Joel Osteen Podcast - Living In A Positive Frame of Mind | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: December 15, 2023

You attract what you think about. When you choose to think thoughts of hope, faith and victory, you’re drawing in the good things of God.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. 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 speaking 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. God bless you. Thanks for letting us come into your homes for the next little while. We know we love you, and we come with good news each week because we know that God, is a good God. He's got a good plan for each of our lives. And so thanks for tuning in today. And if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll come out and see us. Come take a look at our new facility. It's really beautiful. We'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning

in today. I'd like to get started each week with something kind of funny. And I heard about this country grandmother. She was known for her faith and boldness. And she'd get up in the morning and go out on her front porch. And she'd sing and even shout praises to God. Her next door neighbor, he was kind of sarcastic. He said, you're just wasting your time. No such thing is God. One day he decided to prove his point. He took a bag of groceries and put it on her front porch early in the morning. When that grandmother got up the next day and saw it, the first thing she did was shout praise the Lord. And he stepped out from behind the tree and he kind of laughed. He said, God didn't give you those groceries. I put them there. I told you're wasting your time. She looked up to heaven and said,

thank you, Lord. You not only sent me the groceries, but you made the devil pay for it. Come on, hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it today. 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'll never be the same. In Jesus name, God bless you. We've been talking about being determined to enjoy our lives. And I believe one of the main keys is to simply simply, simply learn to stay in a positive mindset. Our thoughts are so important. You can't go around thinking negative thoughts and expect to live a positive life. Your life is going to follow your

thoughts. And too many people go through the day worried and full of fear, focused on their problems, not expecting anything good. And unfortunately, that's exactly what happens. We draw in what we constantly think about. Just like a magnet, if you go around dwelling on the negative and how tough your life is and how things just don't seem like they're going to get any better, you're just going to draw in more of that junk. But on the other hand, if you'll learn to think thoughts of hope, faith, and victory, if you'll dwell on the fact that you are more than a conquer and you can do all things through Christ, when you do that, you draw in the good things of God. And every day, we have to choose what kind of attitude we're going to have.

Probably a hundred times a day, we have to make a choice whether we're going to stay hopeful and look on the bright side of things, or are we going to dwell on these negative, discouraging thoughts? And some of you, this is your whole problem. You want to be happy, you want to see things change, but your thinking is messed up. Understand, God is a positive God.

There is nothing negative about him. And so if you're negative, you'll go, going against the flow of God. When you're negative, it's like you're swimming upstream. Everything's going to be a struggle. I know when we fly from here to California, it takes about 30 minutes longer to get there than it does to get back home. And that's because the jet stream always flows from west to east. In other words, this big mass of air is always flowing in one direction. It's the same way with God. His jet stream is always positive. He's got a great plan for your life.

He wants you to succeed. He wants you to overcome any obstacle. But if that's going to happen, you've got to do your part and get an agreement with him. And some of you are not near as aggressive enough when it comes to controlling your thought life. You just think any thought that comes into your mind. You may not realize it, but you can choose your thoughts. And if that thought is negative and discouraging, you need to immediately get rid of it. that thought comes that you're never going to get well. You heard what the doctor said.

Your child's never going to do right. You're never going to see your dreams come to pass. No, don't dwell on that junk. I'm challenging you today to get into the jet stream of God. Stay positive. Stay hopeful. Go out each day expecting good things to happen to you. See, our life is kind of like a car. We have a forward gear. We have a reverse gear. Right in the middle, we have a neutral. And we can choose. which direction we want to go. And I found it doesn't take any more effort to go forward than it does to go in reverse. It's all in the decision process.

And if you stay focused on the negative and what you don't have and what you can't do, you're going to end up going around in reverse. But if you can just switch over into the positive, start expecting good things, start dwelling on God's promises, start seeing the best in every situation. When you do that, all the forces of darkness can't keep you from going forward. you will begin to make progress. But it all starts right here. And the scripture says here, in Colossians 3, verse 2,

is from the amplified, to set your mind and keep it set on the higher things. I believe the higher things are the positive things. When you get up in the morning, the first thing you should do is set your mind in the right direction. Set your mind for success. Set your mind for victory. Set your mind that you're going to enjoy this day. Get into the jet stream of God. And the reason it's so important to do it right at the very start is because that's what sets the tone for your whole day.

