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Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

Victoria Osteen (1:24)

We believe you're going to have an.

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Awesome 2024 healthy, productive and favor filled. God bless you today and enjoy the mess.

Victoria Osteen (1:33)

We know God has great things in store for you. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by. We'd love to have you at one of our services. I promise you it will make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in today. I'd like to get started with something funny. I heard about these two guys. They argued for years over whether Jesus was white or whether he was black. Archie was sure he was white and Jack was just as sure he was black. As fate would have it, they both died on the same day. They rushed to the Pearly gates, said St. Peter, please tell us, is Jesus white or black? We've been arguing our whole life over this. About that time, Jesus walked up and said, buenos dias. 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 the importance of developing good habits. A habit is something we do without even thinking about it. We've done it so long, it becomes almost involuntary. And studies tell us that 90% of our normal behavior is based on our habits. That means how we treat people, how we spend our money, what we watch, what we listen to. 90% of the time we're on autopilot. We do it like we've always done it before. And if we have good habits, this can be fine. But sometimes we don't realize we have habits that, that are keeping us from God's best. And when I say habits, I don't necessarily mean some big addiction, but even smaller things. Do you know always being late is a bad habit? Allowing strife in your home, overspending, being touchy, having a barely get by mindset. These are all negative habits that will keep us in mediocrity. And so if you want to change your life, the first place to start is by changing your habits. Your habits determine your destiny. Just like gravity, they pull you toward them. If you've developed a habit of being impatient or unorganized or lazy, that's going to be a constant struggle. Now I want to encourage you, don't go the next 20 years allowing those same things to keep you back. Make a decision to do something about it. I know people that are always running late. They live in a hurry, stressed out, frustrated, and they wonder why they don't really enjoy their life. It's because they developed a wrong habit. All they have to do is discipline themselves to leave a few minutes earlier and all that frustration, all that stress would go away. It's all in how we've trained ourselves. The way we develop good habits is the same way we develop bad habits. By doing the right thing over and over again. Most experts tell us in as little as 21 days, we can break a bad habit and form a new habit. And we have to understand our habits will become a part of our character. If you allow yourself to be unorganized and you're always running late, that becomes a part of who you are. If you've trained yourself to get upset and have a fit whenever you don't get your way, unfortunately, those bad habits become a part of you. The first step to changing is you have to identify what's holding you back, Identify any bad habits, and then make a decision to do something about it. How do we change? Quit feeding the bad habit. What you feed is going to grow. You have to starve your bad habits and start feeding your good habits. I heard about this old Cherokee Indian. One day he was teaching his grandson this same principle. He said, son, on the inside of every person is a battle taking place. It's a battle between two wolves. One wolf is evil. It's anger, jealousy, unforgiveness, pride, laziness. The other wolf is good. It's peace, joy, love, kindness, humility, self control. And these two wolves are constantly fighting. The little boy thought about it. In a few minutes he said, granddaddy, which wolf is going to win? The grandfather smiled and said, whichever one you feed, I'm asking you today, don't feed the wrong one. Don't go around feeding jealousy, feeding unforgiveness, feeding impatience, feeding low self esteem. The more you feed that junk, the stronger it's going to become. Make a decision with me. You're going to start feeding peace, feeding patience, feeding kindness, feeding humility, feeding self control. For instance, maybe you have a habit of complaining. You're always talking about your boss and how that company doesn't treat you right and you can't stand the drive to work in the morning. And it's interesting. When we complain, we feel a sense of release. Don't get me wrong, it feels good to feed the flesh. It feels good to feed the wrong thing. But the problem is what we feed is always going to want more. The next time you're tempted to complain, why don't you dig a little bit deeper and ask yourself, do I really want to keep feeding this old negative habit? Do I really want to stay where I am? Or do I want to start starving this complaining spirit and come up higher if you'll make