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).

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Christine Caine - Grace Church of Humble 8 Feb 2015

"What He has done for me is greater than what anyone has ever done to me."

Christine Caine, Grace Church of Humble, TX

Sunday February 8, 2015

Watch video at Grace Church website

Foundation verses from the book of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 6
Why did God give us these laws?
He brought us out to bring us in.
Many Christians don't understand why God brought us out.
He brought us out to bring us in to a Promised Land.
God brought us out of slavery/sin, to bring us in.
Not so we could do laps around Mount Sinai for 40 years.
There is a Promised Land.
The Word of God is full of promises.
There's a because to our salvation.
If we're not free we can't free anybody else.
We need a generation of Christians who know the difference between deliverance and freedom so we won't die in the wilderness, but come out and go in and take a generation into the Promised Land with us.
Deuteronomy 1:
It takes 11 days to go from Horeb to Mount Sinai.
Verse. 3 says in the 40th year.
There's a disparity between 11 days and 40 years.
Many of us take 40 years for what should take us 11 days.
When you come out from something you always come into a wilderness.
Although you've come out of something, something has still got to come out of you.
I'm giving you 11 days to get Egypt out of you.
But 40 years later there was still the same mess, obstacles, and hurdles.
Christine went through a lot of abuse and rejection that Jesus saved her from; but she was still full of shame and bitterness, etc.
So God said I'll walk you through a wilderness to get that slavery out of you.
But I don't expect you 40 years later to still be doing the same thing.
I set you free so you could walk into the Promised Land.
So many Christians stop in the wilderness.
Spend their whole time on earth doing laps.
—the same poverty and greed...
Round and round.
Christians can't afford to keep doing laps in America.
We must be who God called us to be.
You were once slaves and now you're free.
I want you to walk in the fullness Jesus Christ came to give you.
Why is it someone like Christine was able to walk in the fullness of God's promises?
Did God favor her more than the Christian still locked in the cycle of abuse?
Delivered from the physical state but still in the wilderness metaphorically speaking.
The blood of Jesus is no more potent for Christine than others.
But you must believe Jesus is who He says and will do what He said.
It's about Jesus, and His power.
His grace, His mercy.
Get our eyes off our limitations.
But we make what was done to us bigger than what was done for us.
How do you do it?

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Wonder with Christine Caine at Grace Church

"We love God with our broken hearts, wounded souls, and tormented minds. 

—And you see God that way. And that’s how you end up loving other people."

~Christine Caine, Wonder, Grace Church of Humble TX Mon 2/9/15 

Watch video on Grace Church website

Christine had to get born again in the Houston traffic.
That’s a sanctification freeway.
She was vacillating between 2 messages.
A or B? Congregation chose B.
A was in her notes, B in her brains.

We don’t have time on the planet to play games.
Some have been serving Jesus a long time.
We need to get this; get to a place of being rather than doing.
We reproduce what we are; not what we pretend to be.
It's not all about doing whatever you want to do.

Do we want 613 Mosaic laws or 2 verses?
Women chose the 2 verses.
What’s the greatest commandment in the law?

Matthew 22:36-40 New International Version (NIV)
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The whole law can be summed up here.
Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.
And you can’t separate loving people from loving God.
Christine got a trainer so she would look fit in front of all the people at an upcoming conference after having a baby .
She had 8 weeks to get ready for the conference.
She was ready to start training but the trainer said no.
She had a C-section.
Lady said “Your core is weak”.
All you do stems from your core; if you start activity prematurely your body will eventually collapse.
Gave her a yoga mat and exercises.
Sitting there she felt Holy Spirit speak.
You have a spiritual core.
Body is weak on the earth because the core is weak.
We’re trying to do things from the outside in instead of from the inside out.
God doesn’t want us to act like Christians He wants us to be Christians.
Not pretending to be Christians.
Our core is love God with all your heart, soul, & mind.
And love your neighbor the same way you love yourself.
My body does love its neighbor as self, but they don’t love themselves.
We love God with our broken hearts, wounded souls, and tormented minds.
—And you see God that way.
And that’s how you end up loving other people.
So we put on an act because we don't know what else to do.

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TRANSITION - LANCE WALLNAU

"Without a clear ending you can’t have a new beginning."

