Joel Osteen Podcast - Commanded To Be Blessed | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

Nothing can stop God’s commanded blessing over your life. All it takes is one touch of His favor to get you exactly where you're supposed to 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.Daily inspiration. Scriptural promises. Get ready for a new year of faith with the Hopes & Dreams 2024 Planner. Our special December offer will let you journal your thoughts, record your prayers, and hold on to the dream God has placed in your heart. Request your copy today! https://bit.ly/3T8xgqS   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.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. We have a new resource. It's a 2024 daily devotional. We'd love to send it to you. It'll help you start the day off right. You will love this devotional. And know this.

We are praying for you and we are believing for God's very best for you in 2024. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. And if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make it feel right. at home. I like to start with something funny and I heard about this scientist. He said to God

we've decided we no longer need you. We can clone people transplant hearts do all kinds of things once considered miraculous. God said fine but to prove you don't need me let's have a man making contest. The only requirement is you have to make man

out of dirt. The scientist said great and reached down to pick up a handful of dirt God said, not so fast, go get your own dirt. 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 commanded to be blessed. When we honor God with our lives, we do our best to keep him first place, the scripture says God will command his blessing to come on you. When God commands, it's not maybe it'll happen.

I hope it happens. If the circumstances come together. No, when God commands, there's no ifs, ands, or buts. It's going to happen. When God said, let there be light, the earth was dark, without form like a black hole. But God didn't check the circumstances to see if light was possible. He didn't have experts analyze it to see if they thought it could happen. He simply spoke. When he commanded light, it came at 186,000 miles per second. When God commands you to be blessed, he doesn't check what family you come from, where you work, who likes you, how good the economy is, none of that matters to God. All the circumstances be against you. The experts may tell you, you'll never get well, you'll never meet the right person, you'll never be successful.

Every voice says you're stuck, just accept it, no way in the natural. The good news is we serve a supernatural God. When he commands the blessing, all the forces of darkness cannot stop him. with the commanded blessing, you'll go places you couldn't go on your own. Doors will open that you couldn't open. You'll be promoted even though you weren't the most qualified. The commanded blessing will cause good breaks to find you. Contracts, opportunities, business, favor will track you down. Now get in agreement with God.

Quit saying, I'll never get ahead, Joel. These people at work don't like me. It doesn't matter who doesn't like you at work. What matters is the most high God that likes you. He is not limited by who's against you, by who's not getting your credit, who's not treating you right. One touch of his favor will move them out of the way and get you to where you're supposed to be.

And don't be discouraged by what's unfair. God sees what's happening. keep being your best, keep honoring him. You're not working under people, you're working under God. When it's your time to be promoted, you can rest assured you will be promoted. People can't stop you. Bad breaks can't stop you. Injustice can't stop you. The commanded blessing on your life will override every force that's trying to hold you back. I know a young man that works in the medical field. He graduated. from college six years ago. He'd been at this same entry-level position the whole time. He's a hard worker. He always does more than he has to. But his supervisor never liked him.

He wouldn't give him any credit. These new employees that they hired that didn't have the training, the expertise, they were being promoted over him. It wasn't fair. He didn't like it, but he understands this principle because he's honoring God, there is a commanded blessing on his life. About six months ago, he went to work and found out one morning that his supervisor had unexpectedly resigned. He had a family issue and had to move to another state. The administration called him in and said,

this supervisor has recommended you to take his position. This supervisor never even liked him. He was never for him. but when you have the commanded blessing, God will cause people to be good to you that have never been good to you. He'll use even your enemies to bless you. And this young man was so excited and so baffled at the same time. He said, Joel, this man tried to hold me down. He tried to discredit me.

Here's the key. People don't have the final say. God does. People don't determine your destiny. They didn't breathe life into you. They didn't call you. They didn't number your days. You may be in a situation that feels unfair.

Seems like somebody's stopping you. Don't worry. Your time is coming. Keep doing the right thing when the wrong thing is happening. There is a commanded blessing on your life. They can't keep you down. All the circumstances may be against you, but the most high God is for you.

Numbers chapter 22 The Israelites were camped on the plains of Moab headed toward Jericho When the king of the Moabites saw how many Israelites there were He was afraid There was a prophet that lived in a nearby city named Balam

The king knew that the Lord always did What Balem asked So he sent some of his men With a large amount of money To see Balam To ask him to come back and curse the people of Israel. Balaam said, I'll pray about it, but I can only say what God tells me to say.

