Joel Osteen Podcast - The Commanded Blessing | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

God has a commanded blessing prepared that will bring you to a new level of supernatural increase. His favor will cause you to rise from lack into abundance.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 visitJoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.God wants to refresh how you experience time in His Word! In this brand-new book, you’ll find 12 powerful lenses that will transform the way you read your Bible. Let our November offer show you How to Read Your Bible & Enjoy It https://bit.ly/4f5GjAY.  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 and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. God bless you. Always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. And if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we will all make you feel right at home. But thank you so much for tuning in. today. And again, thanks for coming out. I'd like to start with something funny. And this was sent to me from an attorney. I heard about these two men, the Pope and a lawyer. They were standing at the pearly gates. Just got to heaven. St. Peter came up and said, men, follow me, and I'll take you to your homes. Peter first dropped the Pope off at this very small house. Had one bed and one desk. Next,

he took the lawyer to this huge house. A beautiful swimming pool in the backyard. A me magnificent view and the lawyer was overwhelmed. He said, Peter, how did I manage to have this magnificent place when the Pope only has that small place? Peter said, we have dozens of popes. You're the first lawyer. 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 the commanded blessing. There is a blessing God has for every one of his children that will cause us to rise

out of lack into abundance, out of barely getting by, into the overflow level. This commanded blessing will bring supernatural increase. If we're going to experience it, we have to have an abundant mentality. We were never created to drag through life and constantly struggle. When times get tough, it's easy to think, I'll never have enough.

This is all my parents had. It's never going to change. No, where you are is not where God wants you to stay. He has a commanded blessing in your future that can catapult you to a whole new level. You may be in the land of barely enough right now, but God wants to move you into the land of more than enough. And this commanded blessing is found in Deuteronomy 28. It talks about how if we will live a life that honors God and obey His word, then all these blessings will chase us down and overtake us.

It lists blessing after blessing. It says, you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. will open up to you his good treasury and cause you to lend and not borrow. He will make you plenteous in goods and give you a surplus of increase. Notice the words God uses, plenious, surplus, his good treasury. Verse eight sums it up. The Lord will command the blessing to be on you and your storehouses and all you put your hands to do. What is your storehouses? That's your business, your career, your bank accounts. Now, I want you to get this down in your spirit.

The creator of the universe has put a commanded blessing on you. When God commanded light to come, it came at 186,000 miles per second. Friends, when God commands something, it's going to happen. He has commanded you to increase. He's commanded you to prosper. He's commanded us to be above and not beneath. If we will get an agreement with God and not let other people talk you out of it or your own thoughts talk you out of it, you will see this commanded blessing take you further than you ever thought possible.

I know people in this congregation, their tithe today, 10% of their income is more than their entire income was just five years ago. That's the commanded blessing. They walked in obedience. they developed their gifts. They had a big vision. And just like God promised, his blessings overtook them. Some of you have been stuck at the same level

year after year, but God is saying, I'm about to take you where you have not gone before. You are going to see a flood of God's favor. Not a trickle, not a stream, not a river, but a flood of increase. A flood of God's goodness. That's the commanded blessing overtaking you.

I have some friends in another city. They needed to sell their home. The housing market in that area was very depressed. A large company had gone out of business, and now there were a lot of homes for sale. In fact, on their street alone, there were 12 homes on the market. In the natural, it looked like it could take a long, long time. Looked like it could go down and down. But instead of expecting the worst, thinking that it wouldn't sell, they believed they had this commanded

blessing. Every morning they would say, Father, we want to thank you that you have put something on our house that will cause it to stand out, something that will attract people to it. About six weeks after they put it on the market, they sold the home. One day they were talking to the new owners and they told how they had looked at many other homes, even homes that seemed to be a better value in a better location, but they made the statement when we came to into your home, there was something different about it. We immediately felt a peace and knew that it was supposed to be our home. That's the commanded blessing. I want you to realize God has put something on you. It talks about how all these blessings with an S, plural, will overtake us. But then in verse 8, it says,

