Joel Osteen Podcast - Don't Get Stagnant | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

God's dream for us is that we would continue to grow and reach new heights in our lives. Shake off the complacency and stretch your faith for the incredible things He has in store!Believe big! Believe for more! Our March offer,This Time Next Year: Believe Big Journal, combines faith-building stories from Scripture with space to record your own reflections of the amazing things God is doing in your life. Be reminded each day that the God who breathed life into you is a more-than-enough God! Request your copy now,https://bit.ly/3IebX0B. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's so great to have you with us today. We love you guys. We're praying you're going to have a beautiful month of March and just speaking blessings in favor of each one of you. This time of year is just new beginnings, new spring seasons, and so we are believing that this will be a newness of joy in your heart. So know today we are praying for you and we love you. Well, God bless you.

It's a joy to come into your homes and we come with good news. We know God is on your side, and he has a great plan for your life. And I trust today that you're going to be blessed and encouraged. And if you're ever in our area, please stop by and see us. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. I promise you it, we'll make you feel right at home. But thank you so much for tuning in. Thanks for coming out today once again.

But I'd like to start with something funny, and I heard about this young lady. She brought her fiancé home to meet her parents. And the dad said, okay, son, tell me a little about yourself. What do you do? And he said, well, sir, I'm a Bible scholar. Dad said, that's great. But how are you going to provide for my daughter? He said, well, I'm going to study my Bible and I know God will provide.

He said, well, fine, but how are you going to buy her an engagement ring? He said, well, I know when I focus on my studies that God will provide. He said, well, in a few years, y'all may have children. How are you going to provide for them? He said, sir, please don't worry about it. God will provide. Later that night, the man's wife asked him, how the talk went with their future son-in-law, and he said, not too good. He has no plans,

no job, and he thinks that I'm God. 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 the importance of not getting stagnant in life. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut to where we're not growing. Our marriage becomes stale. Our finances are not increasing. We're not as happy as we know we should be. And the problem is we become stagnant. And many times we just kind of sit back and we learn to live with things that are less than God's best. But I want to stir your faith today. You can rise higher. You can be happier.

You can have a better marriage, a more fulfilled life. God has more in store for every one of us. His dream is that we would continually be growing, that we'd always be increasing and reaching for new heights. But if this is going to happen, we've got to learn how to shake off complacency. We've got to get out of these ruts. There's a law. found all through the Bible called the law of sewing and reaping. It basically says what we sow we're going to reap.

And if we keep doing the same thing, the same way year after year, then we're going to keep reaping the same things. If you want to see change, you have to get out of your routine. You've got to do something that stretches you, something to where you have to press beyond the norm. I call it

sowing an extraordinary seed. It may not be something and difficult, you can smile more often. For some of you, that would be an extraordinary seed. You can get to work five minutes earlier, come to church more consistently, forgive a little quicker, not get upset so easily. Those are all extraordinary seeds that will allow God to do the extraordinary in your own life. But you cannot keep doing the same thing, the same way, and expect to get different results. If you want to be happier, if you want to have a better marriage, if you want to see increase, it all starts by you sowing a seed. And a lot of times, we're just kind of waiting for

God to bless us. We're waiting for God to increase us, but we have to give God something to work with. For instance, if you want a better relationship with your family, why don't you sow a seed by turning that TV off an hour at night and spending that same time together? It's just something small, but you're out of your routine. You're stretching. You're going beyond the norm. God always rewards that. Or maybe you get up and pray 10 minutes every morning.

Well, let me challenge you to pray 15, just an extra five minutes, and watch what God will begin to do. Maybe you normally give 10% of your income. Well, why don't you stretch your faith and give just a little bit more and just watch and see if God doesn't begin to do extraordinary things in your life?

maybe you have a child that's hard to get along with. He's always getting you down, kind of stealing your joy. Well, you need to sow a seed of being more patient. Just make a decision. I'm not going to be so uptight about this. I'm not going to let him steal my joy. I'm not going to let him get me upset. I'm going to be more understanding.

