Joel Osteen Podcast - The Password

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

Have you ever felt like God's presence was distant, like you could not access Him? In this message, Jonathan tells us the password for accessing God's presence and the key for living from a place of peace. 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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See terms and conditions at UNES. See you. Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. We enjoy spending this time with you, and I hope you'll leave inspired. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the ministry going. Enjoy our son Jonathan today. Tonight I want to talk about the password. We live in a digital age where everything has one. Your phone, your computer, Instagram, Facebook, Netflix. They all require a password. and without the Wi-Fi password, you can't even use some of them. You need a password for your password.

Some have to have a certain amount of characters or numbers or capital letters. It can be a lot to remember. My parents are always forgetting their password. My mom has sticky notes all around her desk with different passwords on them. And somehow it's even harder to remember than if they weren't there. One Sunday night, my dad texted me during our service and asked me, to order something for him because he didn't have his password. Pastor Nick may or may not have been speaking when I did that,

but the point is my dad was locked out. He didn't have his password so he couldn't make that order. It's not that he forgot. He's just never known his password. You could have the most powerful computer sitting right in front of you, but without the password, it doesn't do anything. Spotify has all the music in the world, but without the password, you can't listen.

to it? You could even have millions of dollars in a bank account, but unless you have the password, it's just going to sit there. A password gives you access. In this age of information, I started thinking, what if God had a password? What if there was something we could say that would give us access to his presence? What if there is a key that would unlock his blessing and favor in our lives. What would be possible? How valuable would that be? Would you want to know it? Thousands of years ago, God shared his password with a man named David, and it's found here in Psalm 100. He said, enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise. The message translation puts it this way. Enter with the password, thank you. This simple phrase gives us access to

to the Creator of the universe. These two words can unlock his blessing and favor in our lives. God has given us his password, and it's called gratitude. And his love and kindness, God has invited us into his house and given us a key. When someone gives you a key, they're saying, come on in. Make yourself at home. Have something to eat.

And that's what God is saying to us. Come on in. stay a while, have some of my peace, joy, protection, enter with the password, thank you. We have a key, but it's our job to use it. Could it be that we're not seeing some prayers answered or dreams come to pass because we're not using the password? Maybe we've told God everything we want, but have we stopped to thank him for what he's already done, for the times he showed us mercy, for the family we have, for the breath in our lungs, When we express gratitude, we're using the password.

We are accessing his power. We're logging into his Amazon account, and he's got prime instant delivery on whatever we could need. Just like we can be locked out of a computer, we can be locked out of God's favor. When we're complaining, obsessing over our problems, focus on what's wrong, that's an incorrect password. It won't get us anywhere. Instead of looking at what we don't have, let's thank God for what we do have. Instead of complaining about what's wrong, let's thank God for what's right. It's a simple thought, but it won't just happen to us.

Gratitude is a choice we have to make. God sees when we choose to thank him, even when we're frustrated by our job or struggling in our finances. He's waiting to open the windows of heaven and give us access to everything we need. but we have to use the password. David knew that. He said, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his love endures forever. What if we lived our lives with the password on our lips, constantly accessing God's goodness? We'd wake up thanking him for another day of life, for his mercy that's new every morning,

for the strength to get out of bed. We'd thank him for our family, for our friends, for watching over us the day before. We might even thank him for that car that's a little old but still gets us to where we need to be, or the apartment that's small but has a heater for the winter. What kind of life would that be? We'd find ourselves in the presence of God all throughout the day with constant access to his favor, creativity, wisdom, protection. With a simple thank you, we're unlocking the greatest force in the universe.

When we're thankful, dreams come to pass. When we're thankful, doors begin to open. When we're thankful, the right people show up. That's what allows God to move in our lives. That's the power of the password. Keep it on your lips. Store it in your heart. May it be the theme of your life.

Sometimes we think we have to feel grateful to be grateful. But the truth is, gratitude isn't a feeling. It's an expression. If someone gives you a gift, there's no gratitude until you say, thank you. It could be a new car or an ugly pair of socks. The gratitude is in the expression. Why is this important? Because when I wake up on a Monday morning, I don't always feel grateful.

