Joel Osteen - Connecting with the Right People

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to
our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you
enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and
share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray
for God's very best in your life. So God bless

(00:25):
you the joy to come into your homes. We love you,
and we know God has great things in store for
each one of you. If you're ever in our area,
I hope you'll stop by and be a part of
one of our services. I promise you we'll make you
feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning
in today, and thanks again for coming out. I'd like
to start with something funny each week.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
And I heard about this teenager.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
He had just gotten his driver's permit and he asked
his father if he could borrow the car. The dad said, son,
I'll make a deal with you. If you'll bring your
grades up, read your Bible every day, and get your haircut,
I'll let you borrow the car. He came back a
month later and asked about it. The dad said, well, son,
you've brought your grades up, you've been reading your Bible,

(01:07):
but you still haven't got your haircut. He said, well, Dad,
I've been thinking about it. Moses had long hair, Samson
had long hair, even Jesus had long hair. He said, yes, Son,
and they walked everywhere they went.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
All right, hold up your Bible. Say it like you
mean it. This is my Bible.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
I am what it says I am. I have what
it says I have. I could 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 connecting with the right people. Your destiny

(01:53):
is too big to get there on your own.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
God has already arranged certain people to speak into you.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
He's placed in your path people to inspire you, to
challenge you, to help you grow and accomplish your dreams.
But the reason some people never reach their highest potential
is because they never get away from the wrong people.
Everyone cannot go where God.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Is taking you.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
You've got to connect with people that understand your destiny,
people that appreciate your.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Uniqueness, people that can call forth.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Your seeds of greatness, not people that are always pushing
you down, telling you what you can't become, never giving
you their approval.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
No matter how good you do. Life is too short
to drag people along. If you will get the wrong.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
People out of your life, then God will bring the
right people into your life.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Some of you. The only thing that's holding you back is.

Speaker 1 (02:54):
Your inner circle, the people that are closest to you.
They're with you, but they're not really for you. You're constantly
having to persuade them that you're okay and convince them
to get on board. You're spending all your time and
energy on someone that doesn't understand your destiny. When my

(03:14):
father went to be with the Lord eleven years ago
and I stepped up to pastor the church, most.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Of the people were for me.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
They were very loving, kind, loyal to my parents. But
there were a few people, even friends that I'd known
my whole life. I could tell they were not for me.
No matter what I did. There was an underlying feeling
of it's.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Not good enough.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
There were good people, they were nice, but I never
felt their approval. I had to make a decision. Was
I going to live my life trying to please them
and convince them that I really am okay and you really.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Still should be my close friend.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Or was I going to accept the fact that this
was a new season and where God was taking me
they weren't going to be able to come.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
I had to do what I'm asking you to do.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
My attitude was you think I'm too much of this
or not enough of that, And that's fine.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
You have a right to your opinion.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
I respect that, but I also know I don't need
your approval. I have Almighty God's approval, and he's the
only one that really matters.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Little by little I begin to pull away.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
I found some people you have to love from a distance.
They're still my friends, but they're not in my inner circle.
The scripture says, don't cast your.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Pearl among swine.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
You could say your pearl is your gift, your personality.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
It's who you are.

Speaker 1 (04:44):
When you get around true friends, people that really believe
in you, they won't be jealous of your gifts. They
won't constantly question who you are. They won't try to
talk you out of your dreams. It'll be just the opposite.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
They'll help you.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Polish pearl, develop your pearl, en hence your pearl, grow
your pearl In other words, they'll give you ideas, they'll
connect you with people they know they'll help push you
further along. You shouldn't stay around people that don't value
your gifts and appreciate what you have to offer. That's
casting your pearl among swine. Your inner circle, those closest

(05:24):
to you should be people that celebrate who you are,
people that are happy when you succeed, not someone that's
always trying to outperform you, someone that's quickly pointing out
everything you're doing wrong. It should be people that believe
the very best in you. If that's not who's in
your inner circle, you need to do like me and

(05:46):
gradually start to pull away. You can be nice, you
can still be friends from a distance, but your time
is too valuable to spend it with people that are
not one hundred percent for you. It's not the quantity
of friends that's important, it's the quality of friends. I
would rather have two good friends that I know are

(06:09):
for me one hundred percent than to have fifty friends
that are only for me eighty percent. In March chapter five,
Jesus was about to go to another city to pray
for a little girl that was very sick. Words soon
came back saying, you don't need to come, she's already died.
Jesus said, don't worry about it, She'll be okay.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
We're going to come anyway.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
The scripture says Jesus would not let anyone go with
him except Peter, James, and John. That was his inner circle.
Those other believers, they were good people, they.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Loved the Lord.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
But Jesus said, I only want these three people to go.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Why was that?

