Joel Osteen Podcast - Sensing The Good Things Has In Store | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: August 18, 2021

When God laid out the plan for your life, He lined up moments of favor in your future. He's prepared the right breaks and opportunities to get you where you need to be. 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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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. Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has great things in store. If you're ever in our area, stop by and visit us here in Houston right here at Lakewood. These are the finest people in all right here at Lakewood Church. So come out and be apart. Thanks for tuning in today. And thanks again for coming out. And I like to start with something funny each week. And I heard about this 85-year-old man. He was out fishing one day. And he heard this voice saying, pick me up. He looked all around, didn't see anything, thought he was dreaming. He heard it again. Pick me up. He looked down and saw a frog

on the ground. He said, in amazement, are you talking to me? The frog said, yes, pick me up and kiss me and I'll turn into a beautiful bride. He quickly picked the frog up and put him in his front pocket. The frog said, hey, what are you doing? I said, kiss me and I'll turn into a beautiful bride. The man said, no thanks. At my age, I'd rather have a talking frog. All right, 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 sensing the good things God has in store. When God laid out the plans for our lives, he lined up the right people, the right breaks, and the right opportunities. The scripture talks about how time and chance will come together for every person. That means there are moments of favor that God has already released into your future. If you could pull back the curtain and see your whole life, you would see how God has already lined up the right breaks to come across your path. He's already arranged certain people to be good to you.

He's already picked out the right husband or wife for you and your children. He's already lined up solutions to problems you haven't even had. God has it already released into your future. These moments of favor, moments of blessing, moments of increase, they will help you overcome obstacles, accomplish goals, and even thrust you years ahead. But so often when we look in our future, we don't see how will ever rise higher,

how will ever fulfill our destiny. How our child will ever get back on the right track. The problem is we're only looking at it in the natural. But the scripture says here in 2 Corinthians, we have to walk by faith and not by sight. In other words, we have to believe it before we're ever going to see it. If you can see it, you don't need any faith.

But when it looks impossible, and it seems like you've reached your limits, and you don't see how your health could ever improve, Instead of just going by what you see, if you will listen down in here, in your heart, you will hear God saying, I have a way. Things are turning around. A moment of favor is coming. I've already lined up the solution. You may not be able to see it, but in your heart, you will sense that it's on its way.

I read something interesting about a tarantula. It has eight eyes all around its body. but in spite of these eyes, its vision is very poor. It can't see far off, and even up close, it's not sharp and clear. But the tarantula is a very precise hunter. It's known for its ability to attack and kill. How can it be so accurate with its vision being so poor? It's because its legs are full of hairy follicles that are extremely sensitive,

and it can sense something coming long before it gets there. Even though it can't see well, it's extremely perceptive. That's the way we need to be. Sometimes when we look in our future, we don't see anything good. We don't see how we'll get out of death. We don't see how we'll have this far and beyond decade that we're talking about. In the natural, it looks impossible, just like it's going to be more of the same. But down in here, if we'll be perceptive, we will sense somehow, some way it's going to happen.

Business may be slow. The economy's down. But in spite of all of that, I can sense increase is coming my way. I can sense it's my decade of favor. I can sense my greatest victories are still out in front of me. We used to sing an old song growing up that says, I've got a feeling everything's going to be all right. In other words, I can't explain it. It doesn't make sense to my mind,

but I can sense moments of favor are coming my way. My finances may be down. I'm not worried. I can sense promotion is in my future. The medical report may not look good. All the facts are telling me, I'm not going to get well. I should get discouraged. I should be depressed.

But no, I've got a feeling everything's going to be all right. See, I've learned sometimes you have to turn your mind off. Sometimes there is no logical solution. That's why the scripture says, lean not to your own understanding. Don't try to figure it all out. If you're constantly running the numbers and over-analyzing everything and reading the medical report every other minute and looking up your symptoms on 24 different websites,

all that's going to do is dull your sensor. you need to turn that off and listen down and hear. This is where God speaks. This is where faith rises up. All the sudden, you'll feel a spark of hope. In the natural, it looks impossible, but you'll hear down and hear something saying, God has a way.

Favor is in your future. Something good is about to happen. God is going to turn it around. The breakthrough will be here at any moment. That's what we have to get in agreement with. Turn off the reasoning, and listen to what you're sensing down in here. And I know some of you have had some bad breaks and a lot of disappointments.

The problem now is your sensor has become dulled. In other words, you're not expecting anything good. You're not living with enthusiasm. The good news today is your sensor is getting a tune-up. God is birthed new dreams, new life, new vision, new seeds of hope are taken root in your heart. You may be in difficult times, but God said in Exodus 3314, I will go with you, I will give you rest. Everything will be fine for you. Let that promise sink down into your heart.