the better choice? And instead of complaining, just learn to say, father, I want to thank you that at least I have a job. These people may not be treating me right, but I'm not working unto man. I'm working unto you. When you do that, you're feeding the right thing. The new habit is starting to develop. Next time it'll be a little easier. Next time, even easier. What's happening? You're starving your bad habit and you're strengthening your good habit. I heard somebody say bad habits are easy to develop but difficult to live with. In other words, it's easy to pop off and be rude and say whatever you feel and make cutting, sarcastic remarks. That's easy. But it's difficult to live in a home filled with strife and tension. It's easy to spend money that we don't have and charge everything on our credit cards. But it's hard to live with the pressure of not being able to pay our bills. It's easy to give into temptation and do whatever we feel. But it's difficult to live in bondage, to go around guilty and condemned. You take a person with a chemical addiction. It was easy to get started. It was fun and exciting. It gave them a high. But unfortunately, in the long run, it ends up controlling them. They become a slave to it. See, bad habits are easy to develop, but hard to live with. On the other hand, good habits are difficult to develop. It takes sometimes a little sacrifice, a little pain, a little suffering. But good habits are easy to live with. For instance, at first, it's hard to bite your tongue when you want to argue. It's hard to just overlook an offense. It's hard at first to forgive. But it sure is easy to live in a home filled with peace and harmony. And what I'm saying today is. If you will just be willing to press past the initial pain of change. If you'll be willing to be uncomfortable for a little while, in the long run, your life will be much, much better. Because the pain doesn't last forever. Once you develop the new habit, then it's easy. Victoria will tell you. I won't argue. We don't allow strife and conflict in our home. And I'll be honest. It's not hard for me now to overlook things. It's not hard for me to forgive. Because I've simply trained myself to do it. I've trained myself to be a peacemaker. I've trained myself to apologize even when it's not my fault. Which, of course, is every single time. But at first, this was difficult. At first, I didn't want to do it. And I'd put up a good argument and I'd tell her what I thought and the way it should be. But one day I began to realize that's not the way God wants me to live. That's not his best. And I could hear the still, small voice right down in here saying, joel, let it go. You're better than this. Don't live on this low level. See, we have to decide do we want to be right or do we want to have peace? And little by little, I began to change. And it got easier and easier. Today it's not difficult at all. It's become a part of my character. It's natural to me. The truth is, I could still be where I was 20 years ago when we first got married. Arguing, pouting when I didn't get my way. Always having to have the last word. No, thank God. I developed some Better habits. I pressed past the pain of change. And today it's easy. And sure, I have other areas that I need to improve in, maybe one or two. But you too, if you will press past the initial pain, whether it's a week, a month, or a year, eventually the pain will go away. And you'll not only enjoy your life a lot more, but you'll be living at a much higher level. It will become a part of you. It's kind of like a rocket ship being launched into space. The first few minutes takes the majority of the energy it needs. All that thrust to lift it off the ground. Those boosters are shooting it up into the air. But in a little while, once it gets into outer space, it doesn't need all that extra energy. It simply had to press past the Earth's atmosphere. Same way with us in forming new habits. At first it's difficult, but if you will stick with it, you'll come to a point where it doesn't take much effort at all. It will be natural to you. It's like that person with that chemical addiction. He's been hooked on that drug so long, when he goes off of it, what happens? He goes through withdrawals. It's painful. He suffers. His body wants it back. And this is where so many people give in and they feed the bad habit. Once again, I'm asking you today to dig your heels in and. And stay consistent. It's better to suffer a little while than to suffer your whole lifetime. And if you, too, will press past that pain of change, just like that rocket, you'll come to a place where it's not painful. You'll begin to soar. You'll be free from those bondages. And I know we all have areas that we've struggled with for years and years. And I'd love to tell you, you know, you quote one scripture, pray one prayer, and it'll go away. But unfortunately, most of the time, that's not the way it works. God changes us little by little. Be determined, stick with it, and keep making right decisions. We've all heard that saying, practice makes perfect. And that's true. But I found sometimes