Joel Osteen Podcast - Remember Who You Are | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

When you know who you are, you won't have to worry about how things are going to work out. You know that because you are a child of God, you are crowned with His favor. He's working everything out for your good!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.

When you face situations, do you don't see how they could work out? Don't live worried. The how is not up to you. God wouldn't have allowed it if it was going to keep you from your destiny. He won't let you get in a problem that he can't get you out of. If you'll stay focused on the who, knowing that you are his child, that you are blessed, favored, anointed, empowered, then God will take care of the how. 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. It's a joy to come into your home. So thanks for being with us today. And I hope you'll stay connected all through the week.

We have a daily podcast that you can download. Go to our YouTube channel. Watch the messages anytime. or you can follow us on social media, we're going to keep you encouraged and inspired. But thanks for tuning in today. I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this man that was out walking on the beach.

God said, son, you've been so faithful, I'm going to grant you one special wish. He was so excited. He said, God, I've always wanted to go to Hawaii, but I'm afraid to fly. So my wish is that you would build a bridge across the ocean. God said, son, that's impossible. Think of the logistics of that.

Now take a moment and wish again. The man thought about it and said, okay, God, I've been married four times. All my ex-wives say I am so insensitive. So my wish is that I would be able to understand a woman. I want to know why they think like they think, why they feel like they feel. There was a long pause and God said,

do you want two lanes or four lanes on that bridge? 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 remember who you are. We all face challenges in life that we don't know how are going to work out. How am I going to get well? How am I going to meet the right person? How is this dream going to come to pass? But here's the key.

The how is not as important as the who. When you know who you are, a child of the most high God, crowned with favor, with royal blood flowing through your veins, then the who will override the how. The how is not up to us. The how may look impossible. If you stay focused on how, you're going to get worried, discouraged. your job is not to figure everything out your job is to honor God be your best and he will take care

of the how we spend too much time on the how how is my child going to get back on course how am i going to make it through this pandemic how can i overcome this opposition at work why don't you spend that same time on the who father thank you that i am your child thank you that you handpicked me you chose me before I could choose you. Thank you that you are for me, that you are fighting my battles. If you'll focus on the who, God will take care of the how. When our children were small, they never once said, Daddy, how are we going to pay our bills this month? How are we going to get to school tomorrow? How are we going to have something for dinner tonight? They were never concerned about the how because they knew the who. Because they belong to us, they didn't. They

knew their father was going to take care of it. They knew daddy is going to keep us safe. Daddy's going to make sure we get there. Daddy's going to protect us, provide, show us favor. What if we had that same kind of childlike faith? Not trying to figure out all the hows, worried about how our health is going to improve and how we're going to accomplish the goal, how we're going to get out of this difficulty. Can I tell you, your heavenly father is going to take care of the house. When you understand that you belong to him, then you can live from a place of peace

knowing that Daddy's going to protect you. Daddy's going to show your favor. Daddy's going to turn that problem around. As an earthly father, I knew how to do things that my children didn't understand. I had experience, wisdom, strength that they didn't have. How much more so our Heavenly Father,

he created the universe. He flung stars into space. He has ways of doing things that we can't see. He's working behind the scenes lining up what you need to accomplish your dreams. He already has a solution to that problem that's stressing you out. He has angels watching over you. He has favor surrounding you. He's put a blessing on your life that circumstances and people cannot stop. You have an advantage because of who your heavenly father is. When you face situations, you don't see how

they could work out. Don't live worried. The how is not up to you. God wouldn't have allowed it if it was going to keep you from your destiny. He won't let you get in a problem that he can't get you out of. If you'll stay focused on the who

knowing that you are his child, that you are blessed, favored, anointed, empowered, then God will take care of the how. This is what David did. At 17 years old, he was out in the shepherds fields when his father asked him to take lunch to his brothers. They were serving in the army in another city. When he arrived, he heard Goliath, the champion of the Philistine army taunting the Israelites. They were all afraid,

but something rose up in David, a fire, a passion, an anointing. He said, who is this man that he should defy the armies of the living God. He told King Saul that he wanted to fight Goliath. And Saul laughed. Goliath was twice David's size. He was their most skilled warrior. He was wearing a full set of armor. David had no military training, no experience.

The howl seemed impossible. No way in the natural. But David understood this principle that the how wasn't up to him. He stood before Goliath said, you come against me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel. He was saying, in effect, Goliath, I may be small, I may be inexperienced,

the odds are against me, but I have a secret, I know who I am. I belong to the most high. I have an advantage. Fever is on my life. He didn't focus on the how, he focused on the who. He took his slingshot out, slung that rock, hit Goliath in the forehead, knocked him unconscious. When you know who you are, you'll defeat giants that are much bigger.