Everything will be fine. Not some things, not half of it, not 99%. No, if you'll keep your trust in him, everything is going to be just fine for you. some of you have been through a great loss. You're very disappointed. Doesn't look like you'll ever see bright days. But God is saying, I have beauty for your ashes. I'm about to open up a new door.

Everything is going to be fine for you. Maybe a relationship didn't work out. But that is not the end. It's a new beginning. God has someone else in your future. Everything is going to be fine for you. Some of you just have a lot on your play. you're working hard, raising your children, taking care of elderly parents.

Doesn't look like it's ever going to change. God is saying, come back to that place of peace. I want to give you rest. Everything is going to be fine for you. Friends, don't let stress, worry, negativity, discouragement, dull your sensor. Listen down in here. God is saying, it's going to be all right. I've got a moment of favor coming.

things are about to turn around. The solution is already lined up. The promotion is already on its way. The breakthrough could happen at any moment. Now, we've got to get in agreement with God. Circumstances may have us down on the outside, but we've got to get up on the inside. Our attitude should be.

My health may be going down a little bit, but I've got a feeling I'm coming back strong. Maybe a little stressful at the office. I don't see how it's ever going to change. but I'm not worried. I walk by faith and not by sight. I know a moment of favor is coming my way. I can sense it. Everything is going to be all right. This is what I had to do when we were renovating this facility. Cost about $100 million to convert this from a basketball arena to a worship facility. A bank loaned us part of the money. Toward the end, we had a $20 million payment to make. It's a very critical time. The people, many, of you had given so generously, and we had made all of our other payments. But this final payment that would take us out of the construction phase over into the regular financing, we found that we were about $15 million short. It was going to be due in several months' time. Our team ran all the

numbers, and they calculated and projected and moved things around. But no matter what we did, we were still millions and millions short. And I had put my name. on the line. I'd given them my word. In the natural, I should have been worried. I should have been losing sleep at night. My mind, these thoughts were telling me that it's not going to work out. It's going to be a big mess. You're not even going to be able to move in. All these discouraging thoughts in my head. But down in here, it was the most amazing thing. I had an incredible peace. I could sense it. Everything is going to be all right. God is still on the throne. He's in complete control. I couldn't make it work on paper. Couldn't explain it. My head was telling me no way,

but my heart was saying, yes way. All through the day, instead of worrying, I'd go around saying, Father, thank you, that you're supplying all of our needs. It was your goodness that gave us this place, and it's your goodness that will take care of us. At that time, the church owned a television station that we had been trying to sell for more than three years. The market was was very down. No one was buying independent stations. We were told the most we could get for it if we did sell it was $18 to $19 million. And we owed $8 million on it. So even if we were to sell it, we would still come up short. But just a few weeks before the big payment was due, a buyer for the station came along. Things fell into place. And he bought it, not for $18 million, not for $19, not for $20,

not for 25, not for 28, not for 30. He bought it for $32 million. We were able to make that payment, and we've been going strong ever since. That was a moment of favor that God had already released into my future. All I had to do was believe. All I had to do was stay in faith

and not let doubt and unbelief stop or delay what God had already lined up. Friends, God has already lined up solutions for every problem you will ever have. He's already lined up the people, the breaks, the finances, the opportunity, the wisdom, the ideas.

You don't have to live life worried. You don't have to go around frustrated because it's not happening as fast as you would like. No, come back to that place of peace. Stay at rest, knowing that it's on its way. I love what the prophet Elijah did. There had been a great

drought in the land. For three and a half years, the people were in desperate need of water. One day, Elijah said to King Ahab, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. The fact is, when he said it, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No sign of rain, no thunder. Yet he could sense something coming before it got there. I'm sure Ahab thought the heat is getting to this old man. There's no rain. There's no thunder. Why is he talking like this? No, Elijah didn't hear it physically. He heard it down in here, and he was bold enough to announce it. That's why I'm always announcing to you what I sense in my spirit.

And I sense an exceedingly abundantly above and beyond decade of God's favor for you. I can sense God is about to open up doors for you bigger than you've ever dreamed of. I can sense you're about to see the breakthroughs. that you've been praying about. I can sense the promises you've been standing on are about to come to pass. Like Elijah, the sound I hear over you

is the sound of abundance, abundance of favor, abundance of health, abundance of good breaks, abundance of wisdom, abundance in your finances. I hear the sound of an abundance of victory over each one of you.

