Joel Osteen Podcast - Go Beyond Invisible Walls | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

If we only associate with people that are like us, we’ll miss out on what God wants to do in our lives. He can use the people you least expect to move you toward your destiny.   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 for listening to our podcast, and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has great things in store.

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 you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in, and thank you again for coming out today. day. I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this groom at the wedding rehearsal. He said to the minister, during the vows, if you'll leave out all that honor, love, and obey stuff, I'll give you $100. He pressed $100 into the minister's hand and walked away with a smile. The next day, during the ceremony, the minister said, do you promise to bow down before your wife, to take her breakfast in bed every day to fulfill her every desire. He gulped in astonishment and said in a weak voice, I do. He then

whispered, I thought we had a deal. The minister handed him the money back and said, your wife made me a much better offer. 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 going beyond invisible walls. An invisible wall is something very subtle.

It's an attitude that says, we don't associate with those people. They're not like us. They don't dress like us. They don't live in our neighborhood. They don't worship the way we do. They're not our same nationality. So we just very quietly keep our distance. We can smile, we can say hello,

but there's this unseen barrier that separates us. But if all your friends look like you and dress like you and live in your same neighborhood, can I tell you you're missing out? You're experiencing a small portion of what God really wants you to enjoy. And if you don't broaden your life and go beyond your tradition, and get rid of little prejudices, then those invisible walls can keep you from your destiny.

The very people you're avoiding, the ones you're saying they're not from my camp, they're not for me, they could be the divine connection that hold the key to your dreams coming to pass. I've learned, God doesn't use people to help me that just look like me and dress like me and come from my same background. God likes variety, but sometimes we get stuck in our little box. I call it a prison of prejudice. It doesn't mean that we're bad people, but we have these attitudes. They're Baptist, and I'm Catholic.

I'm staying away from them. They're Democrat, and I'm a Republican. They're unclean. They're an Aggie. I'm a longhorn. That's a major issue. Or more seriously, they're black and I'm white. They're Hispanic.

I'm Asian. They're blue collar and I'm white collar. Big deal. God uses all people. Every person that has breath to breathe was created in the image of God. Who are we to judge and think, you're not for me.

You're the wrong skin color. You're the wrong nationality. No, nobody chose their skin color. None of us could choose who our parents would be, what country we'd be born in. God chooses that. If we look down on people, and refuse to associate with them,

we're not really doing it to them, we're doing it to our creator. He holds the key to blessing, to favor, to honor. You cannot disrespect God's children and expect him to bless you at the same time. We may be black, white, brown, yellow, American, African, European, Hispanic,

but one thing we have in common is we all bleed red. No matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, as long as you're, Your blood is red. You're my brother. You're my sister.

Do you know skin color is less than one 16th of an inch deep? I'm not going to be so petty to let a 16th of an inch come between us. I need your friendship. I need your wisdom. I need your encouragement. I need your blessing. We may be different cultures, nationalities, different skin colors. But let's remember, really, we're only one 16th of an inch different.

They say that Sunday morning is still the most segregated time of the week. I'm happy to report. That's not the case here at Lakewood. A well-known reporter called us the most diverse church in America. The amazing thing is we never tried to do it. Experts have come from all over the world to try to figure out how this has happened. They used to ask my father, did you bus people in? Did you have a big diversity campaign?

Did you have specialist design a plan? No, we didn't do anything except love people and share good news and speak faith and victory. When you go beyond invisible walls, God blesses you. When you treat all people with respect and honor, that pleases God. When you're just as kind and considerate to the people that don't look like you as you are to the ones that do, then you're positioning yourself to go higher. That's what I love about Lakewood. It's all races, all colors, all nationality.

all walks of life. This is what heaven is going to be like. And if you're only comfortable being around people like your own, if you have these hidden prejudices, then now is a good time to deal with it. Because if not, when you get to heaven,

you're going to be in for a rude awakening. There's going to be black, white, yellow, red. You might as well get used to it. And that group that you're avoiding the people you don't like to be around, God will make sure your mansion is right next door to theirs. Raleigh Washington is an African-American minister, and he said something that I really like.

