Joel Osteen Podcast - Feed Yourself The Right Things | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 15, 2024

Everything from the thoughts we dwell on to the people we spend time with has the potential to affect our lives for better or for worse. When you choose to surround yourself with positive influences and meditate on God's Word, you're setting yourself up for victory. 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. God bless you.

It is always a joy to come into your homes each week. And we come with good news. We come with a smile. our face because we know that God is a good God. When you serve him, when you draw on out of him, God will draw on out of you. He's got great things in store for your lives. And we're going to be talking about some of that today. And if you're ever in our area, though, I hope you'll stop by and see us. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. But thanks so much for tuning in today. I'd like to get started each week with something kind of funny. And somebody sent me this

email. And I might mention it was from a woman. But it says, according to the Alaska Department a fish in game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer, male reindeer dropped their antlers at the beginning of winter in late November. Female reindeer keep their antlers until the spring. This means all of Santa's reindeer from Rudolph to Blitzen had to be female. She goes on to say, we should have known only women would be able to drag around a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world. world in one night and not get lost.

All right. Hold your Bibles up. Say it like you mean it. Are you ready? 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. We've been talking about. and in the right environment. And how important it is that we surround ourselves with good influences. We have to realize that we are constantly feeding ourselves, not physically, of course, but spiritually. Everything we watch, everything we listen to, the people we choose to be around, the thoughts we choose to dwell on, all of these things are feeding our inner man.

Just like a computer, we are continually being programmed. And we can either feed ourselves life or we can feed ourselves death. If you're watching a bunch of junk on television, people that are not respectful, people that have no integrity, no morals, unfortunately, you're just feeding yourself death. Well, hey, you say, Joel, it's just entertainment. It's not hurting anything. No, the fact is, if you put garbage in, you're going to get garbage out. If you hang around people that are negative and critical, before long, you're going to

to be negative and critical. It's because you're feeding yourself the wrong things. We've all heard that saying, you will become what you eat. That's why the Bible tells us to guard our hearts. You have to guard what you take in because it's going to affect everything about you. See, our ears and our eyes are the gates to our souls. Everything we watch, everything we listen to gets down on the inside. It's being permanently stored. And if you're feeding yourself a bunch of trash, watching the wrong things, hanging around the wrong people, or even dwelling on the wrong thoughts, whether you realize it or not, that is affecting you. And I'm challenging us today to be extremely careful what we put in because eventually it is going to come out.

For instance, if you make the mistake of getting up every morning, dwelling on negative, discouraging thoughts, thinking about your problems, thinking about what allowed. day it's going to be, all you're really doing is feeding yourself death. You are programming yourself to have a lousy day. On the other hand, if you'll get up and say this is going to be a great day, I know God's favor surrounds me like a shield and I am excited about this day, when you do that, you are feeding yourself life and you're going to draw in the good things of God. You attract what you continually think about. Just like a magnet, you are going to draw in what you're always dwelling on. And the Bible tells us in the book of Joshua that night and day we should

meditate on God's word. All through the day, in the back of your mind, you should be thinking, I am strong in the Lord. I can do all things through Christ. I am a victor and not a victim. My children are going to fulfill their destiny. See, that's more than just positive thinking. That's feeding your inner man life and victory. You're feeding your inner man the right things. And this is just what my mother did back in 1981 when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She got about 58 scriptures that had to do with healing, and she began to meditate on them. I'd hear her going all through the house quoting those scriptures under her breath. She even put them up so she could see them.

On the refrigerator, she saw with long life, God satisfies me. On the bathroom mirror, God is restoring health under me. on the back door, I will live and not die. See, she was feeding her inner man life, meditating on God's word. And she could have so easily sunk down into that dark hold of depression. She only weighed 89 pounds. The doctors gave her no hope. But mother chose not to dwell on that.

Instead, she chose to dwell on the fact that the things that are impossible with men are possible with God. And not only that, she put up pictures of herself. when she was very healthy. She had a picture of herself riding a horse in Montana. She had that in the kitchen. She put up several of her wedding pictures all over the house. Everywhere she looked, she saw herself strong and healthy.

