Joel Osteen Podcast - Living With Expectancy | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: June 30, 2023

God wants to do incredible things in your life, but you have to do your part and raise your level of expectancy. He is looking for ways to be good to 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 visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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See Terms and Conditions at UNS dot. See you. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed 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. Well, God bless you. Always a joy to come into your homes.

We come with good news knowing that God is on your side and he's got a great plan for your life. And if you're ever in our area, I hope that you'll stop by and see us. We give you a personal invitation. I promise you it will make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in today. I'd like to get started with something kind of funny each week. So listen to this one. A woman parked her brand new Lexus in front of her office

wanting to show it off. As she got out, a truck passed too closely and tore the door completely off. When the police arrived, they found the woman running and raving about how her new car would never be the same. The officer shook his head and said, Lady, you are so materialistic. Don't you realize when the truck hit your car

it ripped your arm off from the elbow down. Oh, my goodness, she screamed, where's my tennis bracelet? You know some people like that? Come on, hold your Bibles up and say it like you mean it. Ready? This is my Bible. I am what it says I am.

I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I'll be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess, my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be the same. I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living seed of the Word of God. I'll never be the same.

Never, never, never, never. I'll never be the same in Jesus' name. God bless you. You sound great as usual. I want to talk to you today about living with expectancy and believing for more of God's favor in your life. Too many people are stuck in a rut, and they're not really expecting anything good. they don't expect to rise higher. They don't expect to get any breaks.

They don't expect things to change. They go out each day sort of expecting to get the short end of the stick. Their attitude is, nothing good ever happens to me. I don't see how I could ever get out of debt. I'll never get married. I'll never be promoted.

I don't think I could ever afford a nice house. But no, you've got to change what you're expecting. God meets us at the level of our expectations. If you don't expect anything good, you don't expect to rise higher, you don't expect those negative situations to turn around, then unfortunately your own wrong thinking is going to set the limits for your life. Now, I want to challenge you today to raise your level of expectancy. Get your hopes up.

Start believing for more of God's favor. God has so many great things in store for you. He wants to promote you, to increase you. God can turn any situation around. But we have to do our part and take the limits off of God. And so instead of always expecting the worst, why don't you start expecting the best? Instead of going out each day, expecting to just barely get by, why don't you start expecting to live God's abundant life?

When we get up in the morning, one of the first things we should do is ask ourselves, what am I expecting today? What am I believing? Our attitude should be, I believe this is going to be a great day. God's favor surrounds me wherever I go. I know God is making my crooked places straight, and I believe that something good is going to happen to me today. See, we need to get our mind going in the right direction. Let's start believing that we can rise higher. Believe that you can accomplish your dreams. Believe that

that situation can turn around. Put your faith out there and start expecting good things. And the scripture says there in Isaiah 30, verse 18, from the amplified, God is longing to be good to people that are looking for his goodness, his favor, and his victory. Notice, God wants to be good to you, but it's only going to happen if you are looking for his goodness, if you are expecting his blessings and favor. In other words, we should actively be releasing our faith for more of God's favor. And I don't say it arrogantly, but when I go out each day, I'm expecting to get good breaks. I'm expecting to be at the right place, at the right time. I'm expecting some supernatural doors to open. I'm expecting people to want to be good to me. I'm expecting

a few advantages, not because of who I am, but because of whose I am. I know I'm a child of the Most High God, and God is longing to be good to me. I know God wants to pour out his blessings and favor. It says in the book of Psalms, that God has crowned us with glory and honor. Another word for honor is favor. Favor means to assist, to provide with advantages and to receive preferential treatment. God is simply saying he wants to make your life easier. He wants to assist you. He wants to give you advantages. And what a shame to go through life, negative, defeated, never expecting anything good when Almighty God has already crowned us with his favor. No, we need to hold our shoulders back and live with confidence knowing that we have a right

to walk in victory. We have a right to expect good things. We have an advantage in life. We have the favor of God. One translation says, God wants to show us his far and beyond favor. He wants to do unusual, unprecedented things. But if that's going to happen, we've got to start living more favor-minded. That simply means we're not only expecting favor, but we're also declaring God's favor. And every day, we should say, Father, I thank you that I have your favor. Thank you that I have favor with my boss. Thank you that I have favor with my clients. Thank you that my children have favor with their teachers. When you get to the office, just under your breath, Father, thank you that I have favor in this place. Everywhere you go all day long, Father, thank you that your hand of favor is upon me.

