Joel Osteen Podcast - High Time | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: December 5, 2023

You are closer than you realize to seeing your dreams fulfilled. Even when we don't see things changing, God wants us to live with a sense of expectancy for the new things He wants to do in our lives.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.Daily inspiration. Scriptural promises. Get ready for a new year of faith with the Hopes & Dreams 2024 Planner. Our special December offer will let you journal your thoughts, record your prayers, and hold on to the dream God has placed in your heart. Request your copy today! https://bit.ly/3T8xgqS   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 the podcast, and we want to tell you how much we love you. Trusting you're going to have a blessed Christmas season with you and your family. Know that we pray for you every day. Just speak in God's blessings and favor. We love you. We are praying for you, and we hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Enjoy the podcast today. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes, and if you're ever in our area, please stop by, be a part of one of our services, I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this mother one Sunday morning. She went in her son's room and said, son, wake up. It's time to go to church. He said, no, mom, I'm not going to go to church today. She said, why not? He said, I'll give you two good reasons.

Number one, I don't like the people. And number two, they don't like me. She said, all right, I'll give you two better reasons why you should go. Number one, you're 49 years old. And number two, you're the pastor. 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 high time. time. When we've been believing for our dreams to come to pass for a long time or problems to turn around and we don't see anything happening, we're not making progress, we're not getting good

breaks, it's easy to lose our passion and not expect things to change. It's been that way so long we start accepting it. I'll never get well. I'll never break this addiction. I'll never accomplish my goals. I tried, I prayed, I believed, but it didn't work out. that may have been true in the past, but I believe you are entering into a new season. The scripture says, now is the high time to wake up out of your sleep. For you are nearer to your salvation than when you first believed. When God first put the promises in your heart, you were excited. You told people what you were going to do.

But now it's been months, maybe years. It hasn't turned out the way you had planned. you don't think it's ever going to happen. God is saying you are closer now to seeing it come to pass than you've ever been. You're coming in to a high time. High time is when things suddenly change in your favor. High time is when blessings chase you down. You don't have to go after them.

They come after you. High time is when your healing shows up. You meet the right person. You break the addiction. God makes things happen that you couldn't make happen. Now, if you're going to see this high time, there's something you have to do. Wake up out of your sleep.

That means get your passion back. Start believing again. Start expecting things to change. Start talking like it's going to happen. You can't sleep through your high time and see God's favor. You can't be complacent and step into the fullness of what God has in store. The amplified version says it's a critical time. It stresses the importance of the season.

It's saying don't take it lightly. Don't dismiss it and say, oh, this isn't for me today. If you don't stir your faith up, you can miss the new things God wants to do. And what you're believing for is not way off in the distance is close. It's at hand. It could happen today. Live with this expectancy. There has to be an anticipation in your spirit that today could be my day.

Not one day in the sweet by and by I'll be blessed. One day I'll be free from these problems. One day, Joel, I'll walk on streets of gold, won't have to deal with these bills. The problem with the one day mentality is you will miss what God wants to do today. We're not going to need favor in the sweet by and by. When we get to heaven, we're not going to have any problems. God wants to give you favor right here, right now. The prophet Joel said,

wake up the mighty men, wake up the mighty women. My message today is very simple, wake up, get your passion back, get your hopes up. You are closer to meeting the right person than you've ever been. You are closer to seeing your health turn around

than you've ever been. You are closer to go into new levels, to see an explosive blessings than you've ever been. My question is, are you awake? Do you recognize this is your high time? The opposite of high time, of course, is low time. And some people live with a low time mentality. I never get any good breaks.

My boss doesn't like me. I'll never get back in shape. I've struggled my whole life. I'll never get my business off the ground. Nobody in my family is successful. as long as you have a low time mentality, it will keep you from rising higher. Turn it around. Get in agreement with God.

