Joel Osteen Podcast - Impacting Future Generations | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: August 25, 2023

God wants you to be free from everything that's trying to limit you. You can be the one to set a new trend for your future generations.  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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We come with good news knowing that God is on your side. He rewards people that seek after him. Thanks so much for tuning in today. And if you're ever in our area, I hope that you'll stop by and see us because I promise you will make you feel right at home. But I like to get started each week with something kind of funny. So listen to this one.

A professor told his college class that he was going to prove that God was not real. He said, God, if you're real, knock me off this platform and I'll give you 15 minutes to do it. With every minute that went by he kept taunting God saying, here I am, God, I'm still waiting. At the last minute, a 300 pound football player walked by and heard what he said. He came charging into the room, hit the professor with full force sending him flying off the platform. The professor got up in a daze and said, what did you do that for?

The football player replied, God said he is busy, so he sent me. All right, hold up your bibles and say it like you mean. 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'll 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. You sound great as usual. I want to talk to you today about the legacy that you're leaving and about how important it is that we break free from all the next. negative things that keep getting passed down from generation to generation. It's just like when you go to the doctor's office and they ask you for your family's medical history. Do you have anyone that's had heart disease? Do you have any diabetes in your family line? Is there a history of this sickness or

of that sickness? They know that can be passed down from generation to generation. And in the same way, we can pass down a whole lot of other junk unless we rise up and do something about it. And it's so easy to be passive. And we just think, well, this is just the way my father was. He was always hot-tempered, and that's why I'm so hot-tempered. I had somebody tell me just the other week how she started having these real bad migraine headaches. And she said, Joel, I always knew I was going to have them because my mother had them, my grandmother had them. It's been in our family line for as far back as we can see. The truth is, she had already planned on having those headaches. She just basically accepted it and made up her mind to live with it the rest of her life.

But no, that is not God's best. You can be free. You don't have to live under the curse. You can live under the blessing. And some of you today have all kinds of junk in your family's bloodline. It's been there for generations. Divorce, poverty, alcoholism, addictions, negativity. Listen, you've got to rise up and do something about that. Because if you stay passive and just learn to accept it, all you're going to do is pass it on down to the next generation. And what a shame to perpetuate it when you can be the one to put a stop to it. You need to put your foot down and say, no, this junk is not going to follow me around. May have been in my family for years, but I refuse to live negative. I refuse to just live with all these addictions. I am coming out in the name of

Jesus. The Bible says they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. That tells me we need to start talking differently. Quit saying, I just can't get ahead. I've always been negative. Everybody in my family has had these same addictions, Joel. No, your attitude should be. This is

a new day, and I'm drawing that line in the sand. As for me and my family, we're going to live under the blessing and not the curse. We're going to experience the good things of God. I know today, I am reaping many benefits because of the way my parents have lived.

My father put a stop to a lot of the junk that was in our family's bloodline, poverty, defeat, lack, and failure. We would be under that same curse had he not put his foot down and done something about it. And we have to understand the decisions we make don't just affect ourselves. They affect our children. Our grandchildren, they affect future generations. And I know today my life is much easier because I was raised by parents that lived a life of integrity, a life of helping others, a life of kindness. And all through the Bible, there are examples

of where God blessed people because of their parents' obedience, or because of their grandparents' obedience. And the scripture says here in Deuteronomy 30, verse 19, I set before you life and death, blessings and curses, therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live. Notice the choices you make don't just affect you, they affect your descendants. And we need to learn to think generationally. What am I passing down? What kind of legacy am I leaving? Greed, selfishness, defeat negativity, or am I leaving a legacy of giving, a legacy of helping others? Am I kind to people? Do I have a positive outlook? Am I really making a difference with my life? I read a story about a man by the name of Alfred Nobel. He was the creator of the Nobel Peace Prize.

And it's kind of interesting how it all came about. Mr. Nobel was a Swedish chemist, and he invented dynamite and some other very powerful explosives. And most of them were used as weapons during the war and for other very harmful purposes. And he made a fortune off of this invention, millions of dollars. But one day his brother died, and the newspaper accidentally printed his obituary instead of his brothers. And in it, they described him as the man who became rich by enabling others to kill people in mass unprecedented numbers. Man, when he read that, his heart was saddened. He thought, I don't want to be known for that. And so he took his fortune and created the Nobel Prize. And still to this day, that prize

rewards people for making positive accomplishments that benefit mankind. And I wonder how many changes we would make if we could read our obituaries today. Friends, this is a call to excellence. This is a challenge to rise out of mediocrity. Anybody can compromise here and there, not forgiving, being rude or crushing people to get to the top. That's the easy way out. But what a shame to pass that junk down. What a shame to make it harder on those that come after us. Well, you say, Joel, it's my life. I can live it like I want. Yes, that's true, but that's a very selfish way to think, because really it's not just your life. Your decisions affect people around you. You may think it's okay to live negative, defeated, full of self-pity all the time, but those poor choices are affecting

those around you. You may think it's okay to be late to work, to be rude to your spouse, or to watch things that are going to pollute your mind, but each of those decisions is affecting people around you. See, people are watching you, especially your children. They're taking in every single thing you do. They are like video cameras with legs, and they are always in the record mode. They learn more from what you do than from what you say.