He prayed. In verse 12, God said, you are to not go back with them. For what I have blessed, you cannot curse. Notice when God puts the commanded blessing on you, it doesn't matter what somebody says. Doesn't matter what they do, how they treat you. All that matters is God put his. blessing on you and everything else is of no effect. They can say it, but if you don't allow it to take root, it's not going to stop you. It may be unfair. It may seem like it's getting the best of you,

but if you'll stay in faith, the blessing will always override the curse. They meant it to stop you. God will use it to promote you. They went back and told the king that Balaam wouldn't come. the king said take some more money go back and tell him he has to come and curse the Israelites they went back balaam said even if you give me a palace filled with silver and gold i am powerless to do anything against the will of my god they spent the night and talked him into going back the king said bala what took you so long you should have come back here i need you to curse these people balaam said well all I'll pray one more time, but I can only say what the Lord tells me to say. He woke up the next morning, said to the king, this is what the Lord says.

The Israelites will succeed and become a great nation and have descendants too numerous to count. The king said, Balam, stop. What are you doing? I brought you here to curse them. Instead, you're blessing them. He said it again. I cannot curse what God is already blessed. If Balaam were here today, he would say the same thing to you.

You cannot be cursed. There is a commanded blessing on your life. When you go through disappointments, unfair things happen, it's easy to feel like that's clouded your future. Have a new perspective. What God has blessed, nothing can curse. When you understand you have this commanded blessing, you won't be upset because someone's taught.

talking about you, worried about your finances, discouraged because of a setback, you know every force that's trying to stop you is powerless to change the blessing God put on your life. I love how Balaam was supposed to curse the Israelites. They were going to pay him a lot of money. Not only did he refuse to do it, but God had him to start speaking blessings. He started telling how the Israelites were going to succeed. and go further, accomplish great things. This is a spiritual principle

God was showing us. When the enemy tells you all the reasons why you're not going to get well, not get out of debt, not overcome the challenge, instead of agreeing with him, do like Balaam start speaking victory, speak health, speak favor,

speak abundance. See, the enemy wants you to curse your future with negative words, words and negative thoughts. He knows he can't stop you, but if he can convince you to go around discouraged, thinking you've reached your limits that will keep you from your destiny, you have to turn it around. You want me to curse my future? I know better. I'm more bless my future. Well, you'll never get out of debt. You'll always struggle. No thanks. You have the wrong person. I will lend and not borrow. Whatever I touch will prosper and

succeed. I've been commanded to be blessed. When he whispers, you saw the medical report. You're never going to get well. Come on, agree with me. Curse your future. Turn it around. God is restoring health back into me. The number of my days he will fulfill. Well, the more you pray, the worse your child gets. No thanks. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The seed of the righteous. My seed will be mighty in the land. Amen. have a lot coming against you. Every voice says it's not going to work out. I'm asking you to be a balaam, speak the blessing and not the curse. Sometimes it's not our own thoughts trying to discourage us. It's what other people are saying. People will tell you what you're not going to be,

how you're not going to get well, your dreams aren't going to come to pass. Here's the key. They can speak defeat all day long, but they are power of, to change the blessing on your life. Nothing they say or do can remove the blessing. They didn't give you the blessing and they can't take it away. It was put on you by the God who spoke worlds into existence. He didn't just give you the blessing. He commanded the blessing. There's a freedom when you understand this. Somebody's talking bad about you. Your attitude is no big deal. They are powerless to stop the blessing on my life. Well, you had a bad break. You were laid off. Yes, but I'm not worried. I know the blessing always

overrides the curse. Well, you come from a rough neighborhood. Doesn't look like you have much of a future. Now, where I am is not where I'm staying. The commanded blessing will get me to where I'm supposed to be. I talked to a lady that was raised in a dysfunctional environment. She was abused by her father. He constantly told her. He constantly told her. her how she was no good, worthless, would never amount to anything. She was just a little girl. She didn't know any better. She believed these lies and grew up feeling ashamed and inferior. At seven years old, she was taken away from her father by the state and placed in foster home after foster home, never feeling loved or accepted. She grew up a young lady on drugs,

in bad relationships. She had several children. She had several children. children from different fathers, in poverty. Didn't look like it would ever change. But in her late 20s, a friend invited her to church and she gave her life to Christ. She started making better decisions, doing her best to honor God. She would listen to our messages about reprogramming your mind and not believe in lies that people have spoken over you. It didn't happen overnight, but little by little things started to change in her favor.

