THE RIGHT PEOPLE - JOEL OSTEEN

"Your friends should be sharpening you, and making you better."

~Pastor Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, February 14, 2015

Key Verse: Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

The Right People
Who you spend your time with has a great impact on your life.
There are God ordained people who will inspire us and make us better.
If you’re spending time with the wrong people you won’t meet the right people.
You’ll get stuck.
You can’t hang out with chickens and expect to soar like eagles.
Others' qualities rub off on you.
It’s time to make a change.
You won’t become who you were created to be if you don’t make changes.
Don’t hang around a hot-tempered person or you’ll become hot-tempered. [Proverbs 22:24-25]
Spirits are transferable.
If you hang out with a gossip, you’ll become a gossip.
That stingy spirit will get off on you.
If you hang around excellent people excellence will rub off on you.
Those same good qualities will become a part of your life.
Make sure people have the qualities that you want.
—People that inspire you to go further.
Joel has a friend that treats his wife so great.
It inspires Joel to treat his wife better.
We shouldn’t hang out with people who are disrespectful to their spouses.
We have to set boundaries.
If someone is always negative, critical, finding fault, then they’re not for you.
Be selective.
At work or home we don’t always have a choice.
But Joel’s talking about when you do have a choice.
Life is too short to waste time hanging with the wrong people.
—People without integrity.
—Always have a problem.
Surround yourself with eagles.
Proverbs 28:7 Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.
—People who aren’t adding value to your life.
You may be lonely for a season but God will bring you somebody better.
Psalm 1 don’t sit inactive in the pathway of the ungodly.
What if I hurt their feelings?
What if you miss your destiny?
Don’t keep going to the gym with the same people who are causing you to compromise.
Joel's friend met a companion in same field, and they decided to start a business together.
But the man was hot-tempered.
At the last moment Joel’s friend passed on the opportunity.
Several years later he met a man of great integrity and they started a successful business.
What you’re unwilling to walk away from is where you’ll stop growing.
God will never ask you to give up something without giving you something better in return.
There’s always a blessing attached to obedience.
Don’t spend time with people who bring out the worst in you.
Daniel had an excellent spirit.[Daniel 6:3]
And he had excellent friends: Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednigo.
He had friends that were people of integrity.
If your friends are Larry, Curly and Moe then you have a problem.
There is a principle called the law of the group.
We associate with people the way we see ourselves.
Complainers find other complainers.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Make sure you’re flocking to the right group.
Successful people find other successful people.
Young people, choosing the wrong friends can keep you from your destiny.
Find friends that will make something out of their lives.
20 years from now no one will care who was most popular.
I would rather have one friend with their head on straight than 20 mediocre friends.
In school the science club and math club members aren’t popular.
Geeks and bookworms later become bosses, judges, etc.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
Your friends should be sharpening you and making you better.

Some friends are only in your life for a season.
You can outgrow relationships.
True friends will understand it.
They’ll be happy for you and celebrate what’s going on in your life.
You can’t try to hold on to something that’s over and done.
Sometimes people that knew you back when will try to keep you back.
Everybody can’t go where you’re going.
The higher you go the tighter your circle has to become.
Genesis 12:1-9.
Abraham left but he took his nephew with him.
They had a disagreement.
It could’ve been avoided if he’d left who he was supposed to leave.
How much heartache comes from refusal to leave those God told us to separate from?
Abraham and Lot had to split because of all the conflict.
Abraham meant well but just because someone is related to you doesn’t mean they’re connected to you.
God has a different assignment for them.
Maybe they’re at a different level in their growth.
This can be a very hard thing to do.
—Letting go of the people who are not supposed to be in your life.
There are family members and relatives who can’t go with you.
You have to love them from a distance.
For Abraham it kept getting worse.
They split but Lot’s family got captured.
Abraham went and rescued Lot.
Abraham wanted to be good to his relatives, out of the kindness of his heart.
How many times are we trying to avoid letting people down, but making wrong choices?
We shouldn’t spend a lot of time with people that are constantly negative.
That you have to keep them fixed.
Joel believes in helping people and being a blessing, but if you’re the one always giving don’t let others control you.
Until you put your foot down they’ll continue to manipulate you.
People are carrying the heavy burden of always trying to please people.
The man had 4 friends who lowered him thru the roof to get to Jesus. [Mark 2:1-5]
But you can’t spend all your time carrying others.
If you only have people around you that need to be carried that’s out of balance.
You need people that can carry you.
God has designed people to come into your life to lighten your load.
People that will use their connections to take you further.
Because you’re so consumed trying to carry the weight.
Sometimes it’s pride; thinking you can do it on your own.
What God has planned for you will take more than just your weight.
You need four friends to lift you up.
God has friends lined up for you that don’t need anything.
You don’t have to inspire them - they’ll inspire you.
Make sure you have people in your life that can carry you.

There is a little boy named Owen with a rare muscular disease. He looks much older than his age.
At 6 he didn’t want to go outside.
He became very depressed.
His mother saw a big dog on Facebook up for adoption.
He had been chained to a railroad track and lost one of his legs.
Owen felt an instant connection to the dog.
Owen loved to go outside with his 3-legged dog.
He wanted to enter him into a prestigious dog show.
He won for best rescue dog.
If God can bring a dog into a little boy’s life to cheer him up, how much more will God bring people into your life?
He has already lined up the right people to get you where you’re supposed to be.
What you’re unwilling to walk away from is where you’ll get stuck.
God is going to bring the right people for every season.

[Prayer]

[Altar Call]

DISCLAIMER: This is not a transcript of Joel Osteen's message, these are my personal notes which I share to bless others. They are not published nor endorsed by Lakewood Church or Joel Osteen Ministries.

Watch online at http://www.lakewoodchurch.com/pages/watch-online.aspx (while available).