I don't have this warm, fuzzy sense of God's goodness when I hear my alarm clock. But that doesn't mean I can't be grateful on a Monday. That doesn't mean I can't thank God for a great weekend at church. That doesn't mean I can't thank and forgiving me things to do that day. Our feelings don't have to determine our expression. We can be frustrated by traffic on the way to work, or we can thank God that we have a job. We can complain about the mess we have to clean up,

or we can be grateful for the friends that made it. We can be stressed by the class that's difficult, or we can be thanking God that we got an education. It's a powerful expression to thank God, even when we don't feel it. One of the best ways to cultivate this kind of life is to write down what we have to be grateful for. Make a daily list of God's blessings in your life and keep it on your phone or your bathroom mirror to read over as often as you can. When we do this, it creates an awareness of God's goodness in our lives. We can write down the time he showed up and made a way when it seemed like there was no way.

the time he protected us from an accident or gave us a promotion, the time he healed someone we love or set us free. We can write down the fact that we have a roof over our head and go to a church where we can worship freely. When we do this daily, we develop a habit of Thanksgiving. Maybe at first it's just one thing a day. God, thank you for keeping me safe. But when we know we need to write something for today, we'll start looking for things to be grateful for. We'll start noting seeing what God's doing in our lives. Before we know it, it may be two, three, ten things a day. When you go to the grocery store, you can write, thank you for a good parking spot. When you pass an exam, thank you for helping me. When you get a paycheck, thank you for my job.

When the Texans win, thank you that we're still going to the playoffs. Write it all down. Make Thanksgiving a priority in your day. We can think our lives are so routine. We get up, go to school, go to work, come home, and do the same thing again the next day. It's ordinary. It's routine. The truth is, there's nothing ordinary about waking up and being able to walk and breathe and see. There's nothing routine about being healthy, going to work, having a meal. These are gifts from God. Let's not take them for granted. Thank him for the ordinary because it's so much more. How many ordinary blessings can you give thanks for today? You're alive, you're healthy, you can hear, you can see, you can walk, you can breathe,

you have a family, you have friends, you have a place to live. What about this? God's mercy is new every morning. He loves you, he has a plan for your life, he'll never leave you or forsake you. Thank God for the ordinary. When we have the right perspective, we can even thank God for what, didn't happen. A friend of mine says, thanks for nothing, God. Thank you that I didn't have a problem with my car today. Thank you that I didn't get laid off. Thank you that I didn't give in to that temptation.

Thanks for nothing. When we begin to thank God for the nothings in our lives, we'll never run out of things to be grateful for. I heard about a man who was diagnosed with cancer of the eye and had a good chance of losing his vision. He was devastated. During the surgery, to the doctor's surprise, they discovered it wasn't cancer, but a minor issue they were able to remove without affecting his sight. When the man woke up and heard the news, he said it was the best day of his entire life. He didn't get a big promotion. He didn't win the lottery. He just got the news that he would continue to see. Now he looks at everything with completely new eyes. He sees the beauty in the the wonder in the trees, the delight on his wife and kids' face when they smile.

He doesn't take anything for granted. It said, we don't know what we have until it's gone. But a grateful person can be the exception to that rule. When we're always thanking God for the ordinary, for the routine, for what didn't happen, we're taking the time to recognize his goodness in our life. Throughout the day, thank him that you're alive. Thank him that you can see. Thank him for the little things, like a cup of coffee in the morning or a new pair of shoes.

If we're always grateful, meditating on God's goodness, we'll find that discouragement and misfortune just can't seem to get a grip on us. That's because we're accessing God's presence. He's giving us peace that goes beyond understanding, joy that overshadows lack, blessings that we can't contain. our lives aren't complete without Thanksgiving. Luke 17 tells the story of 10 men with leprosy that came to Jesus for healing. He said to them, go show yourselves to the priests. While they were on their way, they became completely clean.

The leprosy was gone. One of the men came running back and fell at Jesus' feet so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough. Jesus looked at him and asked, weren't there 10 heel? where are the others? Then he looked at the man and said, your faith has made you whole. Ten men were healed that day.

One was made whole. That's what thankfulness does. God can answer our prayer. He can fix our problem. But when we say thank you, that's when the miracle happens. That's when he makes us whole. You can be healed and miserable.

You can be healed and have a bad attitude. You can even be healed and still hurting. Healing takes care of an issue. Wholeness men stings we didn't even know we're broken. It's a fullness on the inside that says, I have everything I need. I know the password. Nine of those men were healed on the surface. The one who came back realized Jesus didn't just heal skin. He could heal his soul. He could give him peace, fulfillment, purpose. It's no wonder he couldn't thank him enough. The others were glad to have been healed. This man was grateful to have met his savior. And with that expression of gratitude, he unlocked something so much greater. He was made whole.