See, learn to declare God's favor. Really, it's not enough to just believe this. It's not enough to just think about it. You need to speak it out. Words give life to our faith. And we should get in a habit of declaring favor. Just like you're in a habit of brushing your teeth, you should get in a habit of speaking favor over your life every single day. When you really walk in God's favor, supernatural things are going to happen. The favor of God will cause you to get a promotion, even though you're not the most qualified. The favor of God will cause your house to sell, even though nothing else in the neighborhood is selling. The favor of God will cause people to come into your business, even though another business was much closer. When you, you

you have God's favor, he causes his light to shine down on you. He causes you to stand out in the crowd. And people are going to want to be good to you. They may not even know why they're doing it, but they'll go out of their way to help you. One time I was on an airplane, and out of the clear

blue, the stewardess came up, and she got me out of my seat, and she took me to a seat up there in first class. And I was so surprised, I said, why did you do that? She said, oh, the computer just randomly selected you. And I thought, that's what you think. No, when you have God's favor, he'll cause even computers to be good to you.

And listen, when things like that happen, don't take it for granted. Be a grateful person. Learn to say, Father, thank you for your favor. And sometimes it's just the small things. You're in a crowded parking lot. All of a sudden, somebody backs out and you get that front row spot. That's not a lucky break. That's the favor of God. Maybe you're out there on the freeway. It's all backed up. You're trying to get over. Can't seem to get in. All of a sudden, there's the path. You just slide right in there. That's not a coincidence.

That's God's hand of favor on your life. I remember one time I was at a mall and I was up at the cash register just standing there, minding my own business. I was paying for something. Victoria had stepped away and I was waiting there. The lady behind the register, she said, oh, you know what? This goes on sale tomorrow. It's okay with you.

I'll go ahead and give you the sale price. I said, I think that'd be okay. And I told Victoria, I need to go shopping with you more often. I might save us some money. But she didn't have to do that. She didn't know me from Adam. That's God's favor causing people to want to be good to us. God's favor causing us to stand out in the crowd.

Well, you say, Joel, that never happens for me. Well, are you living favor-minded? Are you expecting good things? Are you declaring favor over your life? Well, I tried it for three days, but it didn't work. No, I'm talking about living a lifestyle of believing for the best, expecting the best, and thanking God all day long for his goodness. When you do that, you will see more of God's life.

favor in your life. I know I talked to a young man several years ago. He was a very successful businessman and he came down to the front for prayer about this job interview he was going to. This was a chance for him to really advance in his career. Seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity. He told how executives were flying in from all over the country to interview for this new position. Most of these executives had much more experience than he did. They were much more qualified. In fact, on paper, their resume was much more impressive. And he had already interviewed several times at this company, and he was going back for his final evaluation later that week.

And after we prayed together, I told him basically what I'm telling you today, that you need to start speaking favor over your life. And I told him every day, whether you feel like it or not, no matter how impossible it seems to you, you just need to say, Father, thank you that your favor is causing this company to want to hire me. Thank you that your favor is going to cause me to stand out,

in the crowd. Father, I just think that your favor is going to open up doors that look impossible. I said, you not only do that, but you expect to get that position. Expect to hear good news. Well, I saw him maybe three months later out here in the front lobby, and he was just beaming from ear to ear. I mean, he had a glow on his face, and I could already tell that he had gotten that new position. But he said something very interesting. He said, Joel, it was the most amazing thing. When I went into that boardroom, and those executives gave me the good news, they were shaking their heads. They said, we don't really know why we're hiring you. You're not the most qualified. You don't have the most experience, but they said there's just something about you that we like.

