Joel Osteen Podcast - Staying In The Right Environment | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

You were created to live a life of victory, but if you want to reach your full potential, you have to make sure you’re in the right environment. God wants to use the things and people around you to help you fulfill your God-given destiny. Believe big! Believe for more! Our March offer,This Time Next Year: Believe Big Journal, combines faith-building stories from Scripture with space to record your own reflections of the amazing things God is doing in your life. Be reminded each day that the God who breathed life into you is a more-than-enough God! Request your copy now,https://bit.ly/3IebX0B. 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.

It's so great to have you with us today. We love you guys. We're praying you're going to have a beautiful month of March and just speaking blessings in favor of each one of you. This time of year is just new beginnings, new spring seasons, and so we are believing that this will be a newness of joy in your heart. So know today we are praying for you and we love you. Well, God bless you. It is always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and we know that God has good things. in store for you. The Bible says when you draw night of God, he will draw night of you. I believe you're doing that today. And when you do that, God talks about when we obey him, his blessings will chase us down and overtake us. And that's what we're believing for each one of your lives. And we're so glad to have you. If you're ever in our area, please stop by. We'd love to have you at a service. We'll make you feel right at home. I'd like to get started each week with something

kind of funny. And of course, these are not doctrinally correct. But I did hear about this minister, he was standing in line at the pearly gates. And in front of him was a guy dressed in a loud t-shirt, blue jeans, and sunglasses. Peter came up and said, okay, who are you? He said, I'm Joe Cohen, taxi cab driver, New York City. Peter checked his list, and he then handed him a silk robe and a golden staff and said, welcome to heaven. The minister stepped up next, and he said, I'm Reverend Joseph Snow. I'm the pastor of St. Mary's Cathedral. Peter checked his list. And and he handed him a cotton robe and a wooden staff. He said, hey, wait a minute, the taxi cab driver got a silk robe and a gold staff.

How could this be? Peter said, well, sir, up here we work by results. And when you preached, people slept, but when he drove, people prayed. To get Bibles and say it like you mean it. Are you 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 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 the importance of staying in a healthy environment. The environment that we choose to live in is going to have a great impact on whether or not we fulfill our God-given destiny. And we have to understand that God, God has created each one of us to live a life of victory. He has pre-programmed us before the foundation of the world to be successful, to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be a blessing to others.

But if this is going to happen, we have to put ourselves in an environment that's going to help release the productivity and release the potential that's on the inside. You have seeds of greatness put in you by the creator of the world. of the universe. But the only way those seeds are going to take root and really begin to flourish is if you can stay in a healthy environment. And by our environment, I'm talking about the things that influence us, what we watch, what we listen to, and more specifically, our friends, the people we choose to spend our free time with. I think we'd be amazed at how much these things affect us. And the scripture says in Proverbs 13, verse 20, if you,

walk with wise men, you will become wise. In other words, that's saying, we are going to become exactly like the people that we continually associate with. If you want to see a picture of your future, just take a good look at your friends. If you're hanging around people that are negative, people that are selfish, people that compromise, people that are loose in their morals, well, unfortunately, there's a good chance you're going to become just like them. Our environment is extremely important. I think about Samson. He hung around with the wrong people. And he thought that he was strong enough to overcome. He said, hey, I'm just having a little fun. It's not hurting anything. Leave me alone. And sure, he got away with it for a little while, but eventually his environment

caught up to him. Eventually, it destroyed him. See, our environment can corrupt us, and our environment can confuse us. It happened to the prodigal son. He came from a good family. but he started making poor choices, and he ended up in the hog pen feeding the hogs. And as he sat in that environment, he got confused as to who he was, so much so that he started eating the hog food. It's because he was in the wrong environment.

Now, our environment can restrict us. If we take a tree and plant it in a pot, it can only grow as large as the root system grows. It may be a huge oak tree, but as long as it's being restricted by that pot, it will never become what God created it to be. And some of you today, you need to get out of the pot that you're in. You're hanging around with small-minded people,

people that are telling you what you can't do and what you're not going to become. Listen, you've got to get away from that junk or that's going to restrict you. Don't hang around with sloppy people or you're going to end up being sloppy. Don't hang around with lazy people. and people that take the easy way out,

you'll end up doing the same thing. And on a regular basis, we need to evaluate our friendships. And if you find that you're associating with people that don't have any dreams, people that are not going any place in life, please recognize their influence can keep you from being all God's created you to be.