It's one thing to get the job you want. It's another to be fulfilled there. It's one thing to meet someone great. It's another to have a great relationship. It's one thing to get through a struggle and it's another to have peace. We're incomplete when we only receive the experience. We're incomplete when we only receive the external blessing. When we are thankful, the Bible says, God does something on the inside that's so much more valuable. We'll experience a sense of his wholeness and everything will come together for good. When I was applying for college, there was one particular school I really wanted to attend. To be honest, I wasn't even interested in the others. When I finally got that acceptance letter, I was so excited. God had answered my prayer. That could have been it. I could,

have stopped there, but for the next four years, I continued to thank God for allowing me to go to that university. I've graduated, and I still thank him almost every day. In response, he gave me so much more than just an acceptance letter. He gave me peace, protection, good friends, the right classes. It wasn't always easy, but I had everything I needed on the inside. Some people are successful, but not whole. Others are blessed but still missing something. When we take time each day to thank God for his goodness, when we take time to say thank you for what he's done, we're like the one man who came back and fell at Jesus' feet. We're recognizing he hasn't just answered our prayer. He's saved our soul. He's given us everything we need. In him, we have a hope and a future. We won't just be healed.

will be made whole. Life isn't complete without Thanksgiving. Even our prayers aren't finished without it. Philippians 4 says in everything by prayer with Thanksgiving present your request to God. Maybe some prayers haven't been answered because we didn't finish them. We forgot to say thank you. We didn't use the password. That's how the Bible tells us to pray with Thanksgiving. It's not about begging God or trying to convince him to give us what we want. He already knows what we need. Once we ask from then on, we can thank him for it. There was a woman who came to Jesus begging for him to heal her daughter.

She pleaded with him over and over. Please, she's sick. Help us. We read so many times in Scripture where Jesus went out of his way to heal people. He was kind, compassionate. but in this particular instance, he seemed to be ignoring her. Finally, the woman realized, my begging's not doing any good. And she fell at his feet and began thanking him, worshiping, giving him praise.

All of a sudden, Jesus stopped, looked at her and said, your daughter has been made whole. What begging couldn't do, Thanksgiving did. And like the man with leprosy, she wasn't only healed. She was made whole. Sometimes we wait until after we see the promise to thank God. We thank him after a situation turns around. But if we'll be willing to thank him in advance, we're taking gratitude to the next level.

God, I'm struggling in my finances, but I want to thank you that abundance is coming. The medical report may not be good, but I thank you the healing is on the way. Or I'm battling discouragement. But God, I thank you that you're giving me victory. prayer and Thanksgiving go hand in hand. When we ask God and thank him for it, there's no limit to what he will do.

It was late in the evening and a large crowd was gathered. When the disciples came to Jesus and said, everyone's getting hungry, there's nothing to eat. We need to send these people home. Jesus looked at them and said, you give them something to eat. The disciples probably looked at each other and thought, we have five loaves of bread and two fish that a little boy gave us, That's not even enough to feed Peter.

Jesus said, bring them to me. And in verse 19, he took the five loaves, two fish, held them up to the heavens and gave thanks. Then the disciples gave them to the people. And everyone, around 15,000, ate and were satisfied. There were even leftovers. Jesus gave thanks for what he had, for what was not enough. He blessed what seemed to be too low. little and it multiplied. Maybe we think I can't thank God for this apartment. It's too small. I can't

thank him for my finances. I'm barely getting by. When what we have is not enough, we're right where Jesus was. We've got five loaves, two fish, and everybody's hungry. We could get discouraged or think it's unfair, but that's not part of the multiplication process. If we can learn to be grateful for what's not enough, then one day God will multiply it and give us more than enough. You might not think you have enough talent, enough friends, enough resources, but why don't you do what Jesus did and thank God for what you do have? It may not be enough now, but not enough with Thanksgiving can feed thousands. Not enough with a grateful attitude can become a miracle. Like the disciples, you'll even come out with some left over.

In 1959, God gave my grandfather a dream to reach the world. But when they started Liquid, there were only 90 people in an old feed store. He could have gotten discouraged. Thought, how is this going to reach the world? The building's too small. There's not enough people. It didn't seem like much, but my grandfather knew the password. He had a dream for thousands, yet he thanked God for the 90.

He thanked God for the feed store. He was grateful for what he had. I'd like to tell you the next week they had 500, then 5,000 people. But for the first 13 years, the church hardly grew. My grandfather had this dream to reach the world, but there were no sign of things increasing. Yet my grandfather just kept thanking. It didn't happen overnight, but eventually that thankfulness did lead to more than enough. Because he was grateful for the 90, God multiplied it, and he saw.

still multiply it, almost 60 years later. Sometimes we don't think we have anything to be grateful for because we're going through a difficulty. But it's in those times that gratitude can bring us through the challenge. You probably know the story of Jonah. God called him to go one way and he ran the other. During a storm, he was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a whale. It was dark. It smelled. He was being digested alive. Sitting there in darkness, anyone could have complained there. You actually had a good reason. The problem was, Jonah got himself in this mess.