He said, when I was born, I was black. When I grew up, I was black. When I go out in the cold, I'm black. When I go out in the sun, I get more black. When I'm sick, I'm black. And when I die, I'm sure I'll still be black. But what I found is when white people are born, you're pink. When you grow up, you become white.

When you go out in the cold, you turn blue. When you go out in the sun, you turn red. When you're sick, they say he looks green. When you die, you turn purple. Now, what I want to know is why are blacks called colored people? I have a friend. He's a Hispanic police officer. He said, Joel, what do you call two Hispanics playing each other in basketball?

One on one. Colossians 311. In Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, black nor white, no difference between any nationality. Notice, God doesn't see us as different races. God doesn't see us as different social standings. Our tradition magnifies that, what we wear, what we drive, what our skin color is. God looks past all the superficial things, and he sees us all the same.

Not black or white, just his children. not upper class or lower class, just one big family. But sometimes we make the mistake of judging a whole race by a few people. We make sweeping generalizations, and it keeps us from enjoying who God puts in our life. In high school, I had a good friend that was from Mexico. He was one of the kindest, most respectful, most fun people you could ever hope to be around. We had a great time together. But I had another friend, a young white guy like myself,

I noticed that every time I hung out with my Hispanic friend that he wouldn't come around. One day I ask him about it. Please don't be offended. This is what he said. He said, Joel, you're right. I don't trust Mexicans. I said, you don't trust them. Why?

He said, because my father told me a long time ago they stole something from us and you just can't trust them. I said, you mean you're going to judge a whole race and stay away from them and live in your little box because of one person that did something wrong years ago that you heard about? You talk about a narrow point of view, but his father had ingrained this in him. Just stay with your own kind.

Don't associate with those people. Invisible walls that were holding him back. I wonder how many of us have little prejudices that have been passed down. Just subtlities. Stay away from that group. They're dishonest. Don't associate

with those people. They think they're too good. Don't hang out with that group. They're far below you. I said to this friend, do you realize there are dishonest white people, just like dishonest people from other races? Plus, there are also some incredibly kind, caring, friendly, honest, genuine white people,

black people, Hispanic people, Asian people. Stop judging a whole race by a few people. Don't let statistics form your opinion before you even meet the people. If you do, like my friend, these prejudices will get passed from generation to generation. We end up not liking somebody, and we don't even know why. It's just what we've heard.

I'll never forget. I saw on the news, these little four and five-year-old boys, which was in another country, and they were on a dirt road, and they were throwing rocks at these men that were passing by. There had been a lot of fighting in this country. A reporter went over and asked one of the little boys, why are you so angry? Why are you throwing rocks?

He said, because these people are bad. They're mean, they're evil. We hate them. The reporter said, how do you know? Have you ever met them? A little boy said, no. Have you ever talked with them? No.

Have you ever played with their children? No. Then how do you know that they're so bad? The little boy thought for a moment. He said, because mommy and daddy told me they were bad. Think about it. Five years old and all this hate being ingrained in his heart. If he doesn't break that cycle,

he will grow up hating people that he's never met, angry with people that he's never been to dinner with, avoiding someone that he's never taken time to know. Could it be that we do the same thing? We avoid certain groups of people because of what we've been told or because of what we saw model growing up. Some people have never had a friend outside their own race.

They've never had a black friend, a white friend, an Asian friend. All they know is what they've been. been told that all white people are this, all Hispanic people are this, all black people are this, you better stay away, you'll get hurt, they're not for you. No, my prayer is God make us colorblind. God help us to not look on the outside superficial things, but God help us to see people for who they really are. Their gifts, their talents, their strengths, their personalities, their uniqueness. The Living Translation says, In this new life, one's race and nationality and social standing is not important.

What matters is that we are in Christ and he is equally available to all. We've got to look past the surface. I didn't do anything to get my skin color. This is what God chose to give me. This suit, my dress is not who I am. Where I live, what I do, that's not the real me. The real me is on the inside. The word prejudice means to prejudge.

