Count It All Joy | Victoria Osteen - Joel Osteen Podcast

Summary

Joel Osteen Podcast Episode Summary

Title: Count It All Joy | Victoria Osteen
Host: Joel Osteen, SiriusXM
Release Date: December 7, 2024

Introduction

In this enlightening episode of the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast, Victoria Osteen sets the stage for a powerful message aimed at inspiring listeners to embrace joy amidst life's challenges. She warmly welcomes the audience, expressing gratitude for their support and shares her hopes for an "awesome 2024" filled with health, productivity, and divine favor.

Main Message: Embracing Joy Through Trials

The heart of this episode is a profound sermon delivered by Pastor Joel Osteen, focusing on the transformative power of joy during difficult times. His message is both a comfort and a call to action for listeners to shift their perspective and find strength in faith.

1. From Struggle to Strength

Pastor Osteen begins by addressing the common human experience of fluctuating between good days and struggles. He emphasizes that God’s intention is not for us to move "from struggle to struggle" but to transition "from strength to strength" (04:20). This shift requires trusting in God's plan and recognizing that each trial is an opportunity for growth.

"God doesn't want us to go from struggle to struggle. His intention is for us to go from strength to strength." (04:20)

2. The Power of Resting in God's Peace

Recognizing the exhaustion that comes from constant striving, Pastor Osteen encourages listeners to "rest in God's peace" (06:15). By surrendering our burdens to God and placing Him first, we can find the endurance needed to persevere through hardships.

"If you find yourself struggling, rest. Rest in God's peace. Abide in his joy. That's where you're going to find your strength." (06:15)

3. Finding Joy in Trials: Biblical Insights

Drawing from James 1:4, Pastor Osteen explains that trials are meant to produce perseverance and build our faith. He underscores that joy should be rooted not in the absence of difficulties, but in the unwavering presence of God.

"Consider it all joy when you go through trials of many kinds." (08:45)

4. Choosing Joy Over Hardship

A pivotal part of the message is the choice between viewing challenges as hardships or as opportunities to experience God's joy. Pastor Osteen asserts that our perception determines our emotional and spiritual outcome.

"When I'm facing a difficulty, I have a choice. I can consider it joy or I can consider it hardship." (10:30)

5. Developing Inner Strength Through Faith

Pastor Osteen highlights that true strength comes from within, fortified by faith. He encourages listeners to seek the "good in this trial" and recognize that God is refining them like pure gold.

"God is refining us into pure gold. He wants us to lack no good thing, to be ready and able to persevere in this life." (11:05)

6. The Role of Perseverance and Willpower

Acknowledging human limitations, Pastor Osteen points out that overcoming challenges requires more than willpower—it necessitates tapping into God's power. This divine strength is essential for rising above difficulties and achieving personal growth.

"When you're facing a difficulty and God's got you on an upward plane, it's going to take more than your willpower. It's going to take God's power." (09:50)

7. Overcoming with Faith and Hope

Concluding his message, Pastor Osteen reinforces the importance of maintaining faith and hope. By believing in God's promises and recognizing our inherent worth, we can transcend our struggles and emerge stronger.

"Romans 15:13 says, 'The God of all hope will fill you with joy and peace in believing.' What are you believing today?" (11:50)

Conclusion

Pastor Joel Osteen's heartfelt sermon in this episode serves as a powerful reminder that joy is not contingent upon our circumstances but is a divine gift that sustains us through trials. By choosing to embrace joy and rely on God's strength, listeners are encouraged to navigate life's challenges with resilience and unwavering faith.

For more inspirational messages and to live your best life, visit joelosteen.com. Subscribe to the Joel Osteen Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts through SiriusXM Podcasts+ for an ad-free experience and early access to new episodes.

Transcript

Wreaths Across America Representative (0:00)

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Joel Osteen (0:31)

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Wreaths Across America Representative (0:34)

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Joel Osteen (1:03)

Joel Osteen and Netflix invite you and your family to watch Mary journey back in time to experience the story of the Nativity through the eyes of Mary of Nazareth. Starring newcomer Noah Cohen and executive produced by Pastor Joel Osteen, Mary is an uplifting biblical epic that follows Mary, Joseph and their newborn son Jesus as they flee the relentless pursuit of King Herod. Portrayed by two time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins. Watch Mary now playing only on Netflix.

Victoria Osteen (1:31)

Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024 healthy, productive and favor filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message.

Pastor (1:46)

