Joel Osteen Podcast - Keeping Your Heart Pure | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: February 9, 2024

If you want to step into the next level of your destiny, you have to pay attention to the condition of your inner life. What’s going on inside you is more important than what’s going on around you.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 visitJoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.You are not average, not ordinary. You Are a Masterpiece created in God’s image. Our February offer has extraordinary promises of God to give you mental, physical, and spiritual strength. Grow stronger each day seeing yourself the way God sees you! Request your copy now, https://bit.ly/490TjEF. 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 so much for listening to the podcast, and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes each week, and we know God rewards the people that seek after him, and I just believe that's you or you wouldn't be watching today. So thanks for tuning in.

We love you. and if you're ever in our area, stop by and see us. I give you a personal invitation to be a part of one of our services. You'll really enjoy it, and I say it often, but these guys are the finest people in all of Houston, so we'd love to have you be a part. Thanks for coming today. I like to start with something funny each week,

and I heard about this group of children. They were in the cafeteria line at this Catholic high school during lunch. And at the head table, there was this tray of apples, and a nun had written a note and it said, take only one, God is watching. At the end of that cafeteria line, there was this big batch of chocolate chip cookies and one of the little children had written a note.

It said, take all you want. God's watching the apples. Hold up your Bibles and say it with me. You ready? This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do.

Today I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk to you today about the importance of keeping a pure heart. What's going on in you is really more important than what's going on around you. And we all have two different lives. We have our outer life. That's our public life that everybody can see.

and then we have an inner life that's only between us and God. It's made up of our thoughts, our attitudes, and our motives. Nobody knows what's going on down in here except us and God. And too many people go around today pretending, acting one way, talking one way, yet on the inside, they're thinking something totally different. Their heart and their actions don't line up. And really, this is what we would consider to be a phony. They play up to people trying to get things.

They've got ulterior motives. They can smile at you and be thinking, I don't really like you at the same time. See, their heart is not pure. But we have to understand. God looks at the inside, not the outside. We can fool a lot of people, but we can't fool God. And God would rather us be open and honest about our shortcomings

than for us to go through life pretending. wearing these masks and kind of being two-faced all the time. Now, I want to challenge you today to take inventory of what's going on in you. Not what's going on around you. Not what's going on in your circumstances or your marriage or your pocketbook. No, what's going on in the deep recesses of your heart? Are you at peace? Are you overlooking offenses?

Do you believe the best in people? Are you positive, hopeful, expecting good things? or when you look deep down in here, would you have to say, Joel, I'm kind of critical. I've got a problem with jealousy. I'm angry at my neighbor. Or I tend to manipulate people to try to get things. No, you've got to guard your heart. If your heart is polluted, then your whole life is going to be poisoned. And we've got to learn to be honest with ourselves. If you have a problem with jealousy, don't sweep it under the rug. Don't pretend like it's not there. Get it. We're it out in the open and deal with it. Just say, God, I'm jealous. They got the promotion and I wanted it.

And I know I should be happy for them, but I'm not. And God, I don't want to feel this way. Help me to change. God help me to keep my heart pure. Let me tell you, you'll go a whole lot further if you'll take it to God and ask him to help you than if you just bury it and pretend like it doesn't exist. And it's interesting, the people that Jesus got the most ups and set with were the pretenders. He got mad at the Pharisees. They were the religious people. He called him hypocrites. It was because they were fakes. They put on a good show on the outside. They wore their fancy robes and they went to the temple regularly. They looked real holy. But the problem was, on the inside, they were full of greed, full of judgment, full of criticism. And Jesus had some very

stern words for them. They're in Matthew 23, verse 27. He said, you guys are like a bunch of white washed tombs. You look real beautiful on the outside, but on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. I don't know about you, but I want to pay

attention to what's going on in me. Because we can do the right thing, but what's really important is are we doing it with the right motive? Are we doing it with the right attitude? For instance, I can give somebody something. I can do somebody a favor, but if I'm doing it just to try to get something from them,

if I'm doing it to manipulate them, or maybe they're real important, so I'm trying to buy their friendship, well, the truth is, I'm not going to be blessed. What's going on in me is going to affect my harvest. And some of you today, you're doing the right thing, you're doing your best, but you don't realize it, but it's some of these inner issues that are keeping you back. Impure motives, being judgmental, Being jealous. Now listen, if you'll fix the inside, the outside will take care of itself. Even when we give, we should not give because we have to. We shouldn't give because we feel guilty. I know people that have the attitude, okay, God, here's my 10%. God, here's the money I owe you. Now you need to check the inside. Check your heart. We should give with a grateful attitude. We should give with a cheerful heart.

