Joel Osteen Podcast - A Son Mentality | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 12, 2024

It's easy to have the wrong image of ourselves because of mistakes we've made in the past. But you have to remember that you are a son or daughter of the Most High God. When you understand who you are, you won't let anything keep you from the amazing future God has in store.Believe big! Believe for more! Our March offer,This Time Next Year: Believe Big Journal, combines faith-building stories from Scripture with space to record your own reflections of the amazing things God is doing in your life. Be reminded each day that the God who breathed life into you is a more-than-enough God! Request your copy now, https://bit.ly/3IebX0B.   Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Victoria and I are always honored to have you on the podcast. We're praying blessings in favor over you and your family. We appreciate your support and just being a part of the ministry. We love you. You know we're praying for you and we believe God's best in your life. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. If you're ever in our area, please stop by.

Be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this minister that died. He was standing in line at the pearly gates. The man in front of him was dressed in a loud t-shirt, sunglasses, blue jeans. St. Peter asked him his name. He said, I'm Joe Cohen, taxi cab driver, New York City.

Peter checked his list, handed him a gold staff, silk robe, and said, welcome to heaven. The minister stepped up, said, I'm Reverend Joseph Snow, pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral. Peter checked the list, handed him a wooden staff, cotton robe. He said, hey, wait, that couldn't be right. Taxi cab driver got a gold staff and this is all I get. Peter said, sir, up here we work by results. When you preached, people slept, but when he drove, people prayed. 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 a son, not a slave. We've all been through disappointments, had unfair situations, because of negative things in the past, or even mistakes that we've made. it's easy to forget who we really are. Too often we've developed a slave mentality. We think we're at a disadvantage, so we don't pursue dreams,

we don't believe for good breaks, we don't pray bold prayers. We live like we're a slave to the addiction, slave to depression, slave to mediocrity. But as long as we have a slave mentality, it will limit our life. The scripture says, it, now are you the sons of God. You may have a lot coming against you, but you are not a slave.

You are a son. Sons think differently than slaves. You may struggle with an addiction, but a son says, I have a right to be free. There may be obstacles in your path, but a son knows the forces that are for me are greater than the forces that are against me. The Israelites had been in slavery 400 years, They were mistreated and taken advantage of. God saw the injustice and sent plagues on the Pharaoh and his people. Pharaoh finally decided to let them go. The Israelites headed out toward the promised land. I'm sure they were excited.

This was a dream come true until Pharaoh changed his mind and came chasing after them. He got 600 of his fastest chariots, his strongest warrior, He was quickly approaching. The Israelites came to a dead end at the Red Sea. They had nowhere to go. Pharaoh was saying, in effect, you're my slaves. I own you. I'm taking you back.

God was saying, you're my sons. I've redeemed you. I'm taking you forward. I can imagine this debate was going back and forth. The Israelites were trying to choose who they were going to believe. You're a son? or you're a slave. That same debate is taking place about you. One voice is saying, you're a slave. You'll never get well. You'll always struggle in your finances. You'll always be addicted.

God says, you're a son. I've equipped you, empowered you, and anointed you. Now you get to choose which way you go. If you believe the lie that you're a slave, that you've reached your limits, then it will keep you from your purpose. But when you rise up and say, I'm no longer a slave, I'm a son. I'm not a slave to my past. I'm not a slave to who hurt me. I'm not a slave to addictions, to poverty, to lack, to depression. I'm a child of the Most High God. When you know you're a son, you not only think differently, but you talk differently. Instead of I'll never break this addiction, I am free. I am free. I am whole. Instead of I never get good breaks, blessings are chasing me down. Favor surrounds me. Goodness and mercy are following me. Stop thinking like a slave and start thinking like a son.

Not thinking about what you were, what you've been through, the mistakes you've made, but start thinking about who you are. You are free. You are blessed. You are a masterpiece. peace. You are victorious. Pharaoh came chasing after the Israelites. In other words, the past came chasing them. What they'd been through, what didn't work out. The past will always come chasing you. Mistakes you've made, disappointments, failures, hurts, saying, you're not a son. Look what you've been through. It wasn't fair. You prayed and it didn't work out. The enemy would love for you to become a slave your past. Live guilty, discouraged, with the chip on your shoulder. Don't fall into that trap. The past doesn't have to hold you back. We've all had negative things happen, things we don't

understand, but God has beauty for those ashes. He has mercy for mistakes. He has new beginnings. Nothing that's happened in your past. Nothing that you've done has to keep you from the good things God has in store. Don't become a slave to your past. Quit thinking about it. Quit reliving the hurts. Quit dwelling on the failures. This is a new day. If you will let go of the old, then you'll see the new things God has in store. Pharaoh came chasing the Israelites because he thought he owned them. He saw them as his property. You need to tell Pharaoh, tell the enemy, tell the past, tell the addiction, you don't own me. I was bought with a precious price. I belong to the God who spoke worlds into existence. I'm not your slave. I'm his son. You have to know who you are and who you belong to.

