Joel Osteen Podcast - Living Life As A Healer | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

Everywhere we go, we have the power to bring healing to those around us. God is counting on us to reach out to others with His love and His goodness.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.Stay inspired through every season with the 2024 Today’s Word Devotional. Our January offer has a Scripture verse, reflection, and prayer for each day. Let God transform every aspect of your life as you walk day by day through this new year. Request your copy now, https://bit.ly/4aK143y.  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. 2024 is going to be an amazing year for you and your family. Know that we're praying for you. So get ready. Keep your expectations up. It's going to be a great year. Hope you enjoy today's message. Well, God bless you. Always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. If you're ever in our area, stop by and see us. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks for tuning in. Thanks again for coming out.

I like to start with something funny each week, and I heard about this 92-year-old man. He wasn't feeling well, so he went to the doctor for a check-up. A few days later, the doctor saw him out walking. He had a beautiful young lady by his side, and he looked to be just as happy as he could be. The doctor said, wow, you sure are doing a lot better, aren't you? He said, yes, doctor, I'm just following your orders. You said, get a hot mama and stay cheerful. Doctor said, I didn't say that.

I said, you've got a heart murmur. Be careful. All right, hold it up. 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 life as a healer.

Everywhere we go, there are people in need. They may smile on the outside, but on the inside, they're hurting. We all have a ministry. It may not be in the pulpit, but God is counting on us to reach out to others and bring healing wherever we go. When you see someone that's down and you go over and encourage them, you just became a healer. You just release God's goodness into them.

when you call a friend that's discouraged and you say, hey, I'm thinking about you, I know there are good days up ahead. You just poured in the healing oil. It can be something simple, just smiling at a stranger. You don't even know that person. You didn't think much about it, but you became a healer. God caused your smile to say to them, you're important. I care about you. All around us, people are dealing with family issues, health,

problems, rejection, broken dreams, low self-esteem. You never know what they're going through. God wants to heal, but he uses people. My message is you can become a healer. A man stopped me on a busy sidewalk not long ago, and he was dressed very nice. Looked like he was on top of the world.

But behind this outer facade, he was in so much pain. He and his wife had just gotten separated. He was so discouraged. He said, Joel, I don't have. any reason to live anymore. He sobbed and sobbed like a baby. My coat was wet with his tears. I didn't have all the answers. I couldn't fix everything in two minutes on a busy sidewalk, but I could pour in some healing oil. I could offer some words of encouragement. I told him, God has you in the palm of his hand. Us meeting here is not an accident. That's God's way of saying, everything is going to be

all right. After we prayed, he noticed how wet my suit was with his tears and he was embarrassed. He said, oh, Joel, it looks like I've ruined your jacket. But really, those tears were like having a trophy. You're never more like God than when you're helping, hurting people. And one of our assignments in life is to help wipe away the tears. Are you sensitive to the needs of those around you, your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers? many times like this man, behind the nice clothes, behind the pretty smile, behind the Sunday praise,

there's a person that's hurting. They're alone. Their life's in turmoil. They don't know what they're going to do. Reach out to them. Be a healer. Be a restorer. Take time to wipe away the tears. Friends, our job is not to judge. Our job is not to figure out if they deserve it or not. Who's right? Who's wrong? No, our job is to lift the fallen, to restore the broken, to heal the hurting. Too often we get focused on our own goals, our own dreams, and how we can get our miracle. But I've learned something more important. I can become someone's miracle. There is healing in your hands. There's healing in your voice. You are a container that is filled with God. Right now, you are full of encouragement, full of mercy,

full of restoration, full of healing. Everywhere we go, we should dispense the goodness of God. If you get around me, you better get ready. You're going to be encouraged. You may have made mistakes, but I'm going to tell you, God's mercy is bigger than any mistake you've made. You may have wasted years of your life making poor choices, but I'm going to tell you, God still has a way

to get you to your final destination. You may have had that addiction since you were a teenager, but I'm going to let you know the power of the power of the Most High God can break any addiction and set you free. That's what it means to dispense good. You lift the fallen. You encourage the discouraged. You take time to wipe away the tears.