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Jesus knew when he got to the room where the
little girl was dead he needed people that wouldn't question
who he was, people that wouldn't say, are you sure
you're the son of God?

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Have you ever done this before? What if it doesn't work?
Do you have a backup plan?

Speaker 1 (07:07):
No. When you're in the heat of the battle, when
you're in a situation where you need God's favor, you
need divine healing, you need a legal situation to turn around,
you can't afford to have people in your inner circle
that are saying things like, do you really think you're
gonna get well?

Speaker 2 (07:23):
My grandmother died of that same thing.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
Do you really think you're gonna have an Ephesians three
twenty week. Have you seen the economy, or I know
you're praying that your child will turn around. I don't
mean to be negative or anything, but seems to me
like they're doing worse than ever. No, you need people
that know who you are, people that are joined in
spirit with you, people that will say, hey, you know what,

(07:47):
if you're bold enough to believe, count me in. I'm
bold enough to agree with you. If you say you're
gonna get well, I'll put my.

Speaker 2 (07:55):
Faith with yours father, Let it happen.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
If you believe you can overcome that. I'm not going
to tell you ten reasons why you can't do it.
My declaration is you are well able. See. You need
people that will come into agreement with you and release
their faith, not people that will tell you what you
can't do and release their doubt. Jesus got to the
room where the little girl was, and everyone was so distraught.

(08:20):
You can imagine they were crying, weeping sorrow. Jesus looked
at them and said, don't be upset. She's not dead.
She's only asleep. They're weeping. Turn to mocking him, making
fun of him. What do you mean she's not dead?
Of course she's dead. What Jesus did next is extremely significant.

(08:42):
I believe it's one of the keys to living a
life of victory. It says in Mark five point forty
they laughed and jeered at him, but Jesus put them
out notice. Jesus asked them to leave. He showed them
the door. He knew the importance of having people close
to him that understood his destiny. His attitude was, I

(09:05):
don't need your doubt. I don't need you questioning me.
I don't need you telling me what I can't do.
I'm going to surround myself with people of faith, people
that understand my assignment. You may be around people today
that are constantly pulling you down, telling you what you
can't become. While you'll never be successful. Understand it's scriptural

(09:28):
to show them the door.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
It may be difficult, but you have to have the attitude.
You have to have the attitude.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
I cannot fulfill my destiny with your critical spirit. I
can't accomplish my God given dreams with you constantly pulling
me down.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now, I love you, You're a good.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
Person, but I can't have you in my inner circle.
I'm going to love you from a distance. That's what
Jesus did. He didn't allow anyone to go in except
the girl's parents and his inner.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
Circle, Peter, James and John.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
He got in there and spoke to the little girl
and she came back to life. But think about this,
Jesus could have healed her in front of the crowd,
with them laughing, mocking, jeering at him. He's the son
of God, he could do anything. But I believe Jesus
wanted to illustrate this principle. Who you have in your
inner circle is extremely important. If Jesus went to the

(10:24):
trouble to ask everyone to leave except the right people,
if he took the time to weed out the doubters,
the people that would question him, the people that just
wanted to be critical. If he was that concerned about
his inner circle, surely you and I should be that
concerned about our own. You need to evaluate who's on

(10:44):
your team, who's speaking into your life, who you're giving
your time and energy to, in other words, who you
eat lunch with every day at the office, who you're
talking to on the phone so much. Are they building
you up or tearing you down? Are they inspiring you
to go further or are they telling you what you
can't do? Are they modeling excellence, integrity, generosity, godliness or

(11:11):
are they lazy compromisers not going to any place in
life now? Don't spend your time with people that don't
make you better. I remember growing up there was a
man that had been with the church since my parents
founded it back.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
In nineteen fifty nine.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
He was a strong supporter and one of my father's
inner circle. He was a good man, but over time,
as the church grew, he had a hard time accepting
the changes. I came back from college in nineteen eighty
three and started the television outreach, and even though I
know he loved me and he loved our family, I
could tell he wasn't one hundred percent for that. Every