God has commanded the blessing, singular. That commanded blessing is what will cause your house to sell when others aren't selling. The commanded blessing is what will cause you to rise higher and increase when others are decreasing and having such a tough time. When we were in Kenya, Africa last year, we visited

an orphanage. The family that ran this place are very great people. The father gave up this prestigious job of teaching at a university to come back and start the orphanage. Now he and his grown children have about 200

acres and they take care of around 500 children. Their place is beautiful. The kids are happy. They've got a first-class school. I was talking to them about their funding and how they raise support. He told how they were self-sufficient. They farmed the land and that provides the food and nutrition for the children. In fact, they've been so successful, they sell some of the produce to the local grocery store. They bought a nice tractor and when they're not used, using it, they rent it out to help others. But he said, Joel, the funny thing is, when we bought this property, we were told that we couldn't produce any crops, that the soil was not good enough, there wasn't enough rain, and we would never be able to sustain ourselves off this land. In fact, that's what's happening all around them. For miles and miles, people can't grow any crops. Experts have come over to their property to try to figure out what's different about their land. The university came out and took soil samples and ran test. They cannot understand how their soil can be so rich and fertile and right next door, the soil is totally different. He smiled and

said, that's the blessing of God. He is exactly right. That's Deuteronomy 28. God commanding his property to be blessed, God making them plenious in goods. When you walk in obedience, wherever you go, the blessing goes. You can be in a dry and a barren place, but when God commands that blessing on your life, you will flourish even if you're out in the middle of a desert. That's what happened with Abraham. One time he and all of his extended family and his flocks and herds, they moved to another part of the country. They found this beautiful piece of property with lush green pastures and peaceful ponds, look like a postcard. They were so happy but after a few months they realized that the land could not sustain the flocks and the herds and

just too many of them. So Abraham said to his nephew, Lot, you choose where you want to live and I'll move somewhere else. Lot chose to stay right there. He chose the best part of the land. Really, that wasn't right. Abraham was the leader. He was the reason why they were there in the first place. But Abraham took the high road and he moved to a different part of the country.

But this time, all he could find was a dry and barren place. Instead of the lush green pastures, it was just like the desert. In the natural, Abraham should have struggled and seen his crops and herds dwindled down to nothing,

his business dry up. But do you know, it was just the opposite. It wasn't any time before that dry, barren land was turned into a beautiful oasis. In fact, his crops and herds multiplied so much. The scripture says that Abraham became the wealthiest man in all of the east. What am I saying? Even if you're in the desert, when you have the commanded blessing of God on your life, you are still going to flourish. You can be in a down economy, that doesn't affect the commanded blessing. Psalm 37 says,

even in famine, the righteous will have more than enough. Notice not barely enough, more than enough. Why is that? Because wherever you go, the blessing goes. Your company should be glad to have you at work tomorrow,

because when you get there, the blessing of God shows up. You may work around people that are negative, complainers, It feels kind of like the desert, like it's never going to change. But let me encourage you to just keep being your best. There is a commanded blessing on your life that will cause you to prosper in spite of the circumstances. I had a young lady tell me last week how she was having her best year that she's ever had in her career.

She's in some type of sales. She was so excited. Other people in the office are down. The industry in general is slow. But she said, Joel, it seems like every time I turn around, a new client is coming my way. She explained how on three or four occasions, she was at the right place, at the right time. Unexpectedly, business was dropped into her lap. She made the statement, I'm supposed to go out and find customers, but it's just like customers are always trying to find me.

That's the commanded blessing. Even in famine, she has more than enough. One thing I can tell you about this young lady is she's a giver. She volunteers at the church. She gives her time, gives her resources. She's honoring God. And that's what the scripture says. When you obey God's word, because of the commanded blessing on your life, increase and promotion is going to chase you down. Not just in the good times when the economy's up and everybody's doing great. No, even in the slow. seasons, you can expect Jehovah Jira to show up and increase you in spite of the circumstances. Now, here's a key. Don't let the negative news talk you out of having a good year. Don't let the critics and the naysayers convince you into having a survival mentality.

