Joel Osteen - By This I Know - (Stronger Than You Think)
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In Mark chapter 5, the Bible tells about a lady who had a bleeding disorder for 12 years. She'd gone to many doctors, spent all of her money, trying everything she could to get well, but nothing had helped. Then one day, Jesus came passing through her town. She'd heard the stories of how he had healed a crippled man, calmed the seas, opened blind eyes, cured leprosy. Something came alive on the inside of her. She said to herself, "If I can just get to Jesus and touch the fringe of his robe, I know I'll be healed". The problem was there was a huge crowd surrounding Jesus. It looked impossible but she pushed her way through the crowd. I can hear her saying, "Excuse me, I need to get by. Pardon me, I need to get upfront. I don't mean to be rude, but move out of my way".
When this lady was the closest to her healing, the opposition was the greatest. She had to fight through the crowd. The crowd represents broken dreams, things that didn't work out, thoughts telling you it'll never get better, never meet the right person, never see the promise come to pass. The crowd can be the negative words people have spoken over us, telling us you're not talented enough, you can't accomplish your dream. If you're going to reach your potential, you're going to have to fight through some things. You have to be more determined than what's trying to stop you. Finally, the woman reached out and touched the edge of Jesus's robe. All of a sudden, Jesus stopped. He knew somebody had touched him, drawing the miracle-working power out of him. Jesus looked at this woman, smiled, and said, "Your faith has made you whole. Go in peace, you've been healed".
In many other miracles Jesus performed, he laid his hands on people and they were healed. But in this case, Jesus didn't lay his hands on the woman; the woman laid her hands on Jesus. Notice the key was her faith. What about you? Are you reaching out and touching him? Are you living with expectancy, knowing that he's bigger than your problems, greater than that sickness, more powerful than the addiction? Or are you discouraged, thinking it will never change? "Well, Joel, I'm waiting on God to do something". Maybe God's waiting on you. This lady didn't wait for Jesus to lay hands on her. She laid hands on him. This should be our normal way of life. "Lord, thank you that it's on the way. I'm looking for your goodness. I'm looking for your favor, not next week, not next month, not next year, but right now".
And maybe you've been praying, believing, expecting for a long time. Stay in faith. You are closer than you think. It's going to happen sooner than it looks. There's no sign of things improving, everything seems the same, but get ready. God is full of surprises. Many times, he doesn't do things in a normal way, where it happens gradually. He'll do it suddenly, out of the ordinary. You didn't see it coming. It's because day after day, week after week, you kept touching him, you kept expecting it, you kept talking like it was going to happen. You kept thanking him that it was on the way. Your faith is going to make you whole. Your faith is going to bring you out of debt. Your faith is going to break the addiction. Your faith is going to help you accomplish your dreams. I believe your faith is going to take you further than you've ever imagined.
Mark chapter 10, there was a blind beggar named Bartimaeus sitting on the side of the road. As Jesus passed by, Bartimaeus started shouting, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me". Technically, Jesus wasn't the son of David. When he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David," he was saying, "Messiah, Deliverer, Healer, Most High God". Jesus stopped in his tracks. I can imagine him thinking, "Now, here's someone who knows who I am. Here's someone who believes I have all power, someone who's expecting my goodness". When Bartimaeus started shouting, people told him, "Be quiet, you're making a scene". That's the way it is. People will try to talk you out of your miracle.
I can hear someone saying, "Bartimaeus, you're blind. You've been this way your whole life. Just accept it". Their problem is they don't know what God has put in you. Freedom is coming, joy is coming, breakthroughs are coming, abundance is coming. God whispers dreams and promises in your spirit, what you can become. Now, the enemy will try to drown them out. Other people may try to discourage you. Don't let them talk you out of what God has whispered into your spirit. His dream for your life is much bigger than your own. When Jesus heard Bartimaeus, he stopped and said, "Let him come to me". The Scripture says: "Bartimaeus threw off his coat".
Now, this was significant. In those days, people who had a legitimate disability were given an official coat from the government that gave them the right to beg. The beggar's coat was very valuable. It's how they made their living. On the other hand, it labeled you as a beggar, the same way we recognize people by their uniforms. When Bartimaeus heard Jesus say, "Come," the first thing he did was throw off his coat. His attitude was, "This is a new day. I am done feeling sorry for myself, done wearing this label that says, 'Disadvantaged.' I'm done begging". He changed his mindset from a victim to a victor.
