Joel Osteen Podcast - Don't Allow Critical Voices To Steal Your Dreams | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Don't waste time trying to prove your critics wrong. When you focus on running your race and pursuing your dreams, God will take care of the rest.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 visitJoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.Start every day with faith to move mountains and peace that surpasses all understanding. Our 2025 Today's Word Daily Devotional includes 365 days of Scripture, inspiration, and prayers. Let this January offer encourage you all year long,https://bit.ly/3ZWYzX5. 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, and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. And God bless you. It is always a joy to come into your homes. We're believing that this is going to be the best year of your life so far. We pray for you.

We speak God's blessings over you, so I hope that you'll get that down on the inside as well. but thanks so much for tuning in today. I like to get started each week with something kind of funny, and I heard about this older preacher. He was very near death. He sent word for two of his members, an IRS agent and a lawyer to come to his house. When they arrived, he motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed.

The men were very moved to be with the minister in his final moments. Finally, the lawyer asked, sir, why did you choose both of us? The minister mustered up enough strength to say, Jesus died between two sinners, and that's how I want to go. 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. 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 not allowing the critical voices to steal the dream out of your heart. If you're going to do anything great in life, you're going to be criticized. People are going to talk, find fault, be judgmental. We've all had times when somebody doesn't understand us. They don't accept us, and we can feel the sting of that rejection. But our job is not to try to win over all of our critics and prove that we're right and they're wrong, our job is to run our race, focused on what God's put in our heart, and not allow the critics and the naysayers to distract us.

Now, I found some people have been through a lot of hurt in their own life. The only way they know how to respond is out of that hurt. It's just their nature to dish out criticism, to be judgmental, to be a fault finder. But here's the key. You can't let their messed up life poison your life. they may be spewing out the bitterness, the criticism, the rejection, but you've got to learn to just shake that off. Don't let that poison get on the inside of you. Friends, you are called to be an eagle, to soar. You're called to do great things. But throughout life, there will always be a few crows crowing at you. There'll always be a few chickens pecking at you, trying to bring you down.

there'll even be a few hawks here and there trying to argue with you, trying to fight with you, trying to get you all distracted. What you've got to do is learn to rise above that. Do you know the chickens, the hawks, the crows, they cannot live at the elevation that an eagle lives at. There's been eagle spotted as high as 30,000 feet, up where the big jets fly.

When a crow is pestering an eagle, even though the eagle is much bigger and stronger and more powerful, the eagle doesn't fight with the crow. He doesn't chase the crow around thinking I'll show you, your little troublemaker. No, the eagle is much smarter than that. When the crow's pestering the eagle, the eagle simply flies up higher. He knows the crow cannot live at his altitude. He knows he doesn't have to fight. So he just puts his wings out.

He catches the thermal winds. And before long, that old crow is nowhere to be found. And the truth is, we all have a few crows in our lives. Some of us have a whole flock. We all have people that are going to gossip, try to make it look bad, try to blow things out of proportion. And if we're not careful, even though God's created us as eagles, we'll sink down to their level, start talking bad about them, start trying to argue, prove that we're right. But that's just like that eagle chasing around a crow. What a waste of his time. And I'm asking us today to start rising up higher. Start overlooking offenses. Start shaking things off. Don't spend all your time trying to change your

critic's mind. The way you defeat them is by simply going up higher. In other words, let your life do the talking. Let the way you live, the integrity of your heart, the excellence of your work, the kindness of your character, let those things answer your critics. Many times words are not even necessary. You want to answer a critic, stay peaceful even when they're talking about you. Be respectful even when they're being disrespectful. Do your best even when they're mocking you and making fun of you. If you'll stay on the high road, time will always answer your critics. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. The next day, the Chicago paper said it was one of the worst speeches in history.

They use words like shameful, silly, unintelligent. But we know today the Gettysburg Address is regarded as one of the most brilliant speeches of all time. See, Time answered his critics. Thomas Edison was ridiculed for trying to invent a light bulb. He failed over a thousand times. His critics had a heyday, making fun of him, laugh. But toward the end of Edison's life, a reporter asked him what he thought about all of his critics. Edison didn't say a word. He simply walked over and flipped on the lightbow.