I think of the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. He was riding his donkey and he saw a man on the side of the road that had been beaten and left for dead. He put him on his donkey and took him to a place where he could recover. Now, I love the fact that the Good Samaritan started down the road. road riding his donkey. The injured man was walking down the road, but it ended up the Good Samaritan was walking and the friend was riding. The message is sometimes you have to trade places with the people that are hurting. You've got to be willing to be inconvenienced. You might have to miss dinner in order to wipe away a tear. You might have to skip working out one night in order to encourage that

couple that's struggling. You may even have to drive across town and pick up that coworker that's addicted and bring him to church with you on Sunday. But if you're going to live life as a healer, you've got to be willing to change places with those that are hurting. Many times, we're so caught up in our own dreams and so focused on our own goals, we don't see the needs of those around us. We've got to learn to take time to care. Listen to what people are saying. Look beneath the surface. That person next to you at work, when you see they're down and discouraged, don't think what's their problem. They sure are unfriendly today.

I'm not going to talk to them. No, turn it around. Have the attitude. I have what they need. I'm a healer. I'm going to encourage them. I'm going to lift their spirits. I'm going to see if there's something I can pray with them about.

That's living life as a healer. I was at the grocery store not long ago, and there were eight or nine people in line in front of me waiting to check out. The lady that was working the cash register was very slow. One item didn't have a price on it and we had to wait and wait and then she overcharged someone and the supervisor had to come and correct it. The people in front of me were getting so frustrated. By the time they got up there to check out, they had had it. They were cold and just real matter of fact. Some of them even rude to the young lady. And she was doing the best that she could. She was just frustrated and nothing was going her way.

I had to make a decision. Am I going to be a part of the problem or a part of the solution? Am I going to just dump more frustration and make her life more miserable like everybody else? Or am I going to live life as a healer? And since I'm a pastor and I thought she might know me, I decided to do the last. When I got up there, I smiled real big and I said, you know what? I think you are doing a great job. And these people, I know

they're kind of rude and impatient, but don't let it bother you. I can tell you're doing your very best. Do you know she started weeping? I thought, dear Lord, what did I do now? You thought the line was long before. Now's going to be really long. I said, what's wrong?

She said, Joel, my little boy is in the hospital. I am so worried I can't even concentrate on what I'm doing here. Friends, usually there's a good reason why somebody's not up to par. There's a reason why they're worried and frustrated. We can't see what's going on behind the scenes. You can't see their personal life, the heartache and pain that they push down. Now they're doing everything they can to just try to keep it together. The last thing

they need is for somebody else to come dump another load on them. And I've learned that God puts people in our path on purpose so we can love them back into wholeness. That purpose, that person that has an addiction in your life, they're not there for you to criticize. God put them there so you can help them overcome it. That student at the school that doesn't have any friends, everybody makes fun of them, God put them there so you can make them feel accepted, so you can make them feel loved. Or that neighbor that's dug himself into a pit. Instead of thinking, I told him, I tried to warn him, he brought it on himself, he's

getting what he deserves. No, he's in your life by divine. appointment. God is expecting you to lift him out of that pit. God's counting on you to be a voice of hope and encouragement, not judgment and condemnation. Proverbs 154 says, a gentle tongue brings healing. It's amazing what happens when you tell someone, everything is going to be all right. You're going to make it. There are good days up ahead. That's all some people need to hear. You don't have to preach a sermon. you don't have to quote 25 scriptures or counsel them for eight hours. Just a few kind words can start the healing process.

Right there at the cash register in the middle of the grocery store, I asked her if we could pray. We prayed together and now the line was really long. The supervisor came over and when he saw her crying, he looked at me like, what have you done to my employee? She said, no, no, I haven't felt this much peace in years. What happened? I became someone's miracle. When you reach out to people in need, you are kind, loving, merciful, understanding. You are sowing seeds for God to do the same thing for you.

When you make a mistake or your children or grandchildren get off course and they need mercy, because you're living life as a healer, God will make sure someone will always be there for them. And friends, there's already enough condemning voices. There's already enough critical, fault-finding people. Let's break out of that rut. Our attitude should be, I'm going to live my life as a healer. I'm not looking for somebody that's done wrong so I can push them further down. I'm looking for somebody that's fallen so I can lift up.