we're practicing the wrong things. I've had people tell me, joel, I'm just a real negative person. My parents were negative. My grandparents were negative. This is just who I am. But with all due respect, that's not who you really are. That's not the way God made you. God made you to be free. He didn't make us to be bound by addictions. And Unorganized and hot tempered, going around frustrated and negative. No. God made each one of you as a person of excellence. He made you to be happy, healthy and whole. But too often we've developed wrong mindsets. We go around telling ourselves, man, I can't change. I can't break this habit. This is just who I am. No, the problem is we're practicing the wrong things. It's interesting. The Apostle Paul said in Romans, chapter seven, the things I want to do, I don't, and the things I don't want to do, I end up doing. He was having this same struggle of doing the right thing. And in verse 19, a couple verses down, he gives us insight into why he's having this struggle. He said, for I fail to practice the things I desire to do. He was basically saying, I haven't developed good habits in these areas. I'm not practicing what I know I should be doing. The truth is, we are all practicing something. The way we develop good habits is by practicing the right things. Some of you are real good at losing your temperature because you practice it a couple times a week. Some people are good at being impatient because they practice it every morning on the drive to work. I know people that are good at being negative because they constantly practice negative thinking. Remember, repetition is what forms a habit. That's what puts us on autopilot. So we have to make sure we are practicing the right things. And every one of us should be practicing forgiveness. Next time somebody offends you, next time they hurt you, don't even think about it. Don't give it five seconds immediately. Forgive them immediate. Let it go. Start practicing forgiveness. Maybe you struggle with keeping your weight under control. Next time you're tempted to snack, practice saying no. Practice walking away. Practice self control. The only way you're going to get good at it is by practicing. Each one of us should practice being kind. Let's practice being patient. Let's practice being disciplined in our spending. Making good financial choices. I know too many people, they're way out of balance in their finances because they've developed bad habits. And they just keep practicing the wrong things. Spending money that they don't have, charging everything on their credit cards. It doesn't take a lot of wisdom to realize paying 20 to 25% interest on a credit card is not a good thing. Keep practicing that. It's like this guy I heard about the credit card company called him one night and said, sir, I'm sorry, but someone has stolen your wife's credit card. He checked his bill and Called him back a little later and said, tell the thief to keep it. He spends less than my wife. I've heard people say, joel, I just can't make it without my credit cards. Can't live without them. But the truth is, you can make it. You just may be a little uncomfortable. You may have to suffer through that period of change. I remember my father used to say, you can't buy everything your little old beady eyes see. He would say, learn to sit on an apple box until you can afford a chair. What he was really saying was, if you'll use what you have wisely, then God will give you more. A lot of times today we're praying for a miracle. We're praying for a financial breakthrough. And I say this respectfully, but we don't really need a miracle. We just need to develop better habits. I know people, if God blessed them with a million dollars tomorrow, a year from now, they'd be in the same financial difficulty. They'd have the same problems. Why they have not developed good spending habits. We need to think long and hard before we buy something that puts us deep into debt. Talking about outside your home, do you really need that fancy car? Do you really need that extra toy? I heard somebody say if we paid cash for everything, actually paid with green bills, in a year, we would save an average of $900 each. It's because when you dole that money out one bill at a time, it makes you think, do I really want to give all this up just to have this? That's a lot more thought provoking than just popping out a credit card. Do you realize financial pressure is always listed as one of the top three reasons why our homes fall apart? Top three reasons why couples get a divorce. Develop good spending habits. And listen, it's never too late to start. If you'll do your part, God will do his part. He'll give you promotion, he'll give you increase. But you've got to be a good steward. Have. I love the story a young couple told here at Lakewood a few months ago. They had about $40,000 in credit card debt. And they were not only kind of embarrassed by it, they were very distraught over it. They didn't see any way out in the natural. It looked totally impossible. But one day they took a step of faith and they swallowed their pride and