Enough said. Let your actions do the talking. Words are not always necessary. Even Jesus, when he was being criticized, when people were making false accusations, what did he do? The scripture says, he answered not a word. In other words, he rose above it. His attitude was, was my life will do the talking, time will answer my critics. And see, when somebody's talking about you and being disrespectful, we have to make a decision, am I going to be a chicken and start talking bad about them? Am I going to be a crow and argue and try to prove that I'm right? Or am I going to be an eagle and rise above it and let my life answer my critics?

There's something about a person that's being talked about and criticized, but he just keeps giving it his best, being present. being promoted, seeing God's blessings in favor? Even an athlete. Think about, you can criticize the guy, bad mouth them, say he's all washed up. But then he goes out week after week, hits home runs, makes game winning catches, plays like a superstar. He doesn't have to answer his critics. He lets his actions defend himself. The same way, we should not spend all of our time trying to win our critics over. We should spend that same time improving our own skills, better.

our own life. I know when my father went to be with the Lord and I first started ministering, I heard some people saying, well, I don't really think Joel can preach. And the reason I didn't argue is because I agreed with him. I had never preached before. I didn't know how. But instead of letting that insult me, get me all discouraged thinking, well, they're right. I'm not too hard at this. No, I spent that same time in energy, studying, reading, praying, learning, practicing. I haven't arrived, but I've grown from where I was eight years ago. If people are talking, if people are being disrespectful and saying demeaning things about you, instead of letting that get you upset and all soured, why don't you just prove them wrong? Work hard. Develop your skills. Be the very best that you can

be. We need to let our actions answer our critics. Another important key is don't let your critics keep you from taking a step of faith. I know people that play it safe all the time. They won't do what God has really put in their heart because they're afraid somebody will talk. They're afraid they'll be criticized. And they let the fear of what people are going to think keep them from stepping out.

We have to accept the fact that not everybody is going to understand us. When you have a big dream for your life and you start pressing forward, doing something new, don't be surprised if you roughly a few feathers. If you get out of the box that your family and friends are used to, they may not cheer you on. Everybody may not be excited about your dreams. In fact, some people are going to get jealous. Who does he think he is? He just thinks he's better than us. But you cannot

let people keep you from pursuing your dreams. Only you know what God has put in your heart. And you really shouldn't expect everyone else to understand. Certainly people will criticize. they'll find fault. You may even have to go through some rejection, but you've got to just shake that off and keep pressing forward. This is what Joseph did. He had a big dream in his heart. He wasn't satisfied to just sit back and accept the status quo, and not everybody understood him. And one day his brothers saw him coming wearing his coat of many colors that his father had given him. And those brothers weren't jealous because Joseph was a sharp dresser. They weren't jealous. They weren't jealous. because he was their father's favorite. They were jealous of the dream God put in his heart. They were jealous of the fact that Joseph wasn't just going to sit around and do what all the other family

members were doing. He had a dream to rise higher. Many times when you have a dream to increase, when you start doing something out of the ordinary, your critics will come out of the woodwork. They're fine as long as you're in your box, as long as you're all at the same level, but very often when you start pressing forward, that'll stir up that critical, jealous spirit. And this is where so many people miss it. They get distracted. And they start trying to prove that they're right. They get revengeful.

They get defensive. But you need to recognize what's happening. Don't let that stuff poison you. Learn to just shake it off. Joseph's brothers, they rejected him. They sold him into slavery. And it wasn't easy. But you know what Joseph did?

He just shook it off. He did not let their rejects it. steal the dream out of his heart. I'm sure at times he was discouraged. I'm sure he didn't understand it, but I love the fact he didn't let it poison him. He didn't get bitter. He didn't spend his time thinking of ways to pay his brothers back. He didn't go around blaming God. No year after year, he just kept shaking it off. And you know the story. One day, God brought justice into his life. One day, some 15 years later, he was put in charge of all the affairs of Egypt. But how many times today

when we go through some rejection somebody's talking about us something unfair happened do we let that poison us and we end up giving up on our dream? Well, it wasn't fair. I don't understand why my own family rejected me. I don't understand why they're talking about me.