I'm looking for someone that made a mistake so I can help restore. Someone that's hurting so I can help. I can love them back into wholeness. I heard Jim Baker, the former head of the PTO television network, tell something that happened when he was about to get out of prison. You might remember that he spent several years incarcerated for not handling things properly. When he was about to be released, Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, got in touch with him and told him that the grams were going to rent him a house and get him a car to drive when he got out of prison.

Jim Baker said Franklin, you can't do that. I have too much baggage. You'll be criticized. Your ministry can't be associated with me. Franklin said, sure we can, Jim. You were our friend before and you will be our friend afterwards. The first Sunday that he got out, he was living temporarily in a halfway house. Ruth Graham, Billy Graham's wife, called the place and asked the man in charge if Jim could have permission to leave and come to church with the Grams that Sunday. He gave him permission and Jim got to the church and they ushered him right down to the very front row and sat him next to Franklin Graham. The Graham's had 10 or 15 family members there. There were two vacant seats next to Jim Baker before the service started. He didn't know who they were for. But when the music kicked up,

a side door opened and out walked Billy and Ruth Graham and they sat right next to Jim Baker. He had only been out of prison for 48 hours, but the whole world knew that the grams were his friend. What were the grams doing associating with somebody that had been a convicted criminal? They were loving him back into wholeness. I heard somebody say, a true friend walks in when everybody else walks out. A true friend doesn't rub it in when you make a mistake. They help rub it out. That's the question we should ask.

am I rubbing it in or am I rubbing it out? Am I a healer, a restorer, or have I gotten critical and judgmental? If somebody makes a mistake, do I have the attitude? Stay away from me. Cross them off my list. Never have anything to do with them. The scripture says Jesus was a friend of sinners. I don't know about you, but I'm going to live my life as a healer.

I'm going to make sure I help rub it out and not rub it in. and that doesn't mean that we overlook wrongs and act like that it never happened, but we understand if it were not for the grace of God, that could be us. When you show mercy to the guilty, when you encourage the discouraged, when you lift people up when everyone else is pushing them down, that touches the heart of God in a very special way. I know as a parent, it's one thing to do me a favor. I would appreciate that.

I would thank you. but if one of my children were in need and you help them, if my son made a mistake and you showed him mercy, if my daughter was hurting and you helped heal that pain, then as a parent, there is nothing in the world I wouldn't do for you. It's the same way with God. When you make it your business to help his children, his sons, his daughter,

and you go around wiping away the tears, lifting the fallen, pouring the healing oil on the wounded. When you live life like that, you might as well get ready. You will not be able to outrun the goodness of God. I heard a young lady named Tammy Trent being interviewed on television. She's a popular Christian artist. And one time she and her husband went on a tropical vacation to an island to celebrate their 11th anniversary.

Her husband was a very skilled underwater diver. He could stay underwater for up to 10 minutes without an air tank. He could hold his breath that long. When they got to the beach, they were so excited. The husband jumped in and swam underwater and started exploring the caves. Tammy just stayed up on the beach and was taking in the beautiful scenery. Ten minutes or so went by and Tammy noticed that her husband had not yet come up for air and she got a little bit worried. 15 minutes, still nothing.

20 minutes, 30 minutes, she began to panic. She told the authorities and they got the. the boats and started searching and searching. Long story short, the young man drowned. They found his body the next day. Tammy was not only in shock, not only totally devastated, but now she was alone in this foreign country with nobody she knew. She called her parents and they said they would immediately come. The first flight was the next morning. Well, this happened on September the 10th, 2001. The next day was 9-11. No flights could come or go. Everybody was stuck. So for day

after day, she was stuck there all alone. She felt forgotten. She was so numb she couldn't even think straight. Finally, she said, God, if you're up there anywhere, please send somebody to help me, somebody to let me know that you care.

Little later, there was a knock on the hotel door room. It was the housekeeper. She was an older Jamaican woman. She said, I was cleaning the room next door and I don't mean to bother you, but I couldn't help but hearing you crying. And I was wondering if there's anything that I could pray with you about. Tammy told her what had happened. That older Jamaican woman put her loving arms around Tammy and held her like she was her very own daughter.

