Joel Osteen Podcast - The Unconditional Love Of God | Victoria Osteen

Episode Date: January 11, 2025

God is not focused on what you're doing wrong. His love towards you is unconditional.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.Start every day with faith to move mountains and peace that surpasses all understanding. Our 2025 Today's Word Daily Devotional includes 365 days of Scripture, inspiration, and prayers. Let this January offer encourage you all year long,https://bit.ly/3ZWYzX5. 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. I'll never forget one Saturday afternoon when I was 16 years old. I walked in the kitchen and my father was grilling hamburgers that Saturday afternoon. I was like, yeah, I'm hungry, Dad. He said, great.

He said, can you run to the store? for me and pick up a few little items. I just need some mustard, some pickles, just a couple little items. I said, absolutely. I mean, I was 16 years old, just waiting to get behind the wheel. Any excuse to drive, and I was right there. So he went to give me his keys, and as he was given me the keys, he said, now look, Victoria, he said, I want you to go straight to the grocery store, I want you to come straight back. And don't open the passenger side window. Don't roll it down because it's off the tracks. And he said, I have to get it repaired next week, so don't open the window.

I took the keys from his hand, and I rushed out the back door, jumped in the car, cranked it up, drove down the street to my best girlfriend's house, and picked her up. I said, we're going to the grocery store. As we were on our way to the grocery store, about to leave the neighborhood, we saw some of our friends who lived in the neighborhood walking down the sidewalk. So we started waving. I said, let's pull over so they can see us driving. So we pull over.

I said, roll down the window so we can say hi. She looks at me and she says, I thought you said the window was broken. I said, it's okay. It'll be fine this time. This one time won't hurt anything. So she rolls the window down and we talk to our friends. And I'll never forget as I was driving off. She was rolling that window back up.

And it was as if time stood still. That window shattered in one million pieces. I looked at that window. I couldn't believe it. Millions of pieces. I looked at my girlfriend. I said, you're going home with me. Listen, I'll never forget driving that car home,

thinking, what am I going to tell my father? Drove up the driveway, walked in the back door, and there he stood in the kitchen. With the biggest knot in my throat, I said, Dad, I got to tell my father. I got to tell you something. I did everything you told me not to do. I said, Dad, I shattered your window.

Please forgive me. I couldn't believe what I had done. But, you know, that Saturday afternoon is a 16-year-old girl I'll never forget my dad's response to me. As I looked at my father and he looked back at me and I'm sure he was disappointed, he looked at me with eyes of compassion. It was as if he looked past my failure, past my mistake.

Somehow he saw a daughter on a journey, and he showed me unconditional love that day. He didn't berate me. He didn't tell me how terrible I was. Somehow he found it in himself to look over my faults and show me his love. Can I tell you if an earthly father. can do such a thing? How much more does our heavenly father? Look at us today. Eyes of compassion and love, so often we feel like he's looking at our mistakes, counting our failures against us. But can I tell you the scripture says when we were yet sinners,

before we even knew what was right and what was wrong, he looked down through the corridors of time and he said, I love you unconditionally. That is the heart. of the Father. Now, your story might not be the same with your earthly father. I don't know, but I can tell you it has helped me understand the love of my Heavenly Father. You see, that day, I had to do something. I had to admit what I did. And then I had to ask for forgiveness. Then I took it one step further. I had to receive his forgiveness. Because, see, it was up to me at that point. was I going to make a decision that my father loved me and that he indeed forgave me? And I could shake off the shame, shake off the guilt.

Because see, there was something real important that I needed to do. I needed to have a relationship with this father in my life. And if I was going to draw back and not feel like I was good enough, I would have never come and asked him for the keys again. But guess what? I did. I asked him for the keys again, and he gave them to me. I'm saying all that to say.

Some of you have shrunk back. You're not asking God for the keys again. You're saying he couldn't possibly want that for me. How could I possibly achieve that? Man, I make a mistake all the time. I can't get to where God wants me to be. If I even ask him, will he even hear me? Can I tell you, your heavenly father is not looking at what you're doing wrong.

He's looking at what you're doing right. He sees your two good moves. Yeah, you may have blown it. You may have even blown it yesterday. But can I tell you, when you come and you say, God, forgive me, he sees us as a work in progress. We are sons and daughters in progress. And he's not holding that against us.

See, I've got to tell you something, when I ask my dad for the keys, again? He didn't say to me, well, don't forget what you did. Don't forget how you wronged me. He didn't come at me with guilt and condemnation. And I want to remind you today, if you're not asking for the keys, because you feel guilty, maybe a little ashamed, maybe you can't even believe God would do that, that is not of God. That is the accuser. And those are the things you're going to have to shake off and make a decision today. When I ask God for forgiveness, He freely forgives me. He pardons me. Luke 12 says, he takes great pleasure in giving you the kingdom. That tells me he's got some keys for you today. You've got to ask him, don't walk timid before God.

He likes boldness. He likes tenacity. Listen, God says, come boldly before the throne of grace. So you can obtain mercy and find help in your time of need. See, there's the key. right there. You've got to be bold. You've got to ask for forgiveness. You've got to receive it. You've got to forgive yourself. And then you've got to know that God's going to help you get to where you need to be. Amen. He's a good father. He is an amazing father today. It's a new year, an opportunity for a fresh start. It's a new year. Time to forget the struggles of the past and make room for new blessings. It's a new year. The perfect time. to build expectation and faith for an amazing new season.

The beginning of the year is a great time to start a fresh and anew, to let go of negative things of the past, and to get ready for the new things God has in store. Every January, we create a new devotional calendar. When you start off each day in faith, grateful for what God has done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a blessed day and a victorious year.

This devotional calendar will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can live in faith, expecting the goodness of God. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this first month of the year, we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 2025 365 day devotional calendar. Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one, two, three. One, wake up with an expectancy in your heart. Two, reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. Three, capture the Lord's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection. This is going to be one of your best years. Our 2025 devotional calendar is going to help you stay in faith and see the goodness of God in ways you've never seen.

Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. And thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is impacting lives around the world. And a special thank you to our champion of hope partners for your monthly gifts. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Remember, you can watch the services online live every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube. Now the new Joel Osteen Network, 24 hours a day,

and of course, listen live on Sirius XM as well. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May you show you his favor and watch over you. Be sure to request your copy of the 2025 devotional calendar today. Visit joel Osteen.com or call us toll-free.