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McCormick Representative (0:31)

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Joel Osteen (1:34)

Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

Victoria Osteen (1:40)

We believe you're going to have an.

Joel Osteen (1:41)

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

Victoria Osteen (1:48)

Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes and if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and see us. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home here at one of our services. But thanks for tuning in. I like to get started with something funny each week. I heard about this minister. He was up in the pulpit preaching away. One Sunday morning he noticed a man on the front row sound asleep. That made him so aggravated he started preaching louder and harder, but it seemed like the louder he got, the sounder he slept. And so he finally stopped right in the middle of his sermon and he said to the man sitting next to him, would you please wake that man up? The man said, wake him up yourself. You put him to sleep. All right, hold up your Bibles. 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 giving birth to the promises that God has put in your heart. We all have dreams and desires, things that we're believing to come to pass. And these promises are like seeds planted in the soil of our hearts. And most of the time they don't happen overnight. There's a period of waiting involved. And this is when it's so easy to give up, it's easy to get discouraged. And if we're not careful, we'll just end up settling for mediocrity. But we have to understand, God never aborts a dream. Once the seed is planted, once the dream, the desire, the promise takes root, we may give up. But the fact is the seed is still in us. And some of you today, because of the time that's passed or because of disappointments along the way, you've allowed that seed to just lie dormant. You've lost your fire, lost your enthusiasm. Maybe at one time you believed for a good marriage, but now you've just settled for living together with no real relationship. Maybe in your career, at one time you had a dream to go further, to advance, to do great things. But you hit some setbacks. Now you've gotten comfortable where you are, or maybe in your health, you believe to overcome that illness. But now it's been so long and you've had so many negative reports, you're just learning to live with that. Well, these are all unborn promises. But the good news is the seed is still in you. And if you'll stir your faith up and start believing once again, God can still bring that to pass. It's not too late. God doesn't abort the dreams. It depends, though, on what we're going to do with them. The reason many people give up and they don't see that promise come to fulfillment is because they're not watering their seed. One of the main ways we water our seed is by giving God praise. All through the day. We should be thanking God that the answer's on the way. Whatever you're believing for, Father, thank you that you're changing my child. Thank you that you're bringing me a spouse. Thank you that you're restoring my Marriage. Praise is your faith at work. Praise is what activates God's supernatural power. And really, the first place we lose the victory is in our thinking. The battle is taking place in our mind. And when those negative thoughts come telling you it's not going to happen, you're never going to get well. You're never going to break that addiction. Instead of dwelling on that and going around discouraged and complaining, just use that as a reminder to thank God that the answer's on the way. In other words, when the negative thoughts come, turn it around and say, father, thank you that you're at work. Thank you that you're changing things in my favor. And let's understand, we don't have to pray about the same thing over and over again. Once you pray, shift into a different gear and get into praise. Start thanking God. I know people that practically beg God all day long. God, please get me out of this trouble. God, please change my child. God, please, I need a breakthrough. And of course God sees your heart. He sees your sincerity. But you don't have to be a beggar. Be a believer. A much better way is to say, father, I. I know you heard me the first time I prayed, and I believe the answer is already on the way. I may not know when, I may not know how, but I know this. You already have the solution. So I just want to thank you that you're at work in my life. When you do that, you're not only watering your seed, it's not only getting a little closer to coming to pass, but something's happening on the inside of you, giving you strength. It's keeping you encouraged. That's what's going to help you to fight the good fight of faith. And this is what Abraham did. God gave him a promise that his wife Sarah was going to have a baby. The seed was planted in his heart. It was an unborn promise. In the natural. It was impossible. They were much too old. And Abraham had every reason to give up. But the scripture says here in Romans 4:20, Abraham did not waver in his faith, but he grew strong by giving praise and