Like that old saying, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. when you're tempted to compromise and just take the easy way out, I challenge you to think generationally. Know that every right choice you make, you are making it a little bit easier on those that come after you. Every time you resist temptation, every time you go the extra mile, every time you overlook that fall,

every right choice, you are making an investment into your future. You are sowing a seed for those that come after you. I heard somebody put it like this. You never really make a choice alone. You're always taking your father and your son with you. In other words, you're always taking the future and you're always affecting the past.

You affect the reputation of those that have gone before you by the decisions that you make today. And so when you're tempted, maybe to watch something that's a little bit questionable, just imagine you've got your son on one side and you got your father on the other side. side because that's who you're affecting. And I realize we all struggle in different areas. And you may not have the desire to overcome for yourself. You may not really feel like digging

your heels in and changing and becoming a person of excellence. But I challenge you today, do it for your children, do it for your family, do it for the future generations. Remember, people are watching us wherever we go at the office, at the mall, at the ball field. and they can hear us talk to talk, but they really need to see us walk the walk. If we're sloppy at work and we lose our temper out there on the ball field, maybe we don't keep our word,

then people are not going to want what we have. The point I'm making is that our decisions do affect other people. Don't be selfish and just think about what you want and what's going to be the easiest on you. Think generationally. Think about how it's going to affect your children and grandchildren. Think about how it's going to affect those around.

you. Well, you say, Joel, I don't believe in all that generational stuff. It's just every man for himself. And with all due respect, whether you realize it or not, you are being affected right now by decisions that people made many, many years ago. Habits that you're dealing with, wrong mindsets, addictions, areas that you're even tempted in. Studies show that we produce what we are. In other words, alcoholics produce alcoholics. Negative people, get negative people. Parents that have low self-esteem, most likely are going to have children with low self-esteem. I read a study that said over 90% of the people incarcerated today had either a parent or a very close loved one incarcerated at one time as well. In other words,

most of the time you don't just start out having to overcome some kind of temptation or having to break some kind of bad habit. Very often you can look back and see it some somewhere in your family line. Somebody gave into it and now you're having to deal with it. And I'm not saying to blame the past. I'm not saying to use that as an excuse, but I am saying you need to recognize what's happening and make a conscious decision.

I am not going to be the one to pass that down. I'm going to be the one to put a stop to. I'm going to be the one to choose the blessing and not the curse so that me and my descendants can live. Some of you have had divorce in your family line for generations. You can look back and see it with your parents and your grandparents, your aunts and uncles. Listen, you can be the one to break that spirit of divorce. Don't let the enemy steal your family.

Be on guard to keep strife out of your home. Do everything you can to keep the peace. Be quick to forgive. Don't always have to have your way. Don't have to be right. Put your ego down in order to save your family. See, you've got a record. the schemes of the enemy.

If you look back and see a long line of alcoholism and addictions, then, man, you're going to have to especially be on guard in those areas. Don't just sit back and say, well, that's just the way my family is. No, if you'll dig your heels in, and if you'll start making better choices and start

resisting that temptation, then you can make it so much easier on your children and on the future generations. And it may be difficult at first. You may have to really struggle through it, but if you'll just keep doing the right thing, not only will you be blessed, but you will break that curse in your family. I encourage you to examine your life and look at the areas where you

constantly struggle. And you think, man, why can I get over this? Why do I have such a tough time with fear? Why do I always worry? Why do I get so angry? Many times those have been passed down from other generations and you've got to stand strong and take authority over that. You've got to make a decision with me today that you're going to live under the blessed. and all the negative things that have been in your family line are not going to continue. In 1874, a member of the New York Prison Board noticed that six people from the same family were serving in one of the New York prisons. And he was very intrigued by it, and so he decided to do a study. And he traced their family line back to a man by the name of Max Jukes. He was born

in 1720, and he was known around the town as the troublemaker. He was a woman. He was a an alcoholic, no integrity, no character, and he didn't believe in God. He married a woman that was just like him. They had six daughters and two sons, and approximately 1,200 of their descendants were studied, and among them, 310 were homeless. 180 wrecked their lives through drug and alcohol abuse. 160 were prostitutes. 150 of them were criminals that spent time in prison, seven of them for murder. They ended up costing the state, in today's money, a million and a half dollars to take care of them, and not one of them made any noteworthy contribution to society. But around that same time, another family was studied. It was the Jonathan Edwards family.

