Joel Osteen Podcast - Living Large | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

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Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you. Always a joy

to come into your homes and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. These are the finest people in all of Houston, Texas, right here at Lakewood. Thanks for tuning in. Thank you.

for coming out. I like to start with something funny. I heard about this husband and wife. They'd been arguing for a long time about who should make the coffee in the morning. The husband thought it was the wife's job, but she just didn't agree. After several heated debates, she finally said to her husband, I can prove to you from the Bible that it's the man's job to make the coffee. He said, what are you talking about? There's nothing in a Bible about the man making the coffee? She said, sure there is. She opened her Bible and pointed to the book of Hebrews. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the word of God.

I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus name. God bless you. I want to talk to you today about living. large. We weren't created to live a small life with little goals, little dreams, little influence. God created us to live an abundant life. No matter what level you're at, you're not supposed to get stuck and stay there. God is a God of increase. He has something bigger in your future. And if you're going to live this large life, it starts in our thinking. Jesus said, you can't put new wine, into old wine skins. Wine skins were made out of leather. When they got old, they became hard and stiff. It wouldn't expand. If you put new wine in, they would burst. Jesus was saying, you can't have a new life

with old thinking. You can't go around thinking you've reached your limits. You've gone as far as you can. You never get any good breaks. Limited thinking will cause you to live a limited life. Get rid of that old wine start thinking bigger, believing bigger, expecting bigger. You are full of possibility. You have seeds of greatness. There is untapped potential in you right now. And one of the biggest battles that we all face is the battle of containment. The enemy can't do anything about the grounds you've already gained. He can't make you go backwards, but he'll do everything he can to try to keep you from going forward. His goal is to convince you to settle where you are. He'll tell us things like, you'll never be able to afford that house you really want. Just accept it. You'll never get well.

You saw the medical report. Or you'll never meet the right person. It's been too long. This is as good as it gets. Don't believe those lives. He wouldn't be fighting you so hard unless he knew God had something amazing in your future. You may not see how it can happen. but one touch of God's favor can catapult you to a new level. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6, I want you to enter in to this wide, open, spacious life. The smallness you feel comes from within. Your lives are not small, but you're living them in a small way. Notice God's dream is that we live a wide, open, spacious life.

But even though God has this big, life planned out. If we have limited thinking, we can live it in a small way. It's easy to get stuck in a rut, just going to work and coming home, dealing with the daily pressures of life. We look up and we're not expecting anything better, not releasing our faith, thinking this is all there is. But compared to what God has planned, we're living small. On a regular basis, you have to stir up your faith, stir up your gifts, stir up your passions. You have not seen your best days. God has a wide life for you, much bigger than your living. Whatever level you're at, don't get stuck and stay there. May feel big to you. You're blessed, you're content, but in

God's eyes, it's a small place. He has new horizons for you to explore, new dreams, new talents, new opportunities. The scripture puts it this way. the path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter. God's idea is that our lives get bigger and bigger. More influence, more opportunity, more resources. You may feel stuck. You haven't seen this happen, but this is a new day. Things are about to turn in your favor. If you'll get your hopes up, start expecting God's goodness, you're going to come into a bigger life, to a new level of your destiny. See, for years, I thought I was living a big life. I was happy and a beautiful wife.

Good job. I loved working behind the scenes here at Lakewood. Didn't seem like it could get any better than that. But when my dad went to be with the Lord and I stepped up to pastor the church, God began to open new doors, brought talent out of me that I didn't know I had, helped me to write books, gave us the former compact center, taking me places that I've never dreamed of. Looking back now, I realize what I thought was big was not big at all.