(11:50):
time we went to do something new, it was like
pulling teeth. He would tell us ten reasons why it
might not be a good idea. And I'm all for
listening to godly advice and getting good counsel, but we
could tell where God was taking us. He wasn't going
to willingly go out of respect, out of loyalty. My

(12:10):
father kept him there year after year, but it was
like having a car with three good tires and one
flat tire. It was constantly a struggle. Every new project,
we had to spend time and energy trying to convince.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Him to get on board.

Speaker 1 (12:25):
One day, through a series of unusual events, God moved
him on. It was like this heavy burden was lifted
off of him, off of us, maybe him too, I
don't know, but off of us for sure. But I
remember we had this big going away party for him,
and I did my best to act sad, but on
the inside I was jumping up and down. You'd have

(12:46):
thought I'd just won the super Bowl. But after he left,
it was a night and day difference. We didn't realize
how much one person in our inner circle not totally
on board, could affect.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
The rest of the team.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Some of you don't realize how much that one negative influence.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Is holding you back.

Speaker 1 (13:07):
You don't know how much more you would accomplish, how
much more you would grow, how much more you'd enjoy
life if you just make necessary changes.

Speaker 2 (13:17):
This man was with us, but he wasn't really for us.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
There's a big difference, and you need to make sure
the people in your inner circle believe in who you are.
They celebrate your gifts, and they're pushing you further, not
holding you back.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
Some of you today.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
If you don't very kindly and politely show someone the door,
They're going to keep you from becoming all God's created
you to be. Well, he said, Yo, what if I
hurt their feelings? What if they keep you from your destiny?
What if they keep you from accomplishing your dreams and
making a difference in our generation. I can't think of

(13:54):
anything worse than to come to the end of our
life and realize we have not come what God's created
us to be. And a lot of times we think,
I know this person is not a good influence. I
know they're keeping me from growing. But if I make
a change, I may not have any friends. I may
be lonely, and yes, you may be lonely for a season,

(14:17):
but you never give up something for God that he
doesn't give you something back better in return. If you'll
make the change, God will not only give you new friends,
He'll give you better friends. Friends that you don't have
to wonder are they for me or against me? Friends
that don't try to manipulate you into who they want

(14:39):
you to be, but they celebrate you and help you
become who God's created you to be. This may mean
you have to change who you eat lunch with every
day at the office that person is constantly complaining. You
don't need that poison going into your spirit. You may
have to change and not hang out with that neighbor

(15:00):
that's always discouraged and always had a sad song and
is always dumping their problems on you, expecting you to
keep them fixed. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for
helping people, encouraging others. That's what life is all about.
But I've also found some people don't want to be helped.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
They like the attention that it brings them. Their energy suckers.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
You spend an hour with them, you feel like you've
just run a marathon.

Speaker 2 (15:28):
As long as you allow it, they will drain.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
The energy out of you, dump their problems, unload all
their heartache, and again, it's good to be kind. There
are times we have to put up with things in
order to love people back into wholeness. But what I'm
saying is you cannot spend your whole life trying to
pull someone up and expect.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
To fulfill your God given destiny.

Speaker 1 (15:52):
Sometimes the best help you can give a person like
that is to not help them at all, because all
you're really doing is enabling their dysfunction. Now they're relying
on you as a crutch. They don't have to take
responsibility for their behavior.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
They don't have to learn to encourage themselves.

Speaker 1 (16:11):
They know you'll always come running, you'll bail them out,
you'll cheer them up. What they're really doing is manipulating
and controlling you. But friends, you have a destiny to fulfill.
You need to surround yourself with people that are not
constantly taking something from you, but with people that are
putting something into you. Proverbs twenty seven says, as iron

(16:35):
sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
Let me ask you.

Speaker 1 (16:40):
Are your friends making you stronger? Are they challenging you
to become a better parent, a better spouse, a better giver,
a better leader, a better person? You cannot soar with
the eagles as long as you're hanging out with the turkeys.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
There may be some toxic relationship.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
You have to get rid of relationships that are doing
nothing but make you compromise, make you negative, make you
complain every time you leave you're worse than you were before.
That's a toxic relationship.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
I've learned.