Father, thank you. This is my high time. I believe I'm close to my victory. Somebody ask you, how you doing? Don't tell them all the reasons why you're not going to get well, how your grandmother had the same illness. She only made it to 47. You can talk yourself into defeat.

Have a high time. mentality. Yes, I hadn't been feeling well, but I know I'm close to my healing. I'm close to the turn around. You're still single? Yes, but I'm not worried. I'm close to meeting the right person. He may show up today. I could meet her tomorrow. You don't know they could be in this building. Look around before you leave. Don't go out in a hurry. You're still at that same position. You're still, look around later, not now. You're still in that same. You're still in that same. You're still in that same apartment, yes, but I know a secret. I'm in high time. I'm close to favor. I'm close to promotion. I'm close to stepping up to a new level of my destiny. When we were children, we used to

play a game. One of us would hide something in the house and the other person would try to find it. The one that hit it would give them clues by telling them they were getting hotter or getting colder. The closer you got to it, the hotter you were. I would play. I would play. I would play with my little sister April. And when she was going the wrong direction, I'd say, you're getting cool, you're getting cooler, you're cold, you're freezing. She'd turn, go the right way, you're getting warm, you're getting warmer. Now you're hot. Now you're really hot. When she got right up close to it, I'd say, you're on fire, you're burning. What you've been believing for, what you're dreaming about may not have happened for a long time. Now you're tempted to settle there

and think that it wasn't meant to be, God is saying you're on fire. You're burning. You're close to your victory. You're close to your breakthrough. This is not the time to get discouraged. This is the time to stir your faith up. You are closer now to seeing it happen than you've ever been.

Now, you may not see any sign of it yet. The medical report hasn't changed. The fertility treatments haven't worked. You still feel stuck in your career. The enemy would love to convince you to go to sleep. Quit believing, quit dreaming, quit praying. It's never going to work out. You're just wasting your time. Don't believe those lies. You are entering into a new season. In this high time, it's not going to happen the way you thought. God's not going to do it a traditional way. He's going to do something unusual,

something out of the ordinary. You didn't see it coming. It looked. It looked. like another routine day, nothing special, then suddenly, out of nowhere, you meet the right person. You didn't go after them, they came after you. Suddenly, your health turns around. Suddenly, you get the promotion. God is full of surprises. He loves to do things not on a normal timetable, not in a normal way, but when we don't expect it, when it seems the least likely. If we knew it was high time, If we could see it was going to happen, the scripture wouldn't tell us to wake up. Hide time when you're closer than you've ever been is when every circumstance says, nothing's changing.

It's not going to work out. Just settle where you are. This is what happened with a man in John chapter 5. He was crippled. Every day, his friends would carry him to the pool of Bethesda. It was surrounded by people in great need, lame, sick, blind. once a year the angel would stir the waters, the first person to get in would be healed. This man had been lying there for 38 years.

I can see the reason why he went. There was a chance he could be well. But I'm not so sure now he wasn't just going there to be around other people that were like him. Sometimes when we're dysfunctional, we like to be around other dysfunctional people so we feel normal. If I'm insecure and you're insecure and we go find other insecure people, then being insecure doesn't seem unusual. Don't make the mistake of surrounding yourself with people that feed your dysfunction. As long as you accept the dysfunction, you're giving it permission to stay. You may have been fighting depression, illnesses, addictions, your whole life, but that is.

not your destiny. Don't be complacent and learn to live with it. If you're depressed, don't go find depressed friends. Don't get around people that enable your dysfunction. Get around some happy friends. Get around people that lift your spirit, not people that make you more depressed. If you're struggling with an addiction, don't hang around people that are addicted. It's hard enough to stay strong on your own. You don't need them pulling you down. When you get, get better. When you're free, you can go back and help them. But right now, you need to stay out of that dysfunction. Get around people that have what you want. Not we're being addicted is the norm, but we're being free as the norm. We're being happy as the norm. We're being victorious is the