God's idea of living large is much different than ours. You may have seen God's blessings in the past, but you need to get ready. You haven't seen anything yet. Where God is going to take you, the doors he's going to open, the people you're going to meet, the promotion, the good breaks, the influence is going to. going to supersede anything you've imagined. God's prepared a wide, spacious life for you. Now, my challenge is don't live with a small mentality. Don't water down your dreams accepting less when you know God has created you for more. Well, you say, Joel, I'm doing okay. Can't complain. Got a roof over my

head. Got a job. I'm making it. That's good. We should be grateful. We should be content. What I'm saying is don't settle there. Don't let that become permanent in your thinking. I've learned if we live in mediocrity long enough, it can become normal to us to where we think that's all there is. If you see lack, dysfunction, struggle, addictions on a regular basis, it can become ingrained in you where you think that's the way it's supposed to be. We adapt to our environment. If you take a fish that's supposed to grow to two feet long, and you put him in a small aquarium, that fish will never become what it was created to be. Not because there's something wrong with the fish, but because of the environment that it's in. You may be in a limited environment right now. Perhaps you can't do

anything about that. The key is don't let the environment get in you. Don't let mediocrity become the norm. That may be where you are, but that is not who you are. You are a child of the most high God. The creator of the universe has breathed his life into you. Let these words sink down into your spirit. A wide, open, spacious life. That means a life free from addictions and bad habits. A life where you're happy, healthy, whole, fulfilled. A life of abundance more than enough, and overflow life. See, the enemy wants to contain you, but God wants to enlarge you. Break out in your thinking. Stay open to new possibilities. One time in the scripture, Peter had been fishing all night. The next morning, Jesus came to him and asked him if he could borrow his boat

to teach the people from the shores. When he finished teaching, he wanted to pay Peter for the use of his boat. He said to Peter, launch out into the deep. and let down your nets, nets with an S, plural. Well, Peter began to reason it out. He said, Jesus, we fished all night. We didn't catch anything. Morning's not the best time to fish. He came up with excuse after excuse.

Almost talked himself out of it. The last moment, he decided to go ahead and do it. But the scripture says, Peter went out and let down his net, singular. In other words, Jesus said, Peter, I've got an abundant life for you. I've got a wide, spacious life. But Peter thought, ah, it's not going to happen for me. There's no fish out there. I never get any good breaks.

So he went out and let down his net. He caught so many fish that it began to break. But a lot of times we're like Peter. God says, I want you to live a big life, an abundant, fulfilled life where you're gaining new ground. I want to take you where you've never been. Show you influence, favor, good breaks that you've never seen. But there is a catch.

You have to let down your nets. You have to make room for it in your thinking. You can't think small, believe small, expect small, and expect to live this large life. If you just let down your net, thinking, God, help me survive, help me to make it through this month, help me to live with this addiction, help me to maintain where I am,

you will miss the fullness of what God has in store. why don't you start letting down your nets? Why don't you say, God, I'm in agreement with you. I believe you have a wide, open, spacious, abundant life in store for me. So I'm going to believe that my whole family is going to serve you. I'm going to believe that I'm going to come out of debt, be a blessing to others. Believe in to start my business, to build that orphanage, to meet the person of my dreams. if you'll start letting down your nets, God will open doors that you could never open, bring the right people across your path.

He'll take you where you've never dreamed. But too often, we let how we were raised, what we saw modeled growing up, set the limits for our life. If our parents had addictions, bad habits, the people that raised us lived in lack and mediocrity, we think that's our lot in life. People tell me, Joel, I've gone,

far as my parents. I've accomplished as much as my grandparents. I'm doing good enough. No, God is a progressive God. He wants every generation to increase. Your parents, your relatives, they laid the foundation. You're not supposed to settle there. You're supposed to build off of what they did. That's not a resting place where you can put down your stakes. That's a stepping stone for you to rise higher, a launching pad for you to go further. Don't get comfortable. Don't get comfortable. and settled there. Yes, you may have seen some mediocrity growing up, but God is

counting on you to be the difference maker. In other words, maybe nobody in your family made good grades in school. You be the one to make good grades. Maybe none of them went to college. You be the one to go to college. They didn't live in a nice

house. That's okay. They did the best they could with what they had, but don't you settle there. You have more advantages than they had. You have more wisdom. You have more opportunity. There is more available to you. Your relatives may have let down their net, singular. But the good news is, you know better. You can let down your nets. You can dream bigger. You can believe bigger. Start living large. Start taking steps of faith. Stretching, growing, learning. There's a wide, spacious life prepared for you.