She was able to go back and finish high school in her early 30s. A friend helped her to get into college. A professor there went out of her way to open the door to nursing school. A hospital administrator showed her favor and hired her over several other candidates that had more qualifications. Today, she's in charge of her whole department, several hundred nurses at this large hospital. What happened? She came in to the commanded blessing. The commanded blessing will override every person that's tried to stop you. The commanded blessing will make up for what you didn't get.

It will cause people to go out of their way to be good to you. It will put you at the right place at the right time. People may have tried to push you down, but God is about to lift you up. they tried to keep you from your purpose, but they were powerless to change the blessing on your life. You may have a lot coming against you, but I believe God is about to command some things. Like he did for her, he's going to command justice, vindication, deliverance from people that are not treating you right. He's going to command increase, promotion, doors to open that take you to the next level. He's going to command freedom,

breakthroughs, wholeness, that addiction, those bad habits are not your destiny. He's about to command healing, restoration, strength. That sickness is coming to an end. It may not have happened yet, but this is a new day.

You're going to see the commanded blessing show out in your life. God is going to make things happen that amaze you, things you didn't see coming. The scripture says this. When you obey, God's blessings will chase you down and overtake you.

I've seen this in my own life. Most of the big breaks, the major events, I didn't go after them. I was just honoring God, being my best, and they came after me. I didn't know the compact center was coming available, but a man came to me out of the blue, said, Joel, you need to call the mayor,

That should be Lakewood's building. A publisher I had never met came to me. He said, I want to publish your books. Serious XM came to me. Here's a satellite radio channel. That's the commanded blessing. God calls an opportunity, favor,

contracts to chase you down. Here's the whole key. You don't have to go after the blessing. Go after God. Honor him with your life and the blessing will follow. God will command things to find you. In the scripture, one morning, Jesus asked Peter if he could borrow his boat to teach the people

from the shore. Peter agreed and let him use it. When he was finished, Jesus wanted to pay Peter. He told him to launch out into the water. He would catch a lot of fish. Well, Peter had fished all night. Nothing was biting. Peter was a professional fisherman. He knew the morning wasn't the best time to fish. He didn't feel like going back out. He thought it'd be a waste of his time. But instead of talking himself out of it, he said to Jesus, nevertheless, at your word, I will do it. He chose to obey.

When he threw out his net, he caught so many fish that the net began to break. He had to call over another boat to help him gather up all the fish. That's what happens when you walk in obedience. There is a commanded blessed. on your life. God will make things happen that you couldn't make happen. What's interesting is there were no fish there the night before, but God controls the fish. He knows how to bring things to you. The conditions may not be favorable. You don't know the right people. You've had the addiction a long time. Perhaps no one in your family has really been successful. It looks like that's the way it's always going to be.

no, God is about to do a new thing. You tried and it didn't work out last time, but because of your obedience, God is speaking to the fish right now. It's not going to be a little catch, a little break, a little blessing. God's about to do something big, something unusual, something to where people take notice. They wonder, what is it about you? How could you lead the company in sales? How could you beat the cancer. I saw the medical report. How could you marry that beautiful girl? How could you start your own business? That doesn't seem possible. That's the commanded blessing. That's God causing the fish to find you. You may not see how this could happen. Neither did Peter. Everything in his reasoning said there are no fish out there. In other words, the medical report's not good. I've been single a long time.

I don't have the training. That all may be true. The good. The good news is God is not limited by what you don't have, by who you don't know, by the economy. All he has to do is speak and the fish will not only show up, they'll find you. They'll come to your boat. You don't have to make this happen. Just keep God first place and this commanded blessing like a magnet will draw in good breaks, healing, favor, the right people. We see the commanded blessing with a young lady in the scripture named Ruth.

She had just moved back to her mother-in-law's hometown after she lost her husband. They were both widows, very poor, barely able to survive. Ruth would go out into the fields every morning and pick up the leftover wheat that the workers missed. They were living off of scraps. Life was a struggle. Ruth did this day in and day out week after week. didn't look like there was a commanded blessing on her life. Didn't look like it would ever change.

But one day, God calls the owner of that property to notice Ruth. He asked his workers, who's that young lady out in our fields? They explained how she was a widow that had moved there from another country. He could have said, tell her to get off my property. This is private land. Or he could have just dismissed it, not thought any more about it. that would be the end. But God caused Ruth to find favor with this man.

