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Joel Osteen (1:13)

Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't.

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Joel Osteen (1:22)

We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you. It's always a joy to have you here, a joy to come into your homes. We are believing for God's very best in your life and 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 and thanks again for coming out. I like to start with something funny each week. And I heard about this scientist that said to God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We can clone people, we can transplant hearts and do all kinds of things once considered miraculous. And God said, fine, but to see that you really don't need me, let's have a man making contest. The only rule is you have to make a man out of dirt. The scientist agreed and he reached down quickly to get a handful of dirt. God said, not so fast. Go get your own dirt. 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 learning to encourage yourself. One of the battles that we all have to fight is the battle with discouragement. Our dreams don't always happen on our timetables. We go through disappointments, adversities, and it's easy to lose our enthusiasm, to lose our zeal for life. It's good to have family and friends that encourage us. It's good to have a coach, a teacher, a pastor to cheer us on. But one thing I've learned is other people cannot keep us encouraged. Other people can't keep us cheered up. They may give us a boost. They may help us from time to time. But if you're really going to live in victory, that encouragement has to come from the inside. You've got to learn to encourage yourself. When times get tough and things aren't going your way and you don't feel like pursuing your dreams, your mind is telling you it's not worth it. It's never going to get any better. You might as well just settle where you are. Deep down in your spirit, there has to be a resolve, a strength on the inside that says, I refuse to settle where I am. I know God has a great plan for my life and I'm going to keep pressing forward and become everything that he's created me to be. This is what David had to do. He had just suffered a major setback. It's one of the most difficult times of his life. His city had been destroyed, his family was kidnapped. And now his own men had turned against him. Looked like an impossible situation. He could have easily just given up and faded off into the sunset, defeated and depressed. But the scripture says here, David encouraged himself in the Lord, his God. David understood this principle. He wasn't depending on his family, his friends, his colleagues. He knew how to draw strength and encouragement from within. And sometimes when you need it the most, the people you're counting on to cheer you up, unfortunately, they won't be there for you. That friend that normally calls is out of town. Your spouse is having a tough month. Your co workers, your parents, they're preoccupied with their own challenges. But when you learn to dig down deep and encourage yourself, there's a real freedom. And this is one of the secrets to David's success. He knew how to draw encouragement and strength from inside. How did he do it? He began to replay the victories that God had given him in the past. He remembered how God chose him from the other brothers when he was a shepherd boy. He remembered how he killed the lion and the bear with his bare hands. He remembered how God helped him to defeat Goliath and how God protected him when King Saul was trying to kill him. And as he rehearsed over and over the goodness and faithfulness of God, strength began to fill his heart. He got a new vision of victory. He began to thank God for what he had done. And thank God that he could turn the situation around. And he went from being depressed and defeated to rising up with that warrior mentality. When you're in difficult times and you're tempted to get down, maybe you got a bad medical report or you're struggling in a relationship, struggling in your finances. Instead of dwelling on the negative and replaying over and over all the reasons why it won't work out and how impossible it is. No, you need to change the channel. Get the remote control. That's not the only channel. Start replaying. Like David, all the times that God has helped you. The times God protected you from those accidents. The times God gave you a promotion even though you weren't the most qualified. The times that door closed. You were disappointed then, but looking back now, you know it would have been a big mistake. Or how about the times you lost that loved one? You should have been defeated. You didn't think you could make it through, but you felt a peace and a strength like you've never felt before. Every one of us has seen the hand of God at work in our lives. And a key to encouraging ourselves is to replay those victories as you remember the great things God has done. Faith will fill your heart. Strength and courage will come from the inside. No matter what you're facing, no matter how difficult it looks, you'll know deep down, God did not bring me this far to leave me here. If he did it for me in the past, he'll do it again for me in the future. Some of you today, you'd get your joy back if you just changed the channel. You're always remembering the negative, remembering what didn't work out and who hurt you and how unfair it was. No wonder you're down. You're watching the wrong channel. God has done something great for every one of us. Maybe God's given you a child. The day that little baby was born, you were so excited. Why don't you replay that miracle in your mind? Maybe God's given you a house. He's given you a promotion. Or maybe you got a Good medical report. You were so thrilled, you were on cloud nine. Learn to replay those victories in your mind. If you're going to keep yourself encouraged, you've got to make sure you're watching the right channel. And I've found you cannot stay down and defeated as long as you're thinking about the goodness of God. I know every time I see our new facility here at Lakewood, whether I'm driving by on the freeway or pulling up to a service, I always say, without fail, thank you, Lord, for our beautiful new building. I'm still amazed at what God has done. And whenever I see it, I don't