thanksgiving to God. Notice when we give God praise. That's what gives us strength. That's what keeps us encouraged. We don't grow strong by complaining and being negative. Well, I knew this would never work. I thought God wanted me to prosper, but I didn't ever get any good breaks. Joel, I've been praying for my child, but he keeps getting worse and worse. Don't even verbalize that, even if it is true. Don't use your words to describe your situations. Use your words to change your situation. Don't talk to God about how big your mountains are. Talk to your mountains about how big your God is. Being negative, complaining, that's just going to depress us and cause us to sink down. The way we stay strong is to keep an attitude of faith by giving God praise. I'm sure Abraham got up many mornings and those negative thoughts bombarded his mind. It's not going to happen. You're too old, it's been too long. This is impossible. Same kind of things that come against us. He had to make a decision. Was he going to dwell on those lies and go around negative and complaining, or was he going to stay in faith and keep giving God praise? I believe he did just what we're talking about. When the negative thoughts came, he turned them around and just said, father, thank you that you're working in my life. This may look impossible, but I know you're the God of the impossible. And at the right time, you're going to bring this promise to pass day after day, even year after year. He just kept thanking God. That's how we stay strong. Do you know when we dwell on the wrong thoughts, it affects our moods. We get down, discouraged, lose our hope. And some of you today, the reason you don't have the joy and the enthusiasm God wants you to have is because you're constantly dwelling on the negative. Well, Joel, you don't know my situation. It's been so long and I've prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and I don't see anything happening. No, here's the problem. You got to switch over into praise. When you start thanking God, you're going to have joy, you're going to be positive, you'll be hopeful. And the fact is, Abraham waited 24 years to see his promise come to pass. The only way he could do that was by giving God praise. I'm asking you today to stir your faith up. God doesn't abort any dreams. Quit dwelling on the negative. It may have been a long time, but the good news is the seed is still in you. And every time you give God praise, every time you have a good report, every time you have a smile on your face, you are watering that seed. And it's so important to stay on the offensive, stay proactive. I found when we get lazy and passive in our thought life and we let our guard down, before long, what's going to happen? Doubt and unbelief will try to fill our Mind. And if we're not careful, we'll start talking defeat out of the heart. The mouth speaks. And I'm convinced. One reason the scripture tells us to bless the Lord at all times is because God knew in our times of difficulty. He knew when we were holding onto a promise and not seeing anything happening, we would all be saying something. And we can't praise and complain at the same time. He knew we'd either be saying, poor old me. I knew I wouldn't qualify for that new home. I knew my marriage wouldn't last. Or we'd be saying, father, I thank you that I'm a victor and not a victim. I know no good thing. Will you withhold because I walk uprightly and because I'm the seed of Abraham? You did it for him and God. I know you'll do it for me. See, don't be a complainer. Be a praiser. When you're full of praise, you're going to be strong. We need to make this a habit. Train your mind to see the good and go around thanking God. I know when I was growing up, we used to have a conference every Thanksgiving here at Lakewood. People would come from all over the world. And at that time, we would house the foreign guests at our other location and we would provide them meals as well. Well, one year, I remember when I was just a little boy, my father decided that he was going to believe that somebody would give us two cows so we could provide all the meat for our foreign guests. God just dropped that into his heart. He felt very strongly about it. Down in here, the seed was planted. He even announced it to the congregation. He said, I want you to set your faith in agreement with mine that somebody will give us these two cows. They were all excited. Everybody clapped. In the first couple of weeks, my dad was so determined. He went around saying, father, thank you that you're supplying all of our needs. Thank you that you're going to give us these two cows. You know, in the beginning, it's easy. We're excited. We're all fired up. But week after week after week went by, and there was no sign of any cows. My father was so surprised, he had not gotten one phone call, not one lead concerning those cows. Now the conference was just a couple of months away, and the staff was beginning to ask about the food arrangements and what they were supposed to do. That's when the negative thoughts started whispering in his ears. What are you going to do if you don't get these cows? Maybe this wasn't God. Maybe you just made this up. After all, you got enough money. Why don't you go out and buy the cows? You're wasting all your time and energy. My dad did his best to stand against those negative thoughts. He told the congregation again, let's keep believing for our cows and see the battle was taking place in his mind. That's why it's so important to stay on guard. Well, little by little, my father's faith began to weaken. Instead of replacing the negative thoughts, he started dwelling on them. He thought to himself, well, I guess we do have enough money to buy the cows, and I am spending a lot of time and energy on this. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe I just didn't hear God right. Long story short, he gave up and had somebody go out and buy two cows. No big deals. He just let it go. Kept it quiet, didn't say anything to anybody about it. They had the conference, everything went great. But a couple of weeks later, my dad told how he had a dream one night. And in this dream, he was in this big open field, acres and acres, and way out in the distance, he could see this huge snake, must have been 100ft long. And he noticed something very odd about it. It had two big humps in it. It had a curiosity. He walked toward it, and when he got up closer, he could see the distinct outline of two cows inside that snake. He could see the head, the back, the legs. It was obvious the snake had eaten those cows. Well, he woke up and he told how God spoke to him. Not out loud, but right down in here. God said, I just want you to know you let the enemy have your two cows. And that's what happens when we give in to doubt and unbelief. There's no telling how many promises God has placed in our hearts that we've allowed to be taken away. I'm asking you today, don't give up on your two cows. Don't give up on your seed. You got to keep watering that seed day in, day out. Some of you, kind of like my father, you've gotten passive and you're not actively believing. You're not actively stretching your faith. Well, the good news is you can start right now. It's never too late. The seed is still in you. Get up every morning thanking God that the answer is on the way. Thank him that he's bringing your dreams to pass. Dare to believe. You got to keep your seed watered, friends. God doesn't abort the dreams. We do. As long as you will keep believing. The seed is alive and well on the inside of you. It says about Abraham in natural. He had no reason to have hope. But that didn't bother him. He just kept hoping on in faith. Anyway, my father gave up when he started dwelling on the negative thoughts. He lost the battle right here before he ever lost it physically. And the fact is, they could have bought the meat for the convention. That wasn't any big deal. But God was trying to teach my father a principle, to stand strong in his faith, to not give in to doubt and unbelief. The two cows were not a big deal. But nine years later, when my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that was a big deal. Now they weren't believing for a couple of cows. They were believing for my mother's life. And thank God this time my parents knew how to stand strong and fight the good fight of faith. I would hear them all through the day, especially my mother going through the house, thanking the Lord for her healing, thanking God that she would live a long, healthy life. From morning to evening, my mother was constantly watering her seed. She stayed on the offensive. If she had gotten passive, she would have sunk down into that deep hole of depression and she probably wouldn't be here today. The only way you can keep yourself strong, especially in the dark times, is to keep thanking God that the answer is on the way. That seed began to grow. Little by little, she got better and better. That was 25 years ago this week. And today my mother is as strong and as healthy as she could possibly be. The scripture tells us in Hebrews, we have to hold fast the profession of your faith. That means hold fast to what God's put in your heart. Hold on to your dreams. It indicates something's going to try to take it away. That means you've got to grip it tightly, stay determined, stay persistent, and don't dwell on those lies. Win the battle in your mind. Some of you, like my father, you're wondering, can God give me these two cows? Can God really restore my marriage? Can God really turn my situation around? No, you've got it backwards. Quit asking can God and start declaring God can and God will. You may not be feeling very well. Those thoughts come telling you, this is it, man. You're not going to make it. No, just turn it around. Just like my mother. Father, thank you that you're restoring health unto me. Thank you that I'll live a long, satisfied life. Your child may not be doing right. The negative thoughts try to bombard your mind. No, turn it around, Father, thank you as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I thank you that my children will fulfill their destiny. Maybe at the office, things are trying to pull you down. You've got some struggles. Don't dwell on that. Don't go around. Well, I wonder when God's going to do something in my life. No, just turn it around. Father, I thank you that right