Fear doesn't have any right to you. It doesn't own you. Poverty doesn't own you. You may have an addiction, but it doesn't own you. Don't see it as your master. as bigger, more powerful, you'll never be free. It's temporary. It cannot stay. Your body is a temple of the most high God. You are not a sick person trying to get well. You're a well person fighting off sickness.

You are not an addict trying to get free. You're a free person fighting an addiction. You're not a poor person trying to get ahead. You're a prosperous person fighting off poverty. You are not a slave to any negative thing. God created you to be free, healthy, whole, victorious. And sure, we all have things come against us, but they're not permanent. It's just a matter of time before it changes in your favor.

The Israelites, even if they escaped and got away from the Pharaoh, in one sense, they would always be runaway slaves. As long as Pharaoh was chasing them, even though they were free, thoughts would tell them, you're still a slave. You're just a slave that got away. Sooner or later, you'll be caught. They would have to live with that threat that Pharaoh might catch back up with them. But at the dead end at the Red Sea, when they had nowhere to go, Moses held up his rod and the waters parted. These two million Israelites, former slaves, went through on dry ground. When Pharaoh and the chariots came chasing,

the waters closed up, they were all drowned. God not only freed them from slavery, but he eliminated their oppressor, so they wouldn't have to live with a threat that they might be recaptured and taken back to slavery. God didn't want them to see themselves as just runaway slaves, slaves that had been freed. By taking care of the Pharaoh, he removed that label. They were no longer runaway slaves now they were simply sons, daughters of the Most High God. In the same way, God not only freed us from sin, from guilt, from depression, from sicknesses, but he took care of our enemy. You don't have to live with the threat that you might be recaptured.

Your oppressor has been defeated. The enemy has no power over you. You're not a runaway slave. You're a son. But here's the whole key. after all God is done for us, freed us from slavery, defeated our enemy. If you don't see yourself the right way, it will keep you from your destiny. This is what happened to the Israelites.

After seeing God, free them from slavery, deliver them from the Pharaoh, bring water out of Iraq. When they came to the promised land, you'd think they would be full of faith, ready to take the land. But when they saw how big the people were, They told Moses, we'll never defeat them. They're too big for us. Let's just go back to Egypt. Let's go back to being slaves. They had been in slavery so long.

They had seen so much injustice. Their problem was they never quit seeing themselves as slaves. They didn't think they could live at a higher level. Their attitude was, we're just poor old slaves. We never get any good breaks. God brought them out of slavery, but slavery never got out of them. You may have struggled in an area for a long time, but don't have a limited mindset. You have to give God permission to increase you.

It starts in your thinking, you can't see yourself as a slave and enjoy the blessings of a son. If you grew up in lack, not having enough, mediocrity, don't let that poverty Spirit getting you. That is not who you are. You're the one to break the curse. You're the one to set a new standard. God is about to lose resources. Promotion, ideas, opportunities, have a vision for increase. See yourself as a sun rising higher. You have seeds of greatness. You are not limited by how you were raised, by your family, by what you didn't get, you're not a slave to lack. You're not a slave to depression.

You're not a slave to fear. The oppressor has been taken care of. Your days of struggle, your days of sickness, your days of loneliness are coming to an end. God is about to do a new thing. He's going to break bondages that have held you back.

Things that have been in your family line for generations are about to turn in your favor. Like the Israelites, after 400 years of slavery, oppression, injustice, that was 10 generations. Nothing changed. They were born into it year after year. Didn't expect anything different. But one day, God said enough is enough. He supernaturally brought them out.

But that first group that God freed from slavery, That was good, but that wasn't God's best. They never made it into the promised land because they saw themselves as slaves. But God didn't give up on them. He didn't say, I'm done with this family. God took their children in. It was because they had a different mindset. I believe in your family, you're going to be the generation that goes into the

promised land. What's your relatives? Did or didn't do does not have to stop you. You're going to see houses that you didn't build, vineyards that you didn't plant, opportunities chasing you down, promotion that you didn't deserve, blessings you can't explain,

favor that thrust you further than you can imagine. Now, don't talk yourself out of it. Joe, not me. Man, I've reached my limits. My family always struggles. Get rid of that slave mentality and start having an abundant mentality. See, even though the oppressor has been taken care of,

even though the enemy is defeated, he'll still whisper lies. You're not supposed to be blessed. You'll always be addicted. What he's really saying is, you're a slave. Come on, just accept it. Tell him no thanks. You have the wrong person.

