Joel Osteen Podcast - God Wants to Amaze You

Episode Date: July 15, 2020

Every one of us has seen God’s goodness to a certain degree, but we haven’t seen anything yet! God has favor in your future that will supersede anything that you’ve seen in the past.Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope 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.

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See you. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll leave inspired. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the ministry going. Enjoy the message. And God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and we know God has great things in store for you. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. These are the finest people in all of Houston, Texas, right here at Lakewood. So come out and be apart when you can. Thanks for tuning in. I like to start with something funny, and I heard about this burglar that broke into a home one night.

As he was stealing the stereo, he heard a voice saying, Jesus is watching you. He froze in his tracks, and he shined the flashlight around the room, and he saw a parrot over in the corner. He said, did you say that to me? The parrot said, yes, I'm just trying to warn you. He said, warn me. What are you talking about? Who are you? The parrot said, my name is Moses.

The burglar laughed and said, what kind of crazy people would name a parrot, Moses? The parrot said the same kind of people that would name a 150-pound rotweiler, Jesus. All right, 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 how God wants to amaze you with his goodness. We are living in a day where God is increasing his favor. And every one of us has seen God's goodness to a certain degree. But really, we haven't seen anything yet. God has favor in your future that will supersede anything that you've seen in the past. The scripture talks about how the glory of the latter day will be greater than the glory of the former day. That means what God did for your parents, grandparents, what previous generations have experienced, the blessing in favor. That was good, but God is a God of increase. He has greater things in store for you. That promotion you were so thrilled with 10 years ago, the restoration that took place five years ago, that's nothing compared to what God is

about to do. The Apostle Paul said, in the ages to come, we would see the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing greatness of God's favor. That's the day we're living in. I want you to get you hopes up. I want you to enlarge your vision. What God has in your future, where he's going to take you, the people he's going to bring across your path, the opportunities you're going to experience, the gifts you're going to discover on the inside. You're going to look back one day and say, I know that was the surpassing greatness of God's favor. You may be facing impossible situations today. All the odds are against you. You don't see how your dreams, could come to pass. But the good news is we serve a supernatural God. He already has a way.

And our job is not to figure it all out. Our job is to believe. Our job is to get up each morning and say, Father, I want to thank you that what's in my future is greater than what's in my past. So I'm taking the limits off of you and I'm not going to live negative, discouraged, focused on my disappointments, dwelling on my impossibilities, No, God, I'm looking for the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing greatness of your favor. In fact, where God is going to take you is not only going to amaze you, it's going to amaze the people around you. In the Old Testament, God was about to do something great.

And he said to the critics and to the naysayers, I will do a work in your day that you will not believe even if I told you. God was saying not to the believers, but to the unbelievers, even if I spelled it out, even if I wrote it down and you could read all about the incredible things I'm going to do for my people, all the doors I'm going to open, all the favor I'm going to release, even if I explained it to you in great detail, you would still say, no way, that's impossible, never going to happen. If some of the people you grew up with, maybe the ones you used to party with, if they were told back then where you would be right now, sitting in church, living a life that

honors God, kind, respectful, full of integrity, they would have said, you've got to be kidding. You've got the wrong person. Maybe somebody else, but I know then, no, God has the final say. He has planned out your days for good and not evil. He is going to amaze you in your future. If some of the people that used to look down on you and try to make you, you, and try to make you feel inferior like you didn't have what it takes. If they could see you now, strong, confident, a leader, excelling in your career,

they would think that couldn't be the same person. What in the world happened? Here's what happened. You got in agreement with God, and he released his favor in amazing ways. You may be around people right now that are real good at telling you what you can't do and what's not going to work out. and they're quick to remind you of all your impossibilities. But don't let them talk you out of your dreams.

They don't determine your destiny. God does. And if you will stay in faith, one day they will stand in amazement at where God takes you. They're going to say, is that the same young man I used to go to school with that's now running the company? Is that the same one that used to struggle with addictions year after year? You mean to tell me he's not only totally. free, but he's helping other people get free? Is that the same family I grew up with that could barely get by, always in defeat and lack in poverty? And now they're blessed, they're prosperous,

they're the head and not the tell. Friends, where God is going to take you is going to amaze your critics and your naysayers. If God were to describe to them your future right now in great detail, they would say, I don't believe it. That's just too good to be true. Here's the key. Don't let their unbelief keep you from believing. Get in agreement with God. When you believe, all things are possible. And Paul prayed here in Ephesians 118 that the eyes of our heart would be flooded with light so we could understand the wonderful future God has in store. That's my prayer for each one of you, that you would have a greater understanding of the amazing things God has in your future. Some of you think that you've reached your limits. God's been good to you.

