Joel Osteen - Keep Your Joy

god bless you thanks for letting us come into your homes today and their ever in our area please stop by and be a part of one of our services these are the finest people in all of Houston Texas right here at Lakewood we'd love to have you come out I'd like to start with something funny and I heard about this man he was taking a walk through the woods with his friend when they suddenly encountered a huge grizzly bear about 20 yards in front of them they both froze in their tracks as the bear intently stared them down they contemplated what they should do finally the man said to his friend I think we should run his friend said are you crazy can't outrun a grizzly bear man said I know that I don't have to outrun him I just have to outrun you say it like you mean it this is my Bible I am what it says I am I have what it says I had 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 keeping your joy we all have opportunities to get upset and go around frustrated somebody was rude to us traffic was backed up we can't find our car keys life is full of inconveniences delays and people that don't do right we're never going to stop these things from happening the key is how we handle them the scripture says no man can take your joy that means you control your joy nothing can take it from you you have to give it away next time someone cuts you off in traffic ask yourself is this worth giving them my joy that person that's rude to you on the phone that you've never met are you going to give them your joy that delay that planned that didn't work out that negative comment you're going to let that sour your day the reason some people are not happy is they're constantly giving away their joy I was in a crowded parking lot one time waiting for a parking spot the man was putting his groceries in his car took him a couple of minutes I had my blinker on patiently waiting when he finally backed out a car came from the wrong direction and pulled in right in front of me they could clearly see that I was waiting my first response was to honk my horn and tell them what I thought then I noticed he was bigger than me I thought to myself I'll give you my parking spot but I'm not going to give you my joy I didn't like it it wasn't fair but I've learned to not let things I can't control Sauer my dad I've made up my mind I'm gonna be happy today I'm gonna enjoy my life you can't control what people do you can't control what they say but you can control how you respond my message is very simple quit giving away your joy quit letting the same people upset you quit letting the traffic the delays the things that don't work out frustrates you you can't pray these things away that person at the office that gets on your nerves I don't mean to be negative but they may not change they may be that way for the next 20 years my challenge is don't go 20 years giving them your joy they may not change but you can change life is too short to live frustrated upset over things we have no control people have a right to have their opinion you have the right to ignore it people have the right to be rude you have the right to stay happy quit letting their negative comments upset you they wouldn't be talking about you if you weren't making a difference nobody talks about people that are not doing anything they're talking about you because you go in places they can see there's something special about you you have the favor of God you're blessed you're talented you're anointed sometimes small minded people will try to push you down and discredit you don't pay any attention to it that doesn't carry anyway they say cannot keep you from your destiny that is simply a distraction every person has negative chatter all your family members unfortunately are not going to be for you George Burns said happiness is having a loving caring close-knit family living in another city some of your relatives you have to love them from a distance they're sitting by you today don't say Amen now all of your co-workers are not going to celebrate you all of your friends are not going to be loyal some people can't handle your success they'll make remarks trying to bait you into conflict trying to get you upset here's the key don't get involved in battles that are not between you and your destiny most of the conflict we engage in is a distraction the enemy would love to get you off course offended trying to straighten people out trying to convince them that you're okay your job is not to change people's mind about you your job is not to try to make people like you your job is to run your race to be who God called you to be and not worry about the critics and the naysayers God will cause the right people to like you one of the best things I've learned is everybody is not supposed to like you everybody is not supposed to approve you some people are ordained by God not by the enemy but by God to not be for you you have to accept that everyone is not going to accept you we see it in the scripture Joseph's brothers weren't supposed to be for Joseph they were ordained to betray him without their betrayal Joseph would have never made it to the palace to help the Israelite during the famine quit being sour because somebody betrayed you how do you know that's not leading you to your palace how do you know that disappointment is not a part of God's plan to take you to the next level of your destiny King Saul was ordained to not like David if he would have celebrated David been happy for his success David would have never taken the throne are you upset because someone is not for you when the truth is God has ordained them to not be for you when Nehemiah was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem there were two men Sanballat and Tobiah s' that didn't like what he was doing they stood at the bottom of the mountain and constantly shouted insults at Nehemiah they were trying to bait him into conflict get him upset frustrated Nehemiah understood this principle he said no thanks I'm not giving you my joy you may not like me but you not liking me has nothing to do with me fulfilling my destiny I'm gonna stay focused on what God's called me to do if Nehemiah would have come off the mountain got upset went down there to straighten them out even if he won even if he shut them up he wouldn't have finished the wall when he did all the chatter that comes against you is a distraction it's to get you upset so you get involved in battles that don't matter then you look up and you're not accomplishing what you should do yourself a favor don't pay any attention to it quit being upset by people who are not for you people that make negative comments trying to marginalize you push you down what they say doesn't determine your destiny they are simply a distraction that's just noise don't give it the time of day see some people no matter what you do they're not going to like you even if you changed and did everything they wanted they would still find some reason why you don't measure up you have to be at peace with people not being at peace with you you don't need their approval to fulfill your purpose you don't have to have them before you to become who God's created you to be but if you get distracted trying to win them over spending your valuable time trying to convince them to be for you then you will miss the fullness of your destiny don't take the bait don't let them get you riled up Jesus said blessed are the meek they will inherit the earth meek doesn't mean weak meekness means strength under control when you ignore negative comments you don't pay attention to the sand ballots and Tobias's of life you're not being weak you'll be in meek you have the power to fight you have the strength to straighten them out to tell them what you feel but your strength is under control you're not wasting time engaged in battles that are not between you and your god-given destiny I've learned when you stay on the high road God will take care of your enemies God can defend you better than you can defend yourself in the scripture Elisha was traveling from Jericho to Bethel along the way a group of young men came out and started making fun of him because he was bald the scripture says they were mocking him saying go Baldy go you didn't know that was in the Bible did you you know Elijah was annoyed he could have gotten upset thought I'm gonna go straighten him out I'll show you what I thought instead he remained calm he understood this principle they couldn't take his joy they were baiting him trying to get him distracted he just stayed focused and continued doing what God called him to do while those young men were making fun of him two bears came out of the woods and tore them to pieces that tells me two things number one don't make fun of all people number two you don't have to straighten people out God will be your Vindicator god knows how to take care of the opposition he sees what they're doing he hears the disrespect if you'll stay in peace God will fight your battles when God does it I can assure you it will be better than anything you could have done but your feelings will want to pay people back feelings will tell us go in there get even stand up for yourself if you let feelings rule you'll get upset you'll end up giving away your joy don't get on board with your feelings the psalmist said God has given us the power to remain calm in times of adversity it doesn't say God will keep us from all the adversity from the opposition the sand balance the negative chatter it says they will come we'll have opportunities to get upset but God has given us power to stay calm and quit telling yourself I can't help it this person at the office they just get on my nerves you have the power to stay calm that doesn't have to keep upsetting you that is a learned behavior they say something negative I get offended traffic is bad I get upset the clerk is rude I can't help it Joel I just go off I just let them have it the problem is you have strength but it's not under control you need to relearn how to respond you need to develop some new habits next time something happens that you don't like pause for a moment and say father thank you that you've given me the power to remain calm thank you that I have a spirit of discipline and self-control you don't have to let the same things keep upsetting you year after year change your approach I met a gentleman in another state at a restaurant it was very windy outside and when he walked in the door the person in front of him let the door slam right in his face this man had been hot-tempered his whole life normally he would have confronted them told them what he thought but he'd been listening to our programs just when he was about to lose his fool he heard my voice saying stay calm and let God fight your battles he paused for a moment and decided to let it go he walked away like nothing happened we came in the restaurant and sat down I was sitting a few tables away he came over into Joe if you had not been in my head I would have let them have it like this man you may have been trained to respond a certain way you grew up seeing people lose their cool get upset offended why don't you try a different approach when you let people upset you you are giving away your power you are letting them control you if they push this button you get offended that button you get upset this other button they baits you into