Lance Wallnau at Encourager Church in Houston, Texas 

LANCE WALLNAU On Transition & The Church

Lance made us sit closer together.
The physical closeness has a psychological and spiritual impact.
What is God doing when He isn’t doing what you thought He would do?
We have a whole book full of info. (The Bible)
But He says to Peter you don’t know what I’m doing now but you’ll understand later. [John 13:7]
Just because you can’t figure it out doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.
There are times when you don’t know.
Americans love to figure everything out.
When God is silent…
It means the next thing He’s about to say is important.
If you’re in a running conversation then you’re in the vein with God.
But if He doesn’t speak for 400 years you can be sure what He says next is important.
God sometimes does things we don’t understand.

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ALTAR EGO - JOHN GRAY

"Lay down the pride and ego and fear of being judged and bring your broken self to Jesus."

Pastor John Gray, Lakewood Church, Houston, TX 

Spoke blessings over Mama Dodie.
God has the power to break every chain.
Tasha Cobbs will sing next Wednesday.
Luke 17
To see Gods blessings we must take hold of some principles.
Can you really stand to be blessed?
Luke 17:11-17 NKJV
10 lepers asked Jesus for mercy.
The 1 that gave thanks was a Samaritan.
Leprosy was an Irreversible and incurable disease.
In this season miracles will happen for both believers and unbelievers.
That will give them faith.
Miracles take people off the fence.
Do you know anybody that needs a miracle?
Celebrate others breakthroughs.
Miracles coming in the next 2 weeks.
For some after many years of waiting.
The foreigner saw he was healed and gave thanks with a loud voice.
Some will get your miracle in a public place and you will be loud.
Nobody had to teach the Samaritan how to praise.
Your miracle will unlock something that was in there the whole time.
The other ones got their miracle and took off.
But there was one who understood that the altar they were going to was secondary to HIM.
Something has changed in me and I need to let Him know what He did for me.
I've just been set free.
I know I'm supposed to go to the priest but I have to praise Jesus first.

ALTAR EGO
The bible is the Word of God revealed.
The bible makes it clear that when you hear the gospel and respond something inside will shift.
When you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior things will change.
It takes a while to get your roots down.
That’s why Osteens say "give us a year of your life".
We need to lay down our ego and stop judging each other because without the blood of Jesus we'd all be lost.
Sometimes religious people want to see you changed overnight.
They expect you to know the whole bible overnight.
Your salvation is a personal walk.
There are times when the old man and the new man are at war with one another.
Its a war.
Have you ever wanted to do right but wrong was sitting right there?
The enemy wants you to be defeated and/or accept that it will always be that way.
If you’re struggling God loves you enough to apply the blood of Jesus to that area.
God is able to do it.
There’s also part of us that wants to "help" God save us.
I’ll give you these areas, but I’ll work on these other areas on my own
Our ego wont let us take it to the altar.
Note the man whose 4 friends brought him to Jesus. [Luke 5:17-26]
They laid him at the feet of Jesus.
It became an altar.
Whatever you bring to Jesus becomes an altar.
Son your sins are forgiven. [Luke 5:20]
Most people think the next thing was the miracle.
What’s easier: forgiving sins or commanding the lame to walk?
The man was still paralyzed but the thing that led him there (sins) was already moved.
Have you ever been saved and stuck?
Jesus handled your sin first because he wanted to deal with the inside first.
Otherwise you’ll be paralyzed again.
Jesus wants to remove the root of pride.
Pride makes us think we did God a favor by showing up here.
God is glad to see us but we ought to be more glad to see Him.
It’s time to stop following the crowd and run after Jesus.
Bring it to Jesus.
Lay down the pride and ego and fear of being judged and bring your broken self to Jesus.
I need to change from the inside out.
When you get saved your character should begin to change.
Salvation is not for you to keep the same sin.
At some point there should be signs you’re making a shift.
Every real altar has a full length mirror.
It’s real easy to see others sins.
Ask the Lord to show you you.
Altar ego...
The fight between the old man and the new man.
College level calculus attacks.
The Holy Spirit goes inside and moves things around.
Lord at what God does with you in the earth.
Your will is laid down for His will.
Our perspective submitted to His vision.
We want to feel like changing.
True change is not always what you feel.
We need the Holy Spirit to radically change us.
Removing the nature of our flesh.
This is the regenerating power of Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t come with religion - it comes with encounter.
Some people have spiritual leprosy.
Areas that will hinder Gods ability to deal with us.
Like offense-
Who has ever been offended?
We’ve got to trust God to get us free from things what would block our blessings.
Lord’s prayer contains the key.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others.
Lead us not into temptation.
The temptation is to hold unto offense.
I forgive you but I don’t trust you.
Ego causes us to live in offense.
I’m above being offended - I'm so and so.
E.G.O. = Edging God Out
That’s all ego is.
The fight is for the seat of your will.
If you have an issue with others go to them first before you go to the altar.
Go seek forgiveness first.
Get the issue right with them first.
Altar Ego
The altar is a place of sacrifice, humility, and worship.
Guard against offense.
The enemy wants you to walk in offense.
How would it be the character of God to give you heavens best when you’re acting like the devil’s worst?
Make the phone call tonight so you can get free.
It feels good to hold on to it.
"I deserve to be angry."
Luke 23:33
Father forgive them...
He couldn’t complete his assignment until he let go of offense.
John probably would've said "I’m innocent and they’re killing me - kill em Jesus."
Your flesh wants the people who hurt you to suffer.
Jesus couldn’t even die until he released people who offended him.
If Jesus had to do it then so do you and I.
There are some people you have to get right with.
Your miracle is on the other side of I’m sorry.
The devil stops by Johns every Wednesday at 4 when he has to preach that evening.
A wedge starts small and gets bigger.
When we allow it to get bigger it looks like it’s impossible to fix.
But nothing is impossible for God.
3 Things/types of altars.
Noah, Abraham, and David
Watch out for the wedge issues.
John demonstrated forgiveness to his wife by publicly apologizing to her.
The altar of Noah Genesis 8:20
It broke curses.
There’s an altar you can make in your home that will break curses.
I won’t curse the earth anymore.
I won't deal with man the way I dealt with him anymore.
Your altar could change your entire family.
John feels a breakthrough in here.
I don’t want a miracle if my character ain't right.
Altar of Abraham Genesis 22
Sacrifice that thing of value.
It’s an altar of obedience and faith.
God will ask you to do things that don’t make sense.
As he was going up one side of the mountain the ram was coming up the other side of the mountain.
You won't see the answer until you take a step.
The altar of David 2 Samuel 24.
David got caught up in pride near the end of his life;
—Counting his mighty men.
Threshing floor sacrifice to stop the plague.
There is an altar that will break pride.
Places where we have pride.
It’s time to lay it down.
We cab break curses and we can break pride.
Next week we will break every chain.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a transcript, but 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).

