Joel Osteen Podcast - You Are Blessed And Cannot Be Cursed | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

Before anyone could speak anything negative over your life, God put a blessing on you. Once you understand who you are and what God has already done, you'll realize that nothing can stop you from fulfilling 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.

Great to have you on the podcast today. Victoria and I are praying for you and just believing for God's very best. I believe that this month is going to be an amazing month for you and your family. Keep that expectation in your heart and see what God will do. Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has great things in store.

He rewards the people that seek after him. If you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. says, I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in. Thanks again for coming out today. I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about this husband and wife. They argued month after month about who should make the coffee in the morning.

The husband definitely thought it was the wife's job. And she just didn't agree. After several heated debates, the wife finally said, I can prove to you from the scripture that the man is supposed to make the coffee. He said, what are you talking about? There's nothing in the Bible about the man making the coffee. She said, sure, there is. She opened her Bible and pointed to the book of Hebrews.

All right. 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 how you are blessed and cannot be cursed. In life, we all have negative things that happen to us. We go through situations that are unfair. If we're not careful, they can cloud our future and keep us from pressing forward. And I know people that weren't raised in a healthy environment. They had parents that had issues, and now it's making it much more difficult on them. A young man recently told how his father was an alcoholic. He was never around when he was growing up. His mom had plenty of issues of her own, and he ended up being passed from foster home to foster home.

Now he's struggling trying to overcome his own challenges. He said, Joel, my parents put me at such a disadvantage. It's almost like they cursed my future. But here's what I've learned. Before anyone could put a curse on you, God put a blessing on you. The good news is, the blessing always overrides the curse. When you understand who you are and what God has already done, then no matter what someone else did, no matter how unfair it was, no matter how you were raised, you won't get better, you won't live with a chip on your shoulder, you won't try to get even, you realize that cannot stop you from fulfilling your God-given destiny. You may have had parents that put you at a disadvantage, but understand, you didn't come

from your mother. Of course, we love our mothers, but you didn't come from your mother. You came through your mother. You came from Almighty God. He gave you life. He gave your breath. God used our mother to get us here, but we came from God. That means your destiny, your assignment, your purpose cannot be ruined by who you came through.

You came from the Most High God. He has the ultimate say, I had a young lady tell how she was one of these cocaine babies. Her mother had all kinds of addictions. And when she was born, she was addicted as well as a baby. This mom left her at an early age and now she's struggling with other addictions, with her sense of value, her sense of identity. I told her what I'm telling you. You came through your mother. Love her, respect her, pray for her, but you didn't come from her. You came from Almighty God. And he has already planned out a great life for you. You may have gotten off to a rough start, but it's not how you start

that matters. It's how you finish. I heard somebody say, don't let your heredity stop your destiny. Don't let how somebody treated you or what they did or didn't give you, keep you from pressing forward and becoming all God's created you to be. The people that raised you, they may have had addictions, but that doesn't have to be your future. You can be the one to break that negative cycle. Your parents, they may have had anger issues, never amounted to much, but you don't have to keep letting that curse be passed from generation to generation. you can be the one to say, no more. This is a new day. I may have had an unfair past, but I'm not going to have an unfair future.

I know God put a blessing on me before anybody could put a curse, and I'm not going to let my heredity stop my destiny. Well, you said, Joel, I was just raised in such a dysfunctional family. You should see how messed up we are. Now, let me tell you a secret. Every family has a little dysfunction. There is no such thing as the perfect family. I used to think we were.

Then my brother Paul came along. What am I saying? Quit making excuses. I know people that are 50 years old still talking about what mama didn't give them, how daddy wasn't around, how unfairly they were treated. And I'm not making light of that.

It may have been unfair. All I'm saying is don't let that ruin the rest of your life. God knew who your parents would be. Your mom and dad didn't just get together and decide to have a baby. No, before you were even a thought in their mind, God had already planned out your life. Talks about in Psalm 139,

how God knew us even when we were an unformed substance. He looked at that substance and said, this is my purpose for this person. This is when they will live. This is who their parents will be. this is their assignment. He then breathed his life into you and sent you through your mother, through your father. They may have had issues, but that doesn't have to stop you. The creator of the universe breathed his purpose into you. You are a person of destiny. You've got to have this

down in your spirit. You are not an accident. You have been hand-picked by Almighty God to be here at this time in history. Sometimes we hear parents say, we weren't expecting this child. They were a surprise. They were an accident. No, they may have been a surprise to you, but they weren't a surprise to Almighty God.

No child can be born without God breathing his life into them. You may think, well, Joel, I was unwanted. I was an unplanned pregnancy. My mother and father weren't married. No, you wouldn't be here if God didn't. and give life to your seed. And in God's eyes, there's no such thing as being illegitimate.