Thinking, oh, man, if I can just make it through, if I can just survive this next two years, no, God never created us to survive. created us to thrive, to have more than enough, even in famine. Every morning before you leave the house, you should say, Father, I want to thank you that you are blessing the work of my hands. Thank you that you are increasing my storehouses. Thank you that you're making me plenious in goods. Father, you said you would open up your good treasury and rain down favor. So, Father, I'm expecting your goodness in my life today. Get your mind going in the right direction.

Live abundant-minded, not barely get by-minded. Friends, God has put something on you that the enemy can't stop, the economy can't stop, bad soil can't stop, negative people can't stop. When God commands it's going to happen, and God has commanded us to increase. Here's why. God wants you to be an example of his goodness.

He wants you to be so blessed. blessed, so talented, so sharp that when other people see you, they want what you have. In the Old Testament, they would pray to the God of Abraham. They thought Abraham is so successful. He has so much favor. If we can just get to his God, then everything will be all right. That's what I want people to say about us. If I can just get to the God of those people at Lakewood, they are so blessed, so prosperous, so generous, so kind, so

peaceful. That's the God I want to pray to. That's what the scripture says, that God will increase us in such incredible ways that the whole world will know we serve the most high God. The message translation puts it this way. God will lavish you with good things. He will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour down rain on your land and bless the work of your hands. You will always be the top dog and never the bottom dog. I bet you didn't think that was in the scripture. I know today I'm

looking at a bunch of top dogs. Now some of you, if you would just start seeing yourself as the top dog, you would experience a new wave of God's favor. You are not average. You are not mediocre. Almighty God has put something on you that makes you extraordinary. It's his commanded blessing. Now, you've got to put your shoulders back and start expecting not a trickle, not a stream, not a river, but a flood of God's favor. He wants to increase you in such a way that everybody around you knows you serve the most high God. That's what he did to the people of Israel. They'd been in slavery for a long, long time.

Finally, Pharaoh decided to let them go. As they were leaving, God instructed them. to ask the enemy for their gold, their silver, all their treasure? That didn't seem to make sense. What would make them think their captors would want to give them something? But the scripture says, God put favor on the Israelites, and their enemy gave them everything that they asked for.

What happened? God puts something on them. And in the same way, God puts something on you. not defeat, not lack, not barely get by, God has put a commanded blessing, a blessing that will cause people even for no apparent reason to want to be good to you. I remember a few years back,

our little daughter, Alexandra, wanted a cell phone. I promised her I'd get her one. After school one day, she asked if we could go to the store. I didn't really feel like going, but since I told her I would, I said, okay, let's go. our son Jonathan, he was about eight years old at the time. He said, Daddy, I want to go to. I said, that's great, Jonathan, but you've already got a phone. We're not going to get you one. We're getting one for little Alexandra. He says, I know, Daddy, I just want to look. Of course, I know what that means.

Look, Daddy, here's the phone I want. As we were getting ready, Victoria heard the commotion in there and asked where we were going, told her we were going up to the cell phone store. She said, well, I don't want to stay here by myself. I'm going to come too. And turned out to be a family affair. And we got to the store and the man that waited on us was very kind and very helpful. He had the exact phone that Alexander wanted, the exact color, and she was so happy. Then Jonathan came up and said, Daddy, this is the phone I really want to get. And I've got enough money saved up. I can buy it myself. I said, no, Jonathan, your phone is not even a year old. That would be a waste. The salesman overheard us talking and he asked to see Jonathan's

phone. He took it and plugged something into the computer and told us that for $150, we could upgrade his phone to a new one. I said, no, we don't want to do that. That just wouldn't be right. Then he asked to see my phone. So I gave him my phone and he ran those

numbers. He said, in six months, you'll be due for a free phone. But if you'd like to have it right now, I'll give it to you today. Well, I couldn't pass up that offer. And so I gave Jonathan the new phone, and I to Jonathan's phone. Like I said, it was barely even a year old. And as we were about to leave,

he looked at Victoria and said, young lady, what kind of phone do you have? We had already checked. It would be a couple hundred dollars to upgrade hers, and hers was only about eight months old. And I said, thank you. You've been so kind to us, but no thanks. He looked at me and said very sternly, she is not leaving here without a new phone. I thought to myself, you cannot make me buy a phone. I wanted to say, you're not the boss of me. He looked at his assistant. I found out he was the manager. He looked at his assistant and said, just give her a phone.