even have to think about it anymore. It just comes out of me naturally. I guess I've developed a habit. I've probably said that phrase 10,000 times. Every time I. Do you know what's happening? I'm encouraging myself. My faith is increasing. I can feel strength on the inside. I know if God gave us this building, he can do anything. It's funny. Our son, Jonathan, he's 13 now. And the other day, he and my friend Johnny were coming back from the airport. Victoria and I, we had gone on to another city. And on the route home, we passed our new facility. And as they were driving by, Jonathan said to Joni, let me say it for my dad. Thank you, Lord, for our beautiful new building. He's heard me say it so much, now he's saying it. The scripture says we should tell our children and our grandchildren the great things God has done. But I see too many people today. They've just settled where they are. When we give in to the spirit of discouragement, it steals our dreams. Their attitude is, it's not worth it. My marriage is not worth fighting for. It's never going to work out or, I'm tired of dealing with this child. It's not worth the struggle. I'm tired of doing what's right, Joel. I'm never going to get ahead. No, don't believe those lies. That is the spirit of discouragement. Trying to steal your dreams and keep you right where you are. Let me tell you something that you already know. Deep down in your spirit. Every promise that God's put in your heart, every dream that he's planted on the inside is well worth the fight. Your child is worth it. Your marriage is worth it. Your health is worth it. Your dreams are worth it. Don't you dare settle where you are. You may have suffered a setback. Like David, you've been through a disappointment. Maybe your relationship didn't work out. Maybe you're facing a major health issue right now. But remember this. Every setback is a setup for a comeback. You may have gotten knocked down, but you didn't get knocked out. You got to get back up, dust yourself off. God has you in the palm of his hand. He said if you'd stay in faith, he would not only bring you out, but he'd bring you out better off than you were before. This is what David had to do. He was down, but he didn't stay down. He started replaying his victories. He started thanking God for what he had done in the past. And as he changed the channel and got into that attitude of faith and expectancy, that's when he went from being a victim to being a victor. He said to his men, get up, guys. We're going to go attack the enemy. The scripture says they not only recovered everything that had been stolen, but they came out with more than they had before. That's what God wants to do for every one of us. But it all started when David encouraged himself. He recognized the main battle wasn't taking place on the outside. It was taking place on the inside, when all the odds were against him. His family wasn't there. His friends had turned on him. The news wasn't good. The economy was low. Gas was high. His attitude was, I'm not worried about any of that. I know the God I serve is well able to deliver me. He said, in effect, I've seen God lift me out of the pit before. He set my feet on a rock, put a new song in my heart. And if he did it for me back then, I know he'll do it for me right now. That's the kind of attitude that gets God's attention. And I know every one of us can look back in life and. And say, with David, if it had not been for the goodness of God, where would I be? In other words, I should have had a nervous breakdown when I went through that divorce. But God filled me with his strength. I should have given up and gotten depressed when my loved one died, But God gave me a new beginning. I shouldn't be here today, according to the medical report, but because of the goodness of God, I'm still alive and well. My business should have gone bankrupt a long time ago, but because of God's favor, he turned it around. Or how about, I should be messed up in my mind, all the addictions I had, but because of the mercy of God, my chains are broken, and I'm totally free today. Here's another one. My family should be torn apart. But because of God's goodness, we're still here together. You cannot get down and defeated as long as you're meditating on the goodness of God. And some of you. Today, you're watching the wrong channel. You need to switch off the defeat channel. Switch off the who hurt me channel. The I come from the wrong family channel, the gloom and despair channel. Turn that off and switch on to the victory channel. To the all things are possible channel, to the God is well able channel. To the My best days are ahead of me channel. As you remember the good things God has done, faith is going to fill your heart. Another thing that can help us to stay encouraged is we need to create an encouragement file. At home or the office. Whenever someone sends you a kind note, someone gives you a compliment, put it in that file. And then when you're tempted to be down, go get those letters out and reread them again. Let those words lift your spirits. Many times after just five or 10 minutes of being reminded of how much people love you and reminded of some of the good things you've done. That'll totally change your attitude. This is what I did when I first started ministering A little over nine years ago, I started this encouragement file. Whenever someone would send me a note, a letter, or even give me a compliment, many times I'd just write it down and put it in the file. And back in those days, if someone said something even halfway encouraging, I would put it in there. I remember this elderly man that I used to see up at the gym. He was always kidding me about something, but he wrote me a note. It said, joel, I watched your sermon on television yesterday. All I can say is, better luck next time. Listen, I was so happy that at least he watched. I put that in my file. Sometimes you can't be picky. Thank God, today that's in file 13. I don't need that anymore. One time, this little boy came up to me after my sermon, right after I'd started. He probably wasn't five or six years old. He said, joel, I really love listening to your stories. I was feeling so good then. He said, but if I were you, I'd leave out all that other boring stuff. But we all need to have an encouragement file or in my file now I have letters and compliments, birthday