That's an extraordinary seed that God can reward. But I want us to get out of these ruts. It doesn't matter who we are. Over time, anyone can get complacent. And I found that human nature is too. easily satisfied. We have to constantly make sure that we're staying fresh and that we're pressing beyond the status quo, especially in our relationships. I know people today, their marriage is as stale as it can be. It's not growing. They don't enjoy each other

anymore. They've lost that spark. And the sad thing is they're not doing anything about it. They're just accepting it. Well, Joel, this is just the way it is. We don't have anything in common. like to do what I like, or if she would start treating me better, then things would be different. Now, quit waiting for that other person to change, and you do what you can to make your marriage better. So an extraordinary seed. Start treating that person with more respect than ever before. Go out of your way to do kind things for them. Be more fun to be around. But you've got to do something out of your normal routine. I know a while back, Victoria and I had been very busy, traveling a lot, and we hadn't spent much time together.

And so I decided to do something out of the ordinary, something just to let her know that I was thinking about her. And so I had flowers delivered to her every Monday morning for one month. Just something different. It's funny when she first opened up the card to see who they were from. She said, oh, look, Joel, they made a mistake. They said these flowers are from you. Made me feel real good. But those flowers cost me. me about a hundred bucks. And some of you, that could be the best hundred dollars that you could spend.

It would breathe new life back into your marriage. Just something small. So in an extraordinary seat. Well, Joel, I'm not going to spend my money like that. She knows I love her. No, you need to put some actions behind those words, you old stingy thing. I'm asking us today

to do something out of our normal routine, something that stretches us. Instead of complaining that she won't ever go anywhere with you, why don't you swallow your pride and go somewhere with her? Or better yet, why don't you get creative and plan an event that she would enjoy going to? You can plan an afternoon down at the beach. You can take her to the Galleria. That always works. But some of you men, if you plan something special, you may want to first learn CPR in case she passes out because you know you hadn't done anything romantic in 27 years. But I know we can all

improve in some of these areas. We can be a little kinder. Let's be a little less judgmental, a little quicker to forgive, a little more pleasant to be around. But we need to do something that stretches us out of the norm. I remember one thing I did years ago is every time I went to brush my teeth, I would reach over and put toothpaste on Victoria's toothbrush. Just a little thing didn't take me an extra five seconds. But I remember back then Victoria was not only in a better mood, but once a month she would cook dinner. No, seriously, Victoria's a great cook. Nobody can heat

up those TV dinners like she can. But do you know, it's the little things that keep a relationship growing. It's the little things that keep it healthy. And let me ask you, what are you doing to make your marriage better? Some of you may not want to admit it, but that

relationship is so stagnant that unless you take the initiative and start doing some fresh new things is going to continue to go downhill. And as I said, you cannot wait for the other person. You've got to do it. Do something out of your normal routine to show that person that you care. So an extraordinary seed. And we need to examine our lives and see if there are areas where we're stuck, areas where we're not growing. And I'll admit that my personality type is naturally very routine. I'm a very structured person. And it's easy for me to get stuck in a rut. It's easy for me to go year

after year reading the same amount of chapters in my Bible, giving the same amount, praying the same amount of time. It's almost like I'm on autopilot. But I've noticed when I do that, I just stay at the same level. I don't grow. I don't see as much of God's favor as I should. I have to constantly remind myself to stretch beyond the norm. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be at this same place next year as I am right now. I want to be a better father, a better pastor, a bigger giver. I want to grow. I want to increase. And I've learned if it's not happening, it's not God's fault. He doesn't need to change. I need to change. Maybe you're here today and you struggle with addictions. Maybe you have a problem with smoking. You've tried again and again to quit, but you just can't seem to do it.