You may be facing situations now that you don't see how they could work out. You could live worried, stressed. You have to shift your perspective from the how to the who. Who you are is more powerful than any force trying to stop you. You're not just anyone you belong to the most God. He breathed life into you. He chose you. And the good news is he's backing you up.

He has the howls already figured out. There's no giant too big for him, no sickness too great, no addiction too powerful, no obstacle too strong. Like David, you may not see the how. That's okay. The how is not up to you. when you know who you are you live from a place of faith

a place of trust a place of confidence then you're going to see God show out in your life you don't have to have big resources big talent big connections God will take your slingshot what seems small

and put his favor on it and you will defeat great giants it's not so much what you have it's the blessing on what you have it's the favor on what you have Where does that come from? Your talent, your family, from being good enough? No, it comes from who you are.

When God created you, he put his blessing on you. He put his favor. Now, quit trying to figure out all the hows and rest in the who. I heard about these baby cub bears. They were out in the woods playing, having fun, when this pack of wolves came out of nowhere and started toward them. The cubs saw the wolves. out in the distance, but they didn't get alarmed. They didn't take off running. It seemed like they were

naive, like they were about to be harmed, but it didn't bother them. When the wolves got about 20 yards away, out of nowhere, came this huge mama bear with their paws up in the air, growling forcefully, just like she was saying, come on, make my day. Those wolves stopped in their tracks, turned around, and went back to where they came from. reason the cubs weren't upset. The reason they didn't panic is they knew who they belonged to. They didn't worry about the how, how they were going to stay safe, how they were not going to be harmed. They knew mama would take care of the how. You may have things coming against you, but you're not on your own. Because of who you are, you can stay in peace. Not because Mama Bear is backing you up, but because the most high God has your back.

He's watching over you. He's pushing back forces of darkness. He's not allowing that sickness to take you out. He's not letting those people keep you down. They may have shown up, but God sees it. He knows what's happening and he is on his way. Quit worrying, quit losing sleep. God has you in the palm of his hand.

He never asked us to figure out the how. In fact, the scripture says, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. If you only lean to your understanding, you're going to get frustrated because sometimes there is no logical solution. There's no way out in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He can make things happen that we couldn't make happen. When Victoria and I had been married about two years, we lived in an apartment complex.

And one evening we were out walking through this nice neighborhood with big trees and beautiful two-story homes. We came to this one house that was under construction. It was just about finished. It was late in the day. No one was working. So we went to look at it. The front door was unlocked, so we walked in. It was so beautiful.

I'll never forget the tall ceilings, the big curved windows. It was all so spacious and well done. as we were walking out, the front sidewalk, Victoria stopped, turned around, and said, Joel, one day, we're going to live in a house just like this. That was so far out of my thinking, so unbelievable, I couldn't even fathom it. Now, I started telling her all the reasons why it wasn't going to happen. I said, Victoria, that's impossible. This is how much we make. I work for a ministry. Even if we say for years, we wouldn't have enough. I went on and, and on. That no more affected her. She said, no, Joel, I know down in my spirit, it's going to

happen. The more she believed, the more aggravated that made me. I did my best to convince her to be a doubter. Come on. We're limited. We'll never have enough. We're at a disadvantage. Her attitude was, no thanks. I know who I am. I am blessed. I am favored. I am anointed. I'm a child of the Most High. I wonder how many times we're doing like I did. I can't get well. Have you seen the medical report? I'll never break this addiction. I've had it since high school. My business will never succeed. I don't have the resources, the connections. All this time, you're focused on the how. Thinking about what you can't do, what you don't have. God is saying, let me take care of the you just focus on the who.

You believe that you're my child. Believe that you have an advantage. Believe that I'm a good father. Believe that I will take care of you, heal you, restore you, favor you, prosper you. We would walk that path several times a week. Every time Victoria would say, there's that house.

We're going to live in something like that one day. After hearing that over and over, she started to convince me. You've heard that saying, if you can't beat them, join them. She wasn't going to sink down to where I was, so I decided to rise up to where she was. Don't let people speaking doubt, defeat, negativity,

cause you to give up on your dreams. Instead of letting them talk you out of it, you need to keep saying it so much that you talk them into it. Several years later, we bought an old run-down house on a nice piece of property close into the city. The day we closed on the house, we were standing in the front yard. A car pulled up and stopped.