When I'm prejudiced, I judge you without even knowing you. I form an opinion based on superficial things, based on the outside. You can't really know somebody by the outside. This is simply the house that we live in. The real me is on the inside. You can't really know me by just looking at me and thinking, well, he's white and good looking. That's true. But the way you'll really know me,

The way you really know me is by spending time with me, by going to dinner with me, by hanging out together. Don't make the mistake of judging people by the surface. I talked to a lady about a year ago after the service, and she was an African-American woman, probably in her early 60s. I could tell that she did not want to be here, and she did not like me. A friend talked her into coming. In fact, this was the first time she had ever been at a church with a white minister. She had been raised by very angry, bitter, hateful people. And it was being passed from generation to generation.

She made no bones about it. She said, Joel, I don't like white people. I resent the way we've been treated. It wasn't fair and on and on. And I'm not making light of anything that's happened in the past because there were some terrible injustices. But we cannot undo the past. Hating a group of people now

because of something that happened years ago is not going to make it in. better. You've got to move forward with your life and trust God to restore and repay what's owed you. And I ask her, have you ever had a white friend? She said, no, never. And I don't want a white friend. All white people are bad. She started into it again. She was very bold. I was bold right back with her. I said, listen, if you got to know me, you would like me. I mean, look at this smile. Could you resist this? She didn't smile. I thought, oh, Lord, it didn't work. This one's going to take prayer and fasting.

I called one of our volunteers over, a young white girl. I looked at that lady, and I said, I dare you to get to know her. I dare you to spend time with her. I dare you to be open-minded and find out what she's really like. She reluctantly agreed. I was surprised. Today, a year later, do you know who's here at every one of our services sitting by her new best friend?

This lady, you can hardly pull them apart. 60 years she let an invisible wall keep her back. 60 years she let hatred and bitterness and anger that had been ingrained in her by hateful people, keep her from God's best. Don't let that be you. I don't know what wrongs may have been done in the past. Maybe in the natural you have a valid reason to be angry, to be bitter, to not like certain people or a whole group of people. but I'm asking you to let it go. This is a new day. One bad experience

doesn't mean the whole group is bad. Get out of your comfort zone. Be open-minded. Get to know somebody that's not like you. Find out for yourself what they're really like. Like this lady, I believe you'll be surprised. I saw a commercial on television.

It was, had this little white girl out in the park swinging on a swing set. In a few seconds, a little black girl. girl came in and joined her. Then a Hispanic girl, an Asian girl, an Indian girl, on and on until there were 15 or 20 different nationalities represented. It ended with the little white girl walking off holding her mother's hand. Intrigued by all the different nationalities, she said, Mommy, what color is Jesus? The mother said, honey, Jesus is called the light of the world,

and pure light is made up of every color of the rainbow. You ask me, Joel, what color is God? He's every color. He's not just a white God, just a black God, just a brown God. Not just an American God, African God, Hispanic God. He's the God of all flesh. God put a part of himself into every one of us. That's why every person can say, he's my God.

He's my Savior. He's my Redeemer. Now, some of you, you need to let God out of your box. he's not just a Baptist God, just a Catholic God, just a Pentecostal God. God is bigger than any one group. He's bigger than any one denomination. He is not an exclusive God. He's an inclusive God. And this God of ours, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he loves the Muslims just as much as he loves the Christians. He loves the atheist just as much as he loves the believers. And God will save who he wants. He will bless who he wants to bless.

Sometimes we look at groups and think, well, God will never save them. They don't worship the right way. They don't believe like we do. No, I've learned, don't ever write anybody off. In the scripture, Saul of Tarsus hated Christians. He was the one leading the opposition, having them put in prison. But in a split second, God turned his life around. He became the Apostle Paul and ended up writing over half of the New Testament.

Friends, God will save who he wants to save. Quit writing off big groups. We're not called to judge people. We're called to love people. Well, you say, Joel, what group are you in? What group is Lakewood? Are y'all Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, charismatic, independence, evangelical? Who are you?

We're just a group of believers that love the Lord and are excited about life. I don't want any labels. If you draw a circle and shut me out, I'm going to draw a bigger circle and shut you in. We may not agree on everything, but that's not going to keep me from loving you. We may not see eye to eye, but as long as your blood is red, I'm going to be kind and respectful and treat you like my brother. I'm not going to focus on what we don't agree on. I'm going to focus on what we do agree on.