Well, don't get complacent about it. What I'm saying is don't stay in that rut. Do something out of the ordinary. Why don't you just give up one cigarette a day? Or instead of smoking the whole thing, smoke three, four of it. But do something. You don't you just give up one cigarette a day. Or instead of smoking the whole thing, smoke three, out of your normal routine. Let me tell you, God sees that sacrifice. And when you do your part, that's when God will kick in and do his part. But you've got to do something that stretches you, do something that makes you push. Maybe you're here and you're wanting to get in better shape. You're wanting to lose some weight. Well, why don't you give up drinking so many coax? Or why don't you exercise just 10 minutes longer than you normally do? Don't just sit back

and accept it. Take that first step. You know, sow that extraordinary seed. You know, hear people say, well, Joel, we all struggle with this in my family. We all have these same addictions. You know, that's what I'm talking about being complacent. You can be the one to change. So that extraordinary seed. I hear people complaining all the time about the place they work. Well, Joel, I don't like my job. I don't like the people. I can't stand to drive in traffic. Well, for you, an extraordinary seed would simply be to change your attitude. Instead of complaining about that job, why don't you be grateful that at least you have a place to work? Why don't you start looking at what's right in your life instead of looking at what's wrong. After all, what is

shame to go to that place year after year miserable complaining about it, dreading it. Life is too short for that. You've got to get out of that rut and just make a decision that you're going to be happy wherever you are. Put a smile on your face. Cheer the other people up. Don't sink down to their level. Be a person of excellence there at the workplace and do the right thing even when it's hard, even when you don't feel like it, that's so an extraordinary seed. I met a man in the lobby not too long ago, and he commented on how much he liked my tie. And of course, you've heard me tell stories about people that have liked my ties, and I've given it to them.

And so now, a lot of times people come up and kid me about liking my ties, kind of jokingly, knowing that I've given them away. In fact, some people come up and say, Joel, I really like that suit. Had one guy the other day, he said, Joel, I like your car. You got a beautiful house. I said, you can forget it, man. But when this man commented about that tie, I knew that I knew right down in here

that I was supposed to give it to him. The problem is, I didn't want to. This tie was brand new. It was the first time I was wearing it, and already several people had told me how beautiful it was, and I really liked it. And so my first thought was, yeah, God, I'll give him a tie, just not this tie.

I began to reason it out. I thought I know exactly the tie I'll give him that I don't like anymore. You know, that tie that we got coffee on the other week. And, you know, I begin to make all these excuses. But right down in here, I just couldn't get away from it. I knew I was supposed to give him that particular tie. See, that was not an ordinary seed for me.

That was an extraordinary seed. That's when God asked you to do something that's difficult. Maybe God asked you to apologize and it wasn't even your fault. God asked you to be nice to somebody, yet they're not being nice to you. Or like in my case, he asked you to give away something that you you really like. It may be uncomfortable, it may be difficult, but if you'll do it anyway, you are sowing a seed for God to do the extraordinary, a seed for God to take it in new levels. You've got to realize God sees your sacrifice. He sees you going the extra mile. Don't get complacent. Don't just

settle for mediocrity. Keep pressing forward. Let me ask you today, do you have any extraordinary seed in the ground? Are you pressing beyond the norm, stretching yourself every day? day. I had this single mother talked to me not too long ago and she brought me a doctor's bill from the hospital for $78,000. And I thought she was going to ask us to help

with it or at least ask us to pray. But she said, no, Joel, just look down there at the very bottom. And I saw in big, bold letters paid in full. And she told how her child had been in the hospital. And this single mom had been through a lot of adversities, a lot of hardships,

but she just kept on being faithful. She kept coming to church. She kept tithing her income. She kept having a good attitude. And that whole time, her relatives were telling her, you're just wasting your time, you're wasting your money, you should be keeping that for yourself. And she said how many times she was tempted to get discouraged.