She saw herself full of life and energy. She saw those scriptures that reinforced her faith. What was she doing? Feeding her inner man life. She was feeding herself hope, faith, victory. I'm challenging you. Do the same thing. Get up every morning and feed yourself life.

Feed yourself hope. Feed yourself victory. Everywhere you look, you should see things that inspire you. Put up scriptures around your house, in your office, in your car. Put up pictures that inspire you. What you see is going to get down in you. I have pictures up all over my office of things that remind me of victory. I have that big key that the,

city gave us to the compact center. When I look at that, that inspires me. That reminds me that God can do more than we can even ask or think. I have a plaque that our publisher sent us when we sold our first million books. That inspires me. When I look at that, that tells me that there are no limits with our God. We have scripture verses up all over our house. I recognize what we see is going to get down in us. Well, you said, Joel, I don't have anything like that, man. If you only knew my life. No, you can find something. At least get up in the morning and go look at God's creation. Look at the sunrise. Look at the trees. Look at the flowers. Take in God's beauty. Find something that inspires you. You got to feed yourself life and victory. I know I like to start my day the first

30 minutes or so. Just thanking God for what he's done in my life. Just meditating on his promises, taking in his beauty. That helps to start the day off right. See, don't just rush out. of your house, in a hurry, running late, pressured by work. No, take time to feed yourself life. Pay more attention to what you're putting in. I know some people, when they get up in the morning, first thing they do is turn on the news. They fill their mind with all the killings from last night,

all the accidents, all the tragedies. That doesn't do anything positive. And yes, I like to watch the news, but I don't believe it's healthy to start our days off like that. Start your day off in an attitude of Thanksgiving. start the day off in a positive frame of mind, thanking God for what he's done in your life. That's going to help set the tone for your whole day.

Even when you drive to work, learn to feed yourself good things. Don't just flip on any station. Why don't you put on a good praise CD? Why don't you put on music and let that life and victory that's on the inside get down in you? I found most of the time we're going to be feeding ourselves something.

We might as well feed ourselves the right things. I know the other day I was in the world. in a restaurant and this song came on. And I'm sure the men met well, but it was so pitiful. It was so sad. He was singing about how his wife had just left him. And now he was all brokenhearted and so lonely.

He didn't have anywhere to go. He's just about to ride off into the sunset, all broken and defeated. About halfway through, I thought, man, I'm about to go with you. I found myself starting to get depressed, hanging my head. I thought later, who in the world listens to that? junk. All that's doing is ministering death to you. I heard somebody say, if you play a country western song backwards, the man gets his wife back, his truck back, and his dog back.

Put on good praise music. Put on music that's going to build you up. Music that's going to inspire you and not drag you down. I know when I used to get in my car, first thing I do is turn on the news. Do you know what I do now? I put on, I am a friend of God. I put on, Lord, you are good, your mercy endures forever. You've got to be careful what you listen to. Your ears are not garbage cans to fill with a bunch of trash. Take care of your temple. Every day you should listen to good music. Put it on in your car. Put it on at your house. Feed yourself life and victory. I read where the average American spends 400 hours a year in their car driving back and forth to work. And I thought how many people use that time to feed themselves the wrong things? They

feed themselves things and they're just going to drag them down. And maybe you don't particularly like listening to music, but you should at least listen to something that's going to help you grow. That is very valuable time and you should use it to increase and improve yourself. In fact, one study said that if we'd spend that same drive time listening to teaching tapes over a three-year period, that would be the equivalent of spending two years in college. I think about how many people just go year after year feeding themselves junk and they wonder why they're depressed, why they're negative,

why they have no joy. Now you've got to check up on what you're feeding yourself. Had a man tell me just the other day how he had struggled with depression and just being negative year after year. But he said, Joel, I got your CD on not losing your joy. And I started listening to that in my car every day

driving back and forth to work. He said, I've probably heard that message a thousand times. I can almost quote it verbatim, but I just keep listening to it. See, he was taking that time to feed his inner man life. He recognized the importance of what he was putting in. You don't have to listen

to my CDs. You can listen to somebody else's. They're not as good as mine, but you can still listen. But find something, at least I'm honest, find something that feeds you life, something that's going to build you up. And if you're struggling in a certain area, do what he did. Find something to target.

