Joel Osteen Podcast - Being Quick to Give God the Credit

Episode Date: July 29, 2020

We were never created to contain glory. We were created to give God glory. The higher we go, the more humility we have to walk in and the more grateful we should be.Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope 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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to give funds to a child's investment account for limited time. Download the UNEST app and use the code IHeart50 at Sign Up to receive a $50 bonus when you fund your account. That's code IHeart50 when you sign up at UNEST.C for a $50 bonus. See terms and conditions at UNES.com. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. We enjoy spending this time with you. 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 the message. Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has great things in store for each one of you.

And if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and see us. I'll promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks for tuning in. Thanks again for coming out today. I like to start with something funny each week. I heard about these three sisters, ages 96, 94, and 92. They live together.

One day the 96-year-old draws a bath and puts one foot in and stops. She hollers downstairs. I can't remember if I was getting in or getting out. The 94-year-old said, just a second, I'll come upstairs and help you. She gets halfway up the stairs,

and stops. She says, I can't remember if I was going up or coming down. The 92-year-old shook her head and said, boy, I hope I never get that forgetful. She knocked on wood for good luck. Then she said, hang on, I'll come help both of you as soon as I see who's at the door. All right, hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the Word of God. 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 being quick to give God the credit.

We've all seen God's blessings and favor in our lives. He's opened doors and given us opportunity. And it's so important that we recognize where the favor is coming from. it's not just our gifts, our education, our hard work that got us to where we are. The scripture says every good gift comes from our Father in heaven. Your gift may have helped you get that position, but it was God who gave you the gift in the first place. Your education may have opened the door, but it was God who gave you the ability to learn.

Or your hard work may have brought you success, but it is, you, you, you success, but it was God who gave you the health, the strength, the breath to get out of bed each morning. If we're going to continue to see God's favor, we have to be quick to give him the credit. We were never created to contain glory. We were created to give God glory. The higher we go, the more humility we have to walk in. The more God promotes us, the more grateful we should be. We're not supposed to go around thinking, look what I've built, look what I've accomplished, look at my position. Now, when we do that, we are taking what belongs to God.

I've seen some of these celebrities that didn't live a long life or that were on top, but they had a setback and never recovered. One reason is they were containing all the glory. They let the success go to their head, and they started thinking, look how great I am. There's nobody like me. kept taking in all the praise. But this is important. God will not share his glory. If we take the credit thinking that we're the one that's making it all happen, at some point God will remove his hand of favor to make sure that we realize where the credit really belongs.

It says in 1st Peter chapter 5 and verse 6, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you. Now I've learned if we don't humble ourselves, God will humble us. If we don't give him the credit, recognizing that it is his goodness that got us to where we are, then God has a way of getting our attention. It's interesting, we can come down a lot quicker than we go up. What took 20 years to build can come down in a split second. This is what happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. He said in Daniel 4, how great.

Great is our God. How mighty are his works. His kingdom is everlasting. Notice, he started off good. He started off giving God credit, talking about his greatness, and God continued to increase him. But somewhere along the way, he allowed a spirit of pride to creep in. Twelve months later, in verse 30, he looked out over the city and said, is this not the great Babylon that I have built by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty? Notice all the mys, my might, my power, my majesty. He began thinking, man, I'm pretty great. I've built an awesome kingdom here. I like these people bowing down and worshiping me. See, he started out giving God the credit. But as he got successful and saw

more of God's favor, he made the mistake of thinking it was his talent, his ability. Instead of giving God the credit, he started taking the credit. It's much easier to stay humble when we're first starting out. But the real test is when God increases you

and you get that promotion and now you're in a position of authority, that's when it's more difficult to walk in humility. That's why God told the people of Israel, when you live in nice homes and you have plenty to eat and you're blessed and

prosperous, make sure you don't forget, it was the Lord your God who gave it to you. King Nebuchadnezzar's downfall is he started containing the glory instead of giving God the glory. As he was up there brag into the people about how great he was and all the amazing things that he built, says in verse 31, while he was still speaking, a voice came out of the heaven saying, Nebuchadnezzar, this day, the kingdom has departed from you. Friends, this is a powerful principle. God will not share his glory. Let's be quick to give him the credit.

Don't ever say, look what I've done. Look what I've built. Look how talented I am. No, without the goodness and mercy of God, we wouldn't be anything and we wouldn't have anything. We should constantly be thanking God for where we are, bragging on his goodness, bragging on his favor. giving him the honor. The scripture says, God opposes the proud, but he gives favor to the humble.