I saw a documentary about a professional thief. This man was extremely intelligent. The way he planned his burglaries was very fascinating. He used incredible strategy. For 21 years, he burglarized homes without being caught. He never heard anyone. He would only do it if the people weren't there. The police were so frustrated.

They brought in federal agents. Some of the most skilled detectives around still couldn't catch him. After 21 years, because of this fluke, he was caught. This man did not look like a thief. He looked like a typical middle class business person. The police were very puzzled. They asked him, with all of your talent, your expertise, your skill, why did you choose a life of crime?

I'll never forget his answer. He said, this is all that I know how to do. He went on to tell how he came out of a dysfunctional family other relatives were involved in the same type of things. What was his problem? He had been raised in a limited environment. He made the mistake of letting the environment get in him. He saw dysfunction growing up and thought that was his lot in life.

Like that fish in a small aquarium, there was nothing wrong with him. He had the talent, the intellect. God had a wide life plan for him. But because of limited thinking, he was living it in a small way. don't let how you were raised or even the environment you're in right now convince you to settle where you are. Get rid of that old wine skin.

I wanted to say to this man, if you could successfully steal for 21 years outsmarting some of the brightest minds around, don't you think you could run your own business? Don't you think you could earn your master's degree? Don't you think that you could help businesses develop strategies to grow? use your gifts for productive purposes.

Had a young man tell me after the service a while back how the only thing he knew how to do was sell drugs. He came out of a rough neighborhood, dropped out of high school, his parents were never around. A lot of odds were against him. He said, Joel, I don't like doing it. I know it's not right, but I don't have any special skills.

This is the only way I know how to make a living. I said, no, you're selling yourself short. You're smarter than you think. selling drugs is not the only thing you can do. Think about this. If you can sell drugs, you have to know how to market your product. That's marketing. You have to know how to get the word out. That's advertising. You have to take care of your clients. That's customer service. You have to know when to sell, when not to sell. That's a management decision. The truth is, if you can sell drugs, you can sell stocks and bonds. You can sell medical equipment. You could sell electronics. God has a big life waiting for you.

He has a purpose for you to fulfill, an assignment for you to accomplish. He's put the right gifts and talents in you. He's already lined up the right people, the right opportunities. Here's the key. Don't let your heredity stop your destiny. Don't let what was passed down to you, keep you down. Break out of a limited mindset. there is greatness in you. Your destiny is calling out. It's time to start living large. If you'll start throwing out your nets, having a bigger vision,

believing that you're well able, like Peter, you'll come into a great hall. God will amaze you with his goodness. This is what my father had to do. He was raised in a limited environment. His parents were cotton farmers. They lost everything during the Great Depression. They didn't have enough food to eat.

My dad would go to high school with holes in his pants, holes in his shoes. This poverty mentality had become ingrained in his thinking. We're poor. We're defeated. This is all I'll ever have. This is my lot in life. That's all he had ever seen. He didn't know any better.

But at 17 years of age, my dad gave his life to Christ. God called him to be a minister. Something came alive on the inside. Those seeds of greatness, begin to take root. He heard a voice saying, this is not your destiny. You are not made to live a defeated life, but rather an overcoming, victorious, fulfilling life. There's something more in store. In his mind, this battle of containment was taken place. Negative voices telling him just the opposite. This is all there is. You'll never get out. Just accept it. His parents, my grandparents,

were very loving people, kind, hardworking people, but they had a limited vision. They were living a small life. They said, John, you better not leave the farm. All you know how to do is pick cotton. He could have thought, yeah, you're right. I don't have the education, the talent, the connections, the money. I better just stay here. No, don't let people put their limitations on you. Something rose up in my father. He said, this is where I am, but this is not who I am. I may. I may, be in a limited environment, but I'm not going to let this environment get in me. I know I'm a child of the most high God. I'm destined to leave my mark on this generation. He started throwing out his nets, believing he could take new ground for his family, believing to step into the wide,