It was his own fault. There was no one else to blame. Sitting there in darkness in the belly of a whale, when it seemed there was no reason to be grateful. Jonah said, I will offer you the sacrifice of praise with the voice of Thanksgiving. In his darkest moment, Jonah used the password, and God caused the whale to spit him out on dry land. He went on to fulfill his destiny. A sacrifice of praise means it cost you something.

It's not easy. You don't always feel like it. We all have moments where it feels like we're in the belly of a whale. A situation seems impossible. It's our fault. Everything in us says we should be discouraged, depressed, maybe just give up. Like Jonah, that's the time when we have to offer a sacrifice of praise. That's when we can say, God, this situation doesn't look good, but I want to thank you that you are good

and you can turn it around. It seems like everything's coming against me, but I thank you that you are for me and you can fight my battles. Or it's my fault. I messed up. But God, I thank you that your mercy is so much greater than my mistakes. When you're grateful in the midst of darkness, God will bring you out. It might not be easy, but that's the sacrifice. This is what Paul and Silas did. They were beaten and imprisoned

for spreading the good news. They hadn't done anything wrong. It was unfair. They found themselves bloodied, bruised, and chained in a prison cell. They could have gotten angry, bitter. I thought, God, why did this happen to us? we were doing what you told us to do.

In their darkest moment, in the midnight hour, when all hope seemed lost, they weren't defeated. They were singing. They thanked God. They offered a sacrifice of praise. The Bible says, at once, all the prison doors flew open, and everyone's chains came loose. When we use the password, it opens prison doors. It breaks chains. It sets us free.

no matter how dark it gets, whether you're in the belly of a whale or a prison cell, there is power in Thanksgiving. Nothing gets God's attention quite like a song in the midnight hour. When you could be defeated, instead you're thanking God that he's in control, that he's greater than whatever you're facing. When most people would have given up, instead, you're giving thanks. If we're going to live this life of gratitude, we have to learn to be grateful through the pain. through the disappointment, through the difficulty. It's easy to thank God on the mountaintop, but there's breakthrough when we're thankful in the valley.

Our attitude should be, I'm going to thank him through the highs and the lows. I'm going to thank him at noon and in the midnight hour. I'm going to thank him when I feel like it and when I don't. That's the sacrifice of praise with the voice of Thanksgiving. Even when you don't see anything happening, you can be assured that God is working in your life. He'll bring you out of trouble onto dry land, out of the prison and into freedom.

But our thankfulness doesn't have to end with amen. We should thank God first, but their password has one more purpose. It doesn't stop there. It's about sharing it with others. When we're grateful to people, we're grateful to God. We honor him. that kind of thankfulness doesn't just have the power to change us it can change others i read about an author who wrote a letter to an english teacher that had taught him years before he thanked her for

inspiring him to write one day he received a reply that said i can't express how much your note meant to me i taught school for over 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation i ever received it came on a cold winter's morning and cheered me up like nothing has done in years. We all have people that have helped us become who we are. None of us got here on our own. Someone taught us. Someone encouraged us. Someone cared for us or gave us their time.

It may have been a teacher or a grandparent or a co-worker. When's the last time you told them you were grateful? We may think it, but it's not gratitude until it's expressed. We should take every opportunity to let those around us know how much we appreciate them. It's a great habit to be overflowing with Thanksgiving, whether it's the person that raised you or someone you just met. Thanking them is a way to say, God, I recognize your goodness in my life. It was my grandmother's 85th birthday a little over a month ago, and she knows that I love her, but I realized I'd never taken the time to take it.

tell her just how grateful I am for all that she's done, for encouraging me, for giving me a great dad, for being faithful in building this church. So I wrote a note thanking her. It didn't take me very long, but it's one of the best investments I've made. Now she's always talking about it. She keeps thanking me for thanking her. When you're grateful to people, you're grateful to God. It's about a lifestyle of Thanksgiving. being thankful in all things. Whether the sun's shining or the rain's falling, we have a reason to be grateful.

We'll find the more we thank God, the more we have to be thankful for. He's given us access to his presence, to his resources. Enter with the password, thank you. It opens the door. It breaks chains. It makes us whole.

It can feed thousands. That's the power of the password. word. Let's pray. God, how could we ever thank you enough? You've been so good to us. Tonight we come back like that one man that was healed to say thank you. Thank you for life. Thank you for family and friends. Thank you for the ordinary. Thank you for the routine. Thank you for what's not enough. God, we believe you can multiply it and turn it into more than enough. We believe you can set us free. We believe you can bring us out of trouble onto dry land.

God, we're not just grateful to have been healed. We're grateful to know our Savior. Thank you, Jesus. God, I pray gratitude wouldn't be a message we heard, but a life that we live. In Jesus' name. Thank you for listening to the Joel O's Dean podcast. Help us continue to share the message of hope

with those all over the world. Visit joelosteen.com slash give hope 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. We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead.

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