Not because we have to, but because we want to. And I don't even think, we should give just to try to get blessed. We should give just because we love God. We should give just because he's done so much for us. But see, we need to check our motives. If I play up to my boss and tell him how great I think he is, while down in here, I don't even really like the man. I'm just trying to get this promotion.

And so I flatter him with all of these compliments that I don't mean. Then even if I do get that new position, I'm going to have a tough time. keeping myself there. Because if you put yourself somewhere by pretending and playing up to people, then you're going to have to do the same thing to keep yourself there. But if you'll let God do it his way and just take the higher road and keep a pure heart, then when God puts you there, he'll keep you there. He'll make sure that you stay. The scripture says in Psalm 24, who will go up the holy mountain? Who will see God? Those with clean hands and a pure heart.

Notice, it's not enough to just have clean hands. It's not enough to just do good things. We have to have a pure heart. In other words, we can do good things and have the wrong motive. We can do the right thing and have all kinds of junk on the inside. And it's good that we're doing it, but unless we clean up the inside and get our hearts pure, it's going to keep us from God's best.

And this is something that's just between you and God. Nobody knows what you're thinking. nobody knows when you're pretending. I mean, you can spend your whole lifetime being nice and kind to that person you work with, yet on the inside you kind of look down on them or you're kind of little judgmental because they don't do this or they don't do that.

Only you know if your heart is pure. Or maybe you run into somebody at the mall, hey, how you doing? I'm so glad to see you. And yet at that exact same time, you're thinking, I don't really like you and your hair doesn't look good and I can't believe you wore that outfit.

just as they're about to leave, hey, come over and see me sometime. I'd love to have you for dinner. Down in here, you're thinking, God, please don't let them come over. No, that's what I'm talking about, pretending, being a phony. And when you do that, you're not hurting them.

You're only hurting yourself. You're sowing the wrong kinds of seeds. And I'm not saying that you go up to everybody and just tell them exactly what you're thinking. Don't go up to them next time and say, hey, Joel told me to tell you, I can't stand you. No, what I'm saying, today is take that attitude to God and say, God, help me to not be so critical. Help me to not be a

fault finder. God, I know I have a problem in this area, and I'm asking you to help me to change. And this is something we have to constantly be aware of. We need to continually work on. I know I'm a minister, and yet I've gone up to somebody before and said, hey, how you doing? You really look great today. And I hate to admit it, that whole time I'm thinking, you know, that's the ugliest suit I've ever seen. Maybe one day that tile will come back into style. I don't know what you did to your hair, but that ought to be illegal. Just cutting them up and down with my thoughts. And the whole time I got my big smile on my face.

Deep down in here, I can feel that conviction. Deep down in here, I can hear that still small voice telling me, Joel, you shouldn't think about your brother Paul like that. I'm just kidding. Don't be a pretender. Don't be a pony. Let's keep our hearts pure before God. And I understand there are some people that we just don't particularly care for, but let's always remember that person is made in the image of Almighty God.

When we criticize, when we judge, when we find out all their faults, all we're doing is criticizing God's very own creation. It's like that lady I heard about, she invited all these people over for dinner one night, and they sat down and were just about to eat. And she turned to her little six-year-old daughter and said, honey, why don't you say the blessing for us tonight? And she said, oh, mommy, I wouldn't even know what to say. She said, oh, sure you do. Just say what you hear mommy say. So they all bowed their heads in this little six-year-old girl said, Oh, Lord, why did I invite these people for dinner?

Friends, I want us to be real. I don't want us to go around pretending, being two-faced, act in one way, yet on the inside we're thinking another way. No, keep your heart pure. Pay attention to your inner life. that's more important to God than our outer life. And one of the best things we could ever do is really get to know ourselves.

