Joel Osteen (2:27)
We apprec and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you. It is always our joy to come into your homes. We know God has great things in store. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in today. I like to get started with something funny each week. And I heard about this man named Bill. He was a Southern Baptist, and he loved to sneak out to the horse races and bet. And one day, after losing almost all of his money, he saw a priest step out onto the tracks and bless a horse. He watched closely, and sure enough, the horse won first place. The next race, the priest blessed another horse. Once again, it won. Well, Bill ran down to the ATM machine, got all of his money out. This time, he saw the priest not only touch the horse's forehead, but he touched his eyes, his ears, and all of his hooves. Feeling so confident, he bet all of his money. But in the middle of that race, that horse fell over and died. He couldn't believe it. He said to the priest, what in the world happened? The priest said, that's the problem with you Protestants. You don't know the difference between a blessing and the last rites. 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 embracing change. One thing is certain. Change is inevitable. People change. Jobs change, styles change. Even seasons change. And God has designed us to need change. But so many people fight it. They hold onto the old because they're familiar. It's what they're used to. They're comfortable. And if we're not careful, we'll get stuck in a rut to where we're not growing, we're not stretching, not using the potential on the inside. That's one reason God sends change. He won't allow us to stay stuck. And sometimes the very things that we fight against, the very things that we think are trying to pull us down, is actually the hand of God trying to push us into a New season. The way God works is he will stir us out of comfortable situations and he'll put us in situations that make us stretch, situations that force us to use our faith. We may not like it, it may be uncomfortable, but God loves us too much to just leave us alone. And just as God can supernaturally open doors, sometimes God will supernaturally close doors. And if we can just realize nothing happens by accident, God is directing every one of our steps. That means if a friend does us wrong, if we go through a setback, if we lose a loved one, we can either embrace that change and God will use it to take us higher, or we can resist it and we'll end up getting stagnant and just settling for mediocrity. We have to stay open for change. Don't approach change from a negative point of view to where you just automatically assume it's going to be bad. It may be negative on the surface, but remember, God would not allow it if he didn't have a purpose for it. He's going to use it to stretch you and to somehow, hopefully push you into a new dimension. What may be a perfectly fine situation for years, all of a sudden you see a stirring taking place. Maybe you thought you would be at that job for the next 30 years, but for some reason, the people that were behind you are not behind you anymore. You don't have the favor you used to have there. Seems like every day is an uphill battle. What is that? That's God stirring things up. It's easy to get negative, bitter. God, why is this happening? I thought I had your favor. But a much better approach is to just stay open and know that God is still in control. If you will embrace that change, the winds that you thought were going to defeat you will. Will actually be the winds that push you into your divine destiny. Stay open for change. So many people resist it. They try to hold on to things that God's been done with for 10 years. Maybe in a relationship, deep down, we know that friend is not good for us. We know they're keeping us from being our best. But we think, man, if we change, we're not going to have friends, we're going to be lonely. We just don't want to rock the boat. That's why sometimes God will turn the boat over. Sometimes God will force us to move forward. Not because he's mean, not because he's trying to make our lives miserable, but because he has such a great desire to see us reach our full potential. So sometimes he may cause a friend to walk away. He'll stir things up and maybe even allow a friend to do us wrong because he knows if he doesn't close that door, we would never move ahead. Thirty years later, that friend would still be dragging us down, keeping us from our destiny. Don't be discouraged over the people that leave your life. You may have had a friend, a co worker, an associate that walked out of a relationship. You're kind of down thinking that it was the end. But you need to realize it is only the beginning. God would not have stirred it up if he didn't have something better in store. And you may think they were doing you wrong, but really they were doing you a favor. You need to just blow them a kiss goodbye, wave at them, never look back, keep moving forward. What I'm saying is, when things start stirring, that's a sign transition is coming. My father for many years pastored a denominational church. He was doing great. They were growing. He thought he would be there the rest of his life. But one day he began to feel something on the inside. A desire to get to know God better. It was about that time that my sister Lisa was born with something like cerebral palsy. My parents were forced to deal with that change. My father went away for a few days and got alone and he began to search the Scriptures and. And he came back to his congregation and began to preach with a new fire, a new enthusiasm, letting them know that God is a good God, that he has an abundant life, and that he could even still heal today. He thought everybody would be excited. He thought they would all be behind him. But it was just the opposite. They didn't understand it. It didn't fit into their tradition. They thought he was far out. And some of my mother and father's longtime friends, people they had known for years, turned on them, started talking behind their backs, started stirring up trouble, saying that he needed to leave. My dad was devastated. He thought, God, here, I've given my life for these people. Why is this happening? But the fact is, God was the one