That assistant looked at him strange. He said, you mean give like free? He said, yes, give her a free phone. We walked out that day with three brand new phones and I'd only paid for one phone. And it was all legal. I was I was scratching my head thinking,

What in the world happened? Just like the Israelites, God put favor on us and caused somebody we didn't even know to want to be good to us. That's a part of that commanded blessings, blessings that just chase you down and overtake you. And I don't say this, I don't say this arrogantly, but I go out each day expecting God's favor. I'm expecting people to want to be good to me. I'm expecting extraordinary opportunities. Not because of who I am, but because of whose I am, a child of the most high God. And I realize God has commanded us to be blessed.

There is something on you right now that attracts good breaks. Just like a magnet, it attracts increase and promotion. It's the commanded blessing. But too many people go around just hoping to survive and hoping to make it through. No, you've got to change what you're expecting. Having a barely get-by mentality will stop the commanded blessing. God is moved by our faith. When you go out each day knowing that you have an advantage, that the creator of the universe has put something on you, and you live abundant-minded, plenious-minded, more than enough-minded, you're going to see God show up and do amazing things.

First Kings chapter 17, there's the story of a widow. She's a son. She's a son. single parent mother. All of her funds have run out. She doesn't have any income. Now she goes out to get some firewood and she's going to cook the last little bit of food that she has. It looks like she and her son will have their final meal. But while she's out there, she runs into an old friend. It's the prophet Elijah. Of all things, he says, I am so hungry. Would you do me a favor and make me something to eat? She's said, sure I will, Elijah, but the truth is, this is the last food that we have. I was going to cook it for my family, but we'll share it with you. Notice her attitude. Despite the desperate circumstances, she wasn't selfish, she wasn't desponded. Deep down, she knew that God was in complete control.

She went to the container and poured out her last bit of flour and her last bit of oil and made Elijah something to eat. She and her son ate something as well. The next day out of curiosity, she went back and opened to the container, and much to her surprise, there was some flour in there. There was some oil in the other container. Day after day, month after month, that flower

and that oil never ran out. God multiplied what she had. When you look at your situation, you may think, I don't see how I'm going to make it. You've run the numbers. You know, know what's coming in, you know what's going out. It looks like you're going to go under. But just like this lady, because you're honoring God, because you're a giver, there is a commanded blessing on your life. God is going to multiply your resources. He's going to cause

what you have to go further. He's going to help you find the best deals. He's going to give you unexpected increase to where you look up and say like her, I don't know how this happened. It doesn't make sense on paper, but look at me today. I'm blessed, I'm prosperous with more than enough. For in supernatural provision is a part of this commanded blessing. David said it like this. I was young, but now I'm old, and I've never once seen God's children begging for bread.

But some of you have been stuck at the same level for a long time. You've struggled with lack and barely getting by. It's been in your family for generations. You don't realize it, but that's been programmed into your thinking to where you think that that's normal. It's all you've ever seen. If you don't rise up and break that stronghold, it'll continue to get past from generation to generation. Now, I've learned you have to have abundance on the inside before you'll ever have abundance on the outside. If you think lack and barely get by, I'll never be successful.