That moment, thousands of miles from home, Tammy Trent knew that God was still in control. What made the difference? This housekeeper was living life as a healer. She was sensitive to the needs of those around her. She heard the cries of help coming even from another room. She could have thought, oh, I've got a lot of work to do. I'm busy. Yes, that girl's got problems, but I got problems of my own. No, she understood this principle. She knew her assignment in life was to help wipe away the tears. That moment, she poured the healing oil onto Tammy's wounds. She didn't try to explain everything. She didn't try to figure it all out. She simply let her know that she cared. She became a healer. And the scripture talks about how one day

God will wipe away all the tears. There will be no more tragedy, no more sickness, no more pain. But in the meantime, God is counting on you and me to wipe away these tears. Are you lifting the fallen? Are you taking time to help somebody else?

It's great to come to church, celebrate God's goodness. We come to be trained, to be challenged, to be inspired. But our real work begins when we leave this building. Look around you. Find the people that are hurting. Listen for the cries in the other room. You may not hear them with your physical ears, but you can hear them with your heart.

You can see when somebody's down and all the sudden you feel a flow of compassion toward them. And you think, I need to go pray for them. I need to go encourage them. Your mind will tell you, you're crazy. You don't even know them. You're going to be embarrassed. Don't push it down.

That's God wanting you to bring healing. There's a tear that needs to be wiped away. I'll never forget one time. Victoria called a friend named Shannon. She dialed the number. And this young lady answered and seemed somewhat troubled. and Victoria said, Shannon, is this you? And the voice was muffled and said, yes, this is me, and I'm going to be okay. Well, Victoria was more confused and she said, is this Shannon so-and-so?

Called her last name. The young lady said, no, you must have the wrong number. This is a different Shannon. Victoria was about to hang up. All of a sudden, she felt this flow of compassion toward her. She said, Shannon, I know this may sound strange, but can I pray with you about something, she began to weep. She said, would you please? My father just died and I'm so depressed, I don't know what I'm going to do. Victoria began to

pray and speak faith into her. Let her know that everything was going to be all right. Before she hung up, the young lady said, you're my angel. Now I know that God still has a plan for my life. Friends, God will bring people across our path

so we can restore. Be sensitive and fall. that flow of compassion. One time I was at the hospital visiting with a friend and when I came out, mother and her daughter asked if I would go down the hall and pray for their father. I said, sure I will. Let's go down there together. When they got to the room, they said, Joel, we'll just stay out here and let you go in by yourself. I thought that was a little strange, but I went in there and never seen the man before. He's about 60 years old and we just acted like we were old friends and I talked and talked and visited maybe 10 or 15 minutes and I prayed over him and I gave

him a big hug and when I walked out the mother and daughter were grinning from ear to ear I said what is so funny they said Joel we can't believe he let you pray for him he doesn't even like you I thought oh thanks a lot that's why I went in by myself They said, when we watch you on television, he always makes fun of you and tells us to turn you off. I thought if I'd known that, I made a prayed a little bit differently. But when you take time to care, you never know what God will do. That was years ago, and today, do you know every service that man in his family is sitting at Lakewood. They never miss a Sunday.

When you live life as a healer, it breaks down the walls. It softens hard hearts. Love never fails. Come to find out, that man used to be a deacon in his church. But something happened where he wasn't treated right, and he hadn't been to church in 30 years. The book of James talks about how we need to go after the prodigals. We need to go after the people that have fallen away.

And if you know people that have been strong in their faith at one time, but now they've fallen, maybe they used to come to church, they used to volunteer, they used to serve, but not anymore. I'm giving you an assignment. Sick them. Go after them. Write them a letter. Track them down. Call them.

Stop by their house and say, hey, where have you been? We miss you. We need you. Why don't you come back home? We have to go after the prodigals. Our attitude should be I'm on a mission from God. If you fall away, you're on dangerous ground because I'm going to track you down. I'm going to help bring you back into the fold.