She was tempted to just give up. But she never did. She just kept on pressing forward. And she had no idea how she'd ever be able to pay off that debt. She didn't have insurance for it. But one day, out of the blue, she got the money. that letter in the mail from the hospital that she was showing me, and it was basically saying it was totally and completely canceling her death. And we've seen that kind of thing happen time and

time again. And let me tell you, that's not a lucky break. That's not a coincidence. That's the fact that she's sowing all those extraordinary seeds. She did the right thing when the wrong thing was happening to her. She just kept on being faithful when a lot of people would have just thrown in the town. and she could have easily just accepted it. She could have just gotten used to it. Well, this is my lot in life. Bro, defeated, in debt. But no, she didn't get complacent.

She just kept on pressing forward. And just like her, every one of you can rise higher. You can overcome any obstacles. You can have a better marriage. You can get out of debt. But you've got to do your part by sowing extraordinary seeds. Now, thinking about Isaac there in the Bible, he was at a time in his life when they were in the

middle of a famine. There was no food and no water. People were starving. What did Isaac do? Sit around and complain about it. Did he sit around and just have a pity party and say it's not fair? The scripture says in Genesis 26 verse 12 that in the midst of that famine, Isaac sowed a seed in the land. In other words, he planted his crops. And can you imagine what the other people must have thought? There was no water to water the crops. He has no way to water the crops. He has no way to to irrigate his fields. And I'm sure his friends said, Isaac, what in the world are you doing? You are wasting your time, your money, your energy. What do you mean planting in the midst of a famine? But Isaac didn't get discouraged. He didn't listen to the naysayers. He just kept sowing those

extraordinary seeds. The scripture goes on to say that in the same year, Isaac received a 100-fold return. We have to remember that God is in control. He's the one. that created the universe. It doesn't matter what it looks like in the natural. He's a supernatural God. Your friends, your relatives, your coworkers may be saying to you, do you really think you're going to get out of death? You really think your husband's going to change? You really think you're ever going to get well? Just like in this case, many times they'll try to talk you out of your dreams. And too many people today, they just get complacent and they live with things that are less than God's best. But I'm asking you today to do what Isaac did in your time of need, in your time of famine, when it doesn't look like anything's

going to change, when the doctors don't give you a good report, when the business is slow, you know what you've got to do? Just keep sowing those extraordinary seeds. You keep praying. You keep believing. You keep giving. You keep coming to church. You keep being faithful. God is keeping the wreckers. It may look impossible with men, but it is possible with God. And as you just keep on, keeping on, you know what's happened? you're passing the test. Those extraordinary seeds are taken root. One day, you're going to reap the seeds that you've been sowing.

God is a faithful God. What I'm saying today is don't give up on your relatives. Keep praying for that husband. Keep praying for that son, that aunt, that uncle, that grandmother. Keep calling them. Keep inviting them to come to church. Keep encouraging them. You may not see anything happening in the natural.

It may not look like anything is changing. But let me tell you, God is working behind the seams. He sees your diligence. He sees your faithfulness. Or maybe you're here like that single mom, and you don't think you could ever get out of death. You don't think you could ever pay your house off.

He said, Joel, man, I've gone as far as my education allows. You don't know my situation. No, God is not limited by your education. Your job is not your source. God is your source. God can give you one new idea that can thrust you to a whole new level. God can cause you to be at the right.

place at the right time. He can cause his light to shine down on you and favor you. You've got to just keep on passing that test. I can promise you, you're going to see the extraordinary in your life. I was talking to another man from Los Angeles. He was here for treatment at MD Anderson, the cancer hospital here in town. He was having problems with his kidneys. He would come in every three months to have them tested. And the doctors told him that very likely in the near future, he would have to go on dialysis. And not only that, that he may have to have those kidneys removed. He had big

tumors on them, and they were checking the growth. But this man didn't just sit back and accept it. He didn't just start making plans for that. Instead, he started really praying. He started really believing. And what I like about him is he did it not only for himself, but he'd go around the hospital