And Joel, I like what you're saying, but you don't know. my family, you don't know what I'm up against. That kind of thinking will set the limits for your life. I heard somebody say, lack is going to leave God's people like leprosy left the lepers of old. And if you study the scripture, you'll find that leprosy was always in a person. We think of leprosy as being on a person, an outside skin disease. But when Jesus healed the lepers on several different occasions, it says that leprosy departed out of the person. It was on the inside. That's the way it is with lack and not having enough. It manifests on the outside, but the root cause is on the inside. And if you will break these strongholds that are telling you, you've gone as far as you can go,

this is all your parents had, you'll never get any good breaks, you'll never get any better. No, those are all lies from the enemy. And some of you have had, lack ingrained in your thinking. It's been programmed into the inside year after year. But I believe and declare today, just like leprosy left the lepers of old right now in the name of Jesus, that spirit of lack is leaving you. As you hear the truth, the truth is making you free. Strong holes are being broken. You may have struggled for a long time. You may have struggled for a long time. but this is a new day. God is moving you out

of the land of barely enough. He's bringing you in to the land of more than enough. Now, you need to get ready for increase. Get ready for new opportunities. Get ready for supernatural breaks. God is saying to us what he said to his people in Deuteronomy

8. I am bringing you into a land where you will eat bread without scarceness. A land where you will not lack anything. The Amplified says a land with no shortage. God is bringing us into the land of no lack, the land of no shortage,

not the land of barely get by. No, we're coming into the land of more than enough. Now let me challenge you to do your part and get lack out of your spirit. Don't go around thinking, I'll never have enough, I'll never rise any higher, business is just too bad. Don't ever say I can't afford it. It's just too much.

I'll never make it. No, if you have a poor mouth, you're going to have a poor life. Our attitude should be, I am a no-lack person. I'm not lacking when I need to pay my bills. I'm not lacking when I want to bless others. I'm not lacking when I want to send my children to college. I'm not lacking when I want to build a nicer home. I'm not lacking when I want to support those missionaries.

I am a no-lack person. Friends, I'm asking you today, to have an abundant mentality. God has amazing things in your future. He's already put a commanded blessing on your life. And if you will do your best to honor him and get in agreement with God, then let me just declare what's going to happen.

God is going to open up to you his good treasury and rain down favor like you've never seen before. God is going to make you plenious in goods and give you a surplus of increase He's going to bless the work of your hands. You're going to see supernatural provision where your resources are going to go further than they should have on their own. Even in famine, even in a slow season, you're going to have more than enough. God is going to cause your storehouses to overflow in such amazing ways.

Everybody around you will know you serve the most high God. I believe it and declare it over each one of you in Jesus. Jesus name. Come on give the Lord a shout a phrase today. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do. This is the first Bible that my parents gave me. I was six years old. They taught me the importance of believe in what God says about you and letting that determine yourself image. Now how through the scripture you can learn to handle challenges and pursue your dreams. Some people tell me that the Bible's not practical for them, how they don't. understand it, we've created a new resource called How to Read Your Bible and enjoy it. It provides 12 distinct lenses that'll help you see the Bible with fresh eyes so you can discover the hidden treasures that increase your faith, practical truths that'll help you in your everyday life. When you tap into the power of God's Word, there's no limit to where he'll take you. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any size to the ministry this month,

Joel would like to send you this inspiring new resource. Sometimes reading the Bible can feel confusing, out of touch, or even produce more fear than faith. But now, with this new resource, how to read your Bible and enjoy it, it will make the Word of God come alive in new ways. You'll discover fresh inspiration on every page of your Bible. The 12 lenses give you the power to see the scripture in a whole new light. When you experience the right way to approach God's Word, it will ignite renewed passion in your life. When you get God's Word down in you, it brings life and victory.

This has a great Bible reading plan, plus introductions to each book. It'll help you enjoy reading the Bible. Thanks so much for being a part of the ministry. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day, and we appreciate your prayers and support. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning. download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube, or we have a new Joel Osteen Television Network 24 hours a day, and of course, Sirius XM as well.

Until we see you next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of How to Read Your Bible and enjoy it. Today, visit joelosteen.com or call 888-567 Joel. Call or click anytime, 24 hours a day.