By that, I mean find the areas you need to improve in and then be big enough to call a spade a spade. If you're jealous, don't go through your whole lifetime acting like it's not there, pretending, no, get it out in the open and deal with it. What a shame to allow something that's so beatable, something that you can overcome to keep you in mediocrity. And if you have a problem with anger, a problem with pride, or a problem with having ulterior motives,

it's not going to do you any good to hide them. I mean, you can hide them from a lot of others, but we can't hide anything from God. And if we don't have a pure heart, it's going to keep us from being all that God's created us to be. And I'm not saying that you're going to overcome everything instantly. Some things you may have to deal with for quite some time. But as long as you're bringing it out in the open and asking God to help, you and you're not playing games and acting like it's not there, then you're going to be making progress. It's when we deceive ourselves into being two-faced, pretending to everybody one thing

while we know down in here we're ignoring these issues. That's when we get ourselves into trouble. In fact, the scripture says in James 516, confess your faults one to another so that you may be healed. Notice, you've got to be honest enough with yourself to confess your false. You got to come to the point where you say, you know what, I recognize I have some issues that I need to deal with. And sometimes you're going to have to find a friend, find somebody you can trust, and go to them and say, I need your help. I'm struggling in this area, and I really need you to stand with me. And don't be embarrassed. It's the truth that sets us free. And I'm asking us today to examine our inner life, our thoughts, our attitudes, our motives. It may just be something small,

You say, oh, Joe, I got this little problem with being jealous, or I'm a little prideful. It's not hurting anything. No, it's going to keep you from being your very best. Why don't you come up higher? Why don't you make a decision to change today? David said, God desires truth in the inward parts. We can all put on a good show on the outside, but what really counts is what's going on down in here on the inside. I mean, let's go deeper than that.

What are our motives? why do we do what we're doing? That's what's going to determine how how we're really going to go in life. I love what the psalmist said. He said, God, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart always be acceptable in your sight.

One translation says, God let the intentions of my heart always be pleasing unto you. In other words, he was saying, God, help me to keep my inner life right. Help me to stay pure in my thought. pure in my motives, pure in my attitudes. And that's the first prayer I pray every single morning. I'd encourage you to do the same thing. God, let everything I do today bring honor to your name.

Let my thoughts, let my actions, let my motives all be pleasing unto you. See, I'm not really talking about some kind of great sin today. I'm simply talking about the intentions of our heart. Why do we do what we do? The right thing. is to honor God. The right reason is to fulfill our destiny to help others. The wrong reason is to just one up our neighbor, to feed our ego, to build my career, to make me look good. Now learn to do things with a pure heart, with the right motives. That's when you're going to really be blessed. And the scripture says in Proverbs 4 verse 23 that we should guard our hearts with all diligence, for out of our hearts flow the issues of life.

And I'm convinced the enemy is constantly trying to poison our hearts. He's constantly trying to give us a little bitterness, a little resentment, a little jealousy, a little pride. But don't take his bait. If your heart is not pure, it's going to affect everything about you. And I know people that are going around with all this junk on the inside, wrong motives, wrong thinking, wrong attitudes, and they don't realize it, but it's contaminating who they really are. And I like to think of it like a stream.

God made you to be a crystal clear stream. He's created us to be happy, to be peaceful, to be loving, to be merciful, to be forgiving, to enjoy our lives. But so often we've allowed this junk to get in and pollute our waters. Somebody offends us. Instead of letting it go and moving on, we hold on to it, and the water gets a little bit muddy. A friend gets a promotion. instead of rejoicing with them, we're jealous. We don't understand it. God, I work harder than they do. That's not right. The water gets a little more contaminated. And over the years, if we're not careful, we got all this junk in there and it's keeping us from being our very best. Now, you've got to guard your heart. It's going to affect our whole outlook. See, we see things the way we are, not necessarily the way they are. In other words, we view things from our own strength. The scripture says in Titus, to the pure, all things are pure.

When your heart is right, you're going to see the best in people. When you have a pure heart, you're not going to be judgmental and critical. You're not going to go around complaining, finding fault in everything. And a good way to see what kind of heart you have is in how you size up other people. I found if you're a trusting person, you'll see other people as being trustworthy. But if you're negative and critical, you're going to view a lot of people. others as being negative and critical. We see things not necessarily the way they are. We see them from our own frame of reference. And that means if your stream has become contaminated, then everything

is going to be filtered through those murky waters. And it's going to affect you everywhere you go. I heard about this grandfather that fell asleep in his living room one day. And his grandkids decided to play a little trick on him. And they got some real strong smelling cheese out of the refrigerator. was very potent, smelled really bad. And while he was sleeping, they snuck up, and they just very gently rubbed some of this cheese on his mustache. And so a few minutes later, his nose began to twitch. He kind of tossed and turned there a little.