I'm not a slave. I'm a son. I'm blessed. I'm prosperous. I'm a difference maker. I'm going to set a, new standard for my family, we're going in to our promised land. The other day, a repairman came over to our house to fix the air conditioner. He had to come inside and go up in the attic. When he came in,

he didn't stop by the refrigerator, get something to drink. He didn't sit on my couch and watch some television. He didn't go out my back door and enjoy my backyard. He went straight to the attic and took care of the problem. He knew he couldn't come in and make himself at home. He was there as a servant, not as a son. But when our son Jonathan comes in, he doesn't say, Dad, can I go to the refrigerator and get something to drink?

Dad, can I sit here and watch some television? He doesn't ask for permission. He acts like he owns the place. And the truth is, he does. He's my son. Everything I have is his. I like the fact that he knows who he is. He's confident in what belongs to him.

So he goes boldly to the refrigerator. The scripture tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Not as a servant. Not saying, God, I know I don't deserve it. God, I know I'm unworthy. If you want to make God happy, If you want to put a smile on God's face, go to him with boldness. Go to him like he's proud of you, like you deserve to be there, like he wants to be good to you.

Ask him for your dreams. Pray bold prayers. You're not inconveniencing him. You don't have to earn God's love. You don't have to work for his approval. You don't have to pay God back for your mistakes. Never once has Jonathan come in. and said, dad, I did wrong today.

I don't deserve to eat here. Let me work for you. Let me earn the right to have this meal. He did that. Number one, I check his temperature. Number two, as a father, I would be disappointed. I would think, doesn't he know he's my son and I want to be good to him? Are you trying to earn God's goodness, be good enough, work hard enough,

then maybe you'll deserve God's blessing? that's a slave mentality. Why don't you start believing that you're a son? You're already in the family. Jesus said, it is the father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. God is longing to be good to you. Are you living like a son,

knowing that you have rights, knowing that God's pleased with you, or are you living like a slave, feeling unworthy like you don't deserve God's goodness? In the story of the prodigal son, the young man asked his father for his inheritance and left home. He wasted all the money, partying, living wild, making poor choices. He was so desperate, he ended up working in a hog pen, feeding the hogs. He became so hungry he had to eat the hog food to survive.

Sitting in the hog pen, he thought, the servants at home live better than I do. I'm going to go back to my father's house. After all I've done, after this big mess, I know I can't live at home, but maybe my father will hire me back as one of his servants. Because of his mistakes, he stopped seeing himself as a son and started seeing himself as a servant. He thought he didn't deserve his father's goodness. He didn't think he had a right to be in the family anymore. how many of us have disqualified ourselves from God's goodness. We knew at one time we were a son.

At one time God was going to help us, favor us, bless us, but we made poor choices. We got off course. Now we believe that lie that somehow we've gone from a son to a slave, that God wouldn't have anything to do with us. This young man got his nerve up and headed back home. he was prepared for his father to let him have it, to say, don't even think about coming on this property. But as he got closer, he noticed his father was standing at the end of the driveway.

It looked like he was looking for him. All of a sudden, the father took off running toward his son. That son thought, oh, great, he's going to stop me before I get on the property. He's going to come out here and yell at me. But the father grabbed him, started hugging him, kissing him. kissing him. The son went into his speech. Dad, I don't deserve it. But maybe you can hire me back as one of your servants. Father stopped him. He said, what are you talking about? Don't you know you're my son and you'll always be my son? There's nothing you can do to change the fact that you're a son. When you gave your life to

Christ, you were born into the family of God. You can't get unborn. You can't make a mistake. You too big. You can't get too far, of course. You may disqualify yourself, but God never disqualifies you. Are you living like a slave when in fact you're a son? You're trying to convince God to hire you back as a servant. When God is saying, go kill the fatted calf, my son is home, God has already received you back into his family. But what if his son would have turned? Said, dad, no, I can't accept your goodness. I don't deserve it. Let me just work out here with the servants to try to pay you back. That would have ruined the story. How many of us are doing the same thing? We're not receiving God's goodness. We're beating ourselves up for our failures. We're letting the

accuser convince us that we've somehow gone from a son to a slave. I love the fact when this son returned home, the father never brought up his past. He didn't say, okay, I'll let you come back, but you shouldn't have done that. God is not interested in your past. The enemy will work overtime trying to remind you of all your mistakes, make you feel guilty, unworthy. Don't believe those lies. You're not going to be a son when you perform good enough. You're a son right now. You're a daughter right now. Why don't you come? on back into the family, start believing again, start dreaming again. You can start a party up in heaven. You can cause God to turn on the music and begin a celebration. When he sees you shake off

a slave mentality and start having a son mentality, he says about you, go kill the fatted calf. We're going to have a party. My son, my daughter, has come back home. Years ago, there was a man. There was a in Europe. He saved up all of his money to come to America. After months and months, he finally had just enough to purchase the ticket on the ship. It was going to take two months to cross the ocean, so he took a suitcase filled with food. All he could afford were cheese and crackers. When the other people on the ship went to the big, nice dining room, to have their fancy dinners, he would go over into the corner and eat his cheese and crackers. This went on day after day.

