Joel Osteen Podcast - Start A Blessing | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

The decisions we make don’t just affect our lives, they affect the legacy we leave behind. When you make decisions that honor God, your faithfulness will be credited to your future generations.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.From challenge to victory, from heartache to hope, from frustration to favor—it’s only a prayer away. Kick-start your prayer life this November with Praying With Confidence: Guided Prayers for Life's Moments.  Request your copy now and carry inspiration wherever you go https://bit.ly/40sQglR. 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. We appreciate your support, and we have a brand new resource we'd like to send you this month. It's called Praying with Confidence. I'll tell you more about it at the end of the podcast. We love you, and we sure hope you enjoy the message. Well, God bless you. Great to have you with us today.

I hope you'll say connected with us throughout the week. We have a daily podcast that you can download, or you can go to our YouTube channel and watch the messages anytime, or you can follow us on social media. I promise you, we'll keep you encouraged and inspired. But thanks for tuning in. Thanks again for coming out. I like to start with something funny,

and I heard about this man. He was quietly reading the newspaper when his wife snuck up behind him and hit him on the head with a frying pan. He said, what was that for? She said, that was for the piece of paper I found in your pocket with the name Mary Lou on it.

He said, oh, honey, that's just one of the horses that I bet on at the racetrack last week. She apologized and went about her business. Two days later, she hit him on the head with a bigger frying pan. After he woke up, he said, what in the world was that for? She said, your horse just called. 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 start a blessing.

The decisions we make don't just affect our lives. They affect generations to come. The way you live can make it easier on your children or it can make it more difficult. You can be a stepping stone for them to do greater things or a stumbling block that holds them back. No person lives and dies unto himself. The blessing and favor that you're walking in today. It didn't just happen because of you. Somebody went before you that sowed seeds so you could be blessed. A praying mother, a grandfather that honored God, a great, great relative that you never met, but they gave, they served, and now you're reaping a harvest of what they planted.

in the same way, negative things we're dealing with have been passed down. Addictions, anger, depression. That didn't start with you. The good news is it can stop with you. You can be the one to set your family on a new course. You can start a blessing. You can start freedom. You can start wholeness.

You can start victory. When you make decisions that honor God, when you're generous, when you're faithful, your life is not only going to be more rewarding, more fulfilling, but that faithfulness, that obedience is being credited to your children's account, to your grandchildren, to future generations. Just as the negative gets passed down, how much more the positive. We hear a lot about generational curses, but there's something called a generational blessing. God is keeping an account of every good thing you do. the times you forgive when you could stay bitter, the times being your best when nobody's

giving you the credit, that's not being overlooked. It's accruing mercy, favor, blessing into your family's account. Grandchildren that have not yet been born, great, great grandchildren that you'll never meet, yet because of you, they will be born with a blessing on their life. Born with favor, they didn't have anything to do with. It's because of you. It's because of you. It's Because you started a blessing. You took the high road. You broke the addiction. You resisted the temptation.

You prayed bold prayers. Not only are you going to see God take you where you've never dreamed, but generations later, your family will be walking in the blessing. Your descendants will see favor and victory because of you. How this should challenge us to live a life of faith, a life of excellence, a life of generosity. I want my descendants to do great things because of me, not in spite of me. Our children have enough to overcome without adding our negative baggage. I want them to look back and say about you, he put me further down the road.

She took our family to a new level. They're the reason God blessed me so much. Genesis chapter 14, Abraham learned that his nephew Lott and all of his workers had been captured by these bandits. Abraham called his men together to go help Lott. They chased after them. In the middle of the night, they attacked them from all different sides. They rescued Lott and all of his family and possessions. Plus they gathered up the enemy's spoils. It was a great victory. As they were returning, Melchizedek, the high priest, met Abraham to congratulate him. verse 20 says Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he recovered. That's the first place in the scripture that we see the tide, 10% of our income.