get that area. Just listen to it over and over again. But every chance we get, we should be putting things in that's going to help us increase, things that are going to help us grow. All through the Bible, it compares our life to the life of an eagle. And if you study the eagle, you'll find that the eagle's strength is found in its diet. And what's interesting is the eagle won't eat anything dead. The eagle only feeds off of alive foods. Now, other birds, in the same category somewhat, like a vulture or a buzzard, they'll eat anything they can get. In fact, their whole existence is based off of other dead animals, but not the eagle. He didn't take the easy way out.

He flies upstream to look for salmon. He has incredible vision. He can spot that salmon up to a half a mile away. He swoops down there and grabs that salmon, and he all have that fresh fish for dinner. But see, the eagle, unless he's in captivity, He only feeds off live foods. And the Bible tells us we are to mount up with wings as the eagle, not as the buzzard, not as the vulture, not as the chicken.

And just like that eagle, our strength is going to be found in our diet. It's going to be found in what we're putting in. You can't go around eating a bunch of dead junk and expect to stay strong and healthy. This is true physically, but I'm talking, of course, today about spiritually. If you're hanging around with people that gossip, you need to recognize what they're feeding you is dead. If you eat it long enough, it's going to get down in you. If you're watching a bunch of junk on television, a junk on the internet, you're feeding yourself dead things.

And here's the thing, you can live off that dead food. An eagle can survive eaten with the vultures and the chickens and the buzzards. But here's the problem. He's never going to soar. He's never going to become what God created him to be. And in the same way, if you're dwelling on the wrong thoughts, fill in your mind with a bunch of trash, sure you'll survive, but you'll never sore.

You'll never experience God's abundant life. And I'm asking us today to take inventory of what we're feeding ourselves. What kind of movies do you watch? What kind of music do you listen to? What kind of friends do you choose to hang around? All these things are feeding us. I really believe some of you would go to a whole new level if you'd just quit feeding yourself dead things.

You shouldn't hang around with people that are negative, people that compromise, people that gossip all the time. That junk can rub off on you. Do you know spirits are transferable? You get around somebody that's jealous all the time and that old jealous spirit can get off on you. You hang around people that are negative and critical and you just watch and see if over time

you don't start to become more negative and critical. That's why it's so important to surround yourself with people that have what you want. I do my best to surround myself with people that are givers and not takers. People that are happy, people that have a dream for their life.

I recognize that spirit can come off on me. Even when we listen to music, the words may seem good, the beat may be kind of catchy. But what we really need to know is who is this person that's feeding mine? inner man. What do they believe? What do they stand for? What kind of life do they live?

Their spirit can come through that music and get off on me. And young people, you have to be extremely careful because there's so much out there today that's destructive. And you may not think it's hurting anything and you're just having fun. But no, this is a spiritual principle. It's getting in you. Well, you say, Joel, everybody's doing it. Everybody listens to this group. Everybody watches these movies. Now, listen, you're not, everybody. You are a child of the most high God. You have a destiny to fulfill.

The enemy would love to drag you down and get your computer all messed up. Programmed with a bunch of junk to where you don't make good choices in life. Don't fall into that trap. Stay on the high road. You say, Joel, I know this movie has a few bad scenes.

Got a little bit of bad lang, with just a little bit of nudity, but overall it's pretty good. No, let me tell you, you are made for more than that. That's like digging around in a garbage can trying to find a good biscuit to eat. Sure, you may find something, but what about all that other junk that's going to get off on you? Be selective. Feed yourself only things that are going to build you up.

Proverbs 15, 14 says, only a fool feeds on trash. I know some people, they've been sitting around for the last 22 years watching soap operas every day, and they're convinced it's not affecting them. They tell me, oh, Joel, I know the difference between right and wrong. it's just entertaining. And yes, it may be entertaining you, but it's also filling your mind with all kinds of wrong values.