Speaker 1 (17:15):
You cannot help a person that will not separate themselves
from that toxic relationship. Years ago, when I was in
my early twenties, I used to get my haircut by
this young lady and she was as nice as could be.
She had a good heart, but she was extremely negative.
Every time I went in there, month after months, year

(17:36):
after year, she would tell me her problems, how the
owners weren't treating her right, making her work extra hours.
She had a brother that was very difficult, and often
she didn't have the money to pay her rent, and
her dad was very sick.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
On and on. Every time I left, I was depressed.
She was very convincing. It's like this guy I heard about.

Speaker 1 (17:56):
He was sitting by the side of a bridge about
to jump and into life.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
A man stopped, ran over and said.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Don't jump, don't jump, just tell me your problems. Two
hours later they both jumped. That's the way this young
lady was, and I did my best to encourage her.
I would pray with her, I gave her money, I
sent her customers.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
It was never enough.

Speaker 1 (18:21):
One day I realized what I'm telling you, I cannot
go where God has taken me with her in my life.
I love her, I'm gonna pray for her, but I
can't fulfill my God given destiny, putting that poison in
me month after month, I made a change. You too,
may have to change where you do business, where you

(18:42):
play ball, where you work out, where your shop. Life
is too short, your time is too valuable, Your destiny
is too great to spend it with people that are
constantly pulling you down, draining the life and energy out
of you.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
The solution is found in Mark five.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
Show them the door, Be kind, be polite, but you
need to gradually start pulling away. In the scripture, there's
a lady by the name of Elizabeth. For many years
she's been bearing, not able to have a baby. Those days,
a lady was greatly looked down on if she couldn't
give her husband a child.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
But late in life, Elizabeth conceived.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
Now she was so excited about finally being able to
have this baby. For the first few weeks, Elizabeth is
on cloud nine.

Speaker 2 (19:31):
Her dream is coming to pass.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
I can imagine as a month or two goes by,
she begins to get a little worried. She's never had
a baby before. She's hoping and praying that everything's okay.
But three months, four months, five months, she doesn't feel anything.
She starts thinking, surely I should feel some kind of
movement by now.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
The longer it goes, the more concern she becomes.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
One day, there's a knock on her door, an unexpected gas.
It's her younger cousin, a girl named Mary.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
She was a teenager. Elizabeth opened the door.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
Mary gave her a great, big hug and said, Elizabeth, congratulations,
I've heard the great news. You're gonna have a baby.
The scripture says in Luke one forty one. When Elizabeth
heard Mary's greeting, her baby leaped in her womb. At
that moment, she knew the child was alive. She knew

(20:28):
the promise was going to come to pass.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Here's my point.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
God has designed people to come into your life that
will make your baby leap, people that will speak life
into your dreams, people that will let you know those
promises will come to pass. Mary was a divine connection.
She was sent there, ordained by the creator of the universe,

(20:52):
to bring hope, faith, vision into Elizabeth's life. She didn't
even have to say anything profound. She just said hello,
and the promise came to life. Just like with Elizabeth,
God has already lined up your Mary's and when you
get around the right people, they can simply say good morning,

(21:13):
and your baby will leap. That's a supernatural connection. But
here's the key. If you keep answering the door and
your baby never leaps, then you're answering the door for
the wrong people. Don't answer the door when a gossip knocks.
They're not gonna make your baby leap. Don't answer the
door when a complainer stops by to tell you how

(21:36):
bad life is and how you're never going to make it.
They're not gonna make your baby leap. They're gonna make
your baby depressed. Don't answer the door when a discourager
shows up, when a compromiser shows up, when I can't
do it, person shows up, make a decision with me.
I'm gonna only answer the door for people that make
my baby leap, people that inspire me, people that challenge me,

(22:00):
people that at nite something on the inside. Mary was
pregnant with Jesus the Son of God. Elizabeth was pregnant
with John the Baptist. When the promise in Mary connected
with the promise in Elizabeth, it was like an explosion
of faith. When you get around the right people, when
you connect with people that have big dreams, people that