When you humble yourself and say, God, I know it was your goodness that got me here and your mercy that's kept me here and your favor that's opened these doors. When you walk in humility like that, being quick to give God the credit, he'll take your places that you've never even dreamed up. Because it's really, it's not how talented you are or smart you are or educated you are. What really matters is do you have the favor of God on your life? I know people that are extremely talented, they have plenty of degrees behind their name, but they are so stuck on themselves, they're not seeing God's favor like they should. I talked to a gentleman last week after the service. He came from a very poor home.

never was able to attend college. In fact, he never even finished high school. But 27 years ago, he and his wife started a business. He said every morning we would get down on our knees and say, Father, we humble ourselves before you, recognizing you are the one that gave us this business, and so we committed into your hands. Today, that company has thousands of employees, offices all over the country, extremely successful. He told some of something that really got my attention. He said, Joel, we used to just get up in the morning and give God credit. But now that we're so blessed and so successful, every night before we go to bed, we get down on our knees and do the same thing. Notice, as God increase them, they increase

their humility. They increase their gratitude. That is so important. Because many people, like Nebuchadnezzar, they start thinking it's their gifts and their talents. But these people, they did just the opposite. Instead of letting that make them more proud and think of them of how great they were, they became even more humbled by their success, realizing more than ever it was God's goodness in their life. That's the key. The higher we go, the more humility we have to walk in.

I think about King Saul. God honored him in a great way. He was chosen to be the first king of Israel. He started out so long. humble, so obedient, but like Nebuchadnezzar, over time, he let his guard down, he ended up losing the kingdom. God said something significant in 1st Samuel 15. Saul, when you were little in your own eyes, I anointed you as the king. How that should be our prayer. God help me to stay little in my own eyes. God helped me to not get the big head, but to always walk humbly before you and realize that

every good gift, every accomplishment, all my talents, it's because you poured out your goodness and your favor in my life. I've had the opportunity of visiting with Dr. Billy Graham. He's in his 90s now. Every time I go see him, one thing that stands out is his spirit of humility. After all his accomplishments, speaking to millions, touching this generation, he is still small in his own eyes. I go there to honor him, let him know how he's inspired me and been such a great example. I'm

bragging and bragging on him, but he won't take any of it. He turns it around and starts bragging on me. He never will take the credit. Last time I was with him, he said, Joel, I watch you on television each week from that big arena that's your church. Now, I would come

visit you, I just don't think I could get a seat. But here's a man that has touched our generation like no other minister, yet he still walks in incredible humility. No wonder God has promoted him in amazing ways. Even though he's received recognition, he's received credit, he didn't contain it. He gave it to the one who deserves it. And there is no limit to how high God will take you if you will stay small in your own eyes and always be quick to give God the credit. The other day, a reporter was asking me about the success here,

listed all the accomplishments, the books and big stadiums, the new building, on and on all these things, it could have given me a big head. But my one comment was, to God be the glory? If I brag, I'm not going to brag on me. I'm going to brag on the goodness of God. I'm going to brag on the fact that God has put amazing people in my life. I'm going to brag on the fact that God has opened up incredible. doors and giving us opportunities that we've never dreamed up. Yeah, I know where my source of

strength and talent and blessing comes from. It's God's favor on my life. And I realize we can come down a lot quicker than we went up. I'm going to make sure to give the credit where it belongs. I'm going to humble myself so that God doesn't have to humble me. I heard somebody say, we should treat praise and criticism the same way. In other words, when somebody criticized and says hurtful things, we should immediately deflect that down. Don't dwell on it. Don't give it the time of day. In the same way, when someone is giving you praise and telling you how talented you are and congratulating you on all of your accomplishments, instead of deflecting it down, deflect it up. God, to you be the glory. I know you've given me this ability and this strength, so I give you the credit. Don't let that praise go to your head.

just like that criticism can poison your spirit. If you start taking the credit, thinking that you're the great one, then that pride will poison your spirit and keep you from God's best. I have people tell me from time to time, Joel, thank you for what you do. You've helped change my life.

And of course, I'm grateful, and I let those kind words encourage my heart. But at the same time, I say, God, to you be the glory. I know you've given me this gift. You've honored me by helping others so I give you all the credit. One time in the scripture, King Herod got up and gave a great speech.

The people were so impressed, they started saying, this is the voice of God and not of man. They begin to bow down and worship him. Oh, Herod made a big mistake. He let it go to his head. He loved it and just ate it up. The scripture says in Acts 12,

immediately the angel of the Lord struck Herod with a disease. And he ended up dying in early death, being eaten by worms, all because he accepted the people's praise rather than giving the praise to God. I don't know about you,

but I don't want any worms around me. I'm going to make sure I give the credit where it belongs. I'm a sports fan, and I love when I see these ballplayers after they hit a home run or score a touchdown, do something great. They point up toward the heavens.