And if you watch people over and over again being unfaithful in relationships, stabbing somebody in the back over here, manipulating somebody over here, well, little by little, that's chipping away at your values. The more you watch, the more comfortable you're going to get.

And before long, if you're not careful, you'll think it's okay to do what they're doing. What's happened? Very subtly, very cleverly, you've been deceived into lowering your standards. Friends, you will become what you eat. You've got to be selective as to what you allow in your temple. Your ears and your eyes are gates, and only you can control what you allow in. You know as well as I do in this society that we're living in, sex is what sells. If you're going to keep your mind pure, if you're going to keep your temple holy, you've got to stay on guard. you've got to be on the offensive.

I know, even at our house, we get these catalogs in the mail, and you know what some of the catalogs look like. Well, you can either feed off that dead stuff and let your mind get polluted, or you can choose to just walk away. As scripture tells us, we should think on things that are pure, things that are wholesome. And what I'm saying today is if we put trash in,

we're going to get trash out. It may not happen overnight, but sooner or later, you will reap the seeds that you've been sewing. And I know some people, they think they can get away with hanging around with the wrong crowd or dwelling on negative, discouraging thoughts, but it always catches up to them. And you know what happens when we continually watch things that we know are not right? It is desensitizing us to it. In other words, we see it so much that it's no big deal. We're not alarmed by it anymore. I mean, if you watch somebody cheat on their spouse long enough, you'll begin to think it's okay.

You watch somebody cheat in a business deal or stab somebody in the back long enough. After a period of time, you kind of think, man, that's just business. That's just life. Many times, not all the times, but TV glamorizes the wrong things. Many times, people that are happy in relationships are shown by people that are only not married. It's very subtle. It's saying in a roundabout way, if you want to be happy, if you want to really have fun, you've got to cheat. You've got to play around.

If you watch that junk long enough, you're being programmed to accept it. Even if it's subconsciously, remember, everything is going in. And Jesus said there in Matthew 12, verse 35, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. But an evil man brings forth evil things. Notice it's talking about what we've been putting in. It's talking about what we've been feeding ourselves, what's in our heart. And I'm not preaching against television.

today. But when something comes on that you know is not right, that's why God created the remote control. You can change the channel. But you cannot sit there night after night and watch things that you know are not right and not expect it to affect you. We have to realize even subconsciously it's going in. The mind is extremely incredible. It can take in things that we're not even aware of. And that's why you shouldn't just leave your TV on as background noise during the day. Don't Just leave any radio station on at home or at work. You may not even be paying attention, and yet things can be going in that you're not aware of. We have to be on guard.

We have to be diligent if we're going to keep the junk out of our temple. And parents, we need to be especially careful about the video games that we allow our children to play. Many of them are so violent, so graphic today that by the time they're 10 or 11 years old, they think nothing of death. They think nothing of killing. They think nothing of fighting. It's slowly lowering their standards. It's desensitizing them to it. I was reading about this teenage student several years ago. He shot and killed four of his fellow classmates. The community and his parents, they were shocked. He was a model student. And they asked him how he could possibly do it. And he said, oh, it's not hard. I kill

every day. Talking about his video games. You will become what you. You will become what you eat. And if you program your computer with a bunch of junk, it's going to cause you all kinds of problems. And parents, God is going to hold us responsible for our children. We can't just drop our teenagers off at the mall and let them watch any movie that they want to. There needs to be some guidelines. There needs to be some boundaries. And don't use the television as a babysitter for your little children. If you plant them in front of the TV, they may very well grow into something that you don't like. And I know this takes time. We're all busy these days, but we have one chance to raise our children. Let's make sure that we do it right. Let's be careful what we allow into them.