came up and met with one of our financial planners. That's a free ministry we have here at Lakewood. And that planner studied their finances and gave them instruction in how they could overcome. And this Young couple told and I was so impressed how for three years they didn't go out to eat. They didn't take vacations, they didn't buy extra clothes. They were on a bare bones budget. It was uncomfortable. It was a sacrifice. But how do we overturn years of wrong choices? By forming better habits and making years of right choices. They changed what they were practicing. They quit using their credit cards. They learned the difference between their wants and their needs. They started practicing discipline, practicing self control. That was three years ago. Today that young couple is totally debt free. God is blessing them. They're seeing increase in promotion. But it all started way back when they decided to form better habits. They drew the line in the sand, said, you know what? That's it. We're not living like this anymore. The first step to overcoming first step to victory is you got to identify what's holding you back. And then don't stop there. Make a decision to do something about it. Take action. You may need to get some help like this young couple. Don't be embarrassed by it, whatever area it's in. Today people struggle with chemical addictions, sexual addictions. It may be an anger addiction. You just can't control your temper. Listen, you can change. Freedom is available. Don't believe that lie telling you that you're stuck. You'll never get any better. No. God already has a pathway of victory laid out for you. But you've got to do your part and be willing to walk it out the next time that temptation comes. First thing you need to do is pray. Get God involved in your life. We cannot defeat bad habits in our own strength. Ask God to help you. When you're tempted to be rude, you feel your emotions getting out of hand. Normally you'd just tell somebody off. No. Right then and there, under your breath. God, I'm asking you to help me. God, give me the grace to keep my mouth closed. God, give me the strength to walk away. See, the scripture tells us, pray that you don't come into temptation. It doesn't say pray that you'll never be tempted. No, we're all going to face temptation. God says, when that comes, ask me for my help in any area that you're trying to change. Even small things. God, I'm about to walk through this kitchen and I can smell the chocolate chip cookies. I'm asking you to help me resist it. God, all my friends are going out partying tonight. And I know down in here it's not right. God, I'm asking you to help me make the best Choice. Help me stay on your best plan. Well, Joel, that's difficult. It's hard not to go out with my friends. Hard not to use my credit cards. Hard not to speak my mind. Yes, that's difficult. But you know what's even more difficult? Living in bondage. You know what's even harder? Going around feeling bad about yourself because you know you're living below your potential. There's nothing worse than going through the day with little things holding you back that you know good and well you can beat. And some of you today, you're struggling with addictions, or you struggle with your temper, or being impatient, dragging around in mediocrity, allowing something so small to control you. Let me tell you what you already know. You're better than that. You're a child of the most high God. You have his royal blood flowing through your veins. Don't you dare just sit back and settle where you are. There is not an obstacle in your life that you cannot overcome. Large or small. It doesn't matter if it's a critical spirit or if you're addicted to cocaine. The power that's in you is greater than the power that's trying to hold you back. Dig your heels in and fight the good fight of faith. Don't let that thing master you. Our attitude should be, that's it. I'm not staying where I am. I'm coming up higher. I know I'm better than this. That's what the scripture tells us, that we're supposed to reign as kings in this life. That means we're not supposed to go around being conquered by addictions, not able to control our temper. We can't get to work on time. We're always arguing and fighting. No, tap into the power that's on the inside. Quit saying, I can't break this thing and start declaring every day I am free. I can do all things through Christ. No weapon formed against me is ever going to prosper. Remember what Jesus said. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Start declaring that over your own life. It says in Philippians, chapter two, we have to work out our salvation. That means we have all these good things on the inside. You have the seed of almighty God he's already put in you. Self control, discipline, kindness, forgiveness, patience. It's on the inside. But it's up to each one of us to work it out. Doesn't come out automatically. It only comes out when we make good choices. Not once, but over and over again. In other words, when we form these good habits. Now, I know My personality type is very goal oriented. I'm structured, I'm organized. If I tell you I'm going to be somewhere at noon, I'm not going to be 10 minutes late. I'm going to be 10 minutes early. Very disciplined when it comes to being organized and getting things done. But with the good in our personalities, there are always other areas that we have to work on where I'm naturally disciplined and focused. I'm not naturally very patient. I don't like to wait. I like to get somewhere, get it done and move on. It's very easy for me to be impatient now. I realize that's an area I have to develop. I can't just sit back and say, well, I'm not a patient person. That's not the way God made me. No, I know patience is on the inside of me, but I have to do my part to work it out. And it's funny how God will use people and circumstances to try to help us come up higher. I have to tell you, the freeway system out here in Houston has taught me a whole lot about patience. I used to practice getting stressed out, practice getting uptight every time traffic backed up. But now I've learned to just relax, go with the flow, stay in peace. See, I've worked some of that patience from the inside to the outside, to my thoughts, to my behavior, to my attitude. And God has used my beautiful wife Victoria to help me work out my salvation. When we first got married and we were about to leave the house and go somewhere, I'd say, victoria, are you ready? She said, yeah, I'm ready. I'll be right there. Well, with my personality type, I would go get in the car and wait. I mean, to me, I'm ready means we're leaving right now. But Victoria's personality is very laid back, easygoing. Nothing's a big deal. She's the most patient person in the world. So when she says I'm ready, she means in general. In the next 10 or 15 minutes, I'll begin to mosey my way toward the back door. Well, I used to sit in that car and get frustrated and aggravated. And I thought she said she was ready. When is she? Well, now I've learned when she says I'm ready, it's kind of like the two minute warning in football. The clock says two minutes, but if you know anything about football, it's going to be at least another 10 or 15 minutes. I've learned now just to go sit down, go over my notes, watch a little television, stay in peace, not uptight. I'm telling you, God has used that girl to bring patience out of me. And I got to be honest, I know God has used me to bring a few things out of her, but I don't want to know what they are. And don't you ask, but how did I develop patience? By practicing it over time I developed better habits. You may be the most patient person in the world, but you spend half your life discouraged, depressed. Well, you've got to work the joy from the inside to the outside. You got to get up in the morning and say with David, this is the day the Lord's made. I'm going to be happy today. You've got to focus on what's right, not on what's wrong. Work out your salvation. Don't believe those lies. Well, I just can't control my temper. I'm just hot headed. No self control is in you. Problem is you just hadn't worked it out yet. The way you work it out is by exercising your muscles in that area. If you want to work out kindness, start being kinder, start encouraging people, start giving compliments. What I'm saying is we can't just sit back and wait for God to change us into a kind, loving person. The only way it's going to happen is to work it out, be kinder, develop better habits. And we should always keep new goals in front of us. Our attitude should be, this year I'm going to practice treating my family better. I'm going to come up higher in how I honor and respect my spouse. I'm going to be more loving and generous to my children. See, don't get stuck. I'm not talking about just overcoming bad habits. I'm talking about strengthening and improving good habits. And I don't know about you, but I want to work out everything God's put in me. I don't want a little joy, a little peace, a little victory. I want to live his abundant life. And I know that's going to happen when I do my part and work it out. And some of you today you have areas in your life that you know you need to get under control. God is saying, don't put it off any longer. Today is the day to start. Today can be a new beginning. If you'll take this to heart and be willing to press past the pain of change and just stick with it, then a year from now you won't be the same person. You'll be free from addictions, free from bad attitudes, free from every bondage. That's trying to hold you back. So my challenge to you again is to make sure you're practicing the right things. Don't feed those old negative habits anymore. Starve your bad habits and feed your good habits. Work out your salvation. If you do this, I know you're going to rise higher and higher. God will pour out his blessings and favorite and you're going to live the life of victory he has in store. Amen. Do you receive it today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving 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 you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take you places that you've never dreamed of.