You didn't just show up unwanted, unannounced. God had already planned out your days long before you ever entered into this world. That's what God said to Jeremiah, before you were born, I knew you, and I already called you to be a prophet to the nations. Notice, he had an assignment from Almighty God before he was ever even born. That means my past didn't start with my parents. It started with my God. You may not have had the blessing of having a father in the home when you're growing up.

Maybe you didn't have a mother that really loved you and spoke faith into you. But that doesn't have to stop you from fulfilling your purpose. A parent may not have given you their blessing. The good news is God gave you his blessing. The very fact that we woke up with air to breathe. today. That should be a reminder that we are called. We are chosen. We are anointed. We are set

apart. We are people of destiny. You've got to get rid of every thought that's telling you that you're a mistake. You didn't really have a father around. You didn't have a good mother. No, listen. The scripture says, God will be a father to the fatherless.

You don't have to have everybody else's approval. You have God's approval. That's all that really matters. I think about our friend, Israel Houghton, one of our worship leaders, when his mom was pregnant with him, she was a teenager living in Iowa. She was white. The father was black. They weren't married. This was back in the 1970s. Her parents said, you're not going to keep this child. It's a mistake. You're going to ruin your life and the baby's life. They gave her an ultimatum. Either abort this baby or you're not

welcome in our home anymore. Sadly, sometimes when our children need us the most, we help them the least. That young lady made a decision to keep the child. She moved to California all by herself. At 17 years of age, she was on the street corner and somebody talked to her about finding peace with God. That day, right then and there, she gave her life to Christ. That person gave her a Bible. When she got home, she opened it. The first word she saw,

was Israel. She thought, that's what I'm going to name my baby. Today, we all know that Israel was not a mistake. He was not an accident. He's one of the great worship leaders, one of the great psalmist of our time. He's written songs that are sung all over the world, won Grammy awards, all kinds of other accolades. But Israel could have sat around with a chip on his shoulder and thought why didn't I have a normal upbringing? Why wasn't my father around? Why do these kids make fun of me at school because I'm half white and half black? No, deep down Israel knew I'm a person of destiny. I have a purpose to fulfill. Yes, I came through my mother and I love her, but I came from Almighty God. I know he has an assignment for me. He didn't let his heredity stop his destiny. You may have a thousand reasons why you could live with a chip on your shoulder and stay defeated and depressed. No, you may have a reason, but you don't have a right. Almighty God breathed his life into you.

He's given you an assignment. You are not here to just take up space. You're not supposed to just drag through the day with no enthusiasm. You're supposed to be living an abundant life. Pursuing your God-given dreams, making a difference in our world. You've got to dig your hills in and say, I am not settling where I am. It may have been unfair. It may not have been right. But I know who I am.

I am a person of destiny. I'm a person of purpose. And I realize before anyone could put a curse on me, God put his blessing on me. So I am going to rise up and become everything he's created me to be. Here's my point. You've got to get rid of any excuses that are holding you back. Well, Joel, I'd just come from the wrong family. No, God knew who your parents would be. He's not up in the heaven scratching his head, saying, oh, man, I wanted Israel to do something great. How did he ever get hooked up with those two? No, God knew exactly what he was doing. There is nothing that has happened to you that can keep you from your God-given destiny. If you will get rid of the excuses, rise up in faith with a holy determination pressing forward. then you will see God's plan for your life begin to unfold.

God will open up doors that no man can shut. He will take what was meant for your harm and use it to your advantage. Your heredity does not have to stop your destiny. Here's what I've learned. The enemy doesn't fight you for where you are. He fights you for where you're going. He doesn't fight you for the present. He fights you because he knows what's in your future.

he would have loved to talk Israel's mom into aborting him. Why did he fight her so hard? He knew where Israel was going. He knew Israel was going to do something great. When I first started ministering 10 years ago, it was very difficult. I was not only dealing with the loss of my father, but I was learning how to minister.

And at one point, it seemed like everything was coming against me. People were talking, and I wasn't even sure I was able to do this. and I thought, why is everything such a struggle? Why are these people against me? I'm not bothering anybody. I'm just trying to carry on what my mom and dad had started. I realize now the enemy wasn't fighting me for where I was. He was fighting me for where I was going.

He didn't want us to make it here to the former compact center so we could celebrate each week. He didn't want me to be a voice of hope that would go around the world. He didn't want me to write the books. send out all the podcast. He doesn't fight you for where you are. He fights you because he knows in your future is favor. Good breaks, supernatural opportunities, divine connections.

