Joel Osteen Podcast - Abundantly Free

Episode Date: April 17, 2019

Would you describe yourself as partially free or abundantly free? In this message, be encouraged to stand firm in the freedom that Jesus died for you to have. Hold onto that promise by faith, begin to get in agreement with God. You do not have to settle for partial freedom--abundant freedom is yours in Jesus. 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.

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See Terms and Conditions at UNS dot. See you. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. We enjoy spending this time with you, and I hope you'll leave inspired. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the ministry going. Enjoy our son Jonathan today. Tonight I want to talk about living abundantly free. In 2019, there are a lot of things I would describe as barely free. They usually sound something like seven-day free trial or subscribe and get the first month free. The truth is these things are not free. That workout plan, those extra filters, they're barely free.

Trust me, I've learned. The first week is great, but when a few months go by and they're still charging you, you'll realize this is not what I signed up for. A friend of mine said he accidentally spent the last six months subscribe to free legal documents.com. because he needed one form. That friend may not have been Pastor Nick. But the point is, it ended up costing him over $100. If we don't cancel those subscriptions, those hidden charges start to add up.

There's a difference between barely free and abundantly free. In life, many of us know God's promised us freedom, but we find ourselves living barely free. We've accepted those hidden charges, allowed those things, and just thought that this is the way it will always be. We're paying for things we never intended to. Maybe it's a constant battle with guilt, anxiety, or addiction. It could be because of how we were raised,

what was passed down, what we experienced growing up, or maybe it's because of mistakes we've made. It's easy for disappointments and failures to cause us to develop a barely free lifestyle, one where we don't pray bold prayers and believe for our dreams, one where we shrink back in fear rather than step up to our calling. We think we've messed up too many times to receive God's goodness. We settle for barely free.

But that's not God's plan for our lives. Jesus didn't take on the cross so that we could live under the weight of what we've been through. He didn't rise from the grave so that we could struggle with addiction the rest of our lives. And he didn't ask us to be perfect in order to experience the kind of life he wants to give us. Ephesians 1 says because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, we're a free people and not just barely free either, abundantly free. This is the promise we can stand on in every area of our lives, free from fear, free from worry, free from unforgiveness, whatever might be limiting you, abundantly free has it covered.

But we have to allow it to take root in our hearts and minds. as long as we accept those hidden charges, learn to live with what's holding us back, it's not going to change. Tonight, God wants to cancel those subscriptions. He wants to cancel anxiety and insecurity. He wants to cancel the thought that says this will never change. Those things do not have to cost us anymore. The price has been paid in full.

What's happened in the past doesn't define your future. People in your family may have struggled with certain things, but you can be the one to set a new standard. Because of Jesus, we're not barely free. We're abundantly free. That means we're not just free in one area. God's design is not for us to be free on the outside, but captive by the negative way we see ourselves.

It's not for us to have a successful career, but be bound by addiction. Who the sun sets free is free indeed. One translation says unquestionably free. Let's receive that into a lot of life. our spirit. We're not barely free. We're unquestionably free. We're not learning to live with the things that keep us from our potential. We're not going to accept what causes us to stay in mediocrity. We don't have to settle for less than God's best. The dysfunction, the depression, the barely free mindset have to go. The way things are is not how they will always be. Those subscriptions

have been canceled. This is our time to live abundantly free. The Israelites were in slavery. for 430 years. Generation after generation they were mistreated and looked down on. They were given impossible tasks and punished when they weren't able to fulfill them. This was not the life they had hoped for. They were miserable and there was no end in sight.

Until God said to a man named Moses, I have seen the affliction of my people and I've heard their cry. I know their pain and suffering. So I've come down to rescue them and bring them to a good land with wide open spaces. Every moment the Israelites spent in that place of captivity, God saw them. Through every hurt, every difficulty, every tear, he was there. He knew every unfair situation, every mistake they've made,

every lonely night. Many of us know the God's with us in the good times. But sometimes when we're in the middle of our mess, we start to wonder where he's gone. We can feel like the Israelites trapped with no end in sight. We start to think barely free is all there is. But here through this verse, we see the truth is God has been with us all along. He's heard every cry. He knows every pain. He's close to the brokenhearted.

And the best part is, when God sees his children in trouble, he doesn't sit back and watch from a distance. He says, enough is enough. I'm going to do something about it. I'm coming down to rescue them. God loves you too much. to let you live captive to hopelessness or anxiety the rest of your life. Maybe you feel like you've been in that place a long time.

God sees you and he doesn't intend for you to stay there. The Israelites were slaves for hundreds of years. The oppressor was much more powerful than they were. In reality, they had no chance on their own. The enemy was too great. It had been too long. They couldn't take on an army. But God stepped in and said, enough is enough.