And very often, right when you first wake up, all these negative, discouraging thoughts will bombard your mind. Lying there in bed, that old nagging feeling comes, man, I don't want to get up and go to work today. I've got so many problems. I don't know how I'm going to get out of debt. This is going to be a lousy day. Don't you dare dwell on that junk. You've got to be on the offensive. If you don't set the tone for your day, let me tell you, the enemy will do it for you.

Right when you get up, you need to boldly declare this is going to be a great day. I'm excited about today. And then go out with enthusiasm. Go out with confidence focused on your possibilities. See, one man gets up and says, good morning, Lord. Another man gets up and says, oh, Lord, it's morning. Which man are you? I challenge you to get up in an attitude of faith.

you can program your mind for victory. I read about this man that was traveling on an overnight train. He got on board, and his host was this older gentleman that had been there for many years, very kind. He took him to his sleeper car and showed him his room. And the room was very nice and cozy. He had pulled the sheets back for the man. It was just very inviting looking.

And he said to his host, thank you so much. You prepared me a beautiful room, and I know I'm going to sleep like a baby. sure enough he went in in like 10 minutes he was fast asleep he didn't wake up until nine o'clock the next morning slept two hours longer than he normally did and he saw the host on his way to breakfast and that host asked him how he slept and he told him what a great night's rest that he had had and that host said well that doesn't surprise me i knew you were going to sleep well but you should have seen the man that got on after you and he began to tell how the first thing he said was i know i'll never be able to sleep on this train. And from then on out, everything was downhill. He complained about his room. He had to change

because he didn't like the bed. Then he complained about the temperature, too hot, too cold. And this host said, you know the difference between you two men? Why you slept and why he didn't sleep? It's because you made up your mind to sleep, and he made up his mind not to sleep. He said, I've been doing this for over 30 years, and I've discovered the people that sleep when they get onto this train are the people that have preconditioned their minds to sleep. I believe that principle is true today. We can precondition our mind for success or for failure. We can precondition our minds to enjoy this day or to just drag through the day.

We can precondition our mind to overcome any obstacle, or we can precondition our mind to just have a pity party and get upset when things don't go our way. And this is why a lot of people can't break a bad habit. they've preconditioned their mind to fail. They're always thinking about what they can't do. Well, Joel, I could never quit smoking. I've tried so many times. I could never lose weight.

I've been on every diet you can think of. I could never resist this temptation. No, the scripture says, the first place we lose the battle is in our own thinking. You need to reprogram your thinking. You need to precondition your mind to overcome that obstacle. In other words, you need to start making plans to succeed. See, I've already planned on having a good day today.

I've pre-conditioned my mind to enjoy this day. I'm planning on doing good up here. I'm planning on having fun this afternoon. I'm planning on overcoming any obstacle that may come my way. I preconditioned my mind for it. And some people, they don't realize it, but they have preconditioned their mind to have a lousy day. When they wake up in the morning, first thought that comes to their mind is,

man, is it already time to get up? I feel like I just went to bed. I am exhausted. they'll lie there for 30 minutes thinking about how miserable the day's going to be. And sure enough, if you dwell on that junk long enough, you're going to draw it in. You get up in the morning thinking about how tired you are and how bad you feel. You'll go out that day, worn out, run down, no energy, no enthusiasm. You know why?

You preconditions your mind to it. Don't fall into that trap. You may get up feeling tired, but you need to dwell on the fact that I am strong in the Lord and the power of his might. You may not feel up to par some mornings, but I'm not telling you to ignore and deny your circumstances and deny how you feel, but you need to just declare that God is renewing my strength like the egos. I'm going to run today and not be weary. I'm going to walk and not faith. This is going to be a great day in my life. You go out like that and you'll have all kinds of energy. You can give life to your physical body by simply having the right attitude.

And some of you are always thinking about what you can't do, but you've got to precondition your mind to overcome. You need to start saying to yourself, I can beat this addiction. People have hurt me, but you know what? I can forgive them. I can let go of my past. I may have some obstacles today, but I can enjoy this day. I read about this lady. She had been sick for many months and gone to a doctor after doctor, and they couldn't seem to find out what was wrong with her.