open, spacious life. 17, he left home, and that's just what happened. God opened up big doors. He pastored great churches, touched people all over the world. God took him places that he never, imagined. Here's the beauty. Because he stepped up and broke that poverty mentality, now my family, my brother, my sisters, we don't have to deal with it. Like my father, you can be the one to break the cycle of lack and defeat in your family. You can break the addictions, the bad habits. You can rise to a new level and go where no one in your family has ever gone. There's a large life waiting for you. don't stay contained. Don't talk yourself out of it. If you'll think bigger, you'll live bigger. I saw an experiment that was done with four monkeys. They placed them in a room with a large pole

in the center. The top of the pole was a bunch of bananas. The first monkey hurried up the pole, so excited, couldn't wait to get a banana. But just when he is about to reach for one, a large bucket of cold water was poured on him. He scurried down that pole as fast as he could. He didn't want to have anything to do with those bananas. A few minutes, the second monkey went up. Same thing happened. Pored the cold water on him. He turned around, ran back. Over the next hour, the other two monkeys went up, but once again, they were doused with water, came running back down. Day after day went by. Even though those monkeys loved bananas, they wouldn't dare go up that pole. At that point, the researchers removed one monkey and brought a new monkey in. This

new monkey started going up the pole when he did the other three monkeys grabbed him, pulled him down, wouldn't let him go up. He tried again and again and again. They wouldn't let him. Finally he gave up. Quit trying. Researchers brought in another monkey, removed

an original. Same thing. When he went up, the three other monkeys grabbed him. Eventually the room was filled with dozens of monkeys. None of them the original. None of them had felt the dowsing of water. but not one of them would go up that pole.

They didn't know why. They just knew they couldn't have those bananas. Sometimes we're like these monkeys. We don't know why we can't do something great, why we can't accomplish a dream, why we can't break an addiction. All we know is nobody our family has done it. Now they're pulling us down,

telling us how we can't be successful, throwing water on our passion. Generation after generation, being limited, pulled down, pull down because of wrong thinking. My message today is very simple. Go get your bananas. Somebody may have told you you can't do it.

Nobody in your family did it. Daddy didn't do it. Granddaddy didn't do it. Great granddaddy didn't do it. That's okay. This is a new day. You're the difference maker. Rise up and go get what belongs to you. Quit letting people pull you down. Your friends, your relatives, your coworkers.

they may mean well, but God didn't put the dream in them. He put the dream in you. Don't let them talk you out of it. Don't settle where you are because everybody around you is stuck. Go get your bananas. Get me one while you're there. You've got to learn how to encourage yourself. You can't rely on people to keep you built up and cheer your own. Sometimes people will let you down. they'll try to keep you at the same level. They may not see what you can see. Paul said in Romans 3, what if they don't believe?

Will their unbelief make the faith of God of no effect? One version says, so what if they don't believe? Just because somebody doesn't believe that you can do what God put in your heart, that doesn't change anything. You don't have to have everybody on board. You're never going to get all your relatives,

friends, coworkers, to cheer you on and support you. In fact, sometimes, and I say this respectfully, they'll be like these monkeys. They'll tell you, you really think you can do that? You really think you can break that addiction? Start that business, write that book. I don't think so.

Nobody can climb that pole. Your attitude should be, again, respectfully. So what if they don't believe? I don't need their encouragement, their support, their prayers. I know this. Me and God are a majority. If God be for me, who dare be against me, I'm going to go get my bananas.

Start encouraging yourself. I'm strong. I'm talented. I'm well able. I'm coming in to my wide, open, spacious life. A friend of mine told how when he was six years old, the teacher gave the class an assignment. They had to write down what they wanted to be when they grew up. He had seen a man on television that was very funny. And that was his dream as a little boy. He knew he wanted to be on television making people laugh. He wrote it down. He came from a low-income family,

wore hand-me-down clothes, plus he had a problem with stuttering. The teacher started calling out the kids' names, out loud and reading what they had written down. But when she came to his, she stopped and said, Stevie, will you please come up here? He walked to the front of the class, so proud, thinking that she was going to encourage him, cheer him on. It's just the opposite. She said, Stevie, what did you write down? He said, I wrote down that I want to be on television making people laugh. She said, now, Stevie, do you know anybody on television? He said, no, ma'am.