He went over to Ruth and told her how she was welcome in his fields any time. He invited her to have lunch with his workers every day. He told those workers to leave extra wheat on the ground to make it easy on Ruth. It looked like she was stuck, no future, all the odds were against her, but she came to a point where it was one blessing after another. She had so much wheat, more than she needed, she was so excited. Not only that, she ended up falling in love with that man. They got married.

Now instead of working in the field, she owned the field. Here's what I'm saying. When you have this commanded blessing on your life, God will cause you to find favor with the right people. you don't have to play up to people. You don't have to try to manipulate someone to convince them to like you. God will cause you to stand out. He'll bring divine connections, people that want to help you,

not because of what you can do for them, not because of your training, your expertise, your looks, your talents, simply because God has caused them to show you favor. Ruth couldn't have made this happen. She didn't know the man. She was a stranger in a foreign land, a poor widow. Nothing in her circumstances said she had ever be blessed, successful, owning that field.

If you would have told her that when she first arrived, she'd have said, that's impossible. There's no way this can happen. When you look at your circumstances, your dreams, those challenges you're facing, you may think it could never work out. Like Peter, you fished all night. It didn't happen last time. Or maybe like Ruth, you've had some disappointments. You're not where you thought you would be in life. But God knows how to not only bring the fish, the provision,

but like with her, he's going to bring the right people, people that will use their influence that will help you go to the next level. If you could see where God is going to take you, it would boggle your mind. The people he's going to bring, the doors he's going to open, the influence he's going to give you, you're going to look back and say, I didn't see this coming.

I didn't see on in the field coming. I didn't see the compact center coming. I didn't see the healing, the freedom, the abundance. It's going to be more than you can ask her thing. This is what happened to a friend of mine. He moved to Houston 13 years ago with a dream to pursue starting his own business. He didn't know anyone here,

didn't have any contacts, but he took a step of faith. He arrived in Houston on a Friday. That Sunday, he showed up at Lakewood. A month later, he was volunteering as an usher, serving in different ministries, honoring God, being his best. He started his business in the financial industry. Doors begin to open. He had challenges, obstacles, but along the way, he could see the hand of God. And last year, He was in Chicago consulting with some clients. He met this older gentleman who owned a huge financial firm, one of the largest in the world. This older man took an interest in him.

He started encouraging him and giving him advice. When this young man told him his vision, all of his critics thought it was too big. He could never accomplish it. But this older man laughed and said, don't believe them, it's way too small. You're going to do something much bigger. He had a desire to buy a part of this young man's company. He came up with a valuation based on what the company would be worth in the future, far exceeding what it's worth today.

My friend just sold 25% of his company to this older gentleman. Now my friend owns one of the largest independent financial firms in all of Texas. What's interesting, 13 years ago, he was stocking shelves in a grocery store to pay his rent. If you were to ask him, he would tell you, I didn't see this coming. Never dreamed my business would take off. Never dreamed this man would be so good to me. Never dreamed I would be a leader in my field. That's the commanded blessing. You keep honoring God and he'll bring the right people. That older man didn't have to be good to him. He didn't have to value the company the way he did. He could have negotiated it the other way. But God will cause people to want to be

good to you. You may not think you know the right people. You don't have the connections. Don't worry. God does. You keep honoring him and he's going to cause the right people to find you. He's going to open the right doors. He's going to bring the fish. One day, You'll look back and say, wow, I didn't see that coming. It's because you've been commanded to be blessed. But sometimes we live like we're commanded to struggle, commanded to be lonely, commanded to be addicted. Change has to take place on the inside in our thinking

before it happens on the outside. Why don't you get rid of all the negative and start believing you're commanded to be blessed, commanded to be healthy, commanded to be free. If you'll do this, I believe and declare like God did for my friend, he's about to command increase, command abundance, command healing, command freedom. In Jesus' name, if you receive it today, can you say amen? 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. I 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 and keep God first place. It's January. Time to renew my faith. It's January. It's time to start a new season. It's January. There is no better time than now to set the course of our year ahead. The beginning of the year is a great time to start a fresh 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 that will help you throughout the year. When you start the day off in faith, grateful for what God's done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional will help you get your mind, going in the right direction so you can go out each day in faith knowing that God is in control

and that his plans for you are for good. I'd love to send you a copy. 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 24 365 day devotional calendar. Do you want to set a faith course for your life in 24? Do you want to see your life take off in new directions of influence, favor, and provision in the year ahead? Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one, two, three. One, wake up with an expectancy in your heart. Two, reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. Three, capture God's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection.

Be sure to request your copy of the 2024 devotional calendar available this month by simply visiting us at joel osteen.com or calling 888567 joel.