He's fighting you because he knows you're going to do damage to his kingdom and you're going to advance God's kingdom. When times get tough, that should be a reminder. This is just a sure sign that God has something great in store. I know this gentleman that was raised by a single parent mother. He never knew his biological father. When he was five or six years old, his mother married. And this stepdad was very mean, very condescending.

He was always telling him how he was never going to amount to anything, how slow he was, how clumsy he was, how he couldn't do anything right. He grew up incredibly insecure, feeling inferior. when he was in his teens, his mother remarried. This second stepfather was just the opposite. He began to speak faith into this young man, tell him how talented he was and how he could do anything

and how he was this person of destiny. When the young man graduated from high school, he was working as a janitor in a small town, cleaning an office complex. The stepfather asked him, what he wanted to do with his life? He'd been beaten down for, so many years, he couldn't see himself doing anything different. He said, well, I just want to be a janitor

and continue to clean this office building. The stepfather looked at him and said, listen, Robert, you can become so much more. You have the seed of Almighty God. You've got to have a bigger vision for your life. He said, I'll make a deal with you. If you'll go to college, I'll pay for every book. I'll pay for every course. I'll pay for every degree that you get. When Robert heard that, Something leaped on the inside. He knew God was speaking to him. He went to college and got his bachelor's degree and then got his master's degree

and then got a doctorate. He liked it so much, he decided to go to seminary and got another degree. After four degrees, the stepfather said, I think that's good enough. Today, Robert is extremely successful fulfilling his God-given purpose. What happened?

He didn't let his heredity stop his destiny. He realized the enemy wasn't fighting him for where he was. He was fighting him for where he was going. But it all started when somebody spoke faith into him. When that stepfather told him what he had on the inside. And that's what I'm doing today. I'm calling forth your seeds of greatness. Someone may have told you what you can't become, but I'm here to tell you what you can become. You are a person of destiny. You are equipped. You are talented. You are created. Don't you dare let what someone has said about you or how someone has raised you to limit your life. It may not have been fair, but God is fair. It may have clouded your future, but I believe today the clouds are beginning

to dissipate. The sun is starting to shine forth. You're going to step into a new dimension in your life. You know the truth and the truth. is setting you free. You realize before anyone could put a curse on you, God put a blessing, and his blessing always overrides the curse. When you really understand that you've been blessed by the creator of the universe, then no matter what comes against you, it won't affect you. When somebody's talking bad about you, trying to pull you down, trying to steal your joy, you just shake it all. You know God's fighting your battles. You know God is your vindicated. I love the time in the scripture when a prophet was walking down the road with some of his men.

And this young man came up and started badgering the prophet, criticizing him, trying to make him look bad. Everywhere this group went, the young man followed from a distance and just kept annoying him, pestering him. Finally, one of the men said to the prophet, do you want us to go and shut this guy up? We are so tired of hearing him, the prophet said, no, let him keep talking. maybe God will hear him and bless me for it. That's the attitude we should have. Somebody talking about you trying to make you look bad. You don't lose your joy.

You don't get upset. You know the more they talk, the more God's going to bless. They're trying to curse your future. They don't realize what God is blessed. No person can curse. They meant it to harm you, but God's going to cause it to backfire. You're going to come out better off than you were before. One time in the Old Testament, the king of Moab sent word to Balaam, asking him to come to his city

and to curse the people of Israel. The Israelites were about to come through where the Moabites lived, and when the king saw how many there were, he sent his men with a large amount of money, and they said, Balam, we know what you ask the Lord, he will do. And the king will pay you all this money if you'll just come back with us. and curse these people. He said, well, stay overnight and let me pray about it, but understand, I can only say what God tells me to say. He prayed about it, and in numbers 2212, God said, Balam, there's no use you going. What I have blessed, you cannot curse. Notice, when God puts the

blessing on you, it doesn't matter what somebody says. It doesn't matter what they do. Doesn't matter how you were raised. doesn't matter how unfair it was. All that matters is the creator of the universe put his blessing on you and everything else is of no effect. They may say it, but if you don't let it take root, it's not going to stop you. It may be unfair, may look like they're getting the best of you,

but if you will stay in faith, sooner or later, you will see the blessing overrode the curse. It didn't stop you, it promoted you. It was meant to slow you down, but instead you accelerated. They went back and told the king that Baleb wouldn't come. He said, well, take some more money and go back and tell him he's got to come and curse these people. They went back and Balaam said, listen, guys, even if you offer me a palace filled with silver and gold, I am powerless to do anything against the will of the Lord my God.

they stayed the night and finally taught Balaam into going. He got there and the king said, Balaam, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you to curse these people. Balaam said, I'll pray one more time, but I can only say what the Lord instructs me to say. He prayed the next morning. He said to the king, here's what the word of the Lord says.

