Walk In Your Heavenly Father's Shoes | Victoria Osteen

Summary

Joel Osteen Podcast Summary: "Walk In Your Heavenly Father's Shoes | Victoria Osteen"

Release Date: January 25, 2025

In this inspiring episode of the Joel Osteen Podcast, Victoria Osteen delivers a heartfelt and motivational message centered around embracing God's strength in our moments of weakness. Through personal anecdotes, biblical references, and practical advice, Victoria encourages listeners to step into their Heavenly Father's shoes to overcome challenges and fully realize their potential.

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1. Overcoming Doubts and Embracing God's Strength

Victoria opens the episode by addressing common feelings of inadequacy and doubt that many people experience when faced with daunting tasks or unexpected responsibilities.

Victoria Osteen (01:48):
"Second Corinthians it says that God's strength is made perfect in your weakness. So anything that you don't have, God has the strength for."

She emphasizes the importance of relying on God's strength rather than our own, highlighting that God's grace is sufficient for today’s challenges.

Victoria Osteen (04:15):
"God is just saying, look at today. My grace is sufficient for today. Everything you need is here today."

2. Focusing on Today Instead of Tomorrow

Victoria discusses the human tendency to worry about the future, which often leads to unnecessary stress and doubt.

Victoria Osteen (03:05):
"God is saying, don't worry about tomorrow, just work on today. I got tomorrow handled."

By concentrating on the present, we can better utilize God's grace and strength without being overwhelmed by what lies ahead.

3. Trusting God's Plan and Provision

She reassures listeners that God has already equipped them with the necessary tools to face their challenges, often placing mysterious abilities within us that we may not initially recognize.

Victoria Osteen (05:30):
"He puts things in us that we don't know. That's in us. It's a mystery. Have you ever done something and you thought, how did that happen? That's God."

4. The Importance of Dependence on God Over People

Victoria highlights that while encouragement from others is valuable, ultimate reliance should be on God, who is capable of far more than humans.

Victoria Osteen (08:20):
"You can't depend on people because people can do the best they can do, but they can't do what God can do."

5. Personal Story: Joel Osteen’s First Sermon

Victoria shares a poignant story about Joel's early days as a preacher, illustrating how reliance on God provided strength in moments of vulnerability.

Victoria Osteen (09:10):
"He was so weak. He had to hold onto the podium. What are all you guys doing looking at me? ... He wasn't wearing his father's shoes to fill his father's shoes. He was wearing his father's shoes to draw strength from his father's shoes."

This narrative serves as a powerful metaphor for drawing strength from divine sources rather than human expectations or fears.

6. Walking in God's Shoes: A Metaphor for Strength and Purpose

The central theme revolves around the metaphor of wearing God's shoes to navigate life's challenges with His strength.

Victoria Osteen (10:45):
"Walk in your father's shoes. He's going to call you to great things. Don't shrink back. Don't put limitations on yourself. You've got exactly what you need."

By adopting this perspective, believers are encouraged to step into roles and tasks that may seem beyond their capabilities, trusting that God's power will enable them to succeed.

7. Encouragement to Take a Step of Faith

Victoria concludes by urging listeners to take proactive steps of faith, relying solely on God's strength to achieve their God-given potential.

Victoria Osteen (11:35):
"When you're weak, you're setting me up to be strong. If you handle it the right way, you're setting me up to let my power work through you."

She reinforces the idea that dependence on God transforms personal weakness into divine strength, enabling individuals to overcome any obstacle.

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Key Takeaways

• Embrace God's Strength: Recognize that God's power is perfected in your weakness, providing the necessary strength to face any challenge.

• Focus on Today: Concentrate on overcoming today's obstacles rather than worrying about the future.

• Depend on God Over People: While human support is valuable, ultimate reliance should be on God's limitless capabilities.

• Step of Faith: Take proactive steps of faith, trusting that God's strength will enable you to achieve your dreams and fulfill your purpose.

Notable Quotes

• Victoria Osteen (01:48):
  "Second Corinthians it says that God's strength is made perfect in your weakness."

• Victoria Osteen (04:15):
  "God is just saying, look at today. My grace is sufficient for today. Everything you need is here today."

• Victoria Osteen (09:10):
  "He wasn't wearing his father's shoes to fill his father's shoes. He was wearing his father's shoes to draw strength from his father's shoes."

• Victoria Osteen (10:45):
  "Walk in your father's shoes. He's going to call you to great things. Don't shrink back. Don't put limitations on yourself. You've got exactly what you need."