now you're working in my life. I thank you that you always cause me to triumph. I thank you that no weapon formed against me will ever prosper. You start talking like that, you know what you're doing. You're watering your seed. If you'll stay in faith, you'll give birth to those promises. You'll see God bring them to pass. I love what a friend of mine did. Her name is Dawn. She grew up here in the church. I've known her as long as I can remember, since I was a little boy. After dawn and her husband got married, they had a desire to have a baby. They tried and tried and went through all these fertility treatments, did everything they could with no success. Year after year went by. And at this time, dawn was the head of our children's ministry. Well, when my father went to be with the Lord and I stepped up to pastor the church, she had been believing to have that baby for over 20 years. And one day we were in a meeting about the children's ministry, and dawn said, joel, I've got a real good assistant trained, because when I go to have my baby, I'm going to be out for a few months. And after the meeting, I got my sister Lisa aside. She was in there with us. And I said, lisa, did I miss it somewhere? Is dawn pregnant? Lisa said, no, Joel, she's still believing to have that baby. Let me tell you, dawn talked like she was pregnant. She talked like she was going to have it next week. And I have to admit, in the natural, and I didn't certainly tell anybody this, but I kind of thought to myself, dawn, you have been believing to have this baby for as long as I've practically known you. Maybe God wants to do something different. Maybe you should make some other plans. But let me tell you, dawn had her mind made up. The promise was in her. That's why you should not let other people talk you out of your dreams. They don't know the seed that God's put in you. And dawn did just like Abraham, she kept thanking God that one day she'd have that baby, that one day she would see her dreams come to pass. Well, 29 years later, dawn went to the doctor to have a checkup. He said, congratulations, Dawn. You're not only going to have one child, you're going to have twins today. Those little babies today are about six months old. And dawn is just as happy as can be. She hasn't slept in six months, but she's happy by faith. But I love the fact that God does not abort the dreams. Some of you think you could never be well, you could never have a baby. You could never get out of debt. Don't give up. Keep giving God praise. Keep believing. Get up every morning thanking him that the answer is on the way. And even when it looks impossible, learn to speak words of faith. You may not be able to see a way out, but know this, our God is the waymaker. Just like he parted the Red Sea for the children of Israel, he can make a way in your life. Don't get negative. Don't start complaining. Keep the song of praise in your heart. Remember, praise always precedes the victory. The mistake we make a lot of times is we're waiting for our situations to change. And as soon as the promise comes to pass, then we're going to be happy. But God says, you've got to get happy first. You got to give me praise first. Then I'll begin to turn things around. You remember when Joshua and the people were marching around the walls of Jericho? They had to shout before the walls came down. That seems kind of odd. Seems like God would want them to shout and be happy after the victory, after the walls have fallen. But no, that doesn't take any faith. We can all sing and give God praise when we're on the mountaintop. But God wants us to learn to give him praise even when we're in the valley. And we don't thank God for the problem. We thank him that we're coming out. We thank him that victory is on its way. This is what David did. He had all kinds of challenges. People were lying about him, doing him wrong, trying to kill him. He said in Psalm 59, My enemies are coming against me like vicious dogs trying to destroy me. But as for me, what am I going to do? I will sing about your power, and I will shout for joy, for you are my refuge, my place of safety in my day of distress. Notice. In David's time of need, he wasn't sitting around having a pity party, complaining. He was singing about the greatness of God. He was saying, in effect, my enemies may be powerful, but I know my God is all powerful. My obstacles may be high. But I know my God is the most high. He wasn't talking to God about how big his problems were. He was talking to his problems about how big his God was. And some of you today, if you just start singing a new song instead of complaining and thinking about what you're not, you need to start thanking God for what you're going to become. Our attitude should be, I've come too far to stop now. I've got dreams, I've got promises. I'm going to stay in faith and give birth to everything that God's put in my heart. I think about Elijah. First Kings, chapter 18. There was a great drought in the land been going on for several years, and the people were in desperate need of water. And one day, God dropped the promise in Elijah's heart that it was going to rain. So he went and announced it to Ahab, the leader. And