So often we get focused on our groups and our denominations, and we think we're the only ones that are right, and nobody else we can't associate with them. It's funny, the church that Victoria Groups, of pen, they thought they were the only ones going to heaven. When we got married, I said, Victoria, would you go ask them if I could please go to heaven too? I never heard back, but whether they like it or not, I'm going to be up there with them. We have to realize when we get to heaven, there's not going to be a Baptist section over here, Catholic session over here.

You Pentecosters are so loud, go back there in the very back, and a black section, a white section. No, we're all going to be up there together, side by side. Might as well learn to enjoy each other down here. A lot of times we think, well, they're Baptist and I'm Episcopal, and I don't have anything to do with them. This happened back in Jesus' day. They said, I'm of Paul. I'm of Apollus. They were saying, I belong to this group and we don't associate with this other group.

No, go beyond that wall. We can all learn from each other. One thing I'm sure of is I don't know everything. I'll be the first to admit, I don't have God. all figured out. I stay open. I constantly am listening to people that are outside my camp. That didn't grow up like me. That don't think exactly like I do. You have to get past that wall of tradition that says, this is the way I was raised and this is the only right way. This is the way we worship. Joel, this is the church. My family's been in for 427 years. If I even thought

about going to a place like Lakewood, my relatives would turn over in their graves. No, if your relatives were alive today, they'd probably be over here at Lakewood. They'd be celebrating God's goodness. This is a new day. Go beyond the walls of tradition. Some people are stuck in a church where they're not growing, not being fed, no life, no victory, but it's tradition that keeps them there. Listen, life is too short to live that way.

It's time to break free. It's time to get out of a limited environment and go some place where they lift you up and not push you down. Some place where you're challenged to dream bigger, to go further, to become all God's created you to be. This is how Lakewood got started. My dad went beyond an invisible wall. You see, my father was raised Southern Baptist. It was bred all throughout him. Daddy's barber was Baptist.

His banker was Baptist. His grocer was Baptist. even his dogs were Baptist. He was so steeped in tradition. And it wasn't said, but it was certainly felt that everybody else was just a little below par, not quite up to their standards. One day in the late 1950s, some of his staff told my father about this woman that was holding a revival in town and was shaking the whole city.

They wanted my dad to go hear her. It was a big deal. First off, she was a lady. There weren't many women ministers back then. Secondly, she was Pentecostals. Back then, the Pentecostals and the Baptist wouldn't have anything to do with each other. Third thing is when she ministered, she took her shoes off and ministered barefoot. My father was a distinguished pastor of the First Baptist Church.

He said to his staff, are you kidding? You want me to go hear a barefoot woman preacher? I've got a reputation. He was saying, she doesn't belong to our group. She's not in our camp, an invisible wall. They finally talked him into going. As the lady began to minister, she talked about the love and the goodness of God, and big tears started flowing down her cheeks.

My father felt something that night that he had never felt before. He left there determined to become everything God created him to be. Years later, my dad couldn't even call the lady's name, yet he would still credit her with giving him the courage to step out and start Lakewood Church. And when you go beyond invisible walls, you never know what's on the other side. When you break free from tradition, when you get rid of prejudice, you will step into favor and increase like you've never seen before.

In the scripture, there was a man by the name of Cornelius. He was an Italian soldier, very faithful, very generous. One day God spoke to him and said, Cornelius, sin men. down to Joppa, to Simon's house. Peter will be staying there as a guest, and they were to invite Peter to come back to Cornelius' home. When these Italian men went to Joppa to get Peter a Jewish man, that could have easily started a conflict.

They were two different cultures, different races, different faiths even. But while they were traveling, Peter had a dream. And in this dream, he saw meat coming down from the four corners of the earth. And this meat was considered unclean and was forbidden by the Jewish law to eat. Anyone that was serious about their Jewish faith, like Peter, would never eat this meat. But in the dream, God said, Peter, rise up and eat. Peter said, not so, Lord, it's unclean. God said, no, no, Peter, don't call unclean what I have cleansed. Go ahead and eat it. Peter said again, no, Lord, I'm not going to eat it. It's not clean. Happened three times.