And one day she went to this certain doctor, and he did. it's something so unusual. He said, here's your prescription. I want you to go home and every day, at least once an hour, I want you to say out loud, I'm getting better and better every day in every way. She said, doctor, you've got to be a kid. And I want some real medicine. He said, no, you do that. And then we'll talk. And so 40 or 50 times a day, she began to say that. And it wasn't long until her attitude started to change. And three or four days went by and she noticed she was, was feeling better. A couple weeks later, she got her joy back, got her strength back, and wasn't any time until she was totally and completely over there. She felt like a different person.

But see, she had to change her thinking. She had to precondition her mind for health. Our thoughts are very powerful. Sometimes your body will not get well unless your mind allows it to. Well, what do you go around thinking about? What have you preconditions your mind for? Success or failure? To enjoy this day? or just dragged through this day. Well, you say, Joe, I got a lot of negative circumstances. That's why I'm kind of down. You know, my back's hurting or my marriage is not good or my finances.

That's why I'm unhappy. But no, really, it's not our circumstances that get us down. It's our thinking about our circumstances. It's our attitude toward them. Because you can be in the biggest struggle of your life right now. But if you will keep your thoughts going in the right direction, you can have peace right in the midst of your storm. You can have joy in spite of your storm.

of what's come against you. It's all in how you choose to see it. I have this friend that was having open heart surgery last week and some people were talking about it and they said, man, that's just so terrible that he has to have it. I just can't believe he's going through that. In a sense, I knew what they meant, but I kind of turned it around and I said, yes, but let's be grateful that at least he can have it. Let's thank God that we have good hospitals and great doctors that are able to correct that. Point I'm making is if you look hard enough, and you have the right attitude, you can find the good in any situation.

If you were even to get laid off, and I hope it didn't happen, but if you were to get laid off, you could get all negative and bitter and blame God. Or you could say, God, I know when one door closes, you always open up a better door, so I'm really excited about my future.

You miss a plane or get delayed, a plan didn't work out. You get all upset. Or you could say, God, I know you are directing my steps. and I believe this is exactly where you want me to be. See, that's a positive attitude of faith. You've got to choose to keep your mind set on the higher things. But some people, they never see the good. They find fault with every single thing. There can be a thousand things going on that's right,

but they're always going to find that one thing that's wrong. It's like they've trained themselves to see the negative. I heard a little story about this positive farmer and this negative farmer. When it would reign, the positive farmer would say, thank you, Lord, for the rain. Now we don't even have to water our crops. The negative farmer would say, yeah, but if it keeps this up, it's going to rot their roots. We're not even going to have a harvest. Sun would come out, and the positive farmer would say, thank you, Lord, for the sunshine. Now our crops are getting the vitamins and minerals they really need. The negative farmer would say, yeah, if it keeps this up, though, it's going to scorch them. We're not even going to be able to make a living. One day, they both decided to go hunting together.

this positive farmer had just bought a brand new bird dog. He was so proud of that dog. He couldn't wait to show him off. They were out in this middle of the lake and the boat. Sure enough, a bird came by and he shot it. He turned to his buddy and he said, watch what this dog can do. That dog jumped out of the boat

and miraculously ran on top of the water, picked up the bird, turned around, ran back on top of the water, and set the bird perfectly down in the boat. That positive farmer was beaming from ear to ear. He said, what did you think? The negative farmer shook his head and said, just what I thought. That dog can't even swim. Don't let that be you. Learn to focus on the positive things. Quit picking out all the bad. Quit finding fault with everything. Anybody can do that. You've got to choose to keep your mind set on the higher things. And seriously, I know some

of you have been raised in a negative environment. You've been around a lot of negative in your life. and kind of like that old farmer, that's all you know. You're prone to see the worst and you don't expect anything good. But what's really happened is you've developed a habit of being negative. That's a stronghold in your mind. And let me tell you, that is not the way God wants you to live. You need to retrain yourself to see the positive. It may not be easy.