This lady got out and said she was a realtor. She asked if we wanted to sell the property. I said, no, we just bought it. She said, well, how about selling it for a significant profit? I told her that we wanted to keep it. She said, congratulations, you just bought your dream house. I didn't know what she was talking about. A few months later, the neighborhood changed the deed restrictions where you could subdivide

lots. A year later, we sold half the property for more than we bought the whole property for. A builder built two homes on it, one for us. We sold that home and bought a house down the street from the original house. Victoria said we were going to live in. When we moved in, I said, Victoria, here's this house. I always said we were going to live in. She almost didn't even let me say there. Are you trying to figure out the house? Leave that up to God. You folks. You folks, on the who. Lord, thank you that I'm your child, that you've chosen me, that you've ordered my steps. You said your plans for me are for good. You said you would do more than I can ask, think, or imagine. One time the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, and he gave them what we know

now as the Lord's prayer. He started off saying, our father who art in heaven. Goes on to talk about, give us our daily bread, protect us from evil, help us to forgive on and on. But it's significant that before we ask for our needs, before we ask for protection, for guidance, God said, I want you to acknowledge who you are. I want you to see yourself as my child, our father. You're saying, God, I know who I am. I belong to you. You're my father. You created me. You love me. You care for me. You protect me. You favor me. If you don't, don't know who you are, then the rest of this prayer is not going to be effective. You can't ask in faith for the daily bread, the protection, the provision. If you don't know, you're his child.

You may have some hows. You don't know how you're going to finish school, how your family is going to stay together, how you're going to come out of that depression. But if you'll just keep the who, God, you're my father, I'm your child. God, I trust you. When you know the who, God will take care of the house. Luke chapter one, there's the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She was a teenager living in Nazareth, one of the poorest cities of that region. An angel appeared to her and said that she was going to have a baby without knowing a man. He said he would be the Messiah. They were to name him Jesus. Mary was confused. She thought, that's impossible. You can't have a baby without a man. That defies the laws of nature. She said to the angel. She said to the angel,

angel, how can I have a baby? I'm a virgin. Mary had a how. I don't see how this can happen. The angel said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the most high will overshadow you and you will have this child. He was saying in effect, Mary, don't worry about the how. God will take care of the how. Like Mary, you may have a how. God's giving you a promise, but seems impossible. How can you get well. How can you come out of death? How can you accomplish your dream? God is saying to you what he said to Mary, the power of the most high will overshadow you. One version says, overtake you. Those dreams that look impossible, you're going to see God's favor overtake you. Healing overtake you. Freedom overtake you. Overtake means you can't outrun it. You can't hide from it.

The power of the most high is going to make things happen that you couldn't make happen. Don't worry about the house. May seem too big, too late, too far, too much. That's the way Mary felt. Listen to what she said. She could have doubted like I did. We'll never live in a house like that. Are you kidding?

Have a baby without a man? But Mary said in verse 38, I am the Lord's child. I will accept whatever he wants. May everything you said come true. Instead of focusing on the how, she switched over to the who. I know who I am the Lord's child.

I am favored. I am blessed. I am anointed. Why don't you do like Mary and leave the how up to God and just stay focused on who you are? Lord, thank you that you're my father, that you're working in my life, that you're taking me where I can't go on my own.

God is going to put dreams in your heart that seem impossible. Obstacles will come that look too big. Enemy's too strong. That's when it's easy to let the howls talk you out of it. I don't see how this can work out, Joel. You don't have to. The how is not up to you. The power of the most high is going to work it out.

Take the pressure off yourself. Quit living worried, frustrated. It's not going to be by your strength, by your ability. but by the spirit of the living God. The angel told Mary that it was going to happen without knowing a man. He was talking about the physical, but this has a deeper meaning.

God was showing us that you're not dependent on people. What you're believing for can happen without a man. Well, if I can just get this manager to like me, if I can get this friend to give me a good break, you don't need who you think you need. When it's your time, the power of the most high will overtake you. When God shows up, nothing can stand in his way. Chains will break, doors will open, opportunity will come.

If it can happen without a man, then it can happen without a bank, without the treatment, without the experience, without the resources. God is about to surprise you. Like with Mary, it's going to be something you've never seen, something that's never happened in your family. something that defies the odds, catapult you into your destiny. I talked to a young lady that had big dreams. She knew God's hand was on her, but she made poor decisions.

She was at the wrong place, the wrong time. She ended up in prison. She was so depressed and so down on herself that she didn't want to live. Someone gave her one of my books, and she started reading it. Hope began to fill her heart. Dreams started coming back to life. She got her passion back. She believed that she was still a child of God, redeemed and forgiven.

The problem was the how. How could she fulfill her purpose? She was in prison. Look like she would be there for many years. But through a series of unusual events, she was unexpectedly released years ahead of schedule. When the power of the Most High overtakes you, doors will open that shouldn't open.