cards. Not long ago, one of my third grade teachers wrote my mom a note and told what a good student I was, how friendly I was, and how I smiled so much even back then. That encouraged me. I put that in my file and now, probably once a month, at least every couple months, I'll get that file out and flip through some of those letters. What am I doing? I'm encouraging myself. It's like being on a good maintenance program. You need to do it on a regular basis. Well, you say, joel, I don't have anything to put in my encouragement file. Nobody's sending me nice notes. Nobody's complimenting me. Nobody's giving me any credit. That's okay. Here's the solution. You need to write yourself some good letters. Write down what you like about you. List your strengths. List your accomplishments. List. List some of the good things you've done for others. I found. When nobody else is celebrating you, you've got to learn to celebrate yourself. When nobody else is complimenting you, you need to compliment yourself. Nobody's writing you good letters. Write yourself some good letters. It's not up to other people to keep you encouraged. It's up to you. It's got to come from the inside. This is what God did. He praised himself. It says in the book of Genesis, God created the waters, and he said, that was good. He created the sky, and he said, that was good. He created the fish and the animals, and he stepped back and said, that was good. He created you and me and said, that was really good. I love the fact that God praised himself. These days, most of the time, we are so critical toward ourselves and so focused on what we didn't do right, we would never even think about complimenting ourselves. Well, Joel, I've got these faults. I'm struggling with this addiction or I'm not nearly as talented as my co workers. No, you need to find something that you're doing right so you can step back and say, you know what? That was good. Even when you walk out of this building, you need to pat yourself on the back and say, I did something right. Today. I. I took time to honor God by coming to church, by watching the broadcast. I must say, I did good. When I walk off this platform each week, I look at myself in the mirror and say, joel, you did good today. I may not have done as good as somebody else, but I did the best that I can do, and that's all that really matters. Here's my point. If you're not able to compliment yourself, you'll never become everything God's created you to be. You've got to feel good about who you are. And I'm not talking about being arrogant and going around thinking that we're better than somebody. I'm talking about Learning to accept and approve yourself. Now, I want you to get in a habit not of catching yourself doing something wrong, but start catching yourself doing something right. I hear people that are always condemning themselves. There I go again. Spent too much money. There I go again. I ate something that I shouldn't have. There I go again. Lost my temper. They always see the wrong, never see the right. Well, Joel, I'm just kind of down on myself because I didn't work out one time last week. Maybe not. But you did take the stairs instead of the elevator. That was good. Well, I didn't clean my house yesterday like I wanted to. Maybe not, but you did go to your child's ball game. That was good. Well, I didn't take my friend out to lunch like I promised. No, but you sure were kind to that security guard. Quit catching yourself doing something wrong and start catching yourself doing something right. You've got to change the channel. Some of you have never once said to yourself, I'm a good mother, I'm a good father, I'm talented and creative. I'm kind and considerate. I don't say this arrogantly, but I like who God made me to be. Now, I love to compliment other people, but I've learned even to compliment myself. I like the gifts God's given me. I like my personality. I like my height. I like my age. I like what I'm able to do. One of the recordings that's always playing in my mind all through the day is, joel, you're a good father, you're a good husband. You're talented, you're creative, you're kind, you're fun to be around. Listen, it's not hard to stay encouraged when you learn to compliment yourself. Sometimes we think it's humble to compliment somebody else while we kind of put ourselves down. Man, you're so good at that. I could never do anything like you. No, you can do exactly what God's created you to do. I had people tell me, joel, I could never speak in front of all those people like you do. Maybe not, but I could never fly an airplane like you do. I could never design houses like you do. So great. I could never teach those children like you do each week and excel at. The fact is, every one of us is good at something. We shouldn't look at somebody else and think, man, they are so talented, they are so creative, they are so disciplined, they are so good looking. I don't know what in the world happened to me. No, you need to start looking at yourself in the mirror and Saying, you are so talented, you are so creative, you are so disciplined. You good looking thing, you gotta compliment yourself. You need to try it. It may work. It didn't for my brother Paul, but you try it anyway. I know this young lady in junior high. She didn't have very many friends. They had just moved to this new school and most of the students had grown up together and been friends for years and years. And she was having a tough time breaking in and really connecting with anybody. And the school had a tradition that during Valentine's week you could send another student a carnation. They were only 25 cents. And those carnations would be delivered on Valentine's Day during homeroom, in front of the whole class. It was a big deal to see how many carnations you would get. Well, this young lady knew that she wasn't going to receive any. She didn't have any friends. She was sort of dreading that day, thinking about how she was going to be left out and probably embarrassed by it all. But then she came up with a great idea. Instead of just sitting back watching everybody else get flowers, she decided to send herself some carnations. She took $5 and went down to the office and. And she got 20 different forms so nobody would know they were from her. And she filled them out. And on Valentine's Day, most of the young ladies got