(22:23):
understand their destiny. Then the promise in you is going
to connect with the promise in them. You're going to
see God show up and do something supernatural in both
of your lives. Like Elizabeth, many of you have a
promise on the inside. You know God has spoken to you,
but it's been.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
A long time.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
You haven't seen anything happening. You haven't felt any movement
on the inside. Now you're thinking, did I hear God write?
Is the promise still in me? Am I still going
to give birth? I believe God sent me today to
be one of your Mary. That situation that you think
is over, God is saying it is still going to

(23:05):
come to pass.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
The promise is in you.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
It's alive and well. You may not see anything happening.
You may feel like you didn't hear God right, but
God is still on the throne right now. He's arranging
things in your favor. What he promised you he will
bring to pass.

Speaker 2 (23:23):
And if you will.

Speaker 1 (23:24):
Receive those words by faith, then down in your spirit
you'll start to feel something a kick, a push, a shove.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
What is that?

Speaker 1 (23:33):
That's your baby coming alive. When you get around the
right people your baby will leap. My prayer is that
every time you come in these doors, every time you
hear me in some way, I'm gonna make your baby leap.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
I'm gonna remind you.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
I'm gonna remind you that you are a child of
the most High God. You have seeds of greatness on
the inside. There's no mistake you've made that's too much
for the mercy of God. There's no obstacle too high,
no sickness too great, no dream too big.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
You and God are a majority. When you hear words like.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
That, if you'll let it take root, then on the
inside you'll feel faith springing up. That's your baby starting
to leap. Before long, you'll be convinced, Hey, I can
overcome this addiction.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Wow, I just felt a kick. I can get out
of debt. Another push.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Now both feed are kicking. How about this? The economy's down,
business is slow. But I know my job is not
my source. My God is my source, and I believe
he can still prosper me. Now I feel all kinds
of movement on the inside.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
If you're going to become all God's created you to be.
You've got to get around people that will speak of life,
faith vision into your feu. Some of you have goals
and dreams that you've given up on.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
You've let people talk you out of it and convince
you that the promise is not going to come to pass.

Speaker 2 (25:09):
They've told you that you're.

Speaker 1 (25:11):
Too old, you come from the wrong family, you've made
too many mistakes, you tried and fails just too late.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
Or here's the key.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
If you will change who you're answering the door for
and start spending time with people of faith, with people
that see your potential, with people that will tell you
what you can become instead of just describing who you
are right now, then your baby will start to leap
once again. The truth is it's not too late. You're

(25:40):
not too old, you haven't made too many mistakes.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
The promise is still alive.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Now it's up to you and me to eliminate the
wrong relationships, the people that are pushing us down, telling
us what we can't become, taking and never giving. All
that's going to do is cause our baby to be
born still born.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
We won't give birth to what God put in our heart.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Your baby, your dream, it needs Mary, it needs that encouragement.
It needs that faith being joined together. The good news
is God's already lined up the right people.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
He already has your Mary's.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
If you'll just do your part and not answer the
door for the wrong people.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
Friends, the clock is ticking on your destiny.

Speaker 1 (26:27):
Don't waste another moment with people that don't sharpen you.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
Make sure you're inner circle.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
Those closest to you are people that are not just
with you, but they're really for you. Connect with people
that understand your destiny, people that celebrate your uniqueness. Remember,
not everyone can go where God has taken you. They
may be good people, but that season is over. If
you don't make a change, they can keep you from

(26:56):
getting there. But if you'll make this decision that you're
only going to answer the door for people that make
your baby leap, then as iron sharpens iron, you're gonna
get better. You're gonna rise higher. And I believe and
declare just life with Elizabeth. You will give birth to
every promise God put in your heart, and you will become.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
Everything God created you to be. Amen.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Do you receive that today? We never like to close
our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus,
the Lord of your life.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Would you pray with me?

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Just say, Lord Jesus, I'll repent of my sins.

Speaker 2 (27:33):
Come into my heart.

Speaker 1 (27:35):
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'll take your places that you've never dreamed of.

Speaker 2 (27:47):
Thank you for listening to the joel OUs Dene podcast.
Help us continue to share the message of hope with
those all over the world. Visit Jolus Dean dot com
slash give Hope to give a gift today. Thanks so
much for listening to today's message.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest
podcast to keep.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
You inspired all through the week. We're praying for you.
I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you
next time.