No, nobody ever said life was going to be fair but the good news is, God is fair. God is a God of justice and God is keeping the records. God knows every person, that's ever mistreated you. He knows every time they talk behind your back.

He can feel the hurt, the pain, the rejection. And God wants to restore you. He wants to bring you out better off than you were before. But the key is you have to stay on the high road. You have to be an eagle. You can't let that stuff poison you

and cause you to get bitter. You can't get in there and try to fight with them and fix it all in your own strength. No, just turn. it over to God, trust him to fight your battles. Trust him to take care of your critics. It may not happen overnight, but one day, God will bring justice into your life. He'll make your wrongs right. Some of you today, you need to get your dream back. Does it matter who has rejected you? Does it matter what you've been through and how impossible it looks? God is a supernatural God.

If you'll keep shaking it off and not let the poison get in you, then all the forces of darkness cannot hold you back. When God's ready to promote you, just like Joseph, you will be promoted. God will make sure your dreams come to pass. But we have to accept the fact that not everybody is going to believe in you. You have to believe in yourself. You and God are a majority. And sometimes you may feel like everybody has turned down. against you. Man told me the other day, his friend of over 30 years, a business partner,

all of a sudden got jealous of him, started talking, spreading rumors. And the pain was real. He was so hurt by it, but you cannot let someone else's poison get on the inside of you. If your friends reject you, just stay on the high road and God will give you some new friends. Says in Psalms, even if your mother and father reject you, God will adopt you as his very own Don't give up on those dreams. Recognize not everybody's going to cheer you on. Not everybody's going to encourage you. Some people are going to talk behind your back and try to bring you down. But that does not change what God has put in your heart. Your destiny is not tied to what other people are saying about you. You may have been through a lot in the past. Maybe people have hurt you, done you wrong, but quit looking back. The past is the past. Let God take care of the people that hurt you. Let God bring justice into your life. One thing I loved about Joseph, he stayed focused on the future. He didn't spend that time bitter.

He could have thought, you know, God, why did this happen to me? It's so unfair. My own family rejected me. What did I do to deserve this? No, he just shook it off. You've got to quit trying to figure everything out. People ask me, Joel, whose fault was it? What did I do?

Some things you're never going to understand. The main thing is let it go. right now so it doesn't poison your life. Do like Joseph and keep your eyes focused on the future. I've known people that have gone through some kind of rejection, some kind of hurt, and they let that become the central focus of their life. By that, I mean they're always talking about it. It's always in the front of their mind. But that's just like picking a wound that's trying to heal. It's never going to get better unless you leave it alone. Let it go. This is a new day. God has a new beginning. somebody may have walked out of a relationship on you, somebody may have done you wrong,

but that doesn't mean that God doesn't have another plan. When one door closes, God always opens up another door. And the scripture says here, Isaiah 61, verse 7, God will give us a twofold recompense for our former shame. That means when people mistreat us, when unfair things happen, if we'll stay on the high road and just keep shaking it off, then God will pay us back double for all that hurt and pain. He'll add up the heartache, the sorrow, the mistreatment, and he'll pay you back with twice the joy. Twice the peace, twice the favor,

twice the victory. And some of you today, you need to get a new vision for your life. Somebody may not have treated you right. Somebody may be talking about you right now. But the good news is really what they've done is qualified you for double. They did it for your harm, but God wants to turn it around and use it to your advantage. You got to do your part, though. Quit dwelling on it. Quit living, discouraged. Well, Joel, I've been through so much.

I just don't see how my dreams could ever come to pass. No, you've got to keep shaking that stuff off. You need to get up every morning and just say, God, you know the people that have hurt me. You know it wasn't fair. But God, I know you're a God of justice. And I just want to thank you right now. I'm going to come out of this with twice the joy,

twice the peace, twice the honor, twice the victory. Understand, God doesn't want to just barely bring you out of your difficulties, all beat up and bedraggled, half dead. Well, at least, Joel, I'm still here, still breathing. That's good, but that's not the way our God works. He wants to make the enemy pain. He wants to bring you out better off than you were before. Why don't you get a vision for double today?