She said, Stevie, has anyone in your family ever been on television? He said, no, ma'am. She said, then you need to take this back and write down something more realistic. As a six-year-old boy, he was confused. Up to that point, nobody had ever told him what he couldn't become. And this teacher, I'm sure she meant well, but like these monkeys, she was pulling him down.

You can't do that. Nobody in this school does that. That night, Stevie told his father what happened, showed him the paper that he'd written down. He wanted to be on television. His father said, Stevie, put this in your top drawer. Every morning before you go to school, every night before you go to bed,

you get this paper out and read it, and thank God that one day you will be on television. He did that year after year after year. Today, many years later, my friend Steve Harvey is on television seven days a week, making people laugh. A great inspiration. Who told you you can't do something great? Who told you you can't accomplish your dreams?

Who told you you'll never overcome that illness? Don't let the monkeys of life keep you from your destiny. Steve could easily be living a small life. If he had to let those words take root, gone around thinking about them, that would have kept him from God's best. If you're going to live a large life, you have to delete the negative things

that were spoken over you. You are not who people say you are. You are who God says you are. Don't let what they said contain you. For instance, you're just a C student. Delete that. You're an A student. you'll never get out of debt. Delete that. You will lend and not borrow. You can't accomplish your

dreams. Delete that. You can do all things through Christ. You're not talented. You're not attractive. Delete that. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Friends, people don't have the final say. God does. And he says, I've prepared for you a wide, open, spacious life. Now get rid of the old wine skins. Start throwing out your nets. This is a new day. God wants to take. you where you've never been. He wants to show you something that you've never seen. If you will start living large, I believe and declare you're going to see new doors begin to open, new talent come out of you, new friendships, new opportunities, a new level of your destiny in Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say amen? 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, save Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you, my Lord and save you. 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 where you've never dreamed. Each week, I stand on this stage and remind you of what God says about you, because it's easy to be defined by who people say we are. or by our own negative thoughts, that we're not talented or problems too big.

The key is to go back to who God says you are. I love to send you my new book, 101 great things that God says about you. I'll help you discover your true identity. God says you're blessed, you're chosen, you're forgiven, you have seeds of greatness, your future is bright. When you get in agreement with God and declare his promises, you'll rise higher and become all you were created to be.

be. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we would like to send you a copy of Joel's brand new resource, 101 things God says about you, faith reminders when you need them most. As you read and reflect, the story of your life, the way you see yourself, will radically change. It will become a reflection of God himself and what he says about you. Use this resource to encourage your heart and remind you of who you are in He. him. You are everything God says about you within these pages. So read it, experience it, and believe it. As an added bonus, you can detach the beautiful poster at the back of the book to read and declare these reminders every day. Yes, you are who God says you are. Now is your time to start believing it.

Be sure to request your copy of 101 things God says about you. Visit Joel Osteen.com or call 888-567, Joel. As you dwell on what God says about you, you're going to see yourself for who you really are, strong, talented, valuable. A Victor, never a victim. Victoria and I want you to know that we love you and we pray for you every day. Thanks so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping people around the world. Special thank you to our champion of hope partners for your monthly support. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, listen on SiriusXM, watch our YouTube channel, and the new Joel Osteen Network, streaming 24 hours a day. Until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

Be sure to request your copy of 101 things God says about you. Visit Joelosteen.com or call 888-567 Joel. For an additional donation this month, we are all. also offering 101 great things God says about you card set. These cards can serve as daily reminders of who God says you are. Additionally, you can request the beautiful copy of the Passion Translation, power, provision, and peace. This book brings fresh insight and deeper understanding to the early church's journey,

Paul's teachings, and the practical application of faith in daily life. You can request these unique resources by calling, 888-567, Joel, or logging on to joelosteen.com today. Call or click anytime, 24 hours a day. Discover your true identity in Christ. Request your copies today.