I wonder how many of us are wearing a beggar's coat. "Had a bad childhood, Joel. Have a reason to be bitter". "Came down with this illness". "Lost a loved one". "My company didn't give me the promotion". We've all been hurt. Everybody's had bad breaks, everyone's made mistakes. But if you're going to get well, you need to take off that beggar's coat. Take off the self-pity, the hurts, the disappointments. You can't reach your destiny making excuses, and as long as you're wearing the beggar's coat, giving yourself the right to be angry, offended, disadvantaged, it will keep you from the new levels that belong to you.
When Bartimaeus left his coat, he was not only leaving his livelihood, he was leaving the negative things of his past. Your faith is going to open new doors. Your faith is going to bring unexpected favor. Keep talking like it's going to happen, acting like it's going to happen, thinking like it's going to happen. God is passing by. Reach out to him and touch him. Release your faith. If you'll do this, I believe and declare, like Bartimaeus, your faith is going to take you where you can't go on your own. God's about to open up supernatural doors, turn impossible situations around. Your faith is going to bring freedom, promotions, breakthroughs, abundance, the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus's name.
Joel Osteen: When Victoria and I had been married for a couple of years, at nights we'd like to go out and take a walk, and we were walking through this particular neighborhood, and there were these big two-story houses, so beautiful, and we were just kind of admiring them, walking through, and Victoria stopped me and she said, "Joel, one day we're going to live to a house just like that". And I looked at you so odd, she might as well have said, "One day we're going to go to the moon," because, you know, we worked for a ministry and, you know, just did not seem possible at all. And I did my best to talk her out of it.
Victoria Osteen: It was like God just put that in my spirit and it just came out. But I look back, years later, and I realize, you know, that wasn't really about that house. It was about what God wants to do in our life other times, and are we willing to conceive what he wants to do. And there's been times that I feel like God has put something in our heart or Joel will suggest something and, you know, I think, "Okay, I'm going to just receive it". And it may not ever come out looking like that, but it's just that ability to receive that God can do anything. And we have to have a big vision for our life, not that we hold so tight onto that vision that if it doesn't happen that way, we're upset. But to just know that God can do amazing things, and we've relived that story to the point where we'd say, "Well, if God did that for us, then he can do this for us". And I think that's how God builds this relationship and this trust, is that we can go back and remember 'cause there's such power in remembering the miracles and the things that he has done. So more than just a house, more than material things, God was saying, "I want you to believe for some big things in your life," and so we have, and they don't always come out the way we've seen it, but God always does something special.
Dodie Osteen: You remember when y'all were little and how I wanted a swimming pool, and Daddy said, "No, we can't afford a swimming pool". We had room in the backyard, and so I said, "Okay, you just watch". So I began to pray and believe God. I said, "Father, please give me a swimming pool". I was sincere in my heart. And I went and ran confession and, in front of him, I said, "Thank you, Father, for a swimming pool in the backyard," and he'd just look at me. But anyway, we met some people. They drove up to our church, and so help me, Hannah, I said, "What do you do for a living"? And she said, the wife said, "I have a bookstore," and he said, "I build swimming pools". I said, "Oh, thank you, Jesus, I'm glad we met you today". And so, anyway, they went on back home and then he called me and he said, "Miss Osteen, I want to build a swimming pool for you," from Louisiana. And I said, "No, we can't afford a swimming pool. That's nice but we can't..." He said, "I want to do it free, out of my heart. I want to do it for y'all. God told me to". And so he came and built the swimming pool, remember? All this to... we got in it and Daddy put on his bathing suit and he came out there and I said, "Don't you dare get in my pool. You can't swim in this pool. This is my pool I believed for". But anyway, that's what God does if you just believe strong enough.
Joel Osteen: I think of Daddy, I mean, here he was raised poor, he had no education to speak of at the time, no future in one sense, but somehow he received that in his spirit that he was going to make a difference with his life, that he was going to come out of that poverty and, you know, somebody could have said, "How are you going to pastor a church of thousands"? There's not churches of thousands back then. "How are you going to be a minister? You don't have the training". But you know what, he had to bypass all that and just conceive the good things that God put on the inside. Go by faith and not always the facts, and I'm not saying you have to deny the facts. I think sometimes, you just have to say, "Here are the facts, God, but I know you're on the throne".