Abraham didn't have to do that. It wasn't required, but he was a giver. He recognized that every good thing came from God. That seemed like a nice thing to do, just being generous, but it was more significant than that. Abraham had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had a son named Levi. Levi was four generations from Abraham.

The scripture says in Hebrews, Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham. For although Levi was not yet born, the seed from which he came was in Abraham's loins when he gave the tithe to Melchizedek. This is saying Abraham gave that gift. He honored God and his great grandson.

A young man he never met was credited with pay and ties. Levi came out of the womb with a blessing he had nothing to do with. He was born with favor because his great grandfather was generous. He had this advantage because someone in his family line, someone that went before him started a blessing. When Abraham gave, didn't just bless him. He didn't just see favor, but that obedience was credited to Levi's account. Four generations later, God said, I still remember the good that your great-grandfather did.

I still remember how he served me, how he was generous. Now I'm going to bless you because of him. The scripture says in Malachi, when you tithe your income, when you're generous, you put God first place, he will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you cannot contain. That doesn't just mean that you'll have overflow. It means you can't contain it in your generation. It's going to flow down to the next generation and the next. Because you honored God, because you do the right thing when it's hard, because you give,

you sacrifice, God is crediting that to your account and to your family lines account. blessings that you cannot contain. David put it this way, my cup runs over. Not just where I have an abundance, but it runs over to my children, runs over to my grandchildren. Born with an advantage because of you.

You started favor. You started freedom. You started abundance. Every right decision you make is being accrued to your descendants. Don't get talked out of doing the right thing. keep honoring God, keep giving, keep taking the high road, you're storing up blessings, storing up mercy, storing up favor. I've seen this in my own life. I didn't get to where I am by myself.

People that went before me honored God. My grandmother on my mother's side was a godly woman, so kind and loving, she always prayed for me. My grandfather, her husband, was a giver. He lived to help others. He was raised very poor. His father died when he was eight. He wasn't treated right by the people that took him in, but he never complained. He was a hard worker. He spent his whole career working at the refinery in Baytown, never missed a day of work. When he retired, he would come to the church during the week and do repairs.

I would see him under the portable buildings, working on the plumbing, fixing some kind of problem. when he passed away at the age of 96, we found a book where he kept a record of all of his giving, all handwritten. It had the date, the amount he gave, and where he gave it. $30 to Lakewood, $20 to Central Baptist, $12 to the building fund, decades of giving listed in this book. No wonder I'm blessed. No wonder I've stepped into houses that I didn't build,

vineyards that I didn't plan. People that went before me honored God. Now, I'm walking in the blessing in part because of them. My grandfather couldn't contain it all. His generation couldn't hold all that God wanted

to do. His cup ran over and spilled onto me. That's what happens when you're faithful, when you're generous, when you keep God first place, you start a blessing that you can't contain. what God has in mind is much bigger than what you have in mind. It's not going to be limited to your generation.

It's going to get passed down to future generations. Not long before my grandfather passed, he came over to our house one evening for dinner. Victoria and I had been married for a few years, and we were living in this two-story house that we had just built. He looked around. It was so hard for him to take it in. He built his house for 27,

hundred dollars back in the 1930s. They lived there their whole life. It was very comfortable, but very small. He was so amazed that we had a two-story home and how there was plenty of room. At one point, he came to the back window and saw our garage. It was detached from the house, about 20 feet away. He said, Joel, who lives there? And I kind of laughed. I said, Granddaddy, that's our garage. That's a part of our house. He said, my goodness, Joel, you have another building, that's what happens when you start a blessing. Your children, your grandchildren, are going to step into blessings, favor, influence like you've never dreamed. What you can't contain is going to spill over onto then. Let me show you how powerful this generational blessing is.