praying for other people. He was an encourager. Every time he came to Lakewood, he had three or four of those cancer patients with him. So in an extraordinary seed. Don't you know, a lot of people in his situation would have been at home having a pity party, depressed and

dejected. Not him. He just kept believing, stretching his faith, pressing beyond the norm. And you know, the last time I saw him, just a couple of weeks ago, he said, Joel, I came in and the doctors tested my kidneys, and those doctors didn't know what to tell me. They said, we can't

find any sign of a tumor on those kidneys. There's nothing wrong with you. They said, we don't want to see you for another year. Friends, God can supernaturally turn things around. He made your body. He can create what you need. Don't get disturred. Keep on believing. Like Abraham, keep on hoping on in faith. Like Isaac, learn to sow a seed in that time of famine. Don't just sit back and get complacent and say, well, man, I guess this is my lot in life. You heard what they said. Let me tell you what your lot in life is. If you read God's word, your lot in life is

to be happy, to be healthy, to be a blessing to others, to enjoy God's abundant life. Well, you say, Joel, what if I pray and believe like he did and nothing happens? Well, what if you pray and believe in something does happen? And I realize not everybody gets healed like that, but you'd still be better off to believe than to sit around depressed and defeat it. The fact is, one day we're all going to die, but I've made up my mind. I'm going to die in faith. I'm going to die believing.

I'm going to die with a smile on my feet. face. So in those extraordinary scenes. I love the story in Mark Chapter 5 about this lady that had been sick for 12 years with a bleeding disorder. And she had gone to many different doctors, spent all of her money, but she continued to get worse. And I'm sure she was very tempted to get discouraged. Medical science had given up on her. She could have easily gone home and just pull the blinds and said, well, too bad. That's it for me. But no, not this lady. She refused to live with things that were less than God's best. She

said, you know what, I'm going to do something out of the ordinary. I'm going to do something unusual, uncommon. I'm going to reach out and touch Jesus when he comes walking by. She had a lot of opposition. As Jesus came through her town, there were so many people around him, she couldn't get to him. So she had to fight her way through the crowd. No doubt she's having to push people out of the way. She's sowing those extraordinary seeds. And you know the story. As Jesus came by right at the last minute, she lunged out with all of her might and just barely touched the edge of his robe. And the Bible says immediately, she felt a supernatural power surge into her body. She was instantly made whole.

And friends, when you get out of your routine and you press in to really get to know God, you make decisions that are pleasing to him, you stretch your faith, then God will do the extraordinary in your life. And Jesus, stop right there. And he said to his disciples, who just touched me? And they kind of laugh, said, what do you mean? Jesus, everybody's touching you, everybody's bumping into you. He said, no, somebody touched me with such faith and with such expectancy that they drew the

miracle working power right out of me. And about that time, Jesus' eyes met that woman's eyes. He smiled and said, daughter, your faith has made you whole go in peace. You notice, Jesus didn't say my faith has done it. No, he said, because of your actions, because you went out of your. your way, I'm going to go out of my way. See, when you sow those extraordinary seeds, God can

bless you in extraordinary ways. But I know too many people today, they're stuck in a rut, in their marriage, in their finances, in their health. But I want to shake you out of that complacency. Don't just sit back and learn to live with things that are less than God's best.

God wants you to go higher. Are you giving him anything to work with? Are you doing like this lady and stretching your face? pressing beyond the norm. You need to do something out of the ordinary. That's what gets God's attention. And some of you right now,

you have areas in your life that are so stale, and it's because you're not stretching. You've gotten comfortable. Do you know you can even get stale coming to church? I found you get out of something what you put into it. And if you find yourself starting to get stale, that's God trying to get you to grow.

Maybe it's time that you start serving in one of our ministries, teaching our children, visiting people at the hospital, standing at the door and being a friendly face to greet people. That would be an extraordinary seed. That'll help get rid of that staleness. Or maybe you're stale in your finances. You're not seeing any growth. Everything's the same year after year.