You're happy. You're blessed. Now you're just coasting. No, you need to get ready. God is about to release his unprecedented favor. That's favor that you have never seen before. Your relatives, coworkers, friends may try to talk you out of it and tell you how unlikely that is.

But listen, God didn't put the promise in them. He put the promise in you. And if you will keep believing, God will not only bring it to pass, but he will do more than you can ask her thing. This is exactly what Abraham and Sarah had to do. God gave them the promise that they were going to have a baby. In the natural, it was impossible. Abraham at the time was 80 years old.

His wife Sarah was 70 years old. Everyone knows you can't have a baby at that age. Year after year went by with no child. Looked like it was never going to happen. But Abraham and Sarah didn't give. get discouraged. They didn't start complaining. The scripture says they grew strong in faith by giving praise to God. No doubt all through the day, they would go around saying, Father, thank you that this baby is coming in. It may look impossible, but God, we know you can do the impossible. I'm sure when some of

their friends and neighbors heard them talking about having a baby, they must have thought these people are far out. They think God can do anything. They must be going to Lakewood. Don't they know they're too old to have a child? No, Abraham and Sarah just shook off that doubt and unbelief. They didn't allow other people to talk them out of the promise. One day, 20 years later, when Sarah was 90 years old, she gave birth to that baby. Now, I love what she said. She looked at little Isaac and said, who would have thought an old woman like me could give birth to a baby. Friends, in your future,

there are some who would have thought moments. You're going to look back and say, who would have thought I would have my best year in the middle of a recession? Who would have thought Lakewood would end up in the compact center? Who would have thought my mother would be alive today

after being diagnosed with terminal cancer 29 years ago? Who would have thought? Who would have thought my father as a 17-year-old boy selling popcorn in a theater, the poorest of the poor, no education, no money, no future to speak of. Who would have thought he would rise out of poverty and defeat and become a great pastor that would touch people all over the world? You need to get ready.

There are who would have thought moments in your future. I heard this mom telling how concerned she was about her son. He was making poor decisions, running with the wrong crowd. She prayed and prayed and tried to convince him to come to church and quit hanging around with those people, but he just wouldn't do it. It seemed like the more she prayed, the worse he got. Long story short, he ended up in jail. Look like he would never fulfill his destiny.

But this mother didn't give up and get negative. She just kept declaring the scripture, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The seed of the righteous is blessed. one Sunday morning in jail, her son was watching television, and another inmate came in and wanted to watch something else. And they began to argue over what they were going to watch. And they started struggling over the remote control trying to take it away from each other. About that time, this huge inmate came in. He stood six foot six.

He looked like a professional football player, had these muscles bulging out of his shirt. He grabbed the remote control and said, I'll decide. what we're going to watch. He started flipping through the channels and came across our program. He said, good. We're going to watch Joel today. Her son, that inmate got up to leave. He grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back down and said, sit down. You're going to watch with me. God works in mysterious ways. We had a captive audience that day. But as he watched the program, all the sudden he began to feel God's love and presence like never before. He started weeping.

The end of that broadcast, that big inmate led him to Christ. And today, I see him at our services all the time sitting with his mother. That was a who would have thought moment. Who would have thought sitting in jail, he would be forced to watch our program and God would end up changing his life? those promises that you've been standing on may look like they're never going to come to pass, but always remember there are who would have thought moments in your future. David said it like this.

What would have happened to me if I had not believed I would see the goodness of God? I'm asking you today to believe that God has amazing things in your future. Believe that you can rise higher and become all that God's created you to be. incredible power is released when we believe. When we dare do like this mother, even though it looks impossible, and we don't see a way, yet we say, Father, I want to thank you for the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing greatness of your power. I know it's at work in my life right now.

When we activate our faith like that, it allows God to do amazing things. I talked to a young couple after the service last week. They'd been trying to have a child for six years. The young lady had had a couple of miscarriages and for some reason just couldn't carry the baby. They'd gone to all the experts and done everything they could medically with no success. Finally, they just turned it over to the Lord and said, God, our hopes and dreams are in your hands. We trust you. We know you're in complete control.