stirring it all up. God knew my father would never reach his full potential if he stayed in that limited environment. He knew he would never be able to spread his wings and soar if he stayed in those confines. And it looked like a big disappointment. It looked like the enemy was getting the best of him. But the truth is, behind the scenes, God was orchestrating it all. God could see the big picture. My father left that church dejected, feeling like his days of ministry may be over, feeling like he was a big Failure. But it was actually that closed door that caused my dad to take a step of faith and start Lakewood Church. That was on Mother's Day in 1959. Here we are today, nearly 50 years later, still going strong. My sister Lisa is perfectly normal, but I don't believe we would be where we are right now if God had not stirred it up and if my father had not been open for change. Moses said in Deuteronomy 32:11, as an eagle stirs up her nest, so God will stir up his children. When you see things stirring in your life, things are uncomfortable. Changes are taking place. Don't immediately think, well, why do I always get these bad breaks? Nothing good ever happens to me. No, just turn it around and say, God, I know you're still in control, and I believe you're stirring this up because you're about to open up a new door and take me to a higher level. Stay in faith. I read where people that live over 100 years, one of their common qualities is they are able to accept change. They don't hold on to the old. That's one thing I love about my mother. She's not quite a hundred yet, but when my father went to be with the Lord, they had been married nearly 50 years. And sure, my mother was disappointed. She went through a season of mourning, but she didn't stay in that season. She dusted herself off, she put her shoulders back and got ready for the new thing that God was about to do. When a season is over, we've got to learn to accept it and get ready to embrace the new. That means quit talking about the job that you lost. Quit talking about the relationship that didn't work out. Or even quit talking about how when you were younger, you could run so fast and you were so thin and you had all your hair. No, this is a new day. You got to accept where you are right now. Learn to embrace that change. I think about how when Victoria and I took over after my father went to be with the Lord, we didn't do everything exactly like it had been done in the past. While we always honor the past and we honor and respect my parents, they founded the ministry, but God made us all individuals. And so we made some slight changes in the services here and there and how things operate. But my mother never once came and said, yoel, I don't think we should do it that way. That's not the way we've done it in the past. I don't know if that's the way your father would do it. She's very good at embracing the new. So often we try to hold on to the old. I've had people tell me, joel, this is the way we did it when I was growing up. These are the songs we used to sing in church. This is how our minister used to minister. We didn't have those guitars. We didn't have those lights, especially the ones that move. And we weren't in a basketball arena. I grew up in a little church, Joel. Well, I grew up in a little church too. But it was God who moved us out of the little church. It was God who opened up this door. I stay open for change. Today we're in a big church. Understand what was good in the past was right for the past. It was right for that time. But God is a progressive God. He likes to do new things. And if you're going to be your best today, you've got to learn to not only accept change, but to embrace it. I say this respectfully, but I know people that go to the same church year after year. They don't enjoy it. They're not growing, they're not being challenged. But they wouldn't dare try anything different because their family has been in that church for 427 years. Great, great, great Granddaddy sat on this pew. Great Grandmama sat on this pew. I sit on this pew. My kids sit on this pew. This is our pew. You'd be better off to fight a pit bull than to try to get their pew. Have you noticed we don't have any pews around here? What's the problem? They are stuck in tradition. And tradition is not bad. But tradition can change. Have you ever thought about how you can start a new tradition for your family? You can do something different. And if you do it in the right spirit, in love, people will accept it. And I'm all for being loyal and sticking with something. But I also know you have to put yourself in a place where you're going to grow, where you're going to be challenged. Not just in your church, but in your relationships, in your job, in your career. Recognize what was good in the past was right for the past. But we can't try to hold onto something that was right at one time, but it's not right for us now. Maybe that season is over and it's not that it was a bad season. It's just a new day and God wants to do a new thing. Just like it's great to have organs in church, I like that. But it's also Great to have guitars. It's great to sing the old hymns. We still do that. But it's also great to sing I Am a Friend of God. It's great to have ministers that are more formal, that can explain theology and doctrine. But it's also great to have people that can make the Scripture practical. And people that can teach us how to apply it to our own lives. It's interesting. In the Book of acts, just chapter two, the disciples and some 120 people were in the upper room there in Jerusalem, waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit. It finally came. There was a great outpouring of God's spirit. A big celebration. They were all rejoicing. People heard it from all over. And they came to see what was happening. That day, 3,000 people were added to the church. It was the biggest thing that had ever happened to the early church. And those disciples began to stay around Jerusalem. After all, that's where it all got started. That's where they were comfortable. But understand, where something starts is not always where it finishes. I can imagine those disciples, anytime they had a problem, anytime they got discouraged, they said, let's go back to that upper room. Let's go back and sing those