This is what my father did. One time years ago, he went to a service across town at a friend of ours church. He got there late, so he just sat on the back row. In a few minutes, a young man came in that looked very troubled, very disturbed. My father felt that flow of compassion going out toward him. He thought after the service, I'm going to get him and encourage him and speak faith into his heart. But midway through, the young man got up and walked out. My father felt so strongly, he went after him.

He looked in the lobby, couldn't find him. Daddy went out in the parking lock, searched in search, still nothing. He came back in and checked a restroom, and sure enough, there he was. My father looked him in the eyes and said, I don't know you, but I want to tell you, God's hand is on your life. He's got a destiny for you to fulfill. Don't give up on your future. He began to weep and weep.

He said, my life is so messed up. I'm addicted to so many drugs. I decided to come to church one more time, and then I was going to go home and take every pill I could find. He told later how he saw my father sitting on the back row. He didn't know who he was, but he was very impressed with my father's shoes.

He said, when I left, I saw you come after me, And I did everything I could to get away. But everywhere I went, I saw those shoes following me. You know what they were? The shoes of a healer. The shoes of a restorer. What was my father doing?

Going after the prodigals, tracking down somebody that he knew had fallen away. That night was a turning point in the young man's life. Today, more than 30 years later, he's a pastor of a very large church, has thousands and thousands of people. but I wonder where he would be if my father had not been living life as a healer.

A hundred years from now, if someone were to remember me, I don't want them to say, oh yeah, Joel, he's the guy that had a big church. He wrote some nice books. He was kind of popular. No, I want them to say, that man was a healer.

He was a restorer. He lifted the following. He encouraged the discourage. He gave mercy to the guilty. He spent his life wiping away the tears. I received a letter just recently from a lady that talked about how for 42 years she had been beaten down by life and beaten down by religion. She was told that God only loved her when she kept all the rules and she followed all their man-made laws. She said, I suffered under religion. I could never be good enough. She ended up dropping out of church, depressed and confused. years later, she was flipping through the channels, and she heard me talking about God's unconditional love and how he's still got a great plan for all of our lives. For the first time, she felt a freedom on the inside. It was like God breathed new breath into her spirit.

She said, Joel, sometimes, because you don't condemn people, other people criticize you and say, you're just preaching Christianity light. But let me tell you, I lived under Christianity heavy for 42 years. I was broken. I was defeated. I was depressed. But today I'm healthy. I'm happy. I'm whole. I'm helping others. She went on to say, I will take Christianity light over Christianity heavy any day of the week. Don't take this wrong, but religion likes to beat people down. Religion will criticize you because you're not hard enough on others. But I love what Jesus said, my yoke is easy, my burden is life. I've learned this. People are already beaten down enough by life. Let's be healers. Let's be restores. Let's get up every day and say, where is a need I can

meet? Where is someone where I can help lighten a load? Friends, you are a container filled with God. Release his healing wherever you go. If you will live your life as a healer, as a restorer, I promise you this. God's face will always shine down on you. Because you rub it out and don't rub it in, God will be there for your children, for your grandchildren. He won't just meet your needs. He will give you the desires of your heart. You'll overcome your obstacles, defeat your enemies.

I believe and declare you'll see every dream, every promise God put in your heart. It will come to pass. Amen. Do 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. 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 you've never dreamed up.

It's January. Time to renew my faith. It's January. It's time to start a new season. It's January. There is no better time than now to set the course of our year ahead. The beginning of the year is a great time to start a fresh and anew, to let go of negative things of the past,

and to get ready for the new things God has in store. Every January, we create a new devotional calendar that will help you throughout the year. When you start the day off in faith, grateful for what God's done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year.

This devotional will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can go out each day in faith, knowing that God is in control and that his plans for you are for good. I'd love to send you a copy. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this first month of the year, we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 24, 365-day devotional calendar. Do you want to set a faith course for your life in 2024? Do you want to see your life take off in new directions of influence, favor, and provision in the year ahead?

Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one, two, three. One, wake up with an expectancy in your heart. Two, reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. Three, capture God's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection. Be sure to request your copy of the 2024 devotional calendar available this month by simply visiting us at joel osteen.com or calling 888-567 Joel.