And they may be good people. They may not even realize they're doing it. And I'm not saying to be rude and just blow people off. but I am saying that we shouldn't spend a lot of time with him. Friends, life is too short to be dragged down by other people. And we already have enough battles to fight without choosing the wrong friends. We need to be very selective when it comes to who we spend our time with.

Be very careful with whom you eat lunch with every day. Don't just take that for granted. Ask yourself, does this person have the qualities that I really want? do they inspire me to rise higher? Do they challenge me to do better? Are they a person of excellence? Or do they just drag me down and cause me to compromise, cause me to be negative? No, remember, they're going to rub off on you.

And that means you shouldn't sit around at lunch every day with a group of people that complain about the company and gossip about the boss and talk about this person and talk about that person. No, that junk is going to poison you. and if you stay there long enough, you're going to end up just like them. We have to understand our environment will change us before we change it. That means we need to put ourselves in a different environment. You say, Joel, I can't help what they say. I can't make them do what's right.

I understand that, but you can choose where you sit. You can choose to drive down to the park and eat lunch. You say, Joel, if I do that, I may not have any friends. I may not have anybody to eat lunch with. Well, let me tell you, I'd rather go through a season of being lonely in my life than to allow somebody to poison me and keep me from fulfilling my God-given destiny. And the Bible talks about one of the things that God dislikes the very most is someone that sows discord, someone that's always stirring something up.

In other words, a troublemaker. They'll take the smallest things, blow it way out of proportionate, and end up making a big deal about it. That's a troublemaker. If you're around somebody like that or somebody that starts to talk about a person, first thing you should do is try to put a stop to it. Just say, hey, instead of talking about them, why don't we pray for them? See, take up for them. Believe the best in them. If they won't do that, if they continue to talk, the next thing you should do is just find the nearest exit. Just walk away. And you can do it politely. Just say, excuse me, something has come up that I really need to take care of. Well, you

say, Joel, wouldn't that be lying? No, you do have something to take care of. You need to take care of yourself. You are a temple of the most I God. Let me tell you, your ears are not garbage cans to fill with all kinds of gossip and who did this and can you believe

that? No, don't allow other people to contaminate you. Change your environment. You are controlling your own destiny. And let's not kid ourselves to think that we can just sit there like old Samson and think that it's not influencing us. We're being influenced

whether we realize it or not. The scripture says in 1 Corinthians 1533, bad company corrupts good character. That means our good is not going to necessarily rub off on them. Their bad is going to rub off on us. And again,

we can do it politely, but we need to learn to distance ourselves from that junk. Distance yourself from contaminating influences. One thing Victoria will tell is I will not listen to jump. If you know something bad about somebody, I don't want to hear it. Just tell me

I need to pray, and that's enough. But I don't want to be a part of gossip. And I'm asking us today to put ourselves in an environment so that we can grow. This may mean that you have to eliminate a few friendships. It may mean that you can't play on that ball team

that's always partying after every game and causing you to compromise. It may mean that you can't ride with that carpool, that group that poisons you to work every day anymore. Well, you say, Joel, they're good Christian people. They go to church every Sunday. Now, you know what I found? Some people don't want to go as high as I want to go. Some people want to do just enough to barely get by, and they're good people, but they'll compromise left and right, take the easy way out, and that's fine for them. But I'm talking about reaching your highest potential. I'm talking about

experiencing God's abundant life. And if this is going to happen, if I can be real honest with you, you're going to have to eliminate the toxic people from your life. Eliminate the people that are poisoning you. Eliminate the people that are dragging you down. Listen, you are a child of the most high God. You have a destiny to fulfill. You have an assignment.

There's something God wants you to do. Your attitude should be, I'm on my way somewhere. Don't poison me with that junk. Don't try to drag me down. to fulfill my God-given destiny. Well, you say, Joel, if I do that, I'm afraid I may hurt some feelings. I'm afraid I may get some people upset at me. Well, you have to ask yourself, do you want to please people or do you want to please God? And yes, you may ruffle a few feathers and you may have to spend a few months being lonely, but what if they keep you in a lifetime

of mediocrity? What if they keep you from fulfilling your call? Friends, you cannot soar with the Eagles, as long as you're pecking around with the chickens. And some of you today, if you don't make some radical decisions to put yourself in a better environment and to get rid of all these contaminating influences, then you're never going to become all God's created you to be. And what a shame that would be. That's why I'm challenging us to take the necessary steps to eliminate the negative influences in our lives.