It's helping to form who they are. And I know some of these things, we don't really have a choice. It seems like almost everywhere we look these days on a billboard or the magazine stand at the grocery store, there's some kind of bad influence. But what I'm saying today is we've got to just learn to turn away. attitude should be, I am not going to poison my mind. If you're watching a ball game and a commercial comes on that's not wholesome, just flip away. Be an eagle. Don't feed off the dead stuff. Your friends ask you to go see a movie, and you know it's not right. You don't feel good about it down in here. Just be bold enough to say no thanks. If they want to feed on that junk, it's up to them. But your

attitude should be, I'm staying on the high road. I'm only going to feed off a good thing so I can stay strong and healthy. Now a few years ago, Victoria and I went to a broad, play. It was one of the top-rated shows during that time. And somebody had given us very expensive tickets right up front. And so we showed up, but the first 10 minutes or so, the language was really terrible. I mean, every other word was a curse word. And some of the scenes were very questionable. And I kept thinking that it was going to get better, but it never did. And finally, I told Victoria, man, I don't want to feed myself this junk. I know people are going to think I'm a stick in the mud, but I value

you who I am. I realize that it's being recorded on the inside. And so we just very quietly stepped away. And yes, the tickets were very expensive. Yes, they were very valuable. But you know what's more valuable? The temple that God's given me. And I refuse, I refuse to allow anybody to just dump a whole bunch of garbage in me. I don't want that spirit being transferred often to me. And I know some people think, well, Joel, you're just stiff, man. That's not hurting anything. know if you put garbage in somewhere in some way, shape, or form, that garbage is going to come out. It's going to affect you. If people are telling off-color jokes around you, you don't have to be rude. I'm not saying to condemn them and try to beat them down, but I am saying you should care enough about your temple to walk away.

If you're going to be an ego, you've got to stay away from dead things. And let me tell you, you may not be able to watch everything your peers watch. You may not be able to listen to everything your friends listen to. There's a price to pay for living in victory. But if you'll stay on that high road and only feed off a good thing, you'll continue to rise higher while many of them just flounder around in mediocrity.

But there is a price to pay. We have to keep our temple pure. I was thinking about Samson. He had a supernatural birth. His mother had never had any children. And the angel appeared into her and said, you're going to have a son and he will begin to deliver Israel

from the hand of the Philistines. God had a divine purpose for Samson's life. He was chosen and set apart. You remember how he had that supernatural strength and power. But Samson had a major weakness in his character. He didn't exercise restraint over what he looked at. He allowed his mind to become polluted. It's interesting, the first words recorded in the Bible out of Samson's mouth,

where I saw a woman. And in a nutshell, that was the story of his life. he couldn't keep his eyes focused on the right things. Little by little, that led him off of God's best path. And if you study his life, although he was called to do great things, he spent most of his time in mediocrity, hanging out with prostitutes, posing riddles to the Philistines. All because he didn't control what he looked at.

He just kept feeding himself a bunch of junk. When the Philistines finally captured him, the first thing they did was to gouge out his eyes. they even knew that was his big problem. They knew that was the gateway to his lust. And really, it's a sad story. When Samson should have been delivering the people of God, he ended up as a slave, blind, grinding at the mill,

all because he didn't keep his thought life pure. And friends, just like Samson, every one of you has a divine destiny. God has chosen you. He has called you. He's put seeds of greatness in you. But you have to do your part. and keep your temple pure.

I'm challenging you today to take inventory of what you're feeding yourself, your thoughts, your friends, your entertainment. Is it building you up? Is it causing you to grow and increase? If not, why don't you make some changes? Life is too short to go around in mediocrity. Be an eagle, stay away from dead things.

You gotta guard your eyes, guard your ears. They're the gateway to your soul. Learn to get up every morning and dwell on good thoughts. start your day off thanking God for what he's done. Put things up around you that inspire you. Listen to good music and all day long, meditate on God's word. If you will continually feed yourself good things, let me tell you, you'll be an ego. You'll have God's strength and power and you'll begin to soar and really live that life of victory that God has in store.

Amen. Do you receive it today? Well, I know you do. 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 you've never dreamed of. It starts with just a tiny seed. From it, tender bud sprout. The miracle

of new life, blooms 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 limits 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 Lohstein. We invite you to wear and declare what you are believing God for in 2024. It's a gift from CopperFit as they accept.

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