They're saying, God, I honor you. This cheer, this applause, it's coming to me. But I deflect it up to you. I know you've given me this talent. So I give you all the glory. I saw one of the leading actors of our day being interviewed on television. He's had a career that spans more than 60 years, very well respected. The reporter asked him about all of his success and how could it last so long.

Without missing a beat, he said it's all because of the grace of God. He was quick to give God the credit. I think about the Apostle Paul. At one point in his life, he hated believers. He was persecuting them and trying to have them killed. But you remember how in a split second, God changed his life. And he went on to write over half of the New Testament and do many great things for God. He said in 1 Corinthians 1510,

whatever I am now, it's because God poured out his faith. special favor. Notice he knew where the credit belonged. That's why God could use him in amazing ways. We need to see pride as a poison, going around thinking that we're the only reason for our success, and we made it all happen by our talent, our hard work. That's just like pouring a soft drink into your car's gas tank. It's not the right kind of fuel. Sooner or later, the car is going to start sputtering. Why? you put poison in the engine. That's what pride does to us.

If we start thinking that we did it all on our own, we start taking all the credit, not realizing that every good gift comes from our father, then because God won't share the glory, he will remove his hand of favor. But if we can just turn it around and go through the day saying, Father, thank you for my talent.

Thank you for this promotion. God, thank you for this opportunity. I know I am where I am because you poured out your special favor and I give you the credit. If you'll humble yourself like that, it says, God will exalt you. He'll increase you and entrust you with more. Last Tuesday, Victoria and I had the honor of having breakfast with President Obama and some of the staff and other Christian leaders. As we sat there in the east room of the White House,

I thought about all the amazing things that had taken place in that building. I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I remember how I worked behind the scenes with my father doing the television production many, many years. I never thought I would be a minister, but now God's taking me places that I've never even dreamed of. As we were leaving the White House that day, I could easily thought, man, I've really turned into something special. I've been hanging out with the prez now. No, it was just the opposite. I felt an incredible sense of humility.

I can say with Paul, whatever I am, it's because God poured out his special favor. I know it was his mercy, his blessings, his goodness in my life. Now, say that to say, when you see Ephesians 320 come to pass in your own life, as you see God begin to do exceedingly,

abundantly above and beyond, make sure you remember where the favor comes from. It's easy to think, wow, I'm pretty great now. I got this new position. I got accepted into the college that I wanted. Or I got asked to do the presentation in front of the whole company. Anytime there's honor, recognition, increase, that spirit of pride will come knocking on the door, saying, oh, yeah, you're right. This is all because of you.

so smart, you're so talented. No, don't fall into that trap. The scripture says, promotion doesn't come from people. Promotion comes from the Lord. And yes, I know we have to do our part, develop our gifts and talents, be focused and discipline, but ultimately, God is the one that opens doors. God is the one that gives good breaks. He lifts up one and sets down another. The reason some people are being set down is because they started taking the credit rather than giving God the credit. But we weren't designed to contain the glory. We were designed to pass it on. The higher God takes you, the lower you have to go.

The more he promotes you, the more humility you have to walk in. Let's be quick to give God the credit. Even in small things, in our daily life, you get a good deal at the mall. Thank you, Lord. I know this is your favor. Somebody pulls out and you get a front row parking spot. Thank you, Lord. I know this is your goodness. At the office, all of a sudden you have a great idea. The boss loves it. People are congratulating you.

Receive that encouragement. Let it build your confidence. But at the same time, have a sense of gratitude. Father, I know every good thing comes from you. And I realize you gave me that idea, so I give you the glory. If you will stay small in your own eyes and always stand in amazement of what God has done, realizing that he's given you the gifts, the talents, the ideas, then God will continue to take you higher and higher. One thing that will help us to keep this spirit of humility is we should remember where we came from. On a regular basis, it's good to look back over your life and remember the key moments where God gave

you favor and opened up a door and you met someone special. You got a new position. That led you to where you are now. As you remember the good things God has done, it'll help you to stay grateful and to realize it was God's hand of favor that got you to where you are. I remember often walking into the jewelry store meeting Victoria for the first time. We fell in love and got married. The scripture says, he who finds a wife, finds favor from the Lord. I know she's brought me favor. That's good, because I need a lot of it to take care of her. I remember as a young couple, when God led us to purchase a piece of property that ended up doubling in value. I remember when my father went to be with the Lord, I didn't know how to minister. We never dreamed the church would grow. We were

just trying to maintain what my parents had built, but God had other plans. Here we are today in this beautiful facility. You need to look back over your own life and remember where God brought you from. Remember your victories. Don't let them become so ordinary that they don't excite you anymore. We should never lose the amazement of what God has done. I learned this from my father. He grew up in extreme poverty. His parents were cotton farmers that lost everything in the Great Depression. My father dropped out of high school so he could help his family make a living. But when he gave his life to the Lord, he not only went back and got his high school diploma, but he got his college degree as well.