norm. This man had 38 chances to get well. 38 times, once a year, the angel stirred the waters, but somebody always got in in front of him. And I'm sure they knew when the angel normally came. Maybe it was in the spring. They would especially be on guard. This is our time. It could happen any moment when it didn't happen. They would sit there month after month. No expectancy, no passion. They had to wait a whole year just to have another chance. But one day, Jesus showed up at the pool. I can imagine it was during the fall. There were hundreds of sick people all around, but he walked straight to this crippled man and said,

do you want to get well? That seemed like an odd question. He came to the pool to get well, but I believe Jesus could see that he had been there so long he had gone to sleep. He wasn't expecting anything to change. Early on, the first few years, he was excited. He knew he would be next, but it didn't happen the first year, the fifth year, or the 20th year.

Now, instead of answering Jesus with a simple, yes, I want to get well, he said, sir, I have nobody to help me. When the angel comes, somebody always gets in front of me. Jesus didn't say, I understand. I feel sorry for you. You've had a rough life. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your bed, and walk. The man was confused. He thought, what do you mean? I can't walk. Can't you see? I'm crippled. The angel didn't come. It wasn't the right season. It wasn't the normal way. He had seen 38 people healed before. He knew how it happened. He was an expert. In the spring, the angel showed up. That's when you got well. Now he was at a crossroads. Was he going to let tradition, how it happened in the past? what he was expecting, talk him out of it? Or was he going to say, if you say I can get up, I'm going to get up?

All of the sudden, something came alive on the inside. What happened? He woke up. He recognized, this is my high time. I'm closer now than I've ever been. I'm not going to sit around another year discouraged, surrounded by defeat. I'm going to arise. When he started to get up, instantly his legs were healed. He picked up his bed and walked out of there. But Jesus didn't come at the normal time and do it a normal way. This man didn't see anything different than he had seen in 38 years, yet suddenly he came in to his high time. Well, Joel, I've had this addiction since high school.

I've been praying for my dreams to come to pass for years. Nothing's happened. I've been believing for this child to get back on course. I don't think it's possible anymore. I'm here to wake you up. Even if it's been 38 years, it is not too late. In the scripture, Sarah had a baby when she was 80 years old. What God put in your heart, don't talk yourself out of it.

You are coming in to your high time. You're about to see God do unusual things. You weren't the most qualified, but they skipped over others and chose you. You didn't see it coming. It wasn't the normal time to be promoted, but God showed up in the, quote, wrong season. The medical report said you wouldn't get well, just learned to live with it, but you came in to your high time. God did what medicine couldn't do. He healed you out of season. He promoted you out of season. Your business takes off out of season. I talked to a lady that works in sales. Last year, everyone in her company had a down year.

over a hundred salespeople, but she said, Joel, it was like clients were looking for me. I didn't have to go after new business. Every time I turned around, someone was calling me. People she didn't even know were recommending her sending business her way. She ended up 50% higher than her previous year. Her coworkers couldn't understand how in a down year she could be doing so great. What was that? God. showing up in the wrong season when she wasn't expecting it. God loves to do unusual things. When you think you should be asleep, don't expect much, just make it through this year. No, get ready. God is about to surprise you. He's going to make things happen that you couldn't make

happen out of season, out of time, not the traditional way, not ordinary. It's going to happen sooner than you think. Second King's chapter 7. There was a great fan. in the city of Samaria. Food was so scarce that it cost a hundred times what it normally did. To make matters worse, an army had surrounded the city and cut off the food supply. The prophet Elisha showed up and said to the Israelites, by this time tomorrow, there will be so much food, you'll be able to buy a loaf of bread for one penny and ten quarts of flour, all for one cent. the people thought, come on, Elisha, we're starving, we're surrounded by an army, and you're telling us, this is our high time. You're saying we're close to our victory. Can't you see it's the wrong

circumstances, wrong time, all the odds are against us? There was no reason in the natural for them to believe what Elisha said. It may be the same thing for you. Joy, you say it's my high time. if you saw my bank account, you'd say it's my low time. If you saw my medical report, if you saw how these people were treating me at work, you wouldn't tell me I'm close to my victory. You wouldn't say, get my hopes up. That's just how these people felt.