Victoria Osteen: Vision gives you purpose. It gives you passion to move forward. I think that's a principle, is that we need to have vision. If we even cultivate and say, "God, give me vision. Let me see the things that you see. Help me to see the situation in faith, bigger". Thank goodness, you know, we've been taught to dream big dreams and pray big, bold prayers, and that sometimes goes against what we feel on the inside because we want to give God an excuse. You know, we want to, like, let him off the hook. "Well, God, you know, I'm not going to believe this in case it doesn't happen, then, you know, you're okay, God. You're still God," you know? But God doesn't need that from us. He needs us to believe big and have that vision. So that's why I think vision is so incredibly important in that we can't just let it die, but we can even help God create that vision in us by keeping that vision stirred up.
Joel Osteen: Yeah, I think it's important. I think the thought, too, is, "Hey, we're never, we can't live in this neighborhood. Nevertheless, God, we know you control the universe," or "Mama, you can't get well. You saw the medical report. Nevertheless, we're going to believe that God is restoring health back into you". So, more than ever, we need that "nevertheless faith" not just focusing on the facts, but focusing on the faith, knowing that God is in control and that he can do what we can't do on our own.
Paul Osteen: Do you know what, I love it when people have that "nevertheless" kind of faith, where they say, "Despite the report, you know what, I'm still going to keep my joy, I'm still going to have faith, I'm still going to have hope. I'm not going to give up. I'm not just going to lie down and take this illness. I'm going to fight against it," and I think of a good friend of mine in Arkansas when I practiced. He had a pancreatic cancer, and pancreatic cancer is a death sentence many times. Anyway, I talked to Buck, his name was Buck, and I told him about the prognosis and all that, and he said with a big smile on his face, "We're just going to trust God". And do you know that Buck lived another 22 years after his surgery for pancreatic cancer. And you know what, was he the exception? Sure, he was the exception, but he was also full of faith. He was full of hope. He kept joy and laughter in his home. It makes a difference to have that kind of "nevertheless" kind of faith when you're facing a serious illness.
Joel Osteen: That's so important. It reminds me, Paul, I got a call from an old friend, and his wife's diagnosed with cancer and it doesn't look good, but I love his attitude. He said, "We're not going to be a victim". He said, "We're going to live every day in joy and peace, and the time that we do have with her, we're just going to, you know, give glory to God". And they were even planning a trip where, you know, it doesn't look like, you know, she should have that long, but I love that thought. "We know God can still turn it around, but even if he doesn't, still still going to serve him, we're going to still believe, and we're going to still honor God with our lives. So not a victim, we're victors," and I said it earlier but I want to die in faith. You know, someday we're going to die but I'm going to die in faith. I'm going to die believing with the "nevertheless faith". "Well, Joel, what if it doesn't happen? Well, some of the saints of old, they died and said they did not receive the full promise". But you know what, we're going to die believing and knowing that God's on the throne and I believe God will do what he needs to do in our life for us to fulfill our destiny. I don't want doubt to stop us from doing what God's called us to do and becoming all he's created us to be. and becoming all he's created us to be.
We all face situations that seem impossible: the medical report says we're not going to get well; we raised our child in church but now he's off course; in our career, we worked hard, took the extra training, gave it our best efforts, but now we've peaked, gone as far as our education allows. This is where Peter was in the Scripture. Luke chapter 5, he and his partners had been out fishing all night and caught nothing. He was an experienced fisherman. They went to places where there were always fish, tried again and again, hour after hour, but came up empty. Finally, Peter said, "We've caught nothing". In other words, couldn't get any worse.
In the morning, as they were coming in from a long night of frustration, they saw Jesus on the shore. Jesus asked if he could borrow Peter's boat so he could teach the large crowd of people who had gathered there. When he finished teaching, he told Peter to do something that seemed illogical. Didn't make sense to Peter. Jesus said, "Peter, go back, and throw out your nets into the deep, and you'll catch a great haul of fish". You can imagine what Peter must have thought: "Are you kidding? We've been out fishing all night. We're experts. We know what we're doing. There's no fish out there".
But instead, Peter did something that we all must do if we're going to see promises come to pass. He said, "Master, we've worked all night and caught nothing; nevertheless, at your word, I will throw out the nets". He didn't deny the facts. He said, in effect, "The odds are against us, it looks impossible; nevertheless, because of what you say, I'm going to do it". He went back and caught so many fish that their net began to break. The catch filled their boat and their partner's boat.