I've come down to deliver you, let my people go. He sent a supernatural force to set them free. In the same way, the enemy we're facing may be much more powerful than us. We can think I don't have a chance against this sickness, this addiction, this financial trouble. I've tried everything. I don't see how I could be truly free. But don't discount the power of God. Don't rule out the one who does the impossible.

Don't give up on him because he hasn't given up on you. He has seen everything you've been through, and this is not how your story ends. He's going to deliver you from that place. He's going to make things happen that you couldn't do on your own. By face, he's here tonight to say enough is enough. Enough with fear. Enough was lack. Enough with inadequacy.

These things can't hold you back anymore. I haven't come so that you could just barely get by. I've set you abundantly free. Let's get in agreement with God. Let's invite him to step in. What he did for the Israelites, he can do for us. Imagine by faith that every force that's held you back is bowing to his power. Imagine every chain is broken, that every enemy has been defeated.

We thought we didn't stand a chance, but the truth is, those things that worry, that addiction, don't stand a chance against him. We think the problem looks big. Think how it looks to the God who created the universe, the one who has. is on your side. It's just a miracle waiting to happen. He's going to step in and turn things around. He's going to show up and make a way. That's what he does. That's who he is. Even in the face of oppression, we should declare, I am abundantly free because our God is faithful to his promise. Moses led the Israelites out of that place of captivity, but they weren't even that far gone when the ruler decided to change his mind. We can imagine how excited they must have been. We can imagine how excited

they must have been to make their first journey as a free people, but now they found out their former master has gone back on his word. Not only that, but an army from the land they were delivered from came chasing after them. In other words, the past came chasing after them, the things they had been through, the people that had hurt them, the mistakes they had made. The past will always try to track us down and convince us to live barely free. It'll say things like, you come from a long line of abuse. Look what you've done.

Don't you know what they said was true? The past doesn't want to let us go. It would rather we live bitter and discouraged, thinking I'll always struggle with this. It limits the way we live in the present and the dreams we have for the future. It stops us from loving people and enjoying life. That's the essence of barely free. And it's the very thing Jesus came to put an end to. We all have negative things behind us, but we serve a God of new beginnings.

He has mercy for our mistakes, beauty for our ashes. The Bible says he's removed our sin as far as the east is from the West. He can heal. He can restore. He can redeem. What's happened to us doesn't determine who we are. God calls us his children and nothing can separate us from that love. The army may chase after us, but we don't belong to them.

We don't have to be a slave to the past one more day. So let's do our part and stop thinking about it. Let go of who you used to be. Quit dwelling on the mistakes, reliving every hurt. This is a new day. We need you here. God doesn't want us constantly looking over our shoulder, replaying what went wrong, thinking through every what if.

Negative things will always remind us of what came before and distract us from what lies ahead. They'll keep us living in fear or self-pity rather than faith. We have to know the future God has for us is too important to spend another day looking back. He's put purpose and destiny ahead of us. We wouldn't be alive if he didn't have great things in store. How can we live passionately for what's ahead of us if we're always looking over our shoulder? We have to choose between God's plan and our past.

We don't have enough time to concern ourselves with both. The truth is, we can't do anything to change the past, but God has said, I'll trade you. Your past from my plan. I'll take care of that. Your future is what's important to me. I want to do something great with your life. Now, we have to decide to live like our future is as important to us as it is to God. That means letting go of some hurts, forgiving others, forgiving ourselves.

There are people. God wants you to reach. Prayers, He wants you to pray. Lives, he wants you to change. He asks for our full attention on what he's doing, not what we've done. Sometimes we get so concerned with looking back that we don't even consider

God might be trying to do something through it. He can use that setback as a set up for something greater. He can take what kept us bound and cause it to break someone else's chains. He works all things out for good. Let's allow us. him to by fixing our eyes on what's ahead. The plans he has for us are too important to pass up.

Your future is too valuable to spend another day living in the past. Make that trade. Choose God's plan. Let him use your past and watch his purpose unfold in your life. When the Israelites' backs were against the wall, the army was closing in and it looked like they had nowhere to go. God hearted the Red Sea and led them to the other side. When the army army tried to follow them through, the water came crashing down and eliminated the very force that held them captive. God didn't want them to live like runaways, always wondering when they'd get caught. He took care of the enemy once and for all. In the same way, he's done that for us. We don't have to live like we're on the run. Like any day, that old sickness or worry might show up again to