conflict why don't you turn those buttons off life is so much more freeing when you're not controlled by what people say you're not offended when someone's upset you're not soured because traffic was bad you have tapped in to the power to remain calm a friend of mine named David poly wrote a book called the law of the garbage truck he was in a taxicab in New York City headed to a meeting a car pulled out right in front of them the taxi driver had to slam on his brakes swerved to the left missing the car by inches the driver of the other car put his head out the window started screaming and yelling he was so angry so upset shaking his fist the funny thing it was his fall the taxi driver just smiled waved real big and drove on didn't give it the time of day David was in the backseat he was so impressed he said that man almost totaled your car almost sent us both to the hospital I can't believe you didn't yell back at him how did you keep your cool the taxi driver gave an insightful answer he said I found many people are like garbage trucks they go around full of anger full of frustration full of bitterness as their garbage piles up they need somewhere to dump it sometimes they'll dump it on you but you can't take it personally it has nothing to do with you just smile wish them well and move on here's the key successful people don't let garbage trucks overtake their day if someone dumps a load on you don't get upset if you make that mistake you'll end up carrying around their garbage and eventually you'll dump it on someone else you have to keep your lid on these days many people are dumping frustration disrespect criticism bitterness we can't stop them from dumping yet but we can keep them from affecting us years ago Victoria and I were at the airport we were going through the security checkpoint we put our bags on the x-ray machine the security officer sent them both back and said you have liquids in there that you have to remove picked I said oh yeah I forgot to take my water out well I thought he was only talking to Victoria so I just stood there and didn't do anything you would have thought I had committed a major crime he was like totally insulted he practically screamed sir what are you doing standing there I told you to open the bag and do it now top man he's got a big garbage truck and he was full of frustration full of stress and full of a lot of other stuff but I didn't say it you just thought it but I took care of it as I passed by missus sorry about that I thought you were just talking to her have a good day didn't mean it but at least I said it but I thought to myself I'm keeping my lid on I don't need his garbage I don't need that poison we have enough things of our own to deal with you don't need somebody else's bitterness they're sour attitude their pressure keep your lid on tight let those things bounce off of you your destiny is too great your time is too important to go around weighed down with other people's garbage you can't keep it from coming but you can keep it from getting in you the longer I live the more I realize how valuable each day is we're not always going to be here it's easy to live upset offended frustrated but most of the things that are upsetting us in the big picture they don't really matter traffic was backed-up took you an hour to get home should have taken you 30 minutes is that worth losing your joy over you're alive you're healthy God's given your breath to breathe he's given you a family to love somebody was rude to you they made you look bad they said something negative is that worth going around offended discouraged what if we found out we only had a month to live I wonder how many things were allowing to upset us now if we found out our time was limited we wouldn't even pay attention to it can I tell you our time is limited the scripture says our life is like a mist we're here for a moment then we're gone that little quirk your spouse does that gets on your nerves if we knew we weren't going to be here in a month we wouldn't let it bother us we would focus on all the things right not on the few things wrong we wouldn't complain about driving in traffic we'd be happy to be in the traffic we're alive we've got another day to enjoy life well I've got to go to work not me I get to go to work some people don't have a job some people are in the hospital some people aren't able to work I'm grateful to be employed well it's Sunday I got to go to church again not me I get to go to church God's been good to me I'm gonna go back and say thank you not only that I get to go to Lakewood I get to listen to that good-looking minister well Joel my boss is not fair he's hard to get along with this is not the position that I want the truth is somebody would love to have your job somebody would gladly trade places with you it may not be perfect but keep the right perspective God's blessed you with the job don't let it sour your life if you will pass the test of being happy where you are then God can open some new doors but if you don't get happy there you probably won't get to where you want to be and your boss may not be fair I'm not making excuses for him I'm asking you to quit giving him your joy he doesn't control your happiness you control your happiness but if you let a grouchy boss grouchy neighbor a bitter relative steal your joy keep you from being happy it is not their fault it is your fault you are as happy as you want to be you have to put your foot down and say this is the day the Lord has made I am NOT going to live sour defeated depressed I am NOT going to let what people do or don't do what they say or don't say what I have or not have keep me from being happy I've made up my mind I'm going to