same songs that we sang 20 years ago. What they were saying is, let's see if we can get God to do the same thing once again. Now I know people that are sitting around waiting for God to do something that he did 50 years ago. All the while God is saying, come on now, I want to do a new thing. Don't get stuck in the old. It's easy to take a treasure and try to turn it into a tradition. Well, Joel, if it could just be like it used to be. Like the good old days. No, God is saying, let go of the old. He's got some good new days. What God is going to do in your future is going to far supersede what he's done in your past. But you cannot get stuck in tradition. Stuck in a job that you're not growing. Stuck in a relationship that you know God's stirring you out of. Stuck in a neighborhood that's hindering you. Even stuck with bad attitudes, wrong mindsets, limited thinking. It's time that we get out of those ruts. And don't be surprised in the coming days if you don't see God stirring things up. Persecution, people talking about you, unfair things happening. Instead of getting discouraged. Even though it looks like a bad break in reality, that's God about to open up a door and take you to A new level. Don't keep running back to the old. Old friendships, old acquaintances, old attitudes, traditions. God does things in seasons. It's not that the old was bad, not that the friend is not a great person. But maybe that season is over. That job may have been great for you for a time, but now God's trying to push you into a new direction. Or that church that your family grew up in. They're still great people, but maybe it's a new season for you. God knows, like with my father, we're not going to become everything he's created us to be if we stay in a limited environment. So he's going to do his best to stir us out of those situations. Sometimes he will even close the door and force us to make a change. I have a good friend, and he knew down deep that he was supposed to leave his job. He had so much more in him. He had certainly outgrown it. We talked about it several times, but he was just playing it safe, staying where it was comfortable. And you've got to know this man. He is the nicest person in the world. He is a model employee, goes the extra mile, gets there early and stays late. But one day he called and said, joel, you'll never believe what happened. I said, what? He said, I just got fired. I said, you got fired? That's like saying Mother Teresa just robbed a bank. That's impossible. But sometimes, if we don't take the hint, God will close the door. God will force us to move forward. Today, that gentleman is a vice president of a major corporation. He continues to rise higher, reaching his full potential. But I wonder if God had not been so good to close that door and to push him forward, he would probably still be there today, settling for mediocrity. Friends, you weren't created to be average. You were created to excel. You were created to leave your mark on our generation. When things are stirring in your life, when doors are closing, change is taking place. Don't get off into doubt and say, oh, man, another problem I've got to deal with. Stay in faith. Stay open. It could be that's God trying to push you into your divine destiny. The scripture says persecution arose in Jerusalem, so Philip went down to Samaria. It didn't say that. Philip prayed about it and he decided to go to Samaria. He didn't have a choice. The persecution forced him out of Jerusalem. He got pushed out of his comfort zone. Don't you know the same God that poured out his spirit in Jerusalem could have stopped the persecution? God Closed the mouths of lions earlier, surely God could have stopped those people from talking about them. No, that persecution was for a purpose. God used it to get Philip where he wanted him to be. It was in Samaria that Philip saw his greatest days of ministry. That's where he saw God do things that he had never seen before. But I often wonder if Philip would have been a little hard headed and thought, I'm not leaving Jerusalem. This is where it started. I'm going to fight this opposition. Now realize there are times we have to dig our heels in, but sometimes we got to step back and just say, God, what are you trying to do in my life? I am not going to be hard headed and hold on to this job, this relationship, this ministry, this attitude. If I can clearly see that you are trying to close the door, we have to stay open for change. Job said, I thought I would die in my nest. In other words, he got his nest all fixed up. He got his house just like he wanted it, had a successful business, everything was going great. He was finally comfortable. And what happened? God stirred up his nest. No, God doesn't send the trouble, but he will allow difficulty only if it can further us toward our divine destiny and if we can just keep the right perspective. Some of you today, like Philip, you've been pushed out of Jerusalem, you've had some closed doors and you're kind of down and discouraged. But you need to take heart because Samaria is about to open up. God will never close a door unless he's about to open up another door. And if you stay in faith, it will be a bigger and a better door. God never performs his greatest feats in our yesterdays. Quit being discouraged over what didn't work out. Somebody may have lied about you. You lost a loved one, lost a job. You got to shake that off. You've been through the fire, been through the flood, been through the famine. Now it's time for favor, it's time for increase. It's time to see God do the new thing he's about to do. That stirring is a sure sign transition is coming. God is about to take you to a new level. That's what happened in my own life when my father went to be with the Lord. That was the most difficult thing that I'd ever faced. But it was actually that difficulty that pushed me into my destiny. I would not be up here today if my father was still alive. It was too easy. Behind the scenes, I was comfortable. But when Daddy went to be with the Lord, it was as if God Just closed that door. And I took that step of faith. And that's when I discovered gifts and talents that I never knew I had. We all love when God opens doors. But sometimes our closed doors do us even more good. Because if God had not closed the