It's interesting, even though God was the one asking him to change, Peter wasn't willing to do it. God was the one that made the laws. You could say that Peter loved his tradition more than he loved God. This dream was about food, but really it represented people. When Peter woke up, there was a knock on the door. It was the Italian soldiers inviting him to Cornelius' home. Understand, Cornelius was a Gentile. Gentiles back then were considered unclean.

Up to this point, the gospel had only been preached to the Jews. Now, Peter had to make a decision. Was he going to let his culture, his tradition, his background, keep him from associating with people that were not like him? No, Peter was bold enough, he was radical enough to go beyond the invisible walls. Now, at Cornelius' house, out of his comfort zone, out of his culture, he began to share the good news. Acts 1044 says that while he was still ministering, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them.

And those that were with Peter, the other Jews, they were astonished because on the Gentiles for the first time, the Holy Spirit was poured out. Today, you and I are enjoying God's goodness. We have salvation. It's come to our house because Peter was willing to go beyond tradition, culture, races, even religion and share with people that were not like him. From that day forward, the church exploded. It went into all races, all cultures, all over the world.

But had God not prepared Peter's heart by giving him that dream, I doubt that Peter would have ever gone to see Cornelius. He probably would have never broken free from that tradition. I believe today God is preparing our hearts to go beyond invisible walls, beyond tradition, beyond what we're used to. God is saying, broaden your life. Get to know people that are not just like you. Get rid of tradition and don't let prejudices that have been passed down

keep you from the fullness of what God has in store. Remember, our skin color is only a 16th of an inch deep. Don't judge by the outside. Find out what's on the inside. Friends, invisible walls have held us back. long enough. Let's go out this week and get out of our comfort zone. Let's be willing to be a friend

to someone that we might normally stay away from. If you do, their life will not only be fuller, your life will be fuller. God will be pleased. He'll pour out his blessings in favor. You'll rise higher and higher, and I believe and declare you'll live that life of victory

he has in store. Amen, do you receive it today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I 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. We all carry a mental picture of what our life can be. Is yours limited? Do you picture yourself stuck, inadequate, defeated. Are you willing to change your mindset in order

to experience a life of blessing and abundance? We all have a picture in our mind of our self, our family, our future, and if that picture is negative, you see yourself at a disadvantage, your problem's too big, it's going to limit your life. My new book, The Abundance Mindset, will help you see yourself the right way. If you'll change those negative pictures, start seeing yourself blessed, healthy, rising high, accomplishing dreams, then things will begin to shift in your favor. You have to see it on the inside before it'll come to pass on the outside. We'll send you the Mindset Journal too. These tools will help you get your inner vision in the right place so you can move into the favor and blessing that God has for you.

As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we would like to send you a copy of Joel's book, The Abundance Mindset, and this inspiring mindset journal. Joel shares powerful scriptures and encouraging thoughts about how to move from barely enough to more than enough, how to be someone else's miracle and experience miracles in your own life. As you make the book and journal a part of your daily walk, you'll be built up every day regarding how to tap into God's favor and blessing, how not to talk yourself out of the dreams and opportunities he has already prepared for you. How to experience life to the fullest.

Request your copies today and begin to see a new mental picture of yourself that will lead to new measures of blessing, favor, promotion, and abundance. Let's go into 2025 with an abundant mindset. I believe you're going to see the goodness of God in new ways. Victoria and I want you to know we pray for you and your family every day. For God's very best, we want to thank you. Thank you for your prayer and support. You are impacting people all over the world.

A special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly support. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning. Download our daily podcast, listen on Sirius XM, watch on YouTube. Also the new Joel Osteen Network, streaming on television 24 hours a day. Until we see you again, may the Lord bless you. you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of the Abundance Mindset Book and Mindset Journal today.

Visit jolosteen.com or call 888-567 Joel. For an additional donation this month, we are also offering His Goodness, Abundance Bowl. You can request this inspiring resource by calling 888-567 Joel or logging on to Joeloste.com today. If you've never been to Lakewood, we have a great opportunity. We call it Homecoming Weekend. We'd love to meet you and your family. You can see the building and attend one of the services.

It's a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family. Looking forward to seeing you homecoming weekend.