You may remember he was a famous theologian, a pastor, and the president of Princeton University. He was born in 1703. He married his wife, Sarah. They had 11 children. He was a devoted family man. He loved God and they stayed married 31 years until his death. And approximately 1,400 of his descendants were studied. And among them, 13 were college presidents. 65 were professors. 100 were attorneys. 32 were state judges. 85 were authors of classic books. 66 were physicians. And 80 held public office, including three governors, three United States senators and one vice president of the U.S. Do you notice what a difference it makes in what is being passed down?

And you may be here today and you don't have a great family lineage behind you. Maybe you weren't raised by godly parents like I was. Maybe all you saw model growing up was laziness, abuse, addictions, negativity. But thank God today is a new day. And the good news is you can be the one to start the godly heritage in your family. You can be the one to reverse that curse. And that's exactly what my father did. Daddy's family, they were good people, but they didn't know anything about God.

They didn't have any dream for their life, no vision. They were just very poor people doing their best trying to survive. My grandmother worked 12 hours a day washing people's clothes. She made 10 cents an hour. And this old defeat and poverty and failure just kept getting passed down from generation to generation. But one day at the age of 17, Daddy gave his life to the Lord. And God called him to preach. And he made a decision right then and there that his family would never experience the failure that he was raised in.

He said, Joel, I made up my mind that my kids would never go to school with holes in their pants, holes in their shoes with nothing to eat like I did. And thank God he rose up and did something about it. He broke that curse in our family. And as I said, today, now I know my life, my life. My children's life, my grandchildren will be so much easier because one man put his foot down and did something about it. Friends, you can do the same thing. You can do the same thing.

Whatever area it may be in, don't just keep passing it down. Draw that line in the sand. You notice back in Bible days, they took their family lineage a lot more seriously than we do today. A lot of times it not only tells where a person is from, but it'll tell his whole family line. And I think it's interesting how so often they prayed to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. What they were doing in effect was reminding God who had gone before them. They were saying, God, you remember my ancestor Abraham and how much he loved you. You remember Isaac and my great, great, great grandfather, Jacob, how they served you and did their best for you.

And really, it's a powerful thing to be able to look back and say, God, we have served you for generations. You may not have that today, but you can get it started. You can be the Abraham in your family. You can be the one to set the tone for the next few hundred years should the Lord Terry. That's exactly what my father did. Now my grandchildren can look back and say, we're praying to the God of John Osteen, the God of Joel Osteen, the God of Jonathan Osteen. You talk about getting God's attention.

That's a powerful thing. You may say, Joel, my family looks more like the Jukes family, man. When I look at my family tree, all I see is a bunch of nuts. No, listen, the good news is you can make a difference. Don't get discouraged. If you'll keep making right choices day in and day out, you keep resisting temptation, you keep going the extra mile, then one day if someone were to study your family line, years from now,

they may see 10 or 15 generations of mediocrity. But when they come to your name, they'll say, hey, look, here's where it all turned around. Here's where the curse stop and the blessings began. Friends, you can make a difference. Some of you need to dig your heels in today. Quit making excuses, quit settling for mediocrity, and say, you know what? The buck stops here. I'm going to set a new standing for my family.

I'm choosing the blessing and not the curse. Exodus 20, verse 5, it says, I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation. That tells us right there that our wrong choices can be passed down three or four generations.

And as I said, some of you are struggling today because of things your parents have done. And maybe you couldn't do anything about it at the time, but thank God you can today. You don't have to let the defeat continue on. I know people that were raised in a very abusive environment. Man, it wasn't fair. But you can either go down that same path

and live negative and bitter and angry, or you can make a better decision. You can make a choice for the blessing and not the curse and see things begin to turn around. And always remember, if somebody has hurt you and done unfair things to you, don't allow them to continue to hurt you by hanging on to it and living all bitter on the inside.

That's what happens when we make poor choices. We just perpetuate the defeat. But watch what happens when we choose the blessings. Watch what happens when we obey God's covenant. commands. It says in Deuteronomy, God is faithful, and he will keep the covenant of mercy with those that love him and obey his commands unto a thousand generations. Notice how good God is. When we sin and we refuse to change, it can affect three or four generations. But when you love God, when you make a decision to do what's right, God promises he will show your family line mercy to a thousand

generations. Man, that's good news. I can sleep well at night knowing that because I'm trying my best to serve God, I know he's going to take care of my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, down to a thousand generations. That's a long

time. After that, I'll let somebody else stick up for him. But I'm not saying I'm perfect. We all make mistakes, but the difference between a sin and an iniquity like the first scripture talked about is a sin is when we do wrong. We feel bad about it and we say, God, forgive me, and we try to do better.

