the palace, how he protected him from King Saul. A few years later, Jonathan and his dad Saul were killed in a battle. On the same day David was made king. The promise came to pass. David was incredibly successful, had great victories, led the Israelites to conquer enemies and take new ground. 20 years had passed since Jonathan was killed. Now David was known everywhere, had all this influence and power. One night he was reminiscing, thinking about his dear friend Jonathan, how much he Missed him. He said to his men, is there anyone still alive from the house of Saul that I can show kindness to for Jonathan's sake? Two decades had passed and David was saying, I want to be good to Jonathan's family. I want to show them kindness because of what he did for me. Jonathan didn't help David to get something, but look at how God works. He was storing it up for his children. God put it on David's heart to be good to Jonathan's descendants. His men said, david, Jonathan has a son named Mephibosheth. He's living in the city of Lo Debar, but he's crippled, he can't walk. Lo Debar was the poorest city of that day. It was the slums. David said, doesn't matter. Go get him and bring him to me. They searched and searched and finally found him. Had to carry him to the palace. Mephibosheth was nervous. He didn't know if David was angry, trying to get revenge because his grandfather, King Saul, trying to kill him. He was expecting the worst. He came in. David said, mephibosheth, don't worry. I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to bless you because your father, Jonathan was so good to me. From now on, you're going to live in the palace with me. You're going to eat dinner at my table each night. And all the land that belonged to your grandfather, I'm giving it to you. Here's my point. Mephibosheth didn't do anything to deserve this. He didn't know David. He didn't work to earn it. But because of his father's generosity, he was born with a blessing. There was favor in his account because his father sowed seeds of kindness, friendship, resources. Now that harvest was coming to his son, Mephibosheth, it had been stored up. Many of you have sowed seeds of generosity. Like Jonathan. You've been a blessing to people, giving your time, helping those in need, supporting the ministry. God is keeping the records. He's seen the sacrifices you've made. There will be a day where you see a running over blessing. Not only are you blessed, but in the future, your children, great grandchildren, God will cause someone to want to be good to them for your sake. The older I get now that I'm 36, the more I realize the blessing of having generous parents, generous grandparents. My mother would have turned 92 years old last week, her first birthday in heaven. She's there with my father. My grandparents, they left me so much better off I often say, thank you Daddy, thank you mother, thank you Granddaddy for you left so much in my account. How that inspires me to live that way. It's easy these days to be selfish and self centered and only focused on me and my problems, my goals. Joel, I don't have time to help others. I need all my resources. That's a shallow way to live. We are a part of a much larger plan. We can make it easier on those that come after us or we can make it more difficult. We can give them an advantage, have favor, good breaks, mercy accredited to their account. Or we can be a burden, leave them with nothing to benefit. Be like Abraham, give out of gratefulness for the victories God's given us. Or how about like Jonathan, give unselfishly to help others. That's not only going to cause you to be blessed, but it's storing up blessings for future generations. In my early 20s I was in India with my father and a few of my siblings. And we were at the apartment of this Indian pastor. Very influential leader that my father loved and Lakewood supported for many years. This pastor was so passionate about his ministry. He never got his family a nicer place to live. They're in this old rundown apartment, dilapidated and faucets weren't working in a rough area. My father decided a couple months earlier that he was going to give him the funds personally. Family to buy a house to live in wasn't as much as here in the States, but it's still a significant amount. We went to his apartment that night to tell him. All of his family gathered around. He had several smaller children. My father told him that our family wanted to buy him a house. And we brought him a gift to make it happen. There were three of us kids there, plus one more in our group. Instead of having one check for the whole amount, my father had five checks so we could each give. My father gave the first one. The pastor opened it up and began to weep. Nobody had ever given him that much before. Next I came up and handed him the check. He started weeping more and you know me, I started crying myself. Three more came up one by one handed him the check. It's a moment I'll never forget. I had bought a new sports car earlier that year, a Camaro Z28. That was so exciting. But that was nothing compared to the feeling of giving that pastor that check. I'd never felt the joy, the satisfaction. That's what the scripture says. More blessed to give than to receive. I realized the reason my father had separate checks is he wanted us each to experience the joy of giving. He knew it would make a lasting impact. Parents, teach your children what it means to be a giver. Include them when you give your tithes at church. Take them to serve with you at the food bank. Let them be a part when you're helping that friend in need or being good to that neighbor. Being generous is one of the greatest gifts we can leave our family. And today there's so much digital giving. In the old days, you would bring your offering to church and drop it off in the plate. It was an act of worship, something you could see and pray over and understand the importance. But now with everything electronic, it can happen and we don't realize the significance. We're doing the right thing, but giving is an act of worship. It's a way that we honor God. Friend of mine that attends here said when he goes to give each month, he has his children gather at home around the computer and he has his offering on there and they pray over it as a family and thank God for the funds. When it's time to give, he has the children push the send button so they experience what it means to give. When Victoria was a little girl, her father was a deacon in the Church of Christ. He would take the offering back to be counted. Victoria, just five, six years old, she would sit on the counter and stamp the back of the checks, get them ready for deposit. Her father could have left her out with the others, done that on his own, but he wanted her to know. We are givers. We honor God. We put him first place. How many of us have been born with a blessing because we had parents that were generous, relatives that were givers? I pray every day, God, help me to be a good steward of what you've given me. Help me to pass on the favor, the blessing by living generously. Many of you have done this. You've given, served, gone out of your way year after year. God has seen every gift, every sacrifice. I believe and declare, like with Abraham, not only are you going to see abundance, but your seed, your Levi's, four generations later are going to be born with a blessing. Favor, influence, good breaks because of your generosity in Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say amen? I'd like to give you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make him my Lord and Savior. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. We'd like to send you some free information on your new walk with the Lord. You can text the number on the screen or go to the website, but I hope you'll get into a good Bible based church and keep God first place.