Let's put ourselves in an environment so our seeds of greatness, can really begin to grow. And when we do this at first, you know, it's kind of uncomfortable. But let me tell you, God sees it. And I found you never give up something for God without him giving you so much more in return. You may have to give up a few friendships and you think, man, I'm going to be lonely.

You know, listen, God will give you new friends. He'll give you better friends. He'll give you people that inspire you to rise higher. But one thing I've learned is you cannot help a person that won't separate themselves from a toxic environment. And I'm not saying that we should,

shouldn't be friendly. I do my best to be friendly to every person I meet. Doesn't matter who they are. They can have every bad habit known to man. They can compromise left and right. But, you know, that doesn't stop me from smiling, being friendly and challenging them to rise higher. See, I can be friendly. But when it comes to being friends, when it comes to spending time together and coming over to my house and interacting with my family, that's a different story. I can be friends from a distance all day long, but if they run around on their spouse, let me tell you, we're not going to hang out together. If they're not honest in their business dealings, we're not going to powwow around. If they can't control their temper, they can't control their

mouth, you're not going to see me being buddy, buddy with them. And it's not because I think I'm too good. It's not because I'm just too self-righteous. No, it's simply because I understand this principle. I understand no matter how strong I think I am, if I hang a around with them too closely, too often, they have the potential to drag me down. They have the potential to pollute my life. I don't even want to give that junk a chance of rubbing off on me. I have a destiny to fulfill. I have an assignment. Each one of you do as well. And I'm not saying that we should just isolate ourselves and not have any contact with anyone that has a bad habit or anyone that needs help. Of course not. The Bible talks about how Jesus was a friend of sinners.

He was always reaching out to help people in need. He even went to eat with some of the worst ones of his day. But when it came to the ones Jesus chose to live with day in and day out, to eat with, to travel with, to sleep with, those were his 12 disciples. Those were his closest friends. Sometimes I hear people say, well, I'm just hanging around with him to try to help him, to try to get his life on the right course. And that's good.

We should mentor people. We should be good examples. But please don't use that. as an excuse to compromise. Well, I'm just going to go party with everybody after work because I'm trying to be a good influence on this guy. No, a better influence would be to take a strong stand and say, you know what, I'm not going there with you.

I'll meet you some other time, but I'm not going to put myself in that kind of environment. A good rule is, as long as you are affecting them and they're not infecting you, then it's okay. But the moment you realize that you're compromising and they're starting to rub off on you, you're going to have to make some changes. And I know some of these things,

we don't have a choice. You may be married to somebody that's very negative and somebody that's always dragging you down. And I'm not saying to go get rid of that person. Some of you have never looked so happy. You think you've got the word that you needed today. Joel told me I'm going to go get rid of this old goat, man. No, a marriage is a different situation.

Or maybe you work beside you. somebody that's a bad influence, and you can't help it. Man, their desk is next to yours, and that's nothing you can do about it. Well, I believe in those cases that God will give you the grace that you need. If you'll have the right attitude, God will keep you protected. He'll keep that junk from rubbing off on you. And if you are married to somebody that's negative and somebody that tends to pull you down, one thing you need to do is every time you can put yourself in an environment that will build you up. When you have free time, find some friends that are happy. Find some people that will cheer you up.

You've got to do something to compensate for it. But don't you dare go out and find five other depressed people and sit around and talk about how bad your marriage is. No, more than anybody, you need to make especially sure every chance you get to put yourself in a healthy, positive environment. I think about Abraham. God made him a great promise there in Genesis 12, verse 2. God said, Abraham, I'm going to bless you and prosper you.

you, I'm going to pour out an abundant increase of my favor, and you're going to be a blessing everywhere you go. And I believe that's God's dream for every one of us. But you notice, verse one tells us what Abraham had to do in order for this to take place. God said, Abraham, you've got to get up and go away from where you are. Leave your country, leave your relatives, leave your father's house, and go into the land where I'm showing you. In other words, God, was saying, Abraham, if you want this great promise to come to pass, then I'm going to have to get you in a different environment. You're going to have to make some changes. Why was that? It's because Abraham's relatives and all the people around him at that time were idol worshippers. Everywhere he

looked, there were bad influences. And God knew as long as he was in that type of environment, it would not permit the growth that God had in mind. I'm sure at first Abraham thought, well, God just change my family. Why don't you change my relatives? Change the people around me. But most of the time, that's not the way it works. God asks us to walk away from the bad influences. He asked us to leave the places where we're constantly being tempted. And we need to put ourselves in a new environment. And some of you today, if you don't make these changes, you're not going to see the great promises of God come to pass in your life. And of course, I'm not saying to just leave your family. I'm not saying to not have anything to do with your relatives, but you know as well