it's interesting how he did it. He said, ahab, I hear the sound of abundance of rain. And I'm sure Ahab thought naturally, like maybe he heard some thunder or maybe heard rain off in the distance. But no, Elijah didn't hear it physically. He heard it down in here. And I love the fact that Elijah announced his dream. He spoke it out. Words give life to our faith. Sometimes it's good for you to tell somebody else what God has put in your heart. Words have creative power. That's why I'm constantly telling you your best days are still out in front of you, and 2007 is going to be better than 2006. You can prophesy your future. Your child may not be doing right, but it'd do you good to tell your friends next time you see them. Hey, you know what? My child's turning around. My child's going to do great things. Your finances may be kind of low, but you need to make some new announcements. I am blessed. I have the favor of God. Whatever I touch prospers. My best days are out in front of me. Somebody say, how do you know that? Just tell them, I heard it on the inside. I heard it down in here. That's what Elijah did. He heard it. Then he announced his dream. Then he took it one step further. Very important. He went to the top of Mount Carmel and he began to worship God. He did just what I'm talking about. I believe he went up there and said, God, thank you that it's going to rain. Thank you that this drought is ending. Thank you that you're changing things. He sent one of his servants out to the other side of the mountain to see if he could see anything up in the sky, any sign of rain. That young man came back a few minutes later and said, elisha, there's nothing, not a cloud in the sky. Well, did Elijah get discouraged? Did he say, God, I thought you told me it was going to rain. I thought I heard the sound of abundance. No, he just kept worshiping. He kept thanking God that the answer was on the way. The servant went out six more times, came back with the same negative report. Nothing didn't bother Elijah. He just kept thanking God. Finally, on the seventh time, the servant said, I saw a little cloud up in the sky. It wasn't long after that before the heavens opened up and Elijah saw the abundance of rain. But think about this. He heard it down in here before he ever saw it out in here. Let me ask you today, what do you hear? Can you hear the sound of abundance over your own life? Can you hear the sound of God's blessings and favor? Can you hear the sound of increase? Can you hear the sound of divine health? Some of you need to start hearing some new sounds. I don't know what that preacher is talking about. I don't hear anything. No, I'm talking about down in here. By faith. You need to hear it, and then you need to speak it out. You need to declare it and then take the third step. Get over into your position of praise. You think about Elijah. He didn't pay a lot of attention to the negative reports. Six times that young man told him something bad, he just kept worshipping. Maybe you've had some bad reports concerning your health. Well, you don't need to read that thing 20 times a day. Put it away and start thanking God that he's restoring health. Maybe your business is slow. Your checking account doesn't look good. Well, you don't need to read the numbers all day. Put that away and just thank God that increase is on the way. You've got to hear the sound of abundance over your own life. It says in Isaiah 54, sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child, Break forth into song and shout for joy. It's interesting. This passage was written to women that didn't have any children. Notice what it's saying? If your dreams have not come to pass, if you've got unborn promises, if you don't have that baby yet, don't just sit around and defeat. Don't just give up and say, too bad for me. No. God says, when you're barren, first thing you need to do is sing a Song of praise. Well, Joel, I'm kind of depressed today, man. I'll sing after I have my baby. No, this passage wasn't written to people that were holding their baby. It was written to empty, armed people. To people who did not have what they were believing for. One principle we can see through this scripture is that singing is the birth position. When you're giving God praise, when you're giving him thanks, you know what you're doing? Putting yourself in a position to give birth to that promise. This is exactly what Elijah did. He kept worshiping God and eventually he saw the abundance of rain. Let me challenge you today. Get into the birth position. Have a song of praise. Remember, God doesn't abort any dreams. You may not see anything happening, but you've got to hold on to your promise. When the negative thoughts come, turn it around and thank God that the answer's on the way. Stay in the birth position. Keep a song of praise coming out of your heart. If you do this, I know you won't die. With any unborn promises, you'll give birth. God will bring your dreams to pass. You'll live the life of victory he has in store. 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, come into my heart. I repent of my sins. I make him 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 you've never dreamed of.