Years earlier, the young lady's sister had a dream where she saw this young lady, and her husband with the most beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde-haired little boy than you could ever imagine. They knew that was a sign from God. They had talked about adoption here and there, but they thought it was much further down the road. On Mother's Day, 2009, last year, they were here at the service. That's when Lakewood was celebrating our 50th anniversary. And that day, I talked about the year of Jubilee and how everything that has our name on it is coming back. in. I made the statement how that business that has your name on it is coming in. The health that has

your name on it is coming in. And I specifically said, the baby that has your name on it is coming in. They looked at each other in amazement. They knew that was exactly for them. I went on to talk about how God is accelerating things and it's going to happen quicker than you think. The whole time they were allowing that seed to take root in their heart. Here's what I've learned. The only promises that will become alive and really end up a reality in your life are the promises where you rise up and say, yes, Lord, that's for me. You've got to get in agreement with God and let the promise take root in your heart.

Because I can speak faith and victory over your future for a lifetime. But if you just sit back and say, oh, man, this is not really for me. I've made too many mistakes and I always get bad breaks. You will talk yourself out of it and the promises won't do you any good. But when the soil of your heart is fertile, when there's an expectancy on the inside, then when you hear that promise that God has who would have thought moments in your future, you'll do like that young couple and rise up and say, yes, Lord, I believe. I'm in agreement with you.

I'm expecting the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing great. of your favor. And that's what this young couple did. They went out that morning knowing that the baby that had their name on it was coming in and it was going to happen quicker than they thought. Four hours later, as they were celebrating Mother's Day with their family, their business manager called and asked if they would be interested in adopting a little baby boy that would be born in July. They knew that was the hand of God. Eight weeks later, Later, they were in the delivery room when the little boy was born, and it just so happened to be a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little boy like the sister had dreamed about earlier.

They were the first ones to put their loving arms around the baby when he was born. In fact, the father was even able to cut the umbilical cord. They named their little son Asher from the Old Testament that means gift from God. Little Asher is there on the front row with his parents, Dr. Scott and Donna. But I wonder what would have happened if they had not believed. I don't know. Maybe they wouldn't have gotten the phone call that afternoon. I'm convinced there are times that we miss the amazing hand of God,

simply because we don't activate our faith by believing. We let our mind talk us out of it. We think of all the reasons why it won't happen. but I'm asking you today to be a believer and not a doubter. Let the seed take root. God has who would have thought moments in your future. He is about to release a new level of his favor in your life. God is going to give you the desires of your heart.

Those promises you've been standing on for years and years, you're about to see them come to fulfillment. That situation that's been stuck at the same level for a long time, you're about to see a breakthrough. That child that won't do what's right, God's about to send somebody across his path. There is increase and promotion in your future like you've never dreamed up.

But most likely it's not going to happen in an ordinary way. The way you have planned, it's going to happen in an extraordinary way so that you will know it was the hand of God. Friends, this is a generation for the surpassing greatness of God's faith. That means it's going to be above and beyond what we've seen before.

I have a friend that was in this auditorium in 1998 for a business seminar. He was sitting on the front row next to my college roommate. The place was filled with business people from around the city. As he sat there listening to the speaker talk, all of a sudden, he felt something rise up so strongly on the inside. And it said to him, one day this facility was, will be a church filled with God's people celebrating his goodness. He was so excited, he told my college roommate. That was in 1998, a year before my father went to be with the Lord. I wasn't even a minister, but yet he released his faith and said in effect, God, I'm in agreement with you. I believe

today we are in this facility in part because he dared to activate his faith. He got in agreement with God, and let the promise take root. Friends, God is looking for someone to believe. When you hear that promise on the inside, when you know it's God speaking to you, you don't have to have five confirmations. You don't have to figure it all out. All you've got to do is say,

Lord, I believe. I get an agreement with you. There is incredible power that's released when we believe. A few years after Victoria and I were married, a friend of hers had a dream one night. I didn't really know this young lady, but she told Victoria, in this dream, I saw Joel speaking in front of thousands of people. It was in a huge auditorium, and he was up there very calmly encouraging people, and not a person was moving. Everyone was listening very intently. Victoria came home and told me about it. At that time, I was in my mid-20s,

and working behind the scenes at the church doing the television production and I had never ministered before. Isn't the natural? Just off the top of my head, I thought, oh, that dream doesn't mean anything. She must have just had too much pizza before she went to bed

because I'm not a minister and I'm certainly not going to get up in front of thousands of people. But deep down in my heart, once I got past my head, even though I didn't understand it, even though I never thought I would become a minister. Instead of just blowing it off, I said, Lord, I let that seed take root.