I've known people that have gone through a breakup in a relationship, something very unfair happened. And now they have no dream for their life. They internalize everything. Well, it was my fault. And if I'd just tried harder or maybe if I was just a little more attractive, no, have you ever thought about

that other person probably had a few problems of their own? Instead of spending all that time blaming yourself and trying to pay your critics back and trying to get even, I'm asking you to spend that same amount of time thanking God that double is on its way. Well, you say, Joel, I heard somebody talking about you again last week. Really? In a sense, that's good news. God, you heard that. I'm believing for double. What I'm saying is, get your fire back. Most of the time when we experience criticism or rejection, we do just the opposite. We get down and discouraged. We get revengeful, defensive. No, shake that junk off. God is in control of your life. He has you in the palm of his hand. He said no weapon formed against. He's a gun off. He said, no weapon formed against you. you will ever prosper, what the enemy means for evil, what God wants to use for your good.

If he did it for Joseph, he'll do it for you. Don't be a chicken and sit around in self-pity. Don't be a crow and try to pay people back. Rise up and be the eagle that God created you to be. I know my father, he went through a great rejection, a great disappointment back in the late 1950s. He was a pastor of a very successful church. Things were going great. But my sister Lisa was born with something like cerebral palsy. And this really challenged my dad's faith. He went away for several weeks, and he got alone. He began to search the scriptures in a new way.

And he saw how God was a healing God, a good God. He went back to his church, and he preached with a new fire, a new enthusiasm. He thought everybody would be excited. But it was just the opposite. Many of them didn't understand. They were very steeped in their traditional ways. They didn't like this, quote, new message. People started talking, started criticizing, started judging him.

See, any time you step out to do something out of the ordinary, not everybody will understand. And here's a key. The dream in your heart may be bigger than the environment that you're in. Sometimes you've got to get out of that environment in order to see that dream fulfilled. You think about it like an oak tree. If you plant it in a pot, it can only go. grow so big. Once its roots fill that pot, it's going to quit growing.

But the problem is not with the tree. The problem is with the environment that it's in. It's stifling, it's growth. And some of you have bigger things in your heart than the environment that you're in. But the problem is, where you are, it's safe. You've been

at that job for 22 years. You've been hanging around those friends since you're in high school, but you know down in here it's holding you back. You know you have more on the inside, but you're kind of afraid you may ruffle some feathers, you may hurt some feelings, or you're afraid you might step out there and fail. Listen, I don't know about you.

I'd rather take a step of faith and fail than have to look back and wonder all my life what I could have been. People may reject you, they may criticize, but really life is way too short to live it, just trying to please everybody. Life is too short to go around worried about what people are going to think. And some of my father's lifelong friends started talking about him, judging him. And really, they weren't bad people. They just didn't understand.

My father knew the best thing for him to do was to just move on. And so he left that place, hurt and dejected. He could have allowed that one negative experience to poison the rest of his future. He could have gotten bitter, angry, gone around blaming God, blaming people. You know what my father did? he basically just shook it off. He accepted the fact that not everybody was going to understand him. He recognized the dream in his heart was bigger than the environment that he was in. So he went down the street to an abandoned feed store and started Lakewood. That was on Mother's Day in 1959.

We've been going strong ever since then. But some of you today, like my father, you have so much more in you, but you're letting the fear of what people will say or what people will think. Well, my family understand. You're letting that hold you back. But you've got to break free from trying to please everybody. You've got to get out of the safe zone and get over into the faith zone. I talked to a young man the other day. He grew up in a very small town.

He came from a great family, loving parents, five brothers and sisters. He was the youngest, and all of his other siblings had stayed there close and worked in the little town. But this young man had a dream of something bigger in his heart. He really struggled with it because he loved his family. He loved his parents. But he knew in order to fulfill his destiny, he needed to take a job offer with a company several hundred miles away in a larger city. He told me it was the hardest thing that he had ever done.

His family, his parents loved him, but they didn't understand him. His brothers and sisters started talking. Well, he thinks he's better than us. he's too good for our small town. Had nothing to do with that. But that rejection cut him like a knife. Here the people that were closest to him didn't understand him.