Even though Elijah couldn't see any sight of rain, he could sense that it was coming. If you read the story, it wasn't any time before the heavens opened up. The rains came pouring down and the three and a half year drought was ended. Some of you today may feel like you've been in a drought in your finances, your career, your health, your family. But God is saying to you what he said to Elijah, I'm about to do a new thing. I'm about to open up the windows of heaven. I'm about to release a moment of favor that I already have. in your future. Now you need to do your part and start expecting it and declaring it. You may be

struggling in your finances, but don't go around with a poor mouth. Your report should be, I can hear the sound of abundance. I know promotion and increase are coming my way. You may be struggling in your health, but your report should be, I'm getting better and better. God is restoring health unto me. My youth is being renewed like the Eagles. Now, when you do that, other people may look at you like Ahab looked at Elijah and think, why are they talking like that? They're not healthy. They're not

blessed. They're not prosperous. No, don't worry about it. They can't hear the sound. They can't sense what you're sensing. They're just looking at it in the natural, but like Elijah, you can sense something great is coming long before it gets here. This is

what a young lady in the scripture did. Her name was Ruth. Her husband had been killed in a battle. Now she was living with her mother-in-law. Every morning she would go out in the fields and pick up the leftover wheat that the reapers had missed. I'm sure Ruth was tempted to be discouraged. She'd gone through this great tragedy. Her heart was broken.

Her dreams were shattered. She could have easily just given up on life and settled where she was. But I can imagine down deep Ruth had this same promise in her heart. Everything is going to be all right. I can't explain it. Does it make sense to my mind? I know I should be depressed. I shouldn't be hopeful, but I can sense it.

Something great is still in my future. The man that owned all those fields was named Boaz. One morning he saw Ruth out there working. He had never met her, never talked to her, but he said to his workers, I want you to leave extra wheat on the ground on purpose to make it easier on that young lady. Notice, he didn't talk to her.

He talked about her. Ruth never heard what he said, but all of a sudden, her life got much easier. She had more wheat than she could handle. She got done in half the amount of time, all because somebody she didn't even know put in a good word for her. Here's my point.

God has already spoken to the right people to be good to you. You may not ever even hear it. You may not ever know them, but just like Ruth, as you're being your best each day, as you're honoring God, you are going to come into blessings that you've never seen before. Blessings that you can't explain. You're going to get breaks that you didn't deserve. People are going to go out of their way to help further your dreams. That's a moment of favor that God has already lined up.

This tells me, we don't have to play up to people to try to win their friendship. We don't have to try to manipulate things and try to win somebody over, gain their favor. No, listen, God will give you favor with who you're supposed to have favor with. If somebody doesn't want to be your friend, don't worry about it. If a door closes, don't get discouraged. Just keep being your best every day. And God will speak to the right people, the people that matter to your divine destiny. He'll cause them to be good to you.

I have a friend that I've known for a long time, and he's always had a dream to own his own business. Year after year, he's been faithful right where he is in the position that he's had just being his best. And he's always being good to somebody, not just encouraging them, but he'll go over to their house at night and fix something for him or give somebody a ride to the airport. He's just got a giving spirit. And a while back, a man that he had known for some time asked him to go to dinner. He thought they were just going to catch up on old times. But this man brought a proposal to start a new business. This man already owns a very successful company, but he wanted to start something new.

My friend thought that he just wanted to get his advice about it, maybe get some encouragement. But he said, no, I don't want just that. I want you to be my partner and we will split it 50-50. My friend was really thrilled. He said, man, I'd love to do that, but I don't have the funds like you do. I can't put in 50% like you can. The man said, don't worry about it. I don't need your funds.

That's taken care of. I just want to bless you because you've always been so good to me. Now my friend owns 50% of a growing business. His dream has come to pass. What was that? He walked in to a moment of favor that God had already lined up for him. that business was dropped in his lap. Just like those workers were told to leave extra wheat on purpose for Ruth,

he walked into an incredible opportunity that God had already spoken to somebody to leave for him. Friends, God has done the same thing for each one of you. He has doors that he's going to open that are going to amaze you. He has opportunity he's going to bring across your path that's greater than you. can imagine. Some of you kind of think that you've reached your limits and you could never accomplish your dreams and never pay off your house, never leave anything for your children. No, you don't know what God has already spoken over you. You don't know the incredible things God has come in your way. One verse talks about how when you stay faithful to honor God and

be your very best each day, it says then payday is coming. Friends, God rewards the people that seek after him. Many of you have been faithful, you have given, you have served. God is saying your payday is on its way. He is about to release a moment of favor that he already has in your future. All God has to do is speak to one person and your whole life can change for the better. I think about how when we were trying to acquire this facility, the former compact center, We needed 10 votes from the city council members.