They said, we can't quite put our finger on it, but there's just something about you that makes you stand out above those other candidates. Friends, that's the favor of God. God's favor is like a bright light shining down on you. It's going to cause you to stand out in the crowd. That's what it says in number six, verse 25, the Lord will make his face shine on you and give you favor, and you will be enlightened. And when you really walk in God's favor, when you

really know that you know that you've been crowned with glory and honor, you're going go around beaming with joy. You're going to go around glowing with the glory of God. I think about Moses, when he came down off the mountain after he had just received the Ten Commandments, the scripture says that

his face was so bright, they had to put a veil over it, because people couldn't even stand to look at it. I believe when God's favors really poured out in your life, you're going to go around with that glow. You're going to be shining. People may not even know what it is. All they're going to know is there's something different about you. For some reason, they want to help you. Let's give him the promotion. Let's give her the preferential treatment. What is that? The favor of God causing you to stand out. I know ever since I became pastor, one thing I've always done is I've really prayed and believed that God would give me favor.

with people that were watching on TV and favor with the people that were flipping by the different channels. And practically every day, I say, Father, thank you that your favor is causing me to stand out and it's supernaturally drawing people to where they want to tune in. Well, it's funny, I got a letter a few years back from this man, and he told how he could not stand TV ministers. He was very sarcastic and very skeptical about everything. And as he would be watching TV on Sunday nights, and he'd see me on the screen, he would flip by as fast as he could. I mean, he would not watch for five seconds. It was like he didn't want to become contaminated.

But one Sunday night, as he was flipping through the different channels, believe it or not, his remote control quit working. And he got stuck on the channel that we were on. And he could not change the channel. He couldn't turn the volume down, made him so aggravated. He changed the batteries in the remote control, finagle with it here and there, but he could not get it working. And he said as he was continuing to work on the remote control, he couldn't help but listen to what I was saying.

And it just so happened, I was talking about exactly what was going on in his life. And that got his attention. He perked up and watched the rest of the program. And he said, Joel, the most amazing thing happened, the moment the program was over, my remote control started working again. He said, now I never miss a broadcast. I got my friends and family watching. I'm your most faithful viewer. But see, that's God's favor causing us to stand out in the crowd.

That's God's favor causing you to be at the right place at the right time. That wasn't any accident. Don't you know God knew when the remote control was going to quit working? But I believe things like that happen because I'm releasing my faith in that area. I'm believing it, expecting it, and declaring God's favor. And you can do the same thing. And really, every day before you leave the house, you should declare favor over your family, favor over your job, favor over your finances, favor wherever you go. Just say, Father, I thank you that your favor

is going to make my crooked places straight today. Thank you that your favor is going to open up new doors of opportunity. Father, I thank you that your favor is going to bring success and victory into my life today. When you get in a situation where you need favor, learn to just declare it, even if it's under your breath. You don't have to broadcast it out to the world. Maybe you're in a crowded restaurant and you really need to get table, just under your breath. Father, thank you for giving me favor with these people. Or if you're in a long line at the airport, the plane's about to leave, Father, thank you that your favor will help me make this flight. Your favor will open up a new line. Or like I was talking about, you're in a crowded parking lot. You can't find a space. Father, thank you that your favor is just leading me

and guiding me. Well, you say, Joel, what if I do that and nothing happens? What if I do that and I have to park a long way off, way back at the back? Well, what you do is you get out and you walk and with step of the way, you thank God that you're healthy, you think God that you're well able to walk, you're strong, you're alive, you're full of faith and joy. But you don't get all negative and start complaining. Well, I knew it wouldn't work for me. That young preacher doesn't know what he's talking about. No, no matter what comes your way, just keep on believing, keep on expecting it, keep on living favor-minded. And really, we need to start believing for some of this far and beyond favor. I love what it says in Ephesians 2-7 in the Amplified.