But just because you don't see a way doesn't mean that God doesn't have a way. It's easy to be discouraged, to be negative, let circumstances talk you out of it. That doesn't take anything. But when it seems impossible, when you don't have the connections to accomplish your dreams, when the medical report isn't good, that's when you have to dig your heels in and say, all the odds may be against me,

but God, I know you are for me. I believe things are changing in my favor. There were four lepers sitting outside the city gates of Samaria. They said to each other, we have nothing to lose. We're going to die anyway. Let's go down to the enemy's camp and see what they're doing. As they walked toward the enemy, God multiplied the sound of their footsteps. It sounded like a huge army was approaching. The enemy panicked and took off running for their lives.

They left all their food, all their supplies, all their equipment. The lepers went back and told the Israelites what had happened. Just like Elyche said, there was so much food, you could buy a loaf of bread for one penny. It all happened 24 hours after Elisha said it. God told them, by this time tomorrow, seemed impossible. No way in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He has some by this time tomorrow's for you. When it looks the most unlikely, get ready for the most high God to show up and surprise you.

And yes, I realize there are. seasons of waiting, seasons of being faithful, doing the right thing when it's hard. But at some point, that season of testing is going to come to an end. Like the Israelites, you may feel like you're in a famine, surrounded by difficulties. If you ever wanted to doubt, be discouraged, talk yourself out of it, it would be now. My challenge is stay awake. Don't go to sleep. God has some by this time tomorrow's for you.

he can do it suddenly, unexpectedly, you didn't see it coming. I received an email from a young lady that just graduated from college. She was very grateful to have her degree, but she was thousands of dollars in debt. It looked like she would be paying on that for the next 20 years. But recently, the college called and informed her that they were forgiving her debt of $54,000. She was so excited. She said, Joel, it was like my degree in criminal justice was for free. One night, she went to bed tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but by that time tomorrow,

she was debt free. She didn't see it coming. She wasn't expecting it. What happened? She came in to her high time. Like her, you are closer to your freedom, closer to your abundance, closer to your breakthrough than you realize. It may look like you're going to be in debt for the next 30 years.

years, but God has some by this time tomorrow's for you. You may think you're going to have to struggle with that illness the rest of your life. Or stay awake. You're coming in to your high time. I talked to a man that had flown to Houston to have treatment at the medical center. He has a cancerous tumor in his stomach area. He was told he would need to take treatment for six months and then they would evaluate to see if the tumor was shrinking. Before he started the new treatment, they took x-rays and noticed that the tumor was already shrinking. Surprise, they asked the man if he was doing anything differently. He wasn't. They said, you don't need to take the treatment. Your body is healing itself. Let's wait and see what happens. He flew all that way to have it,

but God had a, by this time tomorrow, waiting for him. Well, Joel, what if it doesn't happen by tomorrow? then you should go to bed that night saying, Father, thank you. Now I know I'm one day closer to seeing it come to pass. Keep this expectancy in your spirit. Those things that have held you back in the past,

that is not your destiny. That is not how your story ends. Don't let negative circumstances convince you to settle where you are. Jesus said in John 4, say not there are four months and then come the harvest. lift up your eyes. Look on the fields for the harvest is ready now. Notice the principle, say not is four months away.