Practical people would have missed the miracle. People who only look at things logically, reasonably, statistically, would have talked themselves out of it. But God is looking for "nevertheless" people, for people who say, "The medical report doesn't look good; nevertheless, God is restoring health back to me". "My child is off course; nevertheless, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord". "Doesn't look like I'll ever get out of debt; nevertheless, blessings are chasing me down. I will lend and not borrow. I'm a 'nevertheless' person. I know freedom is in my future. I know one touch of God's favor can turn any situation around". "Nevertheless" people say, "I still believe. I'm still going to try again. Nevertheless, I'm going to keep praying, expecting, and believing".
If you don't learn to become a "nevertheless" person, you won't reach the fullness of your destiny. That's why he puts things in your heart that are bigger than you can achieve. Without his help, it won't happen. But God wouldn't have put the desire in you if he didn't already have a way to bring it to pass. When David went out to face Goliath, he was only a teenager, been taking care of his father's sheep. He didn't have any military training, any experience, any armor. Goliath was twice David's size, skilled soldier, but David was a "nevertheless" person. He thought, "All I have is a slingshot and a few stones. This giant is much bigger, stronger. Nevertheless, if God be for me, who dare be against me"?
This is what Abraham did. God gave him the promise that he and Sarah were going to have a child. They were way too old to have a baby. This would defy the laws of nature. In fact, when Sarah overheard the Lord tell Abraham that she would have a baby within a year, the Scripture says Sarah laughed. She said, "Oh yeah, right. That's a good one. Abraham and I are going to have a baby? I don't think so". But Abraham added the "nevertheless". "Yes, we're too old; nevertheless, God can make a way. Yes, it's impossible; nevertheless, God can do the impossible". Too many people have a "no way" mentality. "No way I'll get out of debt, I'm so far down in the hole". "No way I'll get this promotion". "No way I'll be successful. I come from the wrong family". God is not looking for "no way" people. He's looking for "nevertheless" people.
Has God put something in your heart that seems unlikely? So big that your first thought was to laugh? He whispers in your spirit that you're going to live in a nice neighborhood, you're going to lead your company in sales, you're going to see your family restored, you're going to write a bestselling book, you're going to get healthy again. On the surface, it seems so far out. "This legal situation looks as though it will be the end of me. Nevertheless, no weapon formed against me will prosper". "This dream is taking a long time; nevertheless, what God started in my life he will finish". Get rid of the "no way" mentality. Switch over to a "nevertheless" mentality.
In the Old Testament, Moses sent 12 men in to spy out the Promised Land to see what it was like. Ten of them came back and said, "Moses, it's impossible. There are giants in the land. We don't have a chance". They had a "no way" mentality. That generation of Israelites never did make it into the Promised Land. Don't be a "no way" person; be a "nevertheless" person. That means you choose to believe, even when the odds are against you. You stay in faith, even when you don't see a way. You thank God for his goodness, even when it looks impossible. Don't give up and quit believing. Go back and try again. God controls the universe. May not have happened yet, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Just as an abundance of fish was waiting for Peter, God has an abundance of what you need waiting for you. You haven't missed it. It's not too late.
If you'll have this "nevertheless" mentality, he's going to lead you into increase, into favor, into new opportunities. What's the message? Don't let the enemy have the last word. Always add the "nevertheless". The medical report doesn't look good; nevertheless, the Lord is my healer. Co-worker did me wrong; nevertheless, God is fighting my battles. Went through a loss; nevertheless, God has beauty for these ashes. Some of the things that have you worried right now, things that have you upset, discouraged, would all change if you would start adding the "nevertheless". Every time something negative happens, every attack, disappointment, delay, answer back with a "nevertheless". When you get rid of that "no way" mentality, and have this "nevertheless" mentality, God's about to turn things around. He's about to open new doors; divine connections, new opportunities are headed your way, in Jesus's name.
Like blind Bartimaeus and the woman who had bled for 12 years, I encourage you to push through the crowds, push past other people's negativity, past your own limitations. Reach out and touch Jesus. Remember, your faith activates great power. Because you're a "nevertheless" person, I believe and declare, like Abraham, you will see promises come to pass. Like David, you will overcome obstacles much bigger. Like Peter, God is going to bring the fish to you, an abundance of what you need. With God on your side, are are stronger than you think.