Then all of a sudden he sat straight up in that chair, and he said to himself, man, something really stinks. And so he left that room and went into the kitchen, hoping to get some relief. And he sniffed here and sniffed there. And same thing, man, it stinks in here too. So he decided he's going to go outside and get some fresh air. He thought for sure that would do it. So he went outside and took a deep breath of air.

And finally he said, you know what? The whole world stinks. My point is, if you're carrying around the stink, it's going to pollute you wherever you go. You're not going to be able to get away from it. The whole key is we have to change. We have to keep our own stream pure. And at some point, we need to find the common denominator. I mean, if you see everybody as being critical, that means you're probably critical.

And I'm asking you today to not blame other people. Now put your foot down and say, you know what? I recognize that I may be the problem. I recognize that I have these issues and I'm not going to bury them. I'm going to take them to God and I'm going to ask him to help me. And again, if you get the inside fixed, then the outside will begin to change. And see, when we have a pure heart, it doesn't matter where we are. It doesn't matter what's going on around us.

We're going to be happy. We're going to be positive. We're going to be hopeful. I heard about this real wealthy family. One day the father decided he wanted to show his little seven-year-old son how the poor people lived. And so they left their big fancy house and they drove way out in the country and spent the night on this little farm. It was just a little frame house. These people hardly had anything.

And after a day and a half there, they headed back home. And the father was so curious. He wanted to see if his son had really learned his lesson. So driving back home, he asked him, son, how'd you like our trip? He said, oh, Dad, I really enjoyed it. And he said, well, did you see how poor people can really be? He said, yes, Dad, I did. He said, son, well, tell me what were some of the things that you learned?

The son thought about it. And he said, well, Dad, I learned that we have one dog at home, and those people have four. And, Dad, we've got a swimming pool that reaches halfway out to our backyard, but they have a stream with no end. And, Dad, we got these fancy lanterns outside, but they got the stars. Dad, we have a front porch that reaches to our front yard, but they have the whole horizon. His dad was just kind of shaking his head. He couldn't believe it. About that time, the little boy spoke up and said, Dad, thank you for showing me how poor we really are.

See, it all depends on what kind of view you're coming from. It all depends on how we look at things. And if you have a pure heart like that little boy, you're going to see the best. when your stream hasn't been contaminated, you're going to be happy wherever you are. You're going to bloom right where you're planted. And if you're not happy today, I would challenge you to quit focusing on what you don't have. Quit looking at what's wrong in your life and start thanking God for what's right in your life. Be a grateful person.

I've discovered the more I thank God for what I do have, the more God gives me what I don't have. If you're always complaining, always finding fault, you've got to recognize. your stream has become polluted. You've got to get your heart pure. It's not your circumstances, it's your attitude. And nobody can change this for you. You've got to do it. And I know people today that are so stressed out, so run down, people that are even physically sick. And it's all because of the junk that's constantly going on on the inside. You know, bitterness, resentment, playing games, manipulating people. Listen, you know as well as I do, all that's going to do is where you're out. It is very freeing to say, God, I'm letting all that junk go. I'm not going to spend my

life being bitter. I'm not going to spend my life pretending, playing up to people. I'm not going to ignore all these issues. God, I'm going to start keeping my heart pure. Listen, you do that. You'll go to a whole new level. I was reading about the famous painter Leonardo da Vinci. One time he was working on this painting of Jesus. He allowed some young school children to come in and watch him. One of those kids accidentally bumped the canvas and not. And not the painting over. He was so upset. He got so angry. He had them all leave the room. And when he came back in and sat down and was ready to finish, he said he tried and tried, but he could not paint the face of Jesus with that anger in his heart. And that's what happens when our stream becomes

polluted. No matter how talented we are, no matter how many gifts we have, it stifles our creativity. It keeps us from rising higher and being our very best. And some of you, if you just get the junk out of the inside, you'd see your productivity increase. You would see your gifts and talents come to the forefront. You'd have more energy. You'd get more done. Friends, the inner life is connected to the outer life.