as I do, sometimes the people that are closest to you can be the ones that hinder you the most. Sometimes your own relatives will be the first ones to try to talk you out of your dreams. You mean you're going to do what? You're going to be prosperous? You're going to be successful. You think you have God's favor? I don't think so. We've never had it. And if you listen, no wonder, right? And if you listen to that junk long enough, you know what? It'll take root and it'll keep you from God's best. And some of you today, you know God has put something bigger in you than the environment you're in. Everywhere you look, there's negativity. There's bad influences. There's people with small-minded thinking. And if you don't make some changes,

if you don't put yourself in a different environment that will permit this new growth, then unfortunately it's not going to come to pass. The problem is you're being limited, you're being restricted by your environment. And they may be good people, but sometimes it's just a new season. It's just time to move on, to make some changes. Something is bigger in you than the environment that you're in. This is just what happened to my father way back in 1958. Before I was born, Daddy was pastor of a very successful church here in town. They just built a brand new sanctuary. He was on the state board for his denomination. Life was going very well. But about that time, my sister Lisa was born, with a birth injury that was similar to cerebral palsy.

The doctors told my parents, Lisa, would never be normal. And as you can imagine, it was a very dark day in their life. And so my father went away, and he began to search the scriptures as never before. And he saw how Jesus went about healing everybody, everywhere he went. He saw how God was a good God, that he wanted us to prosper and be in health. He went back to his church, and he began to preach with a new fire, a new enthusiasm, He told him we're going to believe for miracles. We know God's a supernatural God

and you can live a life of victory. He thought everybody would be excited. He thought they'd all be thrilled. But do you know, most of them didn't like it? They were offended by it. They were very steeped in their tradition. It wasn't what they were used to. He began to ruffle a few feathers.

And make a long story short, you know how God did heal my sister. She's perfectly normal today. But Daddy knew one of them, amen. And daddy knew the best thing he could do in order to keep the peace in that church was to just walk away. And so he left there and went down to an abandoned feed store. And on Mother's Day in 1959, they started Lakewood Church. See, deep down in here, Daddy knew God had put something bigger in him than that environment could handle. And they were good people, but he knew if he stayed there, just like planting in

oak tree in a pot that was going to restrict his growth. And don't get me wrong, it was hard for my parents to leave. They'd just built that beautiful sanctuary. And now they were meeting in a run-down dirty feed store, a place where they actually had sold hay and feed. My mother told how she was 28 years old at the time, and she lost almost every one of her friends. They wouldn't have anything to do with her. They thought daddy had gone off the deep end. And here they were having to start from scratch. And in the natural, it looked like a big mistake. The easy thing was to just stay where it was safe and comfortable. The easy thing was to just conform to that environment. But no, they knew they had something bigger in them than the environment they were in, and they dared to take a

step of faith. And had they not been willing to walk away, had they not been willing to make those tough choices, I'm sure I wouldn't be standing here today. And some of you right now, you know you have something bigger on the inside. You know you're made for more than what you're doing. But every voice all around you tells you to just stay where you are, man. This is all your parents had. This is what your grandparents had. You'd better just play it safe. I know sometimes you've got to be willing to take a risk. Sometimes you've got to get out of your comfort zone and put yourself in a new environment. If you don't, it's going to limit your potential. If you don't, it can restrict your growth. And I'm not saying to be foolish and just leave a city or leave a job. Of course, you've got to

pray and you've got to use common sense and ask God to really show you. But there are some things that we can do simply to change the atmosphere around us. I have these friends that pastor a church in another state. And when they first started the church years and years ago, they were totally broke. They didn't have any money. They were living in a tiny apartment. The man would work all week. On the weekends he would pastor the church. And they met right there in their apartment. Only had about 15 or 20 people coming. This went on for years. They were so tempted to get discouraged. They hardly had any furniture. Didn't have money to do anything extra. I mean, their future didn't look very bright. But deep down in here, they knew God had put something

bigger in them than the environment they were in. They knew one day they would be ministering to thousands of people. And so instead of just sitting in their little, they knew, they'd put something bigger in them. And so, apartment every night, complaining, feeling sorry for themselves. You know what they did? They would drive down to one of the big fancy hotels down the road. They didn't even have money for parking. They'd have to park way down the street and walk the rest of the way. But they would go there night after night and just sit in the hotel lobby and do nothing more than dream. They wanted to put themselves in an atmosphere of success, an environment of victory. As they looked around at all the beautiful surroundings, a new image was taken root on the inside. Night after night, they just sit