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Conclusion

In "Walk In Your Heavenly Father's Shoes," Victoria Osteen delivers a powerful message of faith, resilience, and divine empowerment. By encouraging listeners to rely on God's strength, focus on the present, and take courageous steps of faith, she offers a blueprint for overcoming life's challenges and achieving personal and spiritual growth. This episode serves as a beacon of hope and motivation for anyone seeking to live their best life with God's guidance.

Transcript

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[Joel Osteen]

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

[Victoria Osteen]

Have you ever felt like you didn't have the strength to go on? Or maybe you feel like that the task at hand is just so difficult and why in the world are you doing it? You know, sometimes we don't think we can do what we're facing. We don't think we can overcome the challenge. Or maybe you've been asked to do something. Maybe you've been put in a job or a promotion where it looks like, wow, I don't know if I have the talent and ability to be able to handle what I need to handle. But can I tell you today that in Second Corinthians it says that God's strength is made perfect in your weakness. So anything that you don't have, God has the strength for. So whatever you're facing today, God has all the strength you ever Need. And that's comforting to know because sometimes we want to look at the very end result and we want to see how in the world we'll ever get there. But God is just saying, look at today. My grace is sufficient for today. Everything you need is here today. I think the trouble we get into is we start working on tomorrow's grace today. We say, but what about tomorrow, God? When God is saying, don't worry about tomorrow, just work on today. I got tomorrow handled, you know? And then when we start doing these kind of things, we start questioning ourselves, then we start having these doubts and we have fears. And maybe I'm not enough, maybe I'm not adequate, Maybe I don't have what it takes. And then we start going down the wrong road. But God said before the foundation of the world, he already knew you and he's already equipped you to do whatever he's going to call you to do. But you know what I've noticed about God? He puts things in us that we don't know. That's in us. It's a mystery. Have you ever done something and you thought, how did that happen? How did I think about that? That's incredible. Well, that's God. Because God is smarter than we are. But he puts things on the inside of us so that we can mine the gold out of us. And we can't be fearful of that. We can't shrink back and think we don't have the ability, because the ability is in there. If you're facing something, whatever it is today, whatever it is today, even if it's a dream and you want that dream, but you're scared to attach yourself to that dream because you're thinking maybe it's just a wish and maybe it's not really what God wants. And I want to tell you something. Grab hold of that thing. Grab hold of it and believe you have what it takes. Draw strength from God. All you have to do is grab hold of his strength. Because when you are weak, when you are in doubt, it's no surprise to God. Because God said, I've already made provision for your weakness. Guess what? When you're weak, you're setting me up to be strong. If you handle it the right way. You're setting me up to let my power work through you. Don't close yourself off, but open yourself up to God. And you know what I think about this? I think I'm up here today. And the truth of the matter is there's probably a lot of you that could do a better job than me, so I could really stay in that seat. And I'll tell you, sometimes I want to, but the truth is, God put me up here. So I gotta embrace the place that I'm at. I gotta just say, God, you know what? When I'm weak, you're strong. Hey, it's not what I say. It's what you do. God. It's what the people hear. God. It's what you want to get across to them. Now, I'm going to study. I'm going to show myself approved. I'm going to fight through. I'm going to be determined. I'm going to try to pick myself up every day. Because, listen, there is no temptation that is not known to all of us. There's no struggle that we don't all face. Let me tell you something. No one's exempt. We all face the same thing. We all face the same challenges. But it's. How do we deal with those challenges? How do we break through those barriers and those limitations? We gotta grab hold of the strength of God. It's great when people encourage you. It's wonderful when people say, man, that's a good job. Or they tell you about your talents, they tell you about your gifts. But how about when you look up and there's no one there to encourage you and you're facing something? That's when you have to say, God, I can't depend on people because people can do the best they can do, but they can't do what God can do. And so there's a point that we can't depend on other people. We can't let them be our crutch. We've got to say, God, it's you and me. It's us, God. And you know what? We're a majority. We can do this together. I think too often we just sit back and say, you know what? It's too difficult for me, so I'm not going to do it. Because that's the comfortable thing to do. And we let things pass that we shouldn't. And that's when we get unhappy because there's something on the inside of us that's saying, there's more in store. You can do this. You can do this. It's always pushing us. It's always pushing us. Now it's a matter of, are we going to take the step of faith and do it? I've heard Joel say this a thousand times, and you probably have, too. He stands up here and he says, I never knew this was in me. He said, I'll work behind the scenes for 17 years. I like being behind the scenes. I never knew this was in me. And he'll tell you when he got up here the first time. You talking about weak? He was weak. He was so weak. He said I had to hold onto the podium. He said, what are all you guys doing looking at me? You know, I'll never forget that first sermon. I looked down at Joel and I saw him wearing his father's shoes. Now, listen, these shoes were shoes that he and I had bought years ago in Italy for his father. We wanted to