take us back. He's dealt with it. Those chains have been broken. Those former strongholds have no power over us. We're not barely free. We're abundantly free. But even after all that God's done, if we don't see ourselves the right way, it can keep us from our destiny. The Israelites saw God perform incredible signs and wonders to bring them out of slavery. They saw him split the sea in two. After that, he rained down manna from the sky and brought water out of a rock. He provided everything they needed. At this point, we would think the Israelites would be full of faith, ready to take the land God wanted to give them. But when they saw how intimidating the people that stood in their way were,

they told Moses, we don't stand a chance. We'll never defeat them. The enemy is too great. Does this sound familiar? Even after all the Israelites had been through, after all they had seen God do, they still saw themselves as barely free. They even went as far as to say,

let's just go back to where we came from. Let's go back to being slaves. God had brought them out of slavery, but slavery never got out of them. When they looked in the mirror, they didn't see someone who was blessed, redeemed, chosen, more than a conqueror. All they saw was a former slave. They didn't believe they could take the promised land. They didn't realize God had an amazing future ahead of them.

The way they saw themselves limited what God was able to do in their lives. They had been set free from the place of bondage, but not the perspective of it. What they didn't understand is that with God, our original state is abundantly free. Through him, we become new creations, sons and daughters of the king. Abundantly free is not what we're striving for, it's what we're living from. Jesus came to establish that long before we were ever born. We have to see ourselves the way he does from our original. state. You're not an addict struggling to get free. You're a free person overcoming an addiction.

You're not a sick person trying to get well. You're healthy and fighting off sickness. You're not the child of a broken home. You're the child of a most high God full of purpose and destiny. We were created to be free, whole, secure. We all have things that have come against us, but long before any of that, our Heavenly Father determined to be free. who we really were. Forces may try to stop us, but it's only a matter of time before God steps in. Let's see ourselves the way he does as abundantly free. We can even take it a step further and start declaring it. We are unquestionably free. It might take some time to break old thought patterns, but when we speak God's promise with face, our mind starts to line up with the truth. His word

starts pushing out the lies we've held on to. We may have struggled in an area for a long time, but we have to give God the permission to bless us. The only person who can stop God from being good to you is you. Some people think they don't deserve God's favor. They've made too many mistakes. They hold too many grudges. They've been through too much.

That's a former slave mindset like the Israelites. Maybe we feel unworthy because we grew up barely having enough. We think that's where we belong. Or maybe the things people have said about us have started to shape the way we think. This is a night to let all that go. God doesn't bless those who deserve it. If he did, none of us would have a chance. He blesses those who he loves. Why don't we see ourselves not as a former anything, but as people who God loves? When I look out, I see people that are strong, confident, talented, with a bright future, a group of people God is madly in love with. Remember who you are, your original state abundantly free. That's who God sees. When we know who we are,

then God can show us how great he is. It takes the limits off of him. He's able to use us in a mighty way. We can boldly step in to where he's calling us. The older generation of Israelites, define themselves by where they came from. But the next generation became the ones to enter the promised land. This new generation had seen God deliver them before, and they were confident he would do it again. They were willing to take him out his word and go wherever he led them. They lived abundantly free.

But even though they saw themselves the right way, they lived abundantly free. They still faced giants. The enemy that stood in their way and had terrified their parents didn't just go away because they had faith. It didn't just disappear because they saw themselves the right way. They still had to take the land, but they knew God was on their side. Like that new generation, living abundantly free doesn't mean we won't have problems.

It means those problems will never have us. They won't have our peace, our joy, our passion. They won't have our time and emotional energy. We need those things to fulfill our destiny. When difficulty comes, don't fall back into fear and frustration, thinking I thought I was free. Now look what's coming against me. Don't sink into worry or self-pity when there's a new giant ahead. God didn't bring you this far to leave you.

Remember what he's already done. Abundantly free allows us to live from a place of rest. Trusting God is in control. He's on the throne. Nothing we're facing is a surprise to him. when we encounter challenges, it doesn't mean God's not with us. It doesn't mean that we're not free. Freedom is as true on the inside as it is on the outside. Let's not give our problems too much credit. The first thing some people do when they face a problem is get out their wallet and start paying up.

Here's my peace. Here's my hope. Here's my joy. They give away their freedom at the first sign of trouble. We have to realize the past to our purpose will have some problems. but they don't have to have us. Even after the Israelites defeated the giants, they came upon the towering walls of Jericho. These people were abundantly free, but here it seems like it's just one thing after the other standing in their way.

But they didn't give up. They didn't say the walls were too high. They didn't ask to go back into captivity. These obstacles didn't keep them from their destiny. They were part of it. Let's be the generation that stepped into the promise. land, the ones who took new ground. Let's not be the ones who wandered in the desert and fell apart at the first sign of resistance. Let's be the ones who lived abundantly free. It's not enough to just

hear about freedom. It's not enough to just know of God's promise. We have to receive it and act on it. That's why what we believe, the way we see ourselves and what we do about it are so important. We don't want to leave here empowered on a Sunday night and find ourselves in the same cycle of captivity by Tuesday morning. That's not God's best. We're not meant to spend time in the presence of God and look the same day after day. We're not meant to keep coming to church and have no one at home notice a difference. We're not meant to live barely free. Tonight, God wants to step into some situations and show us a new way to live, a life that's abundantly free.