If you can just keep the inside pure, God's blessings and favor will freely flow. I think about David. When he committed adultery, it took him over a year to repent. He didn't deal with it. He just swept it under the rug. He thought it doesn't matter. But the scripture says during that year, he was miserable. He was weak. He was upset. He was troubled in his heart. It's when he got it out in the open and he made a decision to just make things right and ask for forgiveness. That's when his joy and victory returned. I know a lot of times we kind

of do like David. We just sweep it under the rug. Well, Joel, I know I got these issues, but you know, it's not hurt anything. I'm a little proud. I'm a little jealous. I do manipulate people, but you know, I've done this all my life. It's no big deal. No, I don't think we realize how much it's holding us back. And I want you to be all that God's created you to be. I want you to come up higher today. And I know it starts with having a pure heart. I mean, it's one thing to clean up the outside and to put on a good show, but I want to honor God in my inner life, in my thoughts, in my motives, in my attitude. The scripture talks about in Second Timothy,

if we can just keep ourselves free from these contaminating forces. In other words, if we can just keep our hearts pure, then we will be vessels of honor used for God's highest purposes. And I'm certainly not perfect, but I can tell you one thing. And I hope you'll take this in the right sense.

But from the time I was a little boy, I've always done my best to keep my heart pure before God. This is something that my parents instilled in me. I saw it lived out in the life of my father. Daddy always believed the best in people. Didn't matter what you'd done. Didn't matter how many mistakes you made. He would always be for you.

He wouldn't judge you. He wouldn't criticize you. Early on in life, my father went through some great hurts, but he didn't let it get him better. All along the way, he had opportunities to compromise, but he always took the high road. And I believe that one reason God has blessed me, One reason he's promoted me, and I say this humbly, is because I've simply done my best to keep my heart pure.

And I've found that in life, it's very easy to become critical. It's easy to get a little bit sour, a little bit tainted, a little bit sarcastic with all life deals us, with all the negative things that are coming against us, how we've got to learn to guard our hearts. And I believe how high a person is going to go is going to be directly related to how, how pure their heart is. How much joy, how much peace, how much victory you're going to have, I believe is going to be in direct proportion to the purity of your heart. And our attitude should be, God, my life is an open book. I love what David said. God, search my heart and point out anything in me that makes you sad. What a great attitude. He was saying, God, show me where I need to change.

God show me how I can come up higher. Well, imagine with me today, what if our life was an open book? What if our thoughts and motives were put up on a movie screen for everybody to see? What if they were made public wherever we go? A lot of times we think, man, I wouldn't like that. We have to realize God sees it. And he's the one that brings promotion.

He's the one that lifts up and brings down. And so if we're going to experience his best, if we're going to really reach our full potential, first and foremost, we have to make sure that our hearts are pure before. God. Out of our hearts, the whole course of our life is being directed. And so I just challenge you again, do your very best to keep your hearts pure. Don't be a pretender. Don't be a phony. When you have those feelings, don't bury it. Don't feel condemned. Just take it to God.

God, I don't like this person. I don't want to be critical. God, help me to change. Help me to be better than this. When you have the desire, God will always help you. And friends, there's no limit to what God will do in your life when you have a pure heart. And my prayer today is that you will be more aware of your inner life. Make sure your motives are right and be quick to deal with issues. If you do that, I know you'll be a vessel of honor. God will use you for his highest purposes and you'll see the life of victory that he has in store. Amen.

Do you receive it today? I know you do. We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. 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 your places that you've never dreamed out. Breath taking, that's what you feel when you look out at majestic mountain peaks. Yes, God's

Creation truly is a masterpiece. But even as you consider his handiwork, you might also feel less that, not good enough, or not valuable. The image before you is incredible, but the confidence inside is lacking. How do you overcome this? The opinion you have of yourself is your most important opinion.

Too often, we see ourselves as ordinary, not talented, unattractive. That wrong self-image is setting the limits for our life. The key is to get an agreement with who God says you are. He calls you a masterpiece, strong, talented, valuable. If you'll have the right image of yourself, you'll rise higher and become who you were created to be. We have a new resource that will help you do just that. It's called You Are a Masterpiece.

It's filled with inspiration and encouragement that will remind you who you really are. Gifted, chosen, approved. It will help you get rid of the wrong self-image and start to you image and start seeing yourself as the masterpiece God created you to be. As our thank you for your gift of any amount to the ministry this month. We want to send you Joel's inspiring new book. You are a masterpiece. God made you unique with a divine purpose and a bright future.

As these truths sink down in your spirit, the majesty of God's glory will arise within you. Yes, God has breathed his life into you. He approved you, equipped you, empowered you. Stop believing the lies about you and start hearing what God says about you. Thanks so much for being a part of the ministry. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Believing it's going to be a favor-filled 2024. We appreciate your prayer and support.

Your generosity is impacting people around the world. Remember, you can watch the services live online Sunday mornings, and see all the music and ministry, download our daily podcast. Until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of the You are a Masterpiece today.

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