Purchases of messages may be obtained from Lakewood Church: http://www.joelosteen.com/Pages/WatchOnline.aspx

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HEAVY WITH FAVOR - JOEL OSTEEN

"You didn’t get average favor. You’re heavy with favor."

Pastor Joel Osteen, Lakewood Church, Saturday January 10, 2015

Key verse: Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

HEAVY WITH FAVOR

God’s put something on you that you can’t accomplish on your own.
Something that will make you stand out in the crowd.
Psalmist said favor surrounds like a shield. [Psalm 5:12]
God is causing things to fall into place.
Isaiah said rise and shine for the glory of the Lord is upon you. [Isaiah 60:1]
Glory implies God’s favor is heavy upon you.
You didn’t get just a little favor.
You’re not a lightweight; you’re heavy with favor.
When you realize this it takes on a whole new meaning.
You’ll hold your head up high.
And pray bold prayers.
Expect doors to open for you that may not open for others.
To pay your house off...
Break that addiction...
You’ll arise,
And God will cause you to shine.
Maybe you’re heavy with worry or discouragement—
You need to get ready.
This is your due season.
Instead of being heavy with burdens you’ll be heavy with divine breaks.
Explosive blessings in your finances.
Shake off the discouragement.
You didn’t get average favor.
You’re heavy with favor.
Expect God’s goodness in new ways.

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IT'S YOUR DUE SEASON - JOEL OSTEEN

"This is your DUE SEASON! This is your year to see dreams come to pass, to see health restored, to see your breakthrough!"

- Pastor Joel Osteen , Lakewood Church

#641 IT'S YOUR DUE SEASON
We all have things we’re hoping for.
We have areas of our lives we want to see changed.
'I’ll just learn to live with it.'
Although it’s good to be content where you are, don’t stay there.
Stir your faith up.
God didn’t bring you this far to leave you.
You may not see how it will work out but God has a way.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Joel senses we’re entering into a due season.
A year of showing out.
Dreams you’ve been praying about.
Things will fall into place.
Problems you’ve believed to turn around – it's your due season.
You may have had that addiction for 20 years.
This is your due season.
Maybe you struggled in your finances-
Due season is here.
Promotion is coming.
Lack is not your destiny.
Keep believing, keep expecting, keep honoring God and your cup will run over.
Words have creative power.
Let these words take root in your spirit.
Your mind may try to talk you out of it.
Your job is to believe.
Yes God I believe it’s my due season.

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