These people will succeed and become a great nation and have descendants too many to count. if I could just be one of them. The king said, Balam, what are you doing? Would you stop? I'm paying you to curse them. Instead, you're blessing them.

Balam said it again. I cannot curse what God has already blessed. I hope you'll get that down in your spirit. When God breathed his life into you, he breathed his blessing. You have the DNA of Almighty God. His royal blood is flowing through your veins. You're wearing his cranes.

crown of favor. Just like this king, when somebody tries to curse you, in other words, when somebody does you wrong, you got a bad break, you went through an unfair situation. It looks like it's clouded your future. Now, you've got to have a new perspective. What God has blessed, no person can curse. Does it matter if they speak defeat over you night and day? They may try to make you feel small and insecure. They may try to intimidate you into shrinking back in fear, but there's no reason to be afraid, no reason to get upset or be intimidated. The good news is the creator of the universe put his blessing on you and just like Balaam said, they are powerless to stop it. That means nothing they say, nothing they do can take that blessing away from you. When you really understand this, there's a real

freedom. Somebody's talking bad about you. Your attitude is no big deal. I know they are powerless to stop the blessing God put on my life. Well, you got laid off. Got some bad breaks. Aren't you worried? No, I'm not worried. I know the blessing God put on me will always override the curse. Well, you got off to a rough starting life. You're still in the projects. Doesn't look like you have much of a future. No, where I am is not where I'm stay and I know the blessing on my life will get me to where I'm supposed to be. I love the story of Mordecai in the scripture. He was the one that encouraged his cousin Esther to rise up and save God's people. But there was another man by the name of Haman.

He worked directly with the king. Haman didn't like Mordecai. He was always trying to push him down and always trying to make him look bad. It was because he was intimidated. by Mordecai. I believe he was jealous and afraid that Mordecai might outshine him. And I found in life there will always be people that don't want you to rise any higher. They think if they can keep you small, keep you down, it'll make them look bigger. So they'll do everything they can to keep you from succeeding.

It may mean talking behind your back, not inviting you to an important meeting, not giving you the credit you deserve. It's easy to get frustrated and want to get in there and set the record straight. But I've learned if you'll just leave it up to God and stay on the high road, God will fight your battles for you. It may look like they're getting the best of you, like they're keeping you from being promoted, but don't get discouraged. Your time is coming.

God always has the final say. They may keep you down temporarily, but like Balaam said, they are powerless to curse what God has already blessed. One night this king couldn't sleep. He asked an assistant to go get him the record books of everything that had gone on in that city. It just so happened, he opened to the page where it talked about where Mordecai had done a great deed and saved the city from harm. The next morning the king called Haman in and said, Heyman, what do you suggest I do to honor a person that is wrong?

really pleased the king and done a great deed for our city. Haman was so full of pride and so stuck on himself, he thought the king was talking about him. So he played it up really big. Went overboard. He said, I think we ought to have a big parade, put a royal robe on this person, march him up and down the streets, blowing trumpets, announcing how great he is. The king said, Heyman, that's a great idea. I'm putting you in charge. Now go get Mordecai and do just what you said. Friends, God knows how to vindicate you. He can take the very ones that are trying to curse you and use them to be the ones that bless you.

David said in Psalm 109, they will curse me, but God, you will bless me. And some of you have had a lot of negative things come against you. It's worn you down to where you're not really expecting God's blessings. But I believe today a new seed is taken root. You're not going to let your heredity. stop your destiny. You're not going to allow what someone has said to keep you from pressing forward.

You're not going to let a jealous, critical person steal your joy. You know God is fighting your battles. You know he put a blessing before anyone could put a curse. And I realize you could not choose who your parents were. You couldn't choose how you were raised. You couldn't choose when you were born, but you can choose to walk in the blessing. You can choose. You can choose. You can choose. You can choose to fulfill your purpose. You can choose to not live life bitter, looking back, but pressing forward in faith. You may have had some generational curses in your family line, but when you came to Christ, the scripture says you became a new creation. Old things have passed away. Just like there were generational curses, I believe now there are generational blessings.

and what God has blessed, no person can curse. Now I'm asking you today to rise up in faith. Say, yes, I may have had some bad breaks. Yes, it may have been unfair, but I'm not worried. I'm not discouraged. I know the blessing God put on my life will always override the curse. And if you do that, I can tell you with confidence, favor is in your future.

Good breaks is in your future. Vindication is in your future. New opportunities are in your future. healing, health, wholeness, promotion, victory is in your future. Friends, you are blessed and you cannot be cursed. Do you receive that blessing today? 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. 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 believe. 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. Asar, thank you for your gift of any amount this month. We want to send you the 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 joelowsteen.com or call us toll-free. You know,