Levi made mistakes in life. His sister was taken advantage of by a man named Shechem that lived in another city. Levi was so angry. He wanted revenge. And against his father's advice, he went with his brother and killed all the men of that city. His father, Jacob, was so upset. Years later, when Jacob was about to pass, instead of pronouncing a blessing on Levi, Jacob declared a curse. He said, because you were hot-headed and shed so much blood, you and your descendants will always be cursed. You will live a hard, burdensome life. It looked like he had lost the blessing, lost the favor because of poor choices. But years later, Moses came down the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments. He saw the Israelites worshipping a golden calf, partying, doing all kinds of wrong things.

He was so upset, he shouted, who is on the Lord's side? He was saying, who's going to take a stand for what's right? Who's going to honor God? The scripture says, says, the sons of Levi rose up and said, we are on the Lord's side. After being cursed by their grandfather, after their father, Levi, made mistakes, you would

think they had too much going against them, too much to overcome. But five generations back, their great, great grandfather, Abraham, honored God. He gave. He sacrificed, and that was all accredited to their account.

Moses said to them, From now on, you will be the priest. You will have the highest positions. In the book of Genesis, they were cursed by their grandfather. But in the book of Leviticus, the Levites were the most blessed, honored people. This generational blessing will override mistakes that you've made. It will supersede negative things that were said about you. It will put you on a course for blessing, for favor that cannot be stopped.

in the generations to come, because you started the blessing, your family line is going to see God's goodness in ways that don't make sense. Favor they didn't deserve. Mercy when they made mistakes. Maybe you have children, grandchildren that are off course, family members that are not making good decisions. Don't worry, they're coming back. The scripture talks about how you can store up mercy for your children and future generations.

because you're doing the right thing, mercy is going into your family lines account. Every time you sing in the choir, you serve in kids' life, you take care of that elderly neighbor, you just deposited mercy. When you go the extra mile at work, you have a good attitude

when things aren't going your way. You sacrifice to give when you could use those funds for something you want. That doesn't go unnoticed by our God. You're not only going to see harvest, but you're storing up mercy. 23 years

after David died, his son, King Solomon, was on the throne. He wasn't making good decisions. He married foreign wives and started worshipping their idols. He knew better, but he let his guard down. This could have been the end. We never hear about him anymore.

But God said in First King, Solomon, I would normally take this kingdom away from you. You've done wrong in my sight. However, I will not do it for your father, David's sake. David started a blessing, and even after he died, his children were walking in the blessing. They received mercy because of how he lived. 305 years after David was gone, eight generations, one of his descendants was on the throne,

King Hezekiah. Jerusalem was surrounded by a huge army and about to be attacked. It looked like Hezekiah was done, no way out. But God sent an angel that destroyed 185,000 of the enemy's troops. In a split second, the army was defeated. Hezekiah's life was spared. I can imagine Hezekiah said, God, what did I do to deserve that kind of favor, that kind of protection? God said, Hezekiah, it wasn't anything you did.

But there was a man in your family line named David. He honored me with his life. He started a blessing. He stored up mercy. Now, 305 years later, you're walking in the favor, the protection, the blessing that he deposited into your account. There are people in your family line that are going to see mercy because you started a blessing. You're the David. You're honoring God.

He sees you taking the high road. He sees you going out of your way to be good to that friend. He sees you resisting the temptation. He sees you getting up early to thank him. He's not only going to show you blessings, but that blessing you're not going to be able to contain. It's going to spill over to your children, your grandchildren, to people in your family line.

They're going to be born with a blessing because of you. Born with favor because you're a giver. Born with mercy because you showed mercy. born with an advantage because of your faithfulness. I met a man after the service. When he was in his early 20s, he lost his way in life. He was discouraged and didn't know what to do.

One evening, he was walking around downtown with no purpose. My father was going to an event and saw him across the street. He felt compassion toward him, so he went over there and started talking to him. He told him how God had a plan for his life, how the dreams he'd put on the inside could still come to pass and that he had a bright future.