Things don't change if we stay the same, both on the inside and on the outside. If we really truly want to be free, we can't leave everything as it is and expect things to be different. Sometimes we come to church, feel something, and wonder why nothing changed. Thoughts may tell us all kinds of spiritual reasons, but in reality, it's because we went right back to our routine. That feeling doesn't last, but God's promise stands forever. If you want to see your life line up with his abundant freedom, we have to respond to it. First in the way we see ourselves, no matter where you are, how long it's been your original state has and always will be abundantly free. We may not feel that way, but that doesn't change who we are because of Jesus.

Let that thought permeate our hope, our dreams, our future. God loves you too much to leave you where you are. He's seen everything you've been through, and this is not how your story ends. He's going to step in and make away. By faith, he's here to say, enough is enough. You're his child. Like the Israelites, he's come down to rescue you. Don't discount his power.

Don't rule out a miracle. He loves you, and we can depend on him above all else. Change starts on the inside, but it's not completely. until it works its way into our lives. It always begins and ends with Jesus, but in the middle, he's put things in place and people in place to walk with us on that journey. Doctors, therapists, life groups, there are books, programs, leaders at church that are here for us. It's good to get help. We all need it. If that's something God is telling you to do, don't second guess it. Find someone to reach out to. A moment.

of vulnerability is better than a life lived barely free. Freedom or a miracle doesn't always look like the Red Sea splitting in two. It can happen in a conversation. God can use a family member as much as he can use Moses. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to show us what steps to take and lead us to the miracle. Nothing changes if we stay the same. Could we stand together? God opened the door and set the Israelites free. He parted the Red Sea. He gave them the promised land. But every time they had to take a step, they had to walk out of that place of captivity. They had to cross through the sea. They had to take the land. These things didn't just happen to them. They responded to what God was doing. Before the Israelites took the promised land, Joshua asked them, how long are you going to wait

before you take possession of the land God has given you. That's the same question God is asking us tonight. How long are you going to wait to live abundantly free? It's already been given to us, but we have to take hold. If you feel like you've been living barely free, captive to worry, anxiety, fear, addiction, depression, resentment, whatever it might be, we want to pray with you. In just a moment, I want to invite you to come.

come down to the front. If you feel like something's limiting you from living the fullness of life you know God has for you, something you haven't been able to break on your own, let's stand together and begin to take that new ground. Freedom isn't found at the front of a stage, but there is breakthrough when you step out and respond to what God is speaking to you. Don't hesitate. Don't wait to live abundantly free. If you want to make the decision that you're not going to live barely free, that tonight is a turning point, that this is a new beginning. Why don't you step out and meet me down here at the front right now? Let's take a step of faith.

There's plenty of room. Let's not put it off. Let's not go home without taking a step towards freedom. God has seen everything you've been through, and he's been with you every step. He loves you. He cares for you. Tonight is a new beginning. It's a turning.

point. Those old things do not have to hold us back. We've been set free. In a moment, we're going to pray together, but no, this is the start of a conversation between you and God. Keep it going for the weeks and for the months to come. Keep responding to what he's saying to you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you know each and every person under the sound of my voice. You've seen everything they've been through. You've heard every cry. You know every tear and you've been with us every single step. God, for different reasons, we found ourselves living barely free. But we know, no matter how long it's been, we're not going to stay here. More importantly, you love us too much to leave us here. So God, we're asking you to step in. We're asking you to show up and make a way,

do what only you can do. Break chains. Bring down. down walls, set us free. Lord, we need you. Would you direct our steps? Show us where to go. Show us what we need to do. Bring the right people into our lives. Lead us by your spirit, God. We declare that every force that has held us back is broken in Jesus' name. Every force, every fear, every anxious thought, every addiction has been shattered. Every chain of depression, hopelessness, inadequacy has been thrown out. These things will not limit us. They will not keep us from our destiny.

God, you are here tonight to say enough is enough. We're through living barely free. We're done holding on to the past. God, we are here united under your promise that says who the sun sets free is free indeed. Because of you, Jesus. We're not barely free. We're abundantly free.

So we lift up our hands to give you praise. We lift up our voice to worship you. Thank you for this freedom that we are living in. Thank you for listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope with those all over the world. Visit joelosteen.com slash give hope to give a gift today. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you inspired all through the week.

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