Joel Osteen - More Than Enough (07/16/2018)
Joel Osteen teaches that God desires for us to live in abundance and «more than enough,» not constant lack or struggle; using stories like Ruth’s unexpected blessings, Peter’s overflowing catch, Hezekiah’s wealth through honoring God, and personal examples, he urges listeners to replace scarcity thinking with an abundant mentality, keep God first, and trust that surprising favor and overflow are coming.
Created for More Than Enough
I want to talk to you today about «more than enough.» We are not supposed to go through life constantly struggling, not able to fulfill our dreams, or not able to be a blessing to anyone else. Lack is not your destiny.
You were created to live an abundant life, but if you have struggled for a long time, it is easy to develop a scarcity mentality, thinking, «I will never be able to afford a nice house. I will never have the funds to really bless my family.» But as long as you think «not enough,» you will never have more than enough.
You have to get rid of that scarcity mentality and start having an abundant mentality. God has ways to increase you that you have never thought of. He is not limited by your job, by your education, or by the family you were raised in.
If you will take the limits off of Him, God will bless you beyond your normal income, beyond your salary, beyond what anyone in your family has seen.
I talked to a gentleman the other day. He volunteers at Lakewood, and he works in sales. One of his clients called and said that their boss wanted to speak with him. At first, he was kind of alarmed and thought something might be wrong, but this boss was so impressed with his work, he wanted to see if he would come and run his whole sales department.
It was a huge promotion. The boss said, «If you will take the position, then I will give you ownership in this company.» He said, «Joel, I did not see this coming. I never dreamed I would be this blessed.» He went from working at a company to owning part of a company.
You do not know what God has in store for you. You do not know the promotions, the opportunities, the favor that He has already ordained to come across your path.
God Takes Pleasure in Prospering You
Psalm 35 says, «God takes pleasure in prospering you.» It brings a smile to God’s face to make things happen that amaze you. As a parent, when you do something special for your child, something out of the ordinary that they were not expecting, you know how that brings you joy, makes you feel good. It is the same way with our Heavenly Father.
It gives Him pleasure to see you blessed. You may not see how this can happen, but the Scripture says, «God will supply all of our needs according to His riches.» It does not say according to your job, according to your talent, if the boss likes you, if the economy is up, if you have the right friends. It is not according to what you have. It is according to what He has.
The good news is God owns it all. He makes streets out of gold. If He does not have what you need, He can create it. He speaks, and worlds come into existence.
In the Scripture, a young lady named Ruth was barely making it. Her husband had died, and she was living with her mother-in-law in a foreign country. She had no income, nobody to help them. All the circumstances said she was stuck. This was her destiny—a life of struggle and lack.
Just because you do not see a way does not mean God does not have a way. Your circumstances may look permanent, but you cannot see what God is doing behind the scenes.
He has already spoken to the right people to help you. He has already lined up good breaks, promotion that you do not see coming. It is going to happen unexpectedly, out of the ordinary. You are not going to have to go after it—it is going to come after you.
The Scripture says when you keep God first place, His blessings will chase you down. One translation says they will catch you by surprise.
God’s Surprising Blessings
God is going to surprise you. He is going to open doors bigger than you have imagined. He is going to bring people that will use their influence, their platform, to push you further along. It is going to be uncommon, unusual. You are going to know it was the hand of God.
It is like this building, the former Compaq Center. I never dreamed one day we would own it, never dreamed we would be having church here. This is one of those surprises that chased us down. We could not have made this happen—our strength, our ability. It was the goodness of God.
God’s dream for your life is much bigger than your own. What God has in your future is going to boggle your mind—the places He is going to take you, the people you are going to meet, the levels you are going to reach.
Paul said in Corinthians, «No person has seen, heard, or imagined what God has in store for those that love the Lord.» You may think you have reached your limits. God is saying, «You better think again. You have not seen anything yet. I am about to bring you into overflow, into abundance, into more than enough.»
Whatever level you are at, get ready—another level is coming. What you have not seen or imagined is on the way.
Ruth would go out into the fields every morning and pick up the leftover wheat that the workers had missed. They were living off of leftovers. She and her mother-in-law were barely surviving.
I am sure they were not thinking about abundance. Nothing in their circumstances said they would ever have more than enough. If Ruth heard this message, she would say, «Not me, Joel—it is impossible. All the odds are against me.»
But Ruth did not know what God was up to. Your circumstances may be against you, but the Most High God is for you. He is called Jehovah Jireh, the Lord our Provider. He said you will lend and not borrow. He says you are above and not beneath.
You may not be there yet, but God is not finished. He is working behind the scenes. Things are happening that you cannot see. Keep being faithful. Keep doing the right thing. Keep going to work with a good attitude.