But a sin turns into an iniquity when we just keep doing it over and over again. Bad habits, addictions, negative thinking, those are all iniquities that can be passed down. But always remember, if you love God, and I know you do, if you have a heart to do what's right, God promises because of your good choices, he's going to show your family line mercy. That means your children or your grandchildren, they may get off course a little bit. They may go down the wrong path. But because of the life you have lived, God promises he will not deal with them like somebody that did not have a godly heritage.

He will show mercy because of the life you've lived. I think about David, he had this same promise that a thousand generations would see God's mercy and that someone from his family line would always sit upon the throne of Israel. Well, what's interesting is 23 years after David died, his son Solomon was living very foolishly. He wasn't making good choices. And God came to him and said in effect, Solomon, I want to have mercy on you, not because of anything you've done, but because of the life your father David lived. 57 years after David was gone, his great-grandson was in a terrible time of crisis.

He could have easily been killed, but God showed mercy, spare of it. his life and protected him. And once again, it was because of the promise he made to his great grandfather, David. Three hundred and five years after David had died, Hezekiah was being threatened by all these enemies. In the natural, he could have been wiped out, but God showed up and turned it all around. And he said, Hezekiah, I'm not really doing it because of anything you've done. I'm doing it because of the covenant of mercy I made with David. And who knows how many times God has shown us mercy because we had a praying mother, or because we had a father that loved God. Or maybe we had a great, great, great, grandfather somewhere that lived a holy, godly life.

I think about this friend we know. Years ago, he was in an outlaw biker game. His mind was so messed up. He was addicted to every kind of drug you can imagine. He was just living a very rebellious life, always in trouble with the law. And in the natural, you wouldn't think there's any hope for him. but this young man had a mother that was always praying. She was always saying, God, you remember, you promised to show my children mercy. Well, one day, this young man got so desperate and he sunk so low, he decided he was just going to end his life. He was standing in front of a mirror staring at himself. He had this bottle of pills and he was just ready to overdose.

But something down in here told him, don't do it. Go to church one more time. He hadn't been to church in years and years. He didn't even know why he did it, but he got on his motorcycle, and he pulled up to Lakewood. He came into the service so high he couldn't remember anything. He said, all he could remember is that he felt a love down in here that he'd never really felt before. He left the service that day, and out in the parking lot, in front of his motorcycle, he got down on his knees. And he said, God, if you're real, come into my life.

And do you know that very moment his life was changed? All those addictions were broken off of him. He got his life cleaned up, and today he's a pastor of a church in town, helping other young people that were just like him. But I believe that happened in part because he had a mother that was praying. God showed mercy on him because of the life she lived. That's the promise God has made to us up to a thousand generations. I love the story of Rehab in the Bible. She was a harlot.

She came from a long line of immorality. If you study the people of Canaan, you'll see that they had no regard for God, and it just kept going from generation to generation. But one day Joshua and the people of Israel were about to attack her city of Jericho. And so Joshua was sent two men in to spy out the land. And long story short, they ended up needing a place to stay. And so Rahab took them into her home, and she hid them from her countrymen. In other words, she took a stand for what was right. She made a decision. that day that she was going to serve the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And because of her simple act of faith, not only was she and all of her family spared, but she

broke that curse that had drugged her family down for so many generations. And I love what happened. Rahab ended up marrying a Jewish man, and they had a child named Boaz. Boaz married Ruth, and they had a son named Obed. Obed had a son named Jesse. Jesse had a son named David. And as you know, David became the king. And if you look back today, you'll see that Rahab, the former prostitute, is in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

The point I'm making today is, no matter what family you come from, there may be a long line of addictions, abuse, bad choices, negativity. But if you will start making good choices, if you will take a stand for what's right, then you can break that curse over your family.

And just like Rahab, you'll begin to see God's blessings and favor on you and on your descendants. And so my message to you today is to dig your heels in and make a decision that you're going to live under the blessing and not the curse. Amen. Don't be passing.

Don't make excuses. You've got to rise up and take authority over every negative thing that's trying to hold you back. And remember, every right choice you make, you're sowing a seed for later on. Think generationally. Pass down good things. Leave a legacy of,

faith, a legacy of serving God with your whole heart. If you do that, not only will you see God's mercy for a thousand generations to your family line, but God will pour out his blessings in your own life and you'll experience his victories. Amen. Amen. Well, let's pray together 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. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast

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