Say not. It's never going to happen. Say not, maybe one day I'll get the break I need. If you're always in the future, the say nots will keep you from God's best. You have to get rid of the say nots. Now is the time to believe. Now is the time to release your faith. What you're hoping. for is not way off in the distance, it's closer than you think. You're in your high time. When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, it spends about three weeks in the cocoon. It develops its wings. It gets the strength to push out and finally it comes out of that cocoon. I'm sure it's happy. You know, at least it's not in the cocoon. It's not dark anymore. It's not confined. But the problem is, even though he has... has brand new wings, at first, the wings don't work. They're soft. They're folded over. He could think, wow, I'm glad I'm not a caterpillar anymore. At least I look better, but I still can't get off the

ground. I still can't go any faster. It looks like he's stuck, but for the next few hours, the butterfly starts pumping blood through its wings. Those wings start to spread out. They start to get stronger and firmered. After four hours of pumping blood through them, those wings are now ready for flight. The butterfly takes off into the air. Like this butterfly, many times we know there's more in us. We know we're supposed to rise higher. We can feel these seeds of greatness. We read God's promises that tell us we're supposed to be healthy. We're supposed to live an abundant life. We're supposed to break the addiction. Our wings are there. but they're not working. We're not getting off the ground. We're not making progress. But like this

butterfly, there's nothing wrong with your wings. You're not stuck. As you keep honoring God, as you keep being your best, you know what's happening? You're pumping blood through your wings. They're starting to spread out. They're getting stronger. Every time you thank God for the victory, you just pump blood into your wings. Every time you come to church, you're pumping more blood into your wings. When you get up in the morning with a grateful heart and thank God for the day, you're pumping in more blood. Your wings are developing. And at the right time, suddenly, unexpectedly, you're going to take off. You're going to go further than you ever imagined. Now, don't get discouraged because it hasn't happened yet. Just keep pumping that blood.

Keep honoring God. Keep being faithful. Keep hoping, praying, believing. Isaiah said, They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. God has some wings for you. When this says to wait, it doesn't mean to be passive. Sick back, God, why aren't you doing anything? Nothing's working out. One translation says, wait with expectancy.

Wait knowing that it's on the way. In other words, I'm on the ground now, but I know I'm about to fly. I'm close to my healing. I'm close to my breakthrough. I'm close to the promotion. That's how you get your wings. Not dragging around disappointed. Focusing on how long it's taken, why it's never going to work out. That's a low time mentality. You have to come over into high time. Those things you're believing for, you've never been closer than right now. It could happen today. It could happen by this time tomorrow. Your wings could be developed this month. Now get rid of the say-nots. Quit believe in those lies that it's way off in the distance. God is saying, you're on fire. You're burning. You're closer than you think.

You're in your high time. I believe and declare because you're honoring God, you're pumping blood through your wings. You're about to take off. You're about to see what you're believing for. It's going to be better than you thought. And it's going to happen sooner than you expected. In Jesus' name.

And if you receive it today, can you say amen? I'd like to give 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. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church and keep God first place.

Do you have a dream that's waiting to happen, but it often feels like you'll never get there. Is your dream? To start a business? To see a loved one come to the Lord. Are you asking God, will it ever happen? Sometimes it feels like our dream is so far off, but I believe you're closer than you think. You're on the verge of seeing things change in your favor, new doors opening, the right people showing up. I'd love to send you our new hopes and dreams, 2024 planner. It's not only a calendar, but it has scriptures and inspiration, a place to journal. It'll help you stay focused and encouraged so you can see your dreams come to pass. As you support the ministry this month with a special end-of-year gift of any amount,

we would like to bless you with the hopes and dreams 2024 planner. With the new planner, you will start the new year with fresh ideas, fresh hope, and endless possibilities. You'll find monthly calendars and plenty of space to plan for a better job. day ahead. Plus, there are inspiring scriptures and thoughts that will encourage you to believe for your dreams. Thank you so much for your prayer and support, your year in giving. You're making a difference around the world. A special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, see all the music and ministry, and you can download our daily podcast.

We hope you and your family have a very blessed Christmas season and a healthy, productive, favor-filled 2024. Be sure to request your copy of the Hopes and Dreams 2020 planner today. Visit joel Osteen.com or call us toll-free.