door, we would have been satisfied to just stay where we were. And sometimes the reason God closes a door is so that we cannot go back. This is what happened with the Red Sea. God opened it up and the people of Israel went through on dry ground. Then Pharaoh and his army were drowned. That was important. But what really mattered is when God closed it up, the people knew they could not go back. At times they wanted to, but they knew the door had been closed. And some of you, right now, you are fighting change, trying to hold on to the familiar. Well, Joel, if it could just be like it used to be, like the good old days. No. God is saying, let go of that. Maybe that season is over. And not that it wasn't a good season. I have great memories with my dad. But we can't stay there forever. It's time to start moving forward. This is a new day, and God has new victories in front of you. He has new mountains to climb, new friendships to make, new businesses to start. God is trying to stir you out of your nest. As you begin to take these steps of faith, you're going to discover, like I did, you have gifts and talents that you never knew you had. You're going to go places, going to amaze you. You're going to do things you never thought you could do. It's because God's dream for your life is so much bigger than your own. But so often we try to stay where it's familiar. Especially when we're having difficulties, we run back to where it's comfortable. There are even foods that are called comfort foods. These are foods we eat when we get stressed out. I can tell some of you have been very stressed. I read where after 9 11, many Americans gained 5 to 10 pounds. Why? We were stressed. And so we started eating these comfort foods. These are the foods that we ate growing up that make us feel secure. Foods that remind us of the good old days growing up. Pizza, ice cream, nachos. Isn't it funny how when we get stressed, we never go eat a salad? That doesn't do it. Human nature always likes to go back to the old. I remember growing up, we had this dog by the name of Scooter. He was a big German shepherd. After all of us kids went off to college, he didn't have anybody to play with. He started roaming around the neighborhood and getting in all kinds of trouble. And so we decided to give him to a friend of ours that lived out on a farm about 10 miles away. They had 15, 20 acres, plus there were bunch of kids out there to play with. And one day about six months later, I was at home on break from college, and it had been really storming, thundering on and off, and lightning for several hours. One thing Scooter never liked was thunder. That was his pet peeve. Anytime it would thunder, he would run to the very back of the garage and hide in a certain spot that was his safe place. Nothing could get in his way. And this day, I just happened to be looking out the window, and as I said, it had been storming. And I noticed about a quarter of a mile away, this dog running full blast toward our house. I thought to myself, that could not be scooter. He lives 10 miles away. Sure enough, he got closer and closer. It was Scooter. When he got to the house, he ran right past me. Didn't even stop to say hello. He went right into the garage and got back in that exact spot that he was used to. You know what's funny is Scooter's new place, his new home was a whole lot better than ours. He had 20 acres. He had a big barn to live in. All kinds of kids. Didn't matter when it got difficult, when it got tough. Instead of embracing and accepting the new, he came running back to the old. Running back to what he was familiar with. And I wonder how many times we do like old Scooter. God has opened up new doors. He's given us new opportunities. But we're so focused on how it used to be and what we're familiar with, we keep coming back to the old. No, it's time to accept change, stay open. Once God is done with something, it's never going to be like it was before. Well, it sure was good back then, Joel. Yes, but let me tell you, it's going to be even better in the days ahead. Don't keep going back in your thoughts, in your attitudes. It's not healthy to constantly relive how it used to be. If a door is closing, that means God is giving you the grace to move forward. I say this respectfully, but I've never been back to my father's grave. I loved my dad, but I know that season is over. He's not in the grave anyway. He's in heaven. And if you go back and you visit Your loved one's grave. And that's how you honor them. That's fine. You, as long as you're not living in the past, thinking it's never going to be as good as it used to be. Trying to bring something back. No. You've got to dust yourself off and get ready for the new thing God's about to do. Friends, you were created to soar. You have a set of eagle's wings just waiting on you. And just like that mother eagle stirs the babies out of the nest and forces them to use their wings. God's going to stir us out of our nest. When doors close, changes are taking place. Keep it in the right perspective. That stirring is God getting you prepared to go to a new level. That's God trying to get you to spread your wings so you too can begin to soar. Don't hold on to the old. Don't stay with the familiar. Be willing to get out of your comfort zone. Be willing to try something new. Or maybe you're at one of those places where the door has completely closed. You cannot go back. Negative. Don't get bitter. This is a new season. Face it in faith. Stay hopeful. Get up every day with enthusiasm, knowing that God has you in the palm of his hand. If you'll learn to not only accept change, but to embrace change. God promises he will do a new thing. And I've discovered God's new is always much better than the old. You may have had great victories in your past, but your greatest victories are still in your future. You have not laughed your best laugh yet. You've not lived your best year yet. You've not played your best ball game yet. You've not closed your best deal yet. You're going to rise higher and higher. The winds you thought were going to destroy you are going to be the winds that push you to a new level. You're going to see God take you places that you've never even dreamed of. Amen. Do you receive that 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.