Well, you've got to start planting some extraordinary seeds. Why don't you stretch your faith and give a little bit more? Or maybe instead of going out to eat one night, send that money to a friend's that's struggling. If you don't have extra money, I understand that, but you can give your time, babysit somebody's children, give somebody a ride to church, mow somebody's long, but do something to get some extraordinary seed in the ground. Maybe you're still at the workplace. You haven't had a promotion, a bonus, a raise in a long time. Well, maybe you need to sow a seed by getting there a little earlier. You need to stretch your faith by being a little bit more productive.

be a person of excellence on that job. You know, go the extra mile, and God can use that to bring promotion and increase in your life. I believe then you'll see that new growth. But we have to make sure that we're keeping ourselves fresh. When we're stale, it's boring. When it's stale, we just drag through the day with no joy, no enthusiasm. It's because we're not growing. You've got to get out of that rut.

If you stay stale, you're going to get moldy. And I want us to go into this new year with a freshness. excited about it. If that's going to happen, we've got to be willing to get out of our normal routine and plant some extraordinary seeds. Remember, if we keep doing the same thing the same way, we're going to have the same results. And I'm asking you today to find at least one area in your life

that you know that you're kind of stale and do something out of your normal routine that honors God in a greater way. Maybe you're going to turn that TV off like we talked about at night and spend more time with your family. Maybe you're going to get up, 15 minutes earlier and spend a little more time with God. Maybe you're going to just start treating the people in your life kinder and with more respect. But do at least one thing out of your normal

routine for several months, be consistent about it, and you just see if God doesn't do the extraordinary. Just see if that freshness doesn't come back and you begin to experience new growth. Friends, God has more in store. No matter where you are in life, he wants you to go up higher. But we've got to get out of these ruts. Let's learn to shake off. complacency, and we need to continually be pressing forward, pressing beyond the norm. And I know if you will sow extraordinary seeds, God is a faithful God, you will see the extraordinary in your life. You won't be stale.

You'll be fresh. You'll be excited about the future. You'll be growing. And you'll live that life of victory that God has in store. Amen. 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 up. It starts with just a tiny seed. From it, tender bud sprout.

The miracle of new life, bloom, and thrives, but how do you experience the same miraculous and extraordinary growth in your own life? Sometimes our life is limited because we're believing too small. Faith is like a seed. When you believe, all things are possible. That's when you'll see new growth, opportunity, and healing. We don't have to figure out how it's going to happen. All we have to do is belief.

There may not be a way in the natural, but our God is supernatural. We'd like to send you our new This Time next year Believe Big Journal. It'll help you to enlarge your vision and stretch your faith. Where would you like to be a year from now? Who knows what God will do in 2024 if you'll take the limous off of him

and believe for the great things he's placed in your heart? Azar thank you for your gift of any amount this month. We want to send you the this time next year, Believe Big Journal, along with our new Believe Tea. As you begin to believe big, you'll see God move in powerful ways, the impossible made possible, growth, provision, and new opportunities will burst forth above and beyond what you can ask or imagine. Also, for the first time ever, we want to present you with our new Believe T-shirt,

created exclusively by our friends at CopperFit for the viewers and partners of Joe Lohsteen. We invite you to wear and declare what you are believing God for in It's a gift from Copperfit as they extend their support of the message of hope. Many of you have watched us a long time, but you've never been to Lakewood. We have a perfect time. We're calling it Homecoming Weekend, April 13th and 14th. We'd love to meet you. I'll introduce you to my family.

You can see the facility and enjoy a service. We'd be honored to have you. We'll make you feel right at home. Remember, you can watch the services live online every Sunday, download our podcast, watch on YouTube. We'll keep you inspired and encouraged. Be sure to request your copy of this time next year, Believe Big Journal and the CopperFit Believe T-shirt

as our gift of thanks today. Visit joelowsteen.com or call us toll-free.