enjoy this day it dishonours God to go through the day upset frustrated bitter God gave you breath to be here he could have chosen anyone but he chose you and he chose me one way we honor God is by being happy living grateful having a good attitude seeing the best in life a couple of months ago I was driving to the office during the week to meet some people and I was in a hurry I had left a little bit late but I knew I could still make it on time if I didn't have any delays and I would driven this route a thousand times I was almost here few blocks away stopped at the intersection I was in the left turn lane this light is very short you have to stay right behind the car in front of you to trigger it to stay green well I was the third car back waiting the problem was the car in front of me left about two car lengths between it and the first car there was this huge gap the light turned green just like I thought the first car went through turned red before the second car could make it I could feel myself starting to get uptight I heard that voice end Joe keep your calm keep your joy I thought I don't want to hear one of my messages right now I'm in a hurry we sat there waiting for a couple of minutes and it seemed like an hour about that time the lady in the car in front of me got out and started walking toward the back I thought she's going to get something out of her trunk real quick she came over to me I roll down the window she said are you Joel I wanted to say no I'm Fred I said yes I am out of the corner of my eye saw the light go green back to red we missed another one she said I love you I watched you on television I have all your books would you sign one for me I said you mean like now she said yeah I done in my car and get it real quick I said I love to sign your book in the middle of an intersection by now people were honking wasn't just me everybody had lost their joy I signed her book made it to the office about 10 minutes late problem is I forgot my key fob to get in I'm knocked on the door and knocked nobody answered called a staff member it went to voicemail never goes to voicemail called another one another one hot outside ten minutes later when I finally got in I just dripping with sweat had my meeting Oh went well later that night I went up to the hospital to visit a friend that's fighting cancer too serious situation we had time to pray together and on the way out I prayed with several other families where they had loved ones didn't look good they were very concerned I left there with a different perspective I had been frustrated that day by delays by traffic but not having keys I realized those were small things that wasn't worth losing my joy over I wasn't believing for a loved one to make it in the big picture what was frustrating me really didn't matter I wonder if you're doing like me letting insignificant things steal your joy traffic negative comments you can't find something keep it in perspective that's not worth losing your joy over don't let the small insignificant things keep you some from seeing the gift of this day in the scripture Habakkuk said it this way though the fig tree does not blossom and there be no fruit on the vine though my olive crops fail and my fields producing over though there are no sheep in the pen though there are no cattle in the stalls what am I going to do get depressed complain feel sorry for myself he said yet will I rejoice in the Lord I will be joyful in the God of my salvation he was saying everything's come against me had bad brakes business is down my income is low surely that's a reason to be discouraged surely I can go around sour his attitude was now I'm not giving away my joy I'm going to rejoice in the God of my salvation salvation means deliverance when you stay full of joy despite what comes against you God is saying salvation is coming turnarounds are coming Healing is coming increases coming victory is coming I'm asking you to keep your joy life is going to throw us some curves there will be disappointments things that are not fair that's when you have to say like him yet will I rejoice in the Lord we should make this decision every morning I will be joyful today decide ahead of time that you're going to enjoy the day when somebody dumps a load on you when they're rude keep your lid on you tempted to get upset remind yourself you have the power to remain calm if you'll do this I believe and declare you're not only going to enjoy your life more but you're going to be free from unnecessary frustration bitterness anger you're going to rise high you're live happier and reach the fullness of your destiny in Jesus name and if you receive it will you say Amen today I'd like to give 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'll make you my Lord and Savior if you prayed that simple prayer we believe you got born again get in a good Bible based church and keep God first place your partnership makes this ministry possible you're faithful and consistent monthly support makes you a champion of Hope the vision of Joel Osteen ministries is to use every avenue available to present the hope of Jesus Christ to people everywhere we know it is this hope and the transforming power of the gospel that makes an eternal difference in people's lives to partner with Joel Osteen ministries visit Joel Osteen comm slash partner today

Channel: Joel Osteen

Views: 1,644,014

Rating: 4.8295574 out of 5

Keywords: Joel Osteen, Victoria Osteen, Dreams, Forgiveness, Hope, Life, Patience, Peace, Relationships, Faith, Grace, Love

Id: 6L476bPVN8Y

Length: 27min 35sec (1655 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 29 2018

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