He could smell the other food. He wanted to join them so badly, but he just didn't have the resources. The last day of the trip, a man came over, said, I can't help but notice. You're always over here eating cheese and crackers. Why don't you come in and have dinner with us? The man was kind of embarrassed. He said, I saved up all my money, but I only had enough to buy the ticket. I didn't have enough to buy the meals.

The man shook his head, said, didn't you realize the meals were included with the ticket? You had a right to be in here with us the whole time. I wonder how many of us are missing out on God's best because we don't realize the meals have been paid for. We're over in the corner, so to speak, like a servant, eating the cheese and crackers. When God is saying, you're a son. step up to the table. I've paid the price. There's a place with your name on it.

You may have made mistakes. Forgiveness has been paid for. Mercy has been paid for. You had bad breaks. People did you wrong. New beginnings have been paid for. Beauty for ashes belong to you. Why don't you come on up to the table?

You're struggling in finances. Nobody in your family has gotten ahead. Don't get satisfied. with cheese and crackers, abundance has been paid for. New levels are in your future. Sometimes what's holding us back is we don't really know who we are. We think we're average, ordinary, when in fact we are royalty. We are sons, daughters of the most high God. When God breathed his life into you, he crowned you with his favor. He put a robe of right. righteousness on you. He said you've been fearfully and wonderfully made. Don't go through life with a cheese

and crackers mentality. Have a son mentality, an abundant mentality. In the scripture, an angel told Gideon he was to go out and save the Israelites from the enemy army that was approaching. Gideon said, I can't do that. I come from the poorest family and I am the least one in my father's house. He was was saying, you have the wrong person. I'm not at the dinner table. I'm eating cheese and crackers. He had a slave mentality. I'm at a disadvantage. He didn't realize he was royalty. A few chapters later, Gideon was talking with his enemies. He asked them what the men he was trying to find look like. They said, they look like you, Gideon, like a king's son. Gideon felt inadequate, like he didn't measure up, but even his enemies could see he was a king's son.

You may feel like you're at a disadvantage. It's causing you to shrink back, not pursue dreams. Like Gideon, you may not be able to see it, but even the enemy knows your royalty. Even the enemy knows you are destined to do great things. Why don't you put down the cheese and crackers and step up to who you were created to be? you're no longer a slave, you're a son. You used to be maybe a slave to fear, to addictions, to poverty, to depression, but you've been born into a new family. When I look at you, you know what I see?

I see masterpieces. I see royalty. I don't see average people. I don't see anyone addicted. I don't see anyone sick and weak. I don't see anyone in poverty and lack. I see blessed people, victorious people. victorious people, favored people.

I see king's sons, king's daughters. Now do your part, shake off the slave mentality, start having a son mentality. If you'll do this, I believe and declare every chain that's holding you back is being broken. God is going to release healing, favor, breakthroughs, abundance. You're going to rise higher and become everything he's created you to be. in Jesus name. If you receive it, can you say amen today? I'd like to give 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. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again.

Get in a good Bible-based church. and keep God first place. It starts with just a tiny seed. From it, tender bud sprout. The miracle of new life, blooms and thrives. But how do you experience the same miraculous and extraordinary growth in your own life? Sometimes our life is limited

because we're believing too small. Faith is like a seed. When you believe, all things are possible. That's when you'll see new growth, opportunity, and healing. We don't have to figure out. how it's going to happen. All we have to do is belief. There may not be a way in the natural, but our God is supernatural. We'd like to send you our new, this time next year, Believe Big Journal.

It'll help you to enlarge your vision and stretch your faith. Where would you like to be a year from now? Who knows what God will do in 2024 if you'll take the limits off of him and believe for the great things he's placed in your heart? Asar, thank you for your gift of any amount this month. to send you the this time next year Believe Big Journal, along with our new Believe Tea. As you begin to believe big, you'll see God move in powerful ways, the impossible made possible, growth, provision,

and new opportunities will burst forth, above and beyond what you can ask or imagine. Also, for the first time ever, we want to present you with our new Believe T-shirt, created exclusively by our friends at Copperfit for the viewers and partners of Joe Lohstein. We invite you to wear and declare what you are believing God for in 2024.

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