It was like something woke up on the inside. His passion and purpose came back to life. My father handed him a hundred dollar bill. He hugged him and walked away. That young man began to weep. He told how that was a turning point in his life. He got back

on his feet. He went back to school and finished his college education. He went on to medical school and became a surgeon. Today he's very successful, a leader in his field. He said, Joel, I never got to thank your father, but I wanted to at least thank you. He handed me a check for the ministry many times more than the $100 my father gave him. How many times have I looked back and said, thank you, daddy. You made my life easier. Thank you, granddaddy. Your sacrifices put me further down the road. Thank you, grandmother. Thank you, mother. Your prayers, your love,

your devotion has thrust me where I can't go on my own. I've had a lot of people put good things into my account. Nothing I had anything to do with. Now, I'm going to make sure I keep that blessing going. I'm not going to compromise and take the easy way out. I'm not going to live selfishly and only think of me. I'm not going to be average. I'm going to be average. I'm going to exceptional. I'm not going to settle for mediocrity. I'm going to believe big. I'm going to take bold steps. I want to live my life

in such a way that years from now, my children, my grandchildren will look back and say, I'm better off because of Joel. He was a giver. He was excellent. He was faithful. He set new standards. How this should challenge us

to be our very best, not get sidetracked by petty things, offended, trying to pay people back, compromising, giving into the same temptations, mediocre. I don't feel like being my best joy, I'm tired. No, start a blessing. Make your life count. You are affecting generations to come. You can pass down blessings, favor, generosity, faithfulness. Or you can pass down dysfunction, bitterness, mediocrity. That may be what's been passed to you. you. You may not have had a lot of good things put into your account. That means you're the one to start the blessing. You're the one to start the favor, to start the freedom. God is counting on

you to raise the bar, to take your family to a new level. In the scripture, Isaac's wife, Rebecca, was very dishonest. She manipulated her children, had her son Jacob dress up like his brother Esau to trick their father. She deceived her husband to get her way. Her son Jacob turned out just like her. He was deceptive, dishonest. He tricked his brother out of his birthright. Jacob's uncle, a man named Laban, had the same problem. He deceived Jacob. That was a spirit of deception that kept getting passed from generation to generation. Wasn't a coincidence that the mother had it, the son, the uncle. it will continue until someone makes the decision that they're going to start a blessing. They're not going to keep passing down the dysfunction, the addictions, the bitterness.

Jacob came to this point where he was tired of living that way. His whole life, he'd been a deceiver, tricking people, being dishonest. He wanted to make things right. He went down to the brook to get alone with God. That night, an angel came and said, God is changing. in your name. You will no longer be called Jacob, which means trickster. Your new name will be Israel, which means prince with God. He left there with a new attitude and a new passion to do the right thing. He knew he needed to ask his brother Esau for forgiveness. They had been estranged for years.

When Jacob stole his birthright, Issaul was so angry, Jacob had to flee for his life. Now years later, Jacob wanted to return home. The only way to get there was to go through the land owned by Esau. Jacob sent messengers with gifts to ask Esau if he would see him. Esau agreed. He was coming with 400 of his men. Finally, the big moment arrived. Jacob saw Esau coming with all of his men.

He was about to meet the brother that he had cheated and took the double portion from, the inheritance that belonged to him. I'm sure his adrenaline was flowing. He was on edge, wondering how Isol was going to respond. Jacob had someone take his family to the side, including his young son Joseph. As a little boy, Joseph was watching all this drama play out. He had no doubt heard stories how his father had cheated his uncle, how Esau was upset, how he wouldn't speak to them. You can imagine how fearful little Joseph was.

When Esau was a couple hundred yards away, Jacob bowed down seven times in humility. Esau took off running toward him. Jacob thought, that's it. I'm done. But when Esau got to him, he grabbed Jacob and hugged him. The scripture says he threw

his arms around Jacob and they kissed. They both began to weep. I can imagine Esau looking over and asking, who are all these people? Jacob said, that's my family. Well, who's that little boy? That's my son Joseph. That's your nephew. I can see Esau walking over and hugging little Joseph.