It may not happen overnight, but it can happen. The way you do it is one thought at a time. I heard somebody put it like this. When your mind has been running in a certain pattern for a long period of time, it's like you've dug a deep, deep riverbed. And the only way that water can flow is in one direction. And so imagine a person that's been negative month after month, even year after year. With every negative thought, they're digging that riverbed a little bit deeper,

and the water flows a little bit more strongly. Well, after a period of some time, that water is full. with so much force in one direction, anytime they go back to the river to get a thought out, so to speak, it just naturally comes out negative. That's the only way the water's flowing. But the good news is, just as we can dig a negative riverbed, we can dig a positive riverbed.

And as you begin to dwell on God's promises, as you begin to see the best in every situation, then little by little, one thought at a time, you're digging that new riverbed. And at first, it may not seem like most of the same, much. Just a little bit of that negative water will come over and flow in the positive direction. But as you continue day after day to think thoughts of hope and faith and victory, as you continue to expect good things, that negative river is going dwindle down, dwindle down. Eventually,

it'll get down to nothing. Then when you go back to that river in your mind, so to speak, to get a thought out, you're not going to have those negative depressing thoughts. You're going to have a whole new river full of positive, faith-filled thoughts. And that thought comes. And that thought comes to your mind, well, your problems are too big. Nothing's ever going to change in your life. In times past, you'd go back to that old negative river. You think, yeah, man, nothing good ever happens to me. I don't see how I ever get out of this. But no, this time it's different. You've got that new river of faith flowing. You rise up and say, Father, you said, I'm a victorian, not a victim. And I can do all things through Christ. You said you always

caused me to triumph, so I know I am coming out of this situation. See, now you're tapping into that new river of faith. Every time you think thoughts like that, you're digging that new riverbed deeper and deeper. That water's going to flow stronger and stronger. It'll get easier and easier every time. Maybe that thought comes to you that you're never going to see your dreams come to past. You're never going to be successful. You're never going to get out of debt. I've seen your finances. In the old days, you'd go back to that old negative river. Nobody in my family's ever amounted to much. I don't see how I could ever be successful. But this time, you go to your new river of faith. You say, Father, you said, I am the head, not the tail. I will be above only and not

beneath. So I just thank you. Whatever I touch is going to prosper and succeed. See, you've got to get this new river of faith and victory flowing in your own mind. As long as you keep tapping into that old negative way of thinking, you are digging that negative riverbed deeper and deeper, and it's going to keep you in defeat. You need to reprogram your thinking, recondition your mind. The scripture says in Romans chapter 12, if you will transform your thinking, you can transform your whole life. And some of you have spent year after year digging that negative riverbed. And if it's going to change, you're going to have to make a firm decision. You're going to have to dig your heels in and make up your mind that you're going to keep your mindset on the good things of God.

You've got to quit expecting the worst. Quit looking at what you can't do and start looking at what you can do. Well, you say, Joel, I'm just naturally kind of a negative person. That's just my personality. I'm naturally a little more pessimistic. It's not really hurting anything, is it? Well, the truth is, a negative mind will keep you from really fulfilling your God-given destiny. A negative attitude will keep you from being all God's created you to be.

You can see it all through the scriptures. The book of Numbers chapter 13, the children of Israel were camped right next door to the promised land. They were so excited. They finally made it. They couldn't wait to go in. And God promised he would give them the victory. They just had to go in and fight for the land. And so Moses sent 12 men in to spy out the land.

And after 40 days, 10 of those men came back with a negative report. They said, Moses, the land is beautiful. It's everything we've ever dreamed of. But there's one major problem. There are giants in the land. The people are huge. We will never defeat them. and do you know that negative report spread like wildfire throughout the rest of the camp before long all two million people or so were negative they were complaining murmuring finally they said let's just go back to egypt where we came from it's not even worth trying

well when those other two spies came in joshua and caleb they had a totally different report they said yes moses the people are big but we know our god is bigger we are well able to take the land Let us go up at once and possess it. See, negative people see the problem. Positive people see the possibility. Negative people focus on their giants. Positive people focus on their God. Joshua and Caleb had that attitude of faith I'm talking about. They had that can-do spirit.