there and thank God, one day you're going to bring our dreams to pass. One day, we know we're going to be ministering to thousands. See, they put themselves in an environment that would inspire growth. They didn't have too much, but now that new dream was really taken root on the inside. They were enlarging their vision. Today, many years later, they're seeing those dreams come to pass. Friends, it's so important the environment we put ourselves in, from the friends we choose to even our physical surroundings. And you may be at a place that's not too hot, but you can do something like this couple. Go find somewhere you can dream. Find some place that inspires you. Don't just sit around night after night, focused on the negative and focused on what you don't

have. You've got to change your environment. You need to leave the place where you are. It may not be physically, some of you just need to leave a bad attitude, leave a wrong mindset, start dreaming bigger dreams. Well, God told Abraham to leave his country, leave his relatives, and Abraham did leave, but he made one big mistake. He took his nephew Lott with him. God never told him to take Lott. And do you know Lott was the one that ended up causing him problems? They got into strife, and eventually they had to separate. And I believe that Lott represents that one thing we try to hold on to. Oh, Joel, just this one friend, I know he's not a good influence, but we've been friends a long time. Just this one bad habit, just this one wrong mindset.

It's interesting. When God told Abraham to leave, he didn't speak to him again until he got rid of Lot. In other words, Lot was keeping Abraham from hearing God's voice. Lot was keeping Abraham from fulfilling his destiny. We have to understand, God will not make us do anything. He asked us to walk away from bad influences. He asked us to stay in a healthy, positive environment. Then it's up to us.

And some of you today, I believe that you would get clear direction for your life. You would see God open up new doors of opportunity if you would simply separate yourself from the things that you know are holding you back. It may be a friend. It may be something you're watching, maybe a wrong mindset. Whatever it is, I really believe if you just make a clean break,

you would see God's favor in a much greater and a much newer way. So I challenge you again today to evaluate your friendships. Who are you spending time with? Who's influencing you? What kind of environment are you putting yourself in? Is it restricting you? Is it causing you to make poor choices? If so, why don't you make some changes?

do your best to stay in a healthy, positive environment. Remember, our environment is going to change us before we change it. That means we need to stay in the right culture so those seeds of greatness can take root and really become a reality in our lives. And I know if you do this, God will do for you what he did for Abraham. He will bless you and prosper you. He'll pour out his goodness and you'll experience the life of victory

that he has in store. Amen. Do you receive it today? Well, I know you do. 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. It starts with just a tiny seed. From it, tender bud sprout. The miracle of new life blooms and thrives. But how do you experience the same miraculous and extraordinary growth in your own life? Sometimes our life is limited because we're believing too small.

Faith is like a seed. When you believe, all things are possible. That's when you'll see new growth, opportunity, and healing. We don't have to figure out how it's going to happen. all we have to do is belief. There may not be a way in the natural, but our God is supernatural. We'd like to send you our new

this time next year, Believe Big Journal. It'll help you to enlarge your vision and stretch your faith. Where would you like to be a year from now? Who knows what God will do in 2024 if you'll take the limits off of him and believe for the great things he's placed in your heart?

Azar, thank you for your gift of any amount this month. We want to send you that this time next year, Believe Big Journal, along with our new Believe Tea. As you begin to believe big, you'll see God move in powerful ways. The impossible made possible. Growth, provision, and new opportunities will burst forth above and beyond what you can ask or imagine. Also, for the first time ever, we want to present you with our new Believe T-shirt, created exclusively by our friends at CopperFit for the viewers and partners of Joe Lohsteen.

We invite you to wear and declare what you are believing God for in 2024. It's a gift from CopperFit as they extend their support of the message of hope. Many of you have watched us a long time, but you've never been to Lakewood. We have a perfect time. We're calling it Homecoming Weekend, April 13th and 14th. We'd love to meet you. I'll introduce you to my family. You can see the facility and enjoy a service.

We'd be honored to have you. We'll make you feel right at home. Remember, you can watch the services live online every Sunday. Download our podcast, watch on YouTube. We'll keep you inspired and encouraged. Be sure to request your copy of This Time Next Year, Believe Big Journal and the Copperfit Believe T-shirt as our gift of thanks today. Visit joelowstein.com or call us toll-free.