He was so tempted to get bitter. He was tempted to think, I'll show you and not have anything to do with him. But instead, he chose to be an eagle. He chose to rise above it and just shake it off. He recognized not everybody was going to understand him. Not everybody was going to cheer him on.

Just like Joseph, he kept doing his best, didn't let it poison him. When he would come back for the holidays to visit his family, although they were kind of cold, he was the bigger person. He loved them anyway. In spite of their rejection, he would send them gifts. He supported his parents. This young man continued to get promoted. And today, he not only owns his own business, but he's a leader in his field.

He's extremely talented, extremely successful. successful. But he could have so easily succumbed to that pressure, thinking, oh man, I don't want to ruffle some feathers and what's my family members going to think. He could have easily lived just to please people. But the problem with that is we'll never know what we could have been. We'll never know the abundant life that God really had in store. This is what David faced. When he was a young man, he was out in the shepherd's fields, taking care of his father's sheep. And one day his dad asked him, to go take his brother some food. They were out on the front lines of the battle.

When David got out there, he heard Goliath taunting the people of Israel, and something rose up in him. He knew he wanted to fight Goliath. God put that dream in his heart. But David's older brother, Eliab, tried to discourage him.

He said sarcastically, David, what are you even doing here? And with whom have you left those few sheep? Notice he was trying to make him feel small. He was saying, David, you're never going to do anything great in life. You're just a shepherd boy. You don't have what it takes.

David could have let that rejection sink in and keep him from pressing forward. He could have stayed out there in the shepherds fields his whole life. But no, David knew he had something bigger on the inside. He was content where he was. That was a time of training, but he wasn't satisfied to stay there. Isn't it interesting how his own family came against him? His brother was really saying, David, don't ruffle any feathers. Just stay where you are.

But David would not have fulfilled his destiny if he'd stayed in that environment. If he'd let that rejection and criticism sink in, I don't believe we'd be talking about him today. And some of you too will not fulfill your God-given dreams in the environment that you're in right now. Now, I'm not saying to be foolish and pack up and leave, but I am saying you cannot let the fear of what people are going to say or what people are going to think,

keep you from doing what you know in your heart. God's called you to do. Friends, you have seeds of greatness on the inside. You know where the most valuable treasure in all the world is? It's not in the diamond mines of South Africa. It's not in the oil fields of the Middle East. It's in the cemeteries all around us. Buried in those graveyards are dreams that never came alive.

Books that were never written. Businesses that were never started. relationships that were never formed. Somebody was afraid to take a risk. Somebody was afraid they'd be criticized or maybe somebody tried it and failed once and so they just gave up. Don't let that be you. You have a treasure on the inside. You have so much to offer. But throughout life, everything in the world will come against you to try to get you to give up on your dreams. People, circumstances, criticism, rejection, sometimes even your own family. You've got to dig your heels in and just keep pressing toward what God has put in your heart. When you suffer rejection, when people do you wrong,

be quick to forgive. Don't get discouraged. Learn to just shake it off and start believing for double. And some of you are way overdue. You've had more than your share of negative things come against you, people pulling you down, trying to keep you from rising higher. Listen, you've got to get your fire back. Get your hopes up again. Keep that dream alive. Remember, it's not over until God says it's over. God has the final say, if you will keep your heart free from the poison of offense, the poison of criticism, and just stay on the high road and keep doing your best, I know God will do for you what he did for Joseph. He'll bring justice into your life. He'll make your wrongs right. He'll take care of your critics. And you too will see those dreams come to pass. Amen. Do you receive it

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 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.

He's going to take you places that you've never dreamed of. It's a new year, an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a new year. Time to forget the struggles of the past and make room for new blessings. It's a new year. The perfect time to build expectation and faith for an amazing new season. 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. When you start off each day in faith, grateful for what God has done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional calendar will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can live in faith expecting the goodness of God. 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, 2025, 300,000. 65-day devotional calendar. 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 the Lord's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection. This is going to be one of your best years. Our 2025 devotional calendar is

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

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