We had worked on this for over three years. Up to the last week, we had the 10 votes. But then one of the council members changed his mind and decided to be out of town. Him not being there was just like a vote against us. We needed his vote. We were so discouraged, so disappointed. Look like all of our work had just gone down the drain. But we got word the night before the main vote.

that a young Jewish council member changed his mind and was going to vote for us. We couldn't believe it. We had worked on him for over two years. I had done my best to try to convince him to persuade him, but I could never do it. After the vote, we got the facility, I asked him what it was that changed his mind. He told how he got a call from a long, lost friend of his that he hadn't spoken to in years and years. She was an elderly Jewish lady that he had a great deal of respect for. He said, Joel, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was to vote for your church.

And it was that one phone call, that one lady that changed my mind. The funny thing is, I don't know who that lady was. I've never met her. I never asked her to call. You know what she was? She was our Boaz. God did for us what we could. couldn't do for ourselves. God calls somebody we didn't even know to put in a good word for us,

and here we are today. Friends, God knows who he needs to influence to get you to where you're supposed to be. You may not be able to persuade them. They may not want to be your friend. Don't worry about it. God will speak to the right people that can make a difference. He's got it all lined up. But some of you, a little frustrated because you're trying to make it happen on your own and trying to convince somebody to like you, trying to impress them. No, listen, just do your best and let God take care of the rest. Do what you can do and then trust God to do what you can't do. You have no idea the amazing things that God has spoken over your life. The incredible doors he's going to open. He has opportunity and promotion that he's going to bring across your path that's greater than you've ever imagined. I think about how one young lady from the New York Yankee baseball organization really liked our ministry.

She had been to some of our Knights of Hope, and she invited us to come and open up the new Yankee ballpark. She was not in the top management. She had to go through level after level after level. It could have been stopped at any point. They could have come up with plenty of reasons not to do it. Hey, it's just too new. We don't want anybody on the field. We've got too many bugs to work out.

There were plenty of excuses they could have found. But listen, when God wants something done, it's going to get done. No person can stand against him. She got approval after approval after approval. Things fell into place. You know how last April we opened up the new Yankee Stadium, all because God spoke to one young lady. One young girl.

God gave her a desire, to be good to us, and she opened a door bigger than we've ever even imagined. That was another moment of favor that God had already released into our future. And in the coming days, God is going to give you favor with the right people. You don't need favor with everyone. You just need favor with the right one. It doesn't matter how high they are or how low they are. All that matters is God has ordained them to be good to you.

he's going to speak to people about you that you don't even know about that's going to give you a new level of influence. Don't be surprised when doors open bigger than you've ever imagined. That's God moving on a boas. Don't be surprised when you get breaks that you didn't really deserve somewhere God spoke to somebody to be good to you. I want you to go into this new decade, not just excited about your future, but I want you to start sensing what's coming. You've got to activate your faith. Our attitude should be, I can sense it. Something good is about to happen. I can sense it. Things are changing in my favor. In the natural, it may not look like it. I can't see it, but I can sense it. I walk by faith and not by sight. When you do that, your faith is being released. I just want to declare this

over every one of you. You've been faithful. You need to get ready. Your payday is coming. You're about to walk into a moment of favor that God has already released into your future. God is going to take you places that you've never imagined. He is opening up doors that no man can shut. He has already spoken to the right people about you. You're going to come into these blessings that you didn't even have to struggle for. You're going to get promoted even though you were not the most qualified. God's face is shining down on you.

This is what the scripture says. God is going to give you houses that you didn't have to build, vineyards that you didn't plan, wells that you didn't have to dig. That's the goodness of God. I've seen it in my own life. I know if God did it for me, if he did it for Ruth,

he wants to do it for you. I don't know about you, but I can sense this is going to be a decade of exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond favor. I can sense that Things are accelerating. God is about to shift you higher, thrust you faster than you ever even imagine. I can hear the sound of abundance, the sound of good breaks, the sound of healing, the sound of promotion, the sound of victory over our lives. I'm asking you today to get your sensor going

in the right direction. Get up every morning expecting God's goodness, expecting breakthroughs, expecting to accomplish your goals. If you will learn to sense the good things of God, knowing that favor has already been released in your future, then God will amaze you with His goodness. Like Ruth, you will come into these unexpected blessings. You'll go from barely getting by to heaven more than enough. God will open up supernatural doors.

He will speak to the right people to be good to you. Now, I believe and declare, you will see a decade of exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond favor, promotion, increase, hell, healing, a decade of God's favor. 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'll take your places that you've never dreamed of. Thank you for listening to the Joel Osteen podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope with those all over the world. Visit Joel Osteen.com to give a gift today. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to keep you inspired all through the week.

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