give him something really special. So we bought him a pair of alligator shoes, something he wouldn't buy for himself. We used all the money we had so we couldn't buy anything for ourselves. But we brought those shoes home and we presented them to his father. And his father loved the shoes. They were beautiful shoes. But when I looked up there and I saw him wearing his dad's shoes, of course, a thousand things went through my mind. I was always sitting on the edge of my seat, just saying, God, give him everything I have and everything you have, too. But the truth of the matter is, he wasn't wearing his father's shoes to fill his father's shoes. He was wearing his father's shoes to draw strength from his father's shoes. And I just hope that you can get an image of the picture of someone who was standing platform, never dreaming in their life that they were going to be in the position that they were in, but found a strength in their father's shoes. Whether you're facing a difficult child, whether you're facing a promotion that you need to have at work, whatever it is, maybe it's a sickness, maybe it's an illness, a financial trouble. Whatever you're facing, I just want you to get the picture of Joel standing in his father's shoes. And I want you to translate that to yourself, of you standing in your heavenly Father's shoes, knowing that there's nothing that can defeat you, nothing you can't do. But it will happen. If you'll stand, if you'll put those strength, that strength, the strength of those shoes on your father shoes. Listen, we all need to borrow God's shoes. We all need to walk in that place because that's where we're going to find our strength. You know, I truly believe God asks us to do things that are way over our head for the very reason that he knows it's over our head. He knows it's gonna be difficult for us. And I honestly believe he does that to keep us on our knees, to keep us dependent on him. Because, see, you're never gonna achieve what he's called you to do unless you're dependent on him. Because if you can do it in your own strength, I can tell you this, it's not God. Because God wants you to go beyond your ability and tap into his ability. He wants you to go beyond what you think you can do and get into what only you can do when you do it with God. Walk in your father's shoes. Whenever you feel fear and whenever you feel doubt, just slip those shoes on and say, God, I don't need to worry about tomorrow. All I need is to have enough strength for today. And God, I know that when I am walking in your shoes and in your strength, your grace is sufficient. You'll add the people to me that I need. You'll open the right doors for me. You'll give me the ideas, but I'm going to wait upon you. The Bible talks a lot about pulling down God's strength. It says, wait upon the Lord and he'll renew your strength. That means stay in those shoes. Don't get out of those shoes. Give up. Don't release what you have in your hands because you're afraid. Stay in those shoes. God will bring that strength to you. But he wants to see our determination. I can tell you this. I saw my husband's determination. I saw what it took to get to where he is today. I am so glad he didn't let his weakness be an excuse. Because we wouldn't enjoy the hope of the gospel that we have coming from this place today. People's lives wouldn't be changed if he would have said, it's easy to stay in the background. That's the comfortable place. In fact, he likes the background. But I can tell you he's saying, I'm determined because it's my call. And if God's called me, it's gonna be bigger than me. And if it's bigger than me, the only way I can accomplish it is by the strength of Almighty God. Walk in your father's shoes. He's going to call you to great things. Don't shrink back. Don't put limitations on yourself. You've got exactly what you need. There is gold on the inside of you. But the only way it's going to come out is if you stand strong and you find it and you make it come out. Because God is your confidence and he is your God. And he's going to take you to the places you need to be. Amen. Amen. We love him so much today. He's a faithful God. Faithful God.

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It's a new year, an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a new year. Time to forget the struggles of the past and make room for new blessings. It's a new year, the perfect time to build expectation and faith for an amazing new season.

[Joel Osteen]

The beginning of the year is a great time to start afresh and anew, to let go of negative things of the past and to get ready for the new things God has in store. Every January we create a new devotional calendar. When you start off each day in faith, grateful for what God has done and making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional calendar will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can live in faith expecting the goodness of God.

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As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this first month of the year we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 2025365 day devotional calendar. Using this devotional calendar is as easy as 1 2, 3. 1. Wake up with an expectancy in your heart. 2. Reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. 3. Capture the Lord's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection.

[Joel Osteen]

This is going to be one of your best years. Our 2025 devotional calendar is going to help you stay in faith and see the goodness of God in ways you've never seen. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day and thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is impacting lives around the world and a special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online live every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast watch on YouTube now the new Joel Osteen network 24 hours a day and of course listen live on SiriusXM as well. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May he show you his favor and watch over you.

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Be sure to request your copy of the 2025 devotional calendar today. Visit Joel Osteen.com or call us toll.

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