three or four carnations. The real popular girls might have gotten five or six or seven, but this young lady, every other carnation came to her. The students started looking at her, thinking, who in the world is this girl? She's got so many friends. Another carnation was delivered to her. They asked, who's that from? She looked at the note and said, oh, they are so special. They love me so much. I can't wait to tell them things. They had no idea she was talking about herself. You would have thought she was the most popular girl in school. She left that day the envy of the whole class. She had more carnations than anybody else. You got to have the attitude, if nobody else is celebrating me right now, going to celebrate myself. If nobody, if nobody is asking me out to dinner, I'm going to dress up and take myself out to dinner. Nobody's sending me a birthday gift, Watch out, I'm going to buy myself a present. Some of you ladies, you need to do like she did. Just send yourself some flowers, have them delivered to your office, put them on your desk. People walk by, oh, those are so beautiful. Who are they from? Just smile and say they're from somebody that thinks I'm very, very special, somebody that loves me very much. If you're going to stay encouraged, you've got to learn to celebrate yourself. Some of you today, you've lost your fire, You've lost your enthusiasm. Maybe it's because nobody's celebrating you. Nobody's cheering you on, Nobody's encouraging you. You've got to do like David and start encouraging yourself. Draw that line in the sand and say, that's it. This is a new day. I am done living negative, discouraged, no enthusiasm. I know this is the day the Lord has made. I'm going to choose to live this day with faith, with expectancy. Really, the only way that we can keep ourselves encouraged is by thinking these encouraging thoughts, thoughts of hope, thoughts of faith. You've got to tune in to that voice of victory. There's a scripture I love. It says, God will perfect that which concerns you. Perfect means God will make it right. You may be concerned about a child today, concerned about a health issue or concerned about an addiction you're struggling with. The easy thing would be to just accept it and settle where you are and think, joel, this is just who I am. It's never going to change. No recognize that's the voice of discouragement trying to talk you into settling for a life of mediocrity. But understand, you were never created to be average. You were never created to barely get by. You were created to be above only and never beneath. No matter what you may be facing, no matter how impossible it looks, you need to keep reminding yourself that right now, God is in the process perfecting that which concerns you. Right now, God's working behind the scenes in your life, arranging things in your favor, getting the right people, the right breaks, the right opportunities lined out for you. God said he would finish what he started. He will complete your incompletions. He wants to bring to pass every dream, every desire, every promise that he's put in your heart. When you hear those negative voices telling you that it's never going to change, you're never going to get well. You're never going to break that addiction. Don't stay tuned to that channel. That's not the only voice. There's another voice. It's called the voice of victory. And it says, no weapon formed against you is ever going to prosper. It says when you delight yourself in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of your heart. It says what was meant for your harm. God will turn around and use it for your advantage. You may have gone through A setback. But you need to dig your heels in and get ready for a comeback. God did not bring you this far to leave you where you are. He has you in the palm of his hand. He had the solution before you ever had that problem. He already has a way out. God knows the end from the beginning. And everything you're facing right now is subject to change. That means one touch of God's favor and it can turn any situation around. You gotta dare to do like David. Shake off that spirit of discouragement and say, I may be knocked down, but I'm not staying down. I'm gonna get back up and go again. Tune into the voice of victory. You know the negative voices. They'll tell you, well, the economy's kind of bad. Aren't you afraid? No. I know God is my provider. He supplies all of my needs. Well, gas is kind of high. Yes, but God's well able to take care of me. Well, your child's not doing right. That's true. But I know he's subject to change. Well, you got laid off. I heard you lost your job. Aren't you frustrated? Not at all. I know God's about to open up another door. I know he's got something better in store. Well, you look like you're not feeling well. Somebody said you got a bad report from the doctor. Yes, I did. But I know God is in complete control. He said that nothing would snatch me out of his hand. So I believe I'm going to live out every second that he's planned out for me. That's what it means to be tuned into the right voice, the voice of victory in life. Every one of us is going to have opportunities to get down and discouraged. My message to us today is we don't have to give in to that temptation. Get up every morning thinking about the goodness of God. Replay the victories that he's given you in the past. Don't remember the negative. Change the channel and remember all the times God's brought you through. If you don't have an encouragement file, start one. When you're tempted to get down, go get those letters out. Lift them. Lift your spirit. And don't wait for others to compliment you. Compliment yourself. Learn to celebrate who God made you to be friends. It's up to you to keep yourself encouraged. Some of you have been depending on your friends, your family. Don't put that pressure on them. You can draw strength from the inside. And as you learn to encourage yourself, that's your faith at work. Not only are you going to enjoy your life more. But you're going to overcome every obstacle. You're going to see every dream, every desire, every promise put in you come to pass. And not only that. Even when you do get knocked down and suffer a setback just like David, God will make sure you not only come back, but you come back better off than you were before. Amen. Do you receive it today?