God wants to show us the immeasurable, the limitless, the surpassing greatness of his favor. That tells me God wants to do unusual, unprecedented things. We've got to stir ourselves up and start believing for more of that. I know a couple that recently bought a new home. They had looked for a long time and all of a sudden this house became available and things just fell into place. But now they needed to sell their other house. And they debated for some time about what price they should list it for

on the market. And after talking with several knowledgeable people and studying the neighborhood themselves, they decided to list it for quite a bit more than anyone had suggested. They just felt like it was worth more money. And they needed it to not only sell quickly, but they needed it to sell close to what they were asking for so this other deal would work out. I was talking to this young lady about it, and she said, Joel, we just decided that we were going to believe for some of God's unprecedented favor. We were going to believe that the house was not only going to sell quickly, but

it was going to sell close to what we were asking for. And when she told me that, that just stuck out in my mind. I like that unprecedented favor. See, they put their faith out there for some of that far and beyond favor. And do you know, on the first day that the house was officially on the market,

a realtor brought this couple by, and they fell in love with the house. And they said, if you'll take the house off the market today, we'll not only write you a contract, but we'll pay you more money than you're asking. They sold the house the very first day for more money than they had it listed for. And you know that's not normal. That's some of that far and beyond favor. That's God doing more than we can ask or think. But my point to you is I don't believe in a million years that would have happened if they had not put their faith out there in that

area. I don't believe that it would have happened if they were not expecting good things. if they had had the attitude, well, this house will probably never sell. The market's low. We priced it way too high. No, God is longing to be good to you, but you've got to be looking for his goodness. I'm asking you today to believe for bigger things. Put your faith out there. Start living more favor-minded. God wants to be good to you. And no, I'm not saying this is going to work every single time. I'm not saying this is some kind of magic formula. But what I am saying is if you don't get your hopes up, if you don't start believing, even for bigger things. If you don't live more favored-minded, then you can rest assured, you're not going to see much of this happen in your life. Because faith is what activates God's

supernatural power. In other words, don't put your house on the market, not expecting it to sell. Well, nobody's going to buy this whole thing. Just watch. It's going to take forever. I know it. No, you've already defeated yourself. You put it on the market and say, Father, I thank you that your favor is causing my house to stand out. I think you that your favor is drawing people to it, and you're going to bring me a buyer. That's the kind of attitude you need to have. Some of you today, though, you are not believing for big enough things. You are not expecting things to go your way. You're not expecting to get any breaks. I want to challenge you to make a decision today that you're going to get rid of that negative, limited mentality, and you're going to start believing for some of that unusual,

unprecedented, far and beyond favor. God is longing to be good to you. My question is, are you looking for God's goodness. Are you expecting any advantages? Are you living favor-minded? And I could tell you, we would not be where we are today as a church if we didn't believe strongly in the favor of God. When the compact center became available and we signed the agreement with the city, that took most of our resources to secure the facility. Most of you know, we prepaid the lease. When we met with the architects about remodeling it and redesigning it and adding the children's facility and the Broadcast Center and all of that, they told us it was going to cost close to $80 million.

Well, we didn't have that much money at the time, and I didn't want to wait several years while we raised the funds because we need the room now. And so I told our team, we need to meet with the bank about getting a construction loan. So they got it all lined up. And one day I went to this meeting, and these bank people were very, very nice people,

but they were very negative. They told us all the reasons why it wouldn't work and why they couldn't be involved, and all the risks that they would have to take, and on and on and on. Finally, at the end of the meeting, they said, well, just maybe. There's a slight chance we could offer you about one-fifth of what you really need. Man, I left that meeting kind of discouraged. I thought, God, how is this ever going to work out?

The next morning when I woke up, it dawned on me that I needed to start believing for God's supernatural favor. And so I just started declaring every day, Father, thank you that your favor is leading us to the right people. Thank you that your favor will bring people across our path that want to help us, people that get behind the vision, people that are excited about this project. And I just kept doing that day after day. Well, several weeks later, we met with another bank, and it was like night and day difference. This group was excited about being involved. In fact, in the first meeting, they brought a letter already written offering us twice as much

as the other bank, and they hadn't even seen our records. They hadn't even seen our finances. I mean, their attitude was we'll do whatever it takes to be involved. Wasn't a struggle. We didn't have to convince them. It was the favor of God. I believe it's that same favor that's going to help us to pay off that construction loan. But the point I'm making to you is maybe you've been trying to get another house or maybe

you need some credit so your business can really grow. But everybody has told you how impossible it is, how it's never going to work and you might as well just forget it. But no, you need to hear God saying that God has the resources for you. He has the people that can help you. God can make a way even when it looks like there is no way. But you've got to put your faith out there. You've got to do like we did and start saying,