My father used to constantly say, Joel, can you believe where God has taken me? We would even drive back to East Texas where he grew up so he could see the farm and the property that he was raised on. Daddy would stand there in amazement looking out at that property and just in awe of how God brought him out of that defeat and poverty. My father never got tired of telling his testimony how he gave his life to the Lord. He told it like it happened yesterday. If you've been around here long, you've heard it a hundred times, how he was lost and undone, coming home from a nightclub,

two o'clock in the morning that never got old to him. When we built the sanctuary that holds 8,000 people, that was my father's dream. He used to come up during the week and say, Joel, come on, let's go look at the new sanctuary. I thought, man, we've seen it 500 times. But we would go stand in the bleachers with nobody there, and my father would just take it all in. A lot of times he'd say, hey, turn on the lights, turn on the sound, turn on the screens. We had services in there three times a week. He knew what it looked like, but he never lost

the amazement of what God had done. No wonder he was always giving God the credit. Let me encourage you, don't let your miracles become so old and so stagnant that they don't excite you anymore. Don't let the times that, don't let the time that God opened a door and gave you favor, the time God turned a situation around, and somebody went out of their way for no reason to be good to you. Don't let that become old. Don't ever lose the excitement, the amazement of what God has done.

when we live in awe of God's goodness and we're constantly remembering his favor, then it's easy to give God the credit. We can't contain the glory. We're too busy giving God the glory. It's interesting in the Old Testament, God commanded the people to have certain celebrations and feast. And one of the main reasons was so they would remember what he had done. And several times a year, they'd all stop what they were doing. Everybody would take off. and they'd go celebrate how God brought them out of slavery, how God protected them from this enemy and how God defeated these other people over here. They were required to remember.

They had these big feast with music and singing and dancing. Imagine someone coming over to your home and you're having a big party. Everyone's having fun. The music is going. And they ask you, what kind of party is this? A birthday party? Super Bowl party? A wedding party? A wedding party? you say, no, we're celebrating what God has done. Five years ago, God spared my life in an accident, so we're having this party tonight. Or 10 years ago, God set me free from an addiction, so we're celebrating right now. Or 29 years ago, God healed my mother from cancer, and so we're thanking him once again. As you remember the great things God has done, and you stand in all of his amazement, that will help you to stay filled.

with gratitude. You can't keep the credit when you're always giving God the credit. Most of you know how we've had a 60-year lease on this facility from the city. It was always our desire to own it, but the lease was the best thing at the time. But just two weeks ago, the Houston City Council voted to sell us this property for $7.5 million, and today we own it forever. That day that the council voted yes was a Wednesday. And instead of having our normal Wednesday night services, we came in here and took the whole time just to sing, to shout, to celebrate God's goodness. We were saying, God, to you be the glory, this was not our own might, not our own power,

but it was your goodness. I was thinking about how now, every April, we have even another reason to celebrate. I'm asking you today to remember the great things God has done. Be quick to give him the credit. Recognize it's his favor in your life. If you're going to brag, don't brag on yourself. Bragg on the goodness of God. Stay small in your own eyes.

Now I believe in the coming days, we're going to see God's favor like we've never seen it before. That means we're going to have to walk in humility like we've never walked in it before. The scripture says, when they wanted to make Jesus king, he went up higher. Friends, there's a higher place than just taking all the credit, the praise, the recognition for yourself. When you go up higher and say, God, I know you've given me every good gift.

Now, I wouldn't be where I am without your favor, so I give you the praise, the honor, the recognition. When you have that kind of attitude, there's no limit to how high God can take you. If you study some of the greatest believers that ever lived, you'll find that they had a common ingredient. It wasn't their great faith or their dynamic personality or even their incredible speaking ability. The common ingredient is they had a spirit of humility and they were quick to give God the credit. That's what the scripture says. Before honor comes humility. If you'll make this decision with me to stay small in your own eyes and be quick to give God the credit, then he promises he will exalt you. He will increase. He will increase.

you and I believe and declare you will live that life of victory he has in store. Amen. 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,

I'll repent of my sins, come into my heart, I make you 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 in your life.

He'll take your places that you've never dreamed out. 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 Joel Osteen.com 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. We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead.

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