And what's interesting is those other two million people, they were so negative, they never did make it into the promised land. Because of that wrong attitude, they were. wandered around out there for some 40 years. And do you know the only two out of that whole group that ever did make it in were Joshua and Caleb? It's the same thing today. If you stay focused on the negative and what's wrong and what you can't do, you'll never make it into your promised land. And really, anybody can see what's wrong. Anybody can see the problem, but we need to do like Joshua and Caleb and focus on the solution. Focus on your possibilities. Find the good. You've got to choose

to keep your mind set on the higher things. Sometimes we don't even realize it, but we approach things from such a negative point of view. Even the way we ask questions, you can ask in a positive way or a negative way. And that will determine very often the other person's response. For instance, how many times do we say, you wouldn't be able to help me this afternoon, would you? Or you couldn't give me a ride to work tomorrow, could you? You know, shaking our head no the whole time. or you wouldn't want to listen to my business proposal or see my presentation, would you? No, don't ask in the negative. Turn it around and ask from a positive point of view.

All the studies show us how you ask the question will greatly influence the answer. And if you ask in a negative way, subconsciously you're affecting that other person, and they are much more likely to answer you in the same way that you've asked it. I read about this experiment that was done with this young, army soldier. He was working in the cafeteria there on the base. He was at the end of the serving line there in the mess hall and he was in charge of serving the fruit. And so the first hundred people that came by, he said to them, you wouldn't want a bowl of apricots, would you? 90% of them declined. Only 10 people wanted one. Well, the next hundred people that came by, he changed the

question and he said, would you like to have a bowl of apricots? 50% of them responded yes. This next group, he even changes it around a little more, he said, do you want one bowl of apricots or do you want two bowl of apricots? And do you know, 50% wanted one bowl, 40% wanted two balls and only 10% declined? And see, just by changing the way he asked it from the negative to the positive, just by rephrasing it, he went from 90% declining to only 10% declining. And that's good information. Now I know, Victoria, you wouldn't want to go to the mall this week. would you? Y'all pray for me. I have a 90% chance.

Learn to stay positive. Learn to stay hopeful. Expect good things in your life. I know too many people today, they live by Murphy's Law. Have you ever heard it? It goes like this. Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you would think. And if anything can go wrong, it will.

And at the worst possible time. No, if you live with that kind of negative, attitude, you are inviting failure. You are asking for trouble and heartache and mediocrity. You've got to quit expecting things to not work out. Quit expecting people to treat you badly. Change your frame of mind. Expect to get some good breaks this week. Expect your plans to succeed. Expect whatever you touch to prosper. You know, for some reason it doesn't happen. Don't get all sour. Don't go back to Murphy's Law. Well, I should have known it was going take me this long? Should have known this wasn't going to work out. Should have known if I went to

that big church. I wouldn't get a good parking spot. No, stay out of the negative. Stay hopeful. Put a smile on your face. God is still in control of your life. Really, we need to get rid of Murphy's law. In fact, we should take just the opposite of it. Our attitude should be, nothing is as difficult as it looks for me. And if anything good can happen today, it will. And if it's going to happen to anybody, it'll happen to me. That's the attitude we need to have. you go out with that kind of attitude of faith and you will draw into good things of God. Let me ask you, what kind of frame of mind do you live in? Positive, negative? Are you in neutral? Just taking whatever life brings you away. No, you've got to stay aggressive when it comes to controlling your thought life.

You've got to make sure you keep them running in a positive direction. Nobody can do this for you. When you first get out of bed, you need to set your mind in the right direction. And the scripture says no matter what comes against you, Keep your mindset. And the good news is nobody can make us live negative. Nobody can make you live discouraged. If you'll just choose to think thoughts of peace and joy and victory, you're going to live a positive, victorious life. I really believe the root cause of many of our problems is in our thinking.

Learn to precondition your mind for success. Precondition your mind to overcome any obstacle that comes your way. Why don't you plan on having a good week this week? why don't you plan on being a blessing to somebody today? Why don't you plan on overcoming anything that might come your way? It all starts right here. If you will keep your thoughts going in the right direction and stay in that attitude of faith, then you're going to be like Joshua and Caleb.

You won't wander around like all those other people. You'll make it into your promised land. You'll see the good things of God in your life. Amen. How many of you receive it today? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart, I make you, my Lord and Savior. 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. 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 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

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