Father, thank you that your favor is bringing the right people across my path. When you do that, that's when supernatural doors are going to open. Well, you say, Joel, I've tried and tried, and they just tell me it's against the policy, it's against the regulation, against the rules. Now, listen to what I've discovered. The favor of God can bend the rules for you. The favor of God can make it. for you if you'll just keep believing,

keep declaring it, keep expecting it, and supernatural doors are going to open. I know some of you today are going through great difficulties. You've got a lot of obstacles in your path, and you're kind of thinking, man, I don't really want to hear about favor. I want to know how to get out of my problems. But let me tell you, the favor of God

can turn your situation around. God's favor can bring you out of that adversity. I love what David said in Psalm 4111. He said, the favor of God keeps me. my enemies from triumphing over me. The favor of God can do the same thing for you. And all through the Bible, there are examples of where people were in a great time of need, yet God's favor showed up and turned everything around. I think about Noah. He was facing the greatest challenge of his life.

The whole world was about to be destroyed by the flood. Don't you know he could have easily gotten discouraged? He could have easily just given up and thought it was hopeless. But the Bible says that Noah found favor in the eyes of God. In other words, God's supernatural ability came on him. It assisted him and helped him to build that huge ark, which saved he and all of his family. I think about Ruth. She and her mother-in-law were widows. They hardly had any money.

They were just barely surviving. Ruth would go out into the fields each day and pick up the leftover grain. They were just barely making it. But the Bible says the favor of God came on Ruth, and she found favor with Boaz, the owner of that field. and he told his workers to leave handfuls of grain on purpose for little Ruth. And now they had all their needs supplied. You think about that. Here they were in that time of crisis.

The favor of God changed and all of a sudden things turned around. One more example, Joseph, you know, he was sold into slavery. He was so mistreated, so taking advantage of, but the Bible says the favor of God was upon Joseph. And every place they put him, he continued to prosper. even when they lied and threw them into prison, they couldn't keep him down. The favor of God caused him to rise to the top. And in each of these examples, God's favor came in the midst of a storm.

It came in a famine, came in a flood, came when somebody was being mistreated. And when you're in one of life's challenges, maybe you've got a difficult thing going on right now, somebody's mistreating here, you're struggling financially. It's so tempting to get negative and discouraged and just expect the worst, but you need to more than ever become favor-minded. That means expect the situation to change and start speaking favor over that difficulty. Maybe you've got a child that's just running with the wrong crowd.

You need to say, Father, thank you that your favor is keeping him from getting into trouble. Thank you that your favor is going to bring good people across his path. Or if you're struggling financially, Father, thank you that your favor is opening up new doors. Thank you that your favor is going to help me to prosper. See, it says in first people, to hope to the end for the divine favor that is coming. God is saying, if you can just keep your hopes up, then divine favor is on its way.

You may not be able to see it right now. In the natural, your situation may look pretty impossible, but if you can just keep believing, keep expecting, he promises that favor is going to show up. Let me tell you, when God's favor comes on the scene, things are going to change. Like David, the favor of God will keep your enemies from defeating you. Like Joseph, the favor of God will cause you to always rise to the top. God's favor will open up doors to you that men say are impossible.

So let me challenge as we go into this new year, live more favor-minded, expect it, declare it every day. Say, Father, thank you that I have your favor. Don't just sit back and take what life brings your way. Be aggressive and believe for big things. God wants to show you the surpassing greatness of his favor. He's longing to be good to you. but you've got to be looking for his goodness. And when you're tempted to just shrink back

and just kind of settle for mediocrity and not expect anything good, you've got to remind yourself, you have been crowned with glory and honor. You are a child of the most high God. God wants you to be favored. He wants to assist you. He wants you to have advantages in life.

Friends, if you will do your part and just make a decision with me that you're going to consistently expect good things and you're going to declare God's favor, then God promises he'll make his face shine down on you. He'll give you his favor. He'll meet all your needs and abundance. And I'll believe you'll experience the victory that he has in store. Amen. How many of you receive it this morning? Can you say amen 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 that you've never dreamed of. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast

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