She went back to school and got her master's degree in counseling, then her PhD. Now she's helping people that were like her in a dark place, struggling with depression. She said, I never dreamed I would be where I am. You don't have to figure out the how, just get the who right and God will take care of the how. You may have made mistakes. That's not who you are. That's what you did. You are still a son, a daughter of the most high.

forgiven, redeemed, restored, called, equipped, chosen, and denointed. Keep your shoulders back. Hold your head up high. The enemy would love for you to go through life with your who messed up, thinking you've blown it, you missed your chance. You're not worthy, not valuable, just sit on the sidelines. Don't believe those lies. Nothing you've done has changed who you are.

No mistake you've made has. has disqualified you. When you gave your life to Christ, you were born into God's family. You can't get unborn. His calling on your life doesn't go away because you made mistakes. You took wrong turns. You got off course. You are still his child. In the scripture, God told Jonah to go one way, but he went the other. He knew what he was supposed to do, to go to the city of Nineveh, tell them to repent, but he went exactly opposite. He ended up on a boat in the middle of a huge storm. He finally admitted to the crew that he was the problem.

They were so grateful. They said, thank you, Jonah. They threw him overboard. He should have been done. This should have been the end of his story. But it just so happened, there was a big fish that swallowed Jonah. Even when we make mistakes, even when we bring trouble on ourselves, God is so merciful, he'll still protect us.

He'll still provide a way of escape. Jonah was sitting in the belly of that well. Seweed wrapped around his head. It was dark, smelly. He didn't see how he could get out. He could have complained, been depressed. He said in verse 7, my life was slipping away.

Then I remembered the Lord, my God. He was saying, in effect, I was just about done. Then I remembered who I am. He started thanking God in the best, belly of the whale. The how looked impossible. How could he get out? How could he survive? All the odds were against him. But as he was thanking God, the scripture says, God caused the fish to spit him up on dry ground. You don't have to figure out the how God controls the universe. He controls fish. One time he told Peter to go to

the lake and the first fish he caught had coins to pay their taxes. God controls the economy. He controls finances. He even controls your enemies. The scripture says God caused Pharaoh to harden his heart. When you remember who you are, God will cause things to happen. The medical report doesn't look good. Don't worry. God can cause you to get well.

He controls the number of your days. People at work are against you. They're more powerful, have more influence. God will cause you to overcome. That's not your battle. The how is not up to you. The battle is the Lord's. Your business seems stuck.

Look like you've reached your limits. God will cause you to succeed. He'll cause opportunities to come your way. When you know who you are, you won't get discouraged by the how. You know the Lord will cause things to happen. I believe even now God is causing your health to turn around. He's causing that depression, that anxiety, that fear to leave.

he's causing the right people to find you he's causing you to conceive that baby you've been dreaming about he's causing that trouble in your family to resolve causing that child to get back on course you couldn't make it happen the odds were against you but suddenly things are going to fall into place well joel this sounds good but i don't see how it can happen neither did jonah neither did mary neither did david

but the how is not your job. You focus on the who and let God take care of the how. He parted red seas. He brought water out of a rock. He caused Isaac to prosper in a famine. Sarah to have a baby at 80. Four leopards to defeat a huge army.

He knows how to get you to your destiny. In difficult times, when life is not fair, when we've made mistakes, gone through disappointments, that's when it's easy. to get discouraged, give up on that dream. You have to remember who you are. Father, thank you that I am your child, that you have me in the palm of your hand, that you are making ways where I don't see a way, that you will get me to where I'm supposed to be. When we greet people, we often ask,

how are you? If we were honest, sometimes we'd answer, I'm lonely. I'm fighting an illness. I've been through a loss. I'm in a belly of a well. That's how you, are, but that's not who you are. Circumstances may have taken your how. The good news is they couldn't take your who. You may have been through disappointments, bad breaks, lost. That didn't affect your identity. You are still his child. You are still blessed. You are still favored. You are still forgiven. You still have an awesome destiny to fulfill. Quit worrying about the how and start focusing on the who. If you'll do this, I'll do this. I'll believe and declare, like with Mary, the power of the most high is about to overtake you.

Dreams that look impossible are about to come to pass. Problems that seem permanent are about to turn around. Healing is coming. Breakthroughs are coming. Freedom is coming. The fullness of your destiny in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? I'd like to give you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? 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. We'd love to send you some information on your new walk with the Lord.

You can text the number on the screen or go to the website. I encourage you to get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you encouraged and inspired all through the week. Help us to continue to share the message of hope with those all around the world. Visit Joel Osteen.com or click the link in the description to partner with us today. We hope you'll share this message with a friend and be sure to follow us on social media. We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead.

We'll see you next time.