And I thank you that I will become everything that you've created me to be. Over the next 10 years from time to time, that dream would come up. And I would just simply say, God, not my will, but let your will be done. And in 1999, when my father went to be with the Lord, all of a sudden, I had this strong desire to step up and pastor the church. My mind was telling me all the reasons why I couldn't do it and how I wasn't qualified and how I'd never been to seminary. But deep down, that dream that I allowed to take root some 12 years earlier would keep rising up, reminding me that I can do all things through Christ. I am well able.

Today, when I look at you, I realize I am living the dream that that young lady saw many years ago. I believe one reason I was able to step up that I've seen God's amazing favor is simply because I allowed that promise to take root. That's what David meant when he said, what would have become of me if I had not believed. I don't think I'd be standing here today if I had not chosen to be a believer. When I drive up to this beautiful facility every week, I can say with Sarah, who would have ever thought the former common. Pack Center, where I used to watch the Rockets play basketball would become our church. God has done more than we could even ask for things. When I get up to minister, I think, who would have thought that would be me?

I'm naturally quiet and reserved. Who would have ever thought I would stand at the New Yankee Stadium and be the first one to minister there? Friends, you don't know where God's going to take you. He has amazing things in your future. dare to activate your faith. Let the seed take root. That's what a friend of mine did. She's a minister as well and she attends our services from time to time. She's heard me talking about how we should believe for an Ephesians 320 decade. Every day she does what I ask people to do to get up in the

morning and say, Father, thank you that this is going to be an exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond decade of your goodness and your favor. Her ministry is geared toward helping women with addictions, women that are struggling in different areas of abuse. She spends a lot of her time on the street where people are really hurting. She doesn't have any formal church that supports her, so she has to raise her own funds from the people she knows. Not long ago, through a series of unusual events, she met one of the most well-known and wealthiest business people around. She was able to visit with him for a few minutes in his office with several other people. In passing, he said to her, now what do you do? She said, well, sir,

I'm a minister and I spend a lot of my time helping women with addictions and women that are going through other difficult situations. He said, that's amazing. I never dreamed you would do that. I want to support you. He gave her a very generous gift. In fact, it was one of the largest gifts that she had ever received. About that time, a friend of his walked into the office. He said, hey, come over here. I just made a donation to her ministry. How much are you going to give? That man had never seen this lady. Didn't know who she was, but he said, oh, I'll give the same amount that you just donated. That day, she saw Ephesians 320 come to life. God did exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond. That was a who would have thought blessing.

Who would have thought one of the leading business people of our day would be a supporter of her ministry? Friends, God has limitless, immeasurable favor in your future. But I believe the key with this young lady is she dared to activate her faith. She's been declaring Ephesians 320 like never before. We have to take the limits off of God. So often it's our own thinking that keeps us from God's best. My prayer is that your heart is being flooded with faith

so you can understand the amazing things God has in your future. Get ready for increase. Get ready for new doors to open. Proverbs 1321 puts it like this. Trouble chases sinners, but blessings chase the righteous. Something is chasing you right now, not trouble, not defeat, sickness, calamity, harm.

No, as a child of the most high God. blessings are chasing you. Favor is chasing you. Divine connections are coming your way. Because you are a believer, the surpassing greatness of God's favor is at work in your life right now. You know what this beautiful building is?

It's not just God's favor. It's the surpassing greatness of God's favor. My mother, being alive 29 years after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that's not just God's goodness. that's the surpassing greatness of God's goodness. Many of us have seen God's goodness in years past, but what I'm saying is God has another level.

We are entering into a new season. The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former house. We are the generation that will see the surpassing greatness of God's favor. I want to declare it over each one of you. Because you are living a life that honors God, God is going to amaze you with his goodness. God is going to give you favor with people that you've never dreamed of. God is going to take you places that your critics will never believe.

God is going to restore impossible situations. God is going to bring back to life dead dreams. God is going to turn around health problems, legal situations that look like they're too far gone. And God is going to give you the desire. of your heart. Some of you, just like this young couple, God is going to give you the baby that you've been longing for. He is going to do such amazing things. You're going to look back in five years and say, who would have ever thought I would be as blessed as I am today? Who would have thought moments are in your future? You need to get ready. They are coming your way. I declare it.

I believe it in the name of Jesus. If you receive it, can you shout an amen and amen? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. The most important decision that you could make. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Amen. Well, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again.

Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place in your life. He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of. Thank you for listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope with those all over the world. Visit joelosteen.com slash give hope to give a gift today. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you inspired all through the week.

We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you next time. More than ever before, people are turning to the church for their mental health struggles. Unfortunately, the church has largely been ill-equipped to help. That is, until now. Join nearly 50,000 people, just like you,

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