What Jacob thought would be strife and contention turned out to be an incredible act of kindness, an incredible show of mercy. Fast forward many years later, now this little boy, Joe, Joseph is a grown man. He's been betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and put in prison. After 13 years, he was vindicated and promoted to the Prime Minister of Egypt. There was a great famine in the land, but because of the blessing on Joseph, he had great wisdom. He helped the Egyptians store up food.

They had plenty. One day, Joseph's brothers, the same ones that threw him into the pit, showed up at the palace looking for food. Joseph walked out to meet them, but they didn't recognize him. They hadn't seen him in years. They bowed down before Joseph in respect, in humility. Suddenly Joseph's mind flashed back to that time as a little boy when he saw his father bowed down before Esau. It's the same scenario playing out, but this time he's not the little boy. He's in Esau's position. he remembered how Esau had mercy on his father, how Esau treated them with kindness and respect.

Joseph looked at his brothers when he could have paid them back, when he could have gotten revenge. Instead, he treated them like Esau treated his father. The scripture says he threw his arms around his brothers, embracing them and kissing them. Notice what God passed down, mercy, forgiveness, kindness. If Esau would have tried to get even, paid Jacob back, this scene would have been completely different. If he had passed down anger, bitterness, dysfunction, that's how Joseph would have

responded. It would have gone from generation to generation. What made the difference? Issa started a blessing. Esau said, I am not going to live angry, offended, paying people back. I'm going to show mercy. I'm going to model for my family, my children, my nephews, love, kindness, forgiveness. You may have a good reason to live angry, offended, dysfunctional. It's what you've seen modeled. Or somebody did you wrong. You can be an Esau. You can set your family on a new course. The decisions you make will affect generations to come. It just needs someone to start a blessing, to start forgiveness, to start freedom, to start excellence. Why don't you let that be you?

You wouldn't be hearing this if you weren't called to help your family come up higher in some way. Let's start passing down good things. Like Abraham, let's pass down generosity. Let's make it easier on those that come after us. Like Esau, let's break any generational curse. And let's start the generational blessing. Let's deposit good things into their accounts. If you'll do this, I believe and declare you're not only going to rise higher and see God's favor,

but like with Levi, your children and future generations are going to have an advantage. They're going to be born with a blessing because of your faithfulness. They're going to go further. They're going to accomplish more. They're going to become all they were created to be. In Jesus' name, if you're going to be, if you're going to be, 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? 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. Just text the number on the screen or go to the website. I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place. Victoria and I'll be right back to speak a blessing over you. Sometimes life can make you feel like you were just living in the dark. Even your prayers don't feel like they're making it to heaven. But God is listening and his light is about to shine. We know God is all powerful that he can answer any prayer, but sometimes we don't know what to pray.

We don't think we deserve God's goodness. Maybe we're inconveniencing him or he has more important things to deal with. But God is concerned about every detail of your life. He's waiting to hear your prayers. I have a new resource called praying with confidence, guided prayers for life's moments. When you face challenges or obstacles that seem too big, you'll find prayers that will build your faith, prayers that will move the hands of God. There are prayers you can pray for peace and comfort, prayers for your family and health, prayers for your dreams and goals.

As you make these prayers your own, pray with confidence, that's when you'll see the creator of the universe go to work. I hope you'll request your copy today. With a gift of any amount this month, we would like to immediately send you a copy of praying with confidence. Guided prayers for life's moments. In this new resource, Joel shares how to pray. You need a breakthrough when you need strength. Yes, when life's moments happen and you're not sure how to pray, praying confident prayers will put you on the right path.

You'll enter new seasons in your prayer life that will turn challenges to victories, heartache to hope, frustration, to newfound favor. Be sure to request your copy of Praying with Confidence, guided prayers for life's moments today. Visit joelosteen.com or call 888. 567 jaw.