«Joel, nobody gives me credit at the office. I will never be promoted.» You are not working unto people—you are working unto God. Your job is not your source. God is your source. I can assure you God is keeping the records. Your time is coming.
Ruth was faithful. She had been through loss, in a foreign country, no income—yet you never read where Ruth complained. She did not get bitter. She did not give up on life.
She kept doing the right thing, being her best, taking care of her mother-in-law, going out every day gathering up the food. She could have thought, «God, I am made for more than this. I am not going to go pick up leftover wheat. That is beneath me.» Ruth passed the test in the small things.
Passing the Small Tests for Greater Blessings
Before God can trust you with much, you have to prove to Him you will be faithful with little. Do not discount where you are. If you do not take care of that old car, why should God bless you with a new one?
If you complain about that apartment, why should God bless you with a house? If you are not faithful at the job where you are now, why should God bless you with your own business? Pass the small test.
One day while Ruth was out working in the fields, God spoke to Boaz, the owner of those fields, and told him to be good to Ruth. He had his workers leave wheat on the ground on purpose for Ruth.
Now when she went out, she had more than enough. She gathered it in a fraction of the time. When she went home, I can imagine her mother-in-law said, «Ruth, what in the world happened? Did you win the lottery? How did you get so much wheat in so little time?»
Ruth had no explanation. She said, «I do not know how it happened. For some reason these workers left all this extra wheat.» That was God saying, «Surprise. Here is a blessing you are not going to have to work for.» It is going to come to you. You just show up, and it will be waiting for you.
God has some of these blessings in store for you. You are not going to have to make it happen. You just keep being faithful, keep doing the right thing, and suddenly there is more than enough.
Suddenly the Compaq Center. Suddenly ownership in a company. Suddenly the house falls into your hands. You cannot explain it. You did not see it coming. What happened? God surprised you. One of His blessings chased you down.
What is interesting is God spoke to Boaz to be good to Ruth, but Ruth did not know about it. God did not tell her, «I am going to speak to this man, and he is going to bless you.» All Ruth knew was suddenly her life became much easier. Suddenly there was an abundance of wheat on the ground.
You do not know who God has already spoken to about you. There are people God has already lined up to leave wheat on the ground for you—people that will cause things to happen that you had nothing to do with, but suddenly you will go to a new level. Suddenly you will come into more than enough.
You cannot explain it. You cannot take credit for it. There was nothing in your circumstances that said it was going to happen. That was God simply taking pleasure in prospering you, God showing His favor on you, causing you to stand out.
From Lack to Ownership: Ruth’s Overflow
The story could end here, and it would be a happy ending. Ruth and her mother-in-law had plenty, but God likes to exceed our expectations. Boaz fell in love with Ruth. They ended up getting married.
Now instead of working in those fields, Ruth owned the fields. She never had to go out and pick up wheat like that again. She came into a new level—abundance, overflow.
Those workers she used to follow behind—now they all work for her. She went from the tail to the head, from borrowing to lending, from being in lack to having more than enough.
If Ruth were here today, she would tell you, «It may look impossible. The odds may be against you, but stay in faith. You do not know who God is whispering to right now about you. You do not know who is going to open a door for you for no reason. You do not know who is about to show you favor that you did not see coming.»
Sometimes religion tries to make us feel like we are not supposed to be blessed, we are not supposed to have resources. But the Scripture says that Job was the wealthiest man in the east. He was very blessed with resources, livestock, a successful business. God said about Job, «There was no better man than him.»
David left an inheritance to his son Solomon to build the temple that some scholars say would be over a billion dollars today. David is called a man after God’s own heart.
Abraham is the father of our faith. He is the one God chose to start the new covenant. He too was very wealthy in cattle, sheep, gold, silver.
What am I saying? God has no problem with you having money, as long as money does not have you. Money should not be our goal. Fulfilling our destiny should be our goal. Money is simply a tool.
Money can send your children to college. Money can help you accomplish your dreams. Money can renovate a Compaq Center. Money can build an orphanage. Money is not a problem—it is the love of money that is the problem.
If you make money your goal and you only focus on yourself and live to show off what you have, life is not going to be very fulfilling. There are some things that money cannot buy—money cannot buy peace, cannot buy good relationships, cannot buy health.
I know some very wealthy people that are not well. Money should not be our focus, but the fact is it takes money to fulfill dreams.
Do not let a religious spirit convince you that you are not supposed to have anything. Constantly struggling, being overwhelmed by debt, not able to pay your bills is not God’s best.
Jesus did not come and give His life so that we could barely get by and live off of leftovers. He came that we might live an abundant life. «Abundant» means plenty—plenty of joy, plenty of good health, plenty of strength, plenty of opportunities, plenty of creativity, plenty of courage.
God wants you to be so blessed that you have to choose which opportunities you take, which contracts you accept.