Amen and Amen. You may be seated. God wants us to go from strength. Strength. He wants us to go from glory to glory. We sang about it a few minutes ago how he wants to take us from glory to glory. He wants us to go higher and higher. But sometimes when we're trying to get higher, we're trying to go to more strength. We're trying to get through. We find that we're going from struggle to struggle. See, God doesn't want us to go from struggle to struggle. His intention is for us to go from strength to strength. And can I tell you, today we all face this challenge. One day we're doing good, the next day we're struggling. We're trying to get out of a situation. We're trying to get to another situation. Maybe if you're struggling today, you need to hear this one word. Rest. Just rest. See, the truth is we're going to get to where God wants us to be. If we're honoring him, if we put him first place, if we take time to get his plans and his words in our heart and in our life. We're not going to get to where we need to be any quicker if we worry, if we struggle, or if we're frustrated. So today I just want to say, if you find yourself struggling, rest. Rest in God's peace. Abide in his joy. That's where you're going to find your strength. That is where you are going to endure and find great persistence. God is always trying to get us higher. So we're always going to be facing something in our life. Listen to what it says in James 1:4. It says, Consider it all joy when you go through trials of many kinds. Many kinds, a variety of trials coming from different places. We're to count it all joy when we face trials. See, trials is what causes us to struggle. But God is saying, count it all joy. In this version that I'm reading, it says, consider it all joy. See, our trials were never meant to decrease us. They were meant to increase us. They were not meant to tear our faith down. They were meant to build our faith up. Trials were meant to produce perseverance in us. See, that Scripture goes on to say that we won't be lacking anything, that there may be a trial of our faith, but it's going to lead us to good. It's not going to tear us down. The key to counting it all joy is joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. We don't find the joy in the trial. We don't find the joy in the pain. We are supposed to find the joy in the God who is the source of all strength, the God who is in control of it all. When we are walking through a difficulty, we are supposed to look for God, not look at the difficulty. We're to count it all joy. Happiness comes and goes. Excitement is here. Vacations come, they go. But joy is supposed to abide in us. Joy lives in us. Joy is a gift from Almighty God. You know, sometimes when we're going through a trial or a test, we think, this isn't joyful. I can tell you joy is not the word that comes to me when I'm facing a difficulty. I just have to admit it right now. I think the scripture should say, when you get through the difficulty, that's when you can throw your hands up in the air and you can say, finally, I can have some joy. I can have some relief. But see, the scripture doesn't say that it says we are to conceal. Consider it all, joy. That tells me right now that when I'm facing a difficulty, I have a choice. I can consider it joy or I can consider it hardship. And if I consider it hardship and difficulty and misery and start walking down that road, I'm going to begin to complain and I'm going to lose any joy I ever had. But when I consider the God, the God who has all power, the God who has allowed me to face a trial to bring something good out of me. See, if we're going to count it all, Joy, the only way to do that is to count it all, God. And if we're going to count it all, God, we got to know there is good in this trial. The decision is to find the good, not the bad. The decision is to begin to look for the good. And you know what I've discovered? I've discovered that most of the time, God wants me to find the good in myself. He wants me to mind the gold within me. You see, he is refining us into pure gold. It says that he wants us to lack no good thing, to be ready and able to persevere in this life. You see, if we're going to go higher and higher, we're always going to be facing something. Because the only way to go higher is to step up. See, what are you stepping over or stepping up to today? Are you taking those difficulties to God? Are you saying, God, help me find your strength, be my source? Or are you trying to do it on your own? See, when we do it on our own, that's when we struggle. But when we realize, when we tap into this joy, we tap into God. That's when we find our source of strength. See, there is something called willpower. And we all like to think we have it and we all want to use it. But let me tell you, when you're facing a difficulty and God's got you on an upward plane, it's going to take more than your willpower. It's going to take God's power. It's going to take God's power to bring you to the places that he wants to take you. Don't struggle on your own. Realize the joy of the Lord is his calm delight. It's the rest in him. It's the peace in him. Do you know, it's very interesting. What we believe about our circumstance will ultimately cause us to either come out tattered and torn, beaten and bruised, or built up. Because, see, we just want to get through those difficulties. We're waiting for them to be over. But God is looking at what we are like when they're over. He is saying, how did they develop? How did they grow? What's their attitude? Where can I take them now? See, God wants us to pass the test. That is, any good teacher wants you to pass the test. They don't give you a test to fail. They give you a test to see what you've learned from them. And God is saying, I want you to pass the test. I want you to wise up. I want you to have perseverance. That's what the intention of these trials are, to give us perseverance, to train us to bring out the good in us, the God in us. See, that's why the enemy works so hard to steal our joy. Because he knows if we're looking everywhere else, if we're blaming our friends, if all about our husband. It's about the difficulty at work. When we're looking to lay blame on everyone else. We forget to look within us. We look at the problem. We're chasing the problem instead of chasing the promise. The promise is in us. God has put everything we need to accomplish on the inside of us. We just gotta dig it out. We gotta find it. We have got to believe that this joy is for us, to give us strength. What you're believing about the difficulty you're going through right now, what you're believing about where you want to be right now is going to make all the difference in the world on how you come out of this difficulty and what you learn through this difficulty, what you learn through any challenge. See, if you're going to go through it, grow through it. That's what God's saying. Grow through it. It says in Romans 15:13. It says, the God of all hope will fill you with joy and peace in believing. What are you believing today? Are you believing you're unworthy? Are you believing you can't make it? See, no hope and no faith and no joy will rise with those kind of thoughts. Or are you believing, God? I am believing. As I face this trial, I'm learning something. I'm getting something out of this. God. I'm believing, Father, that I can repent. I can turn away God. I am believing that you are proud of me. And if you are for me, who dare be against me, I'm believing that I have all power to overcome being built up because of Jesus Christ. See, it's what you're believing about your situation today. Don't give up your joy. Don't let it elude you don't think it's happiness. Happiness is good. We all want to be happy. We all want things to be going our way. The true test of our faith. The test that's going to build us, build our character, build our perseverance. It sounds in the trials of life, God doesn't want you to get beat up in the trial. He wants you to be built up.