An Abundant Mentality and Personal Testimony
David said, «My cup runs over.» «Running over» means you have so much you cannot contain it all. I would love to take that contract, but I am so full, I am so blessed—I will have to pass so I can take this better opportunity.
«Well, Joel, this sounds good, but I do not see how it can happen for me. It seems far out.» Can I tell you we serve a far-out God—an exceeding, abundantly, above-and-beyond God? That is why He has you hearing this. He wants you to get rid of that scarcity mentality and start having an abundant mentality.
A couple of years after Victoria and I were married, one evening we were walking through a nice neighborhood not too far from our townhouse. There was a big two-story house being built. It was almost finished. Nobody was there, so we went in to look around.
It had big windows, a spacious entryway with a curved staircase, vaulted ceilings, great backyard. It was so beautiful. As we were walking out, Victoria said, «Joel, one day we are going to live in a house just like this one.» She might as well have said, «One day we are going to go to the moon.»
That was so far beyond anything I could imagine. Being the great man of faith that I am, I went on to tell her all the reasons why it was not going to happen. I said, «Victoria, are you kidding? I work for a ministry. We will never have that kind of income. We could save up for thirty years, and we still will not have enough.»
I did my best to talk her out of it, but she acted like she did not even hear me. She said, «No, Joel—I am telling you, one day it is going to happen.»
A few months later, we sold our townhouse and bought this old rundown house—very dilapidated, but it was on a big lot close in to the city. The day we closed on the property, a realtor pulled up while we were standing in the front yard.
We did not know the lady. She said, «Would you like to sell the house?» I said, «No, we just purchased it.» She said, «Congratulations—you just bought your dream house.» I thought, «What is she talking about?»
She explained how the neighborhood was in the process of changing the deed restrictions to where you could subdivide the lots. A year later, we sold half of the property for more than we paid for the whole thing.
Two years after that, we were living in one of those houses just like we had seen that night. Like with Ruth, it was as if God had somebody leave wheat on the ground on purpose for us.
We did not know they were going to change the deed restrictions, but God has an advantage. He can see what is happening behind the scenes. He knows things that you could never know.
The Scripture says God knows where the hidden riches are. He has inside information. When you honor Him, He will lead you into blessings that you did not see coming—favor, promotion, opportunities that surprise you, that take you to a level that you did not think you could reach.
When we moved into that new house, I carried Victoria over the threshold and said, «Welcome to this house I always believed for.» She barely even let me live there.
Are you doing like I did—talking yourself out of what God put in your heart, thinking it is too big, too much, you do not have the funds, you do not have the experience? You may not, but God does.
He would not have given you the dream if He did not have a way. Why do not you get in agreement with God? He takes pleasure in prospering you. He wants to take you further than you have imagined.
When we needed a larger auditorium, the Compaq Center came across our path. Those same thoughts came to my mind just like with the house: «Joel, you will never get that building. You are wasting your time. You do not have a chance.»
This time something was different. I had learned my lesson. I said, «No thanks—I am in agreement with God. It is bigger than I have imagined. It looks impossible, but I know God can do the impossible.»
All along the way we saw the hand of God. He brought the right people to help us. He changed city council members' minds. We sold a piece of property at just the right time to make a critical payment.
I thought we would have to build an auditorium, but God said, «Surprise—I have an auditorium already built right on the main freeway.» When you look around, you are looking at the goodness of God. You are looking at abundance. You are looking at more than enough.
Honoring God Brings Wealth and Honor
In the Scripture there was a king of Judah named Ahaz. He had no regard for God. He closed down the temple and sold the sacred treasures. He set up idols for the people to worship.
Five armies came against him—every time he lost. The nation was decimated. The people were very poor and struggling to survive. King Ahaz died at the age of thirty-six and was so disliked he was not buried with the other kings.
His son Hezekiah took over. He had been raised in dysfunction. He had seen his father compromise and take the easy way out, but Hezekiah did not follow in his father’s shoes. He was just the opposite.
The first thing he did was to reopen the temple. He tore down the idols. He brought the people back to worshiping God. The whole nation began to flourish. They saw God’s blessings and favor.
The Scripture says Hezekiah was very wealthy and held in high esteem. He had to build special treasury buildings to hold his gold, silver, and special treasures. He constructed many storehouses for his grain—for the Lord had given him great wealth.
Notice where the wealth came from—the Lord. God increased him. Here is my question: Why was Hezekiah so blessed, yet his father died in disgrace, poor, defeated? His father did not honor God.
When you put God first place, there is a blessing on your life that causes you to prosper, a favor that causes you to rise higher, to accomplish things beyond your own ability.
Proverbs says when you fear the Lord—that does not mean be afraid, that means you reverence Him, you ask Him for guidance, you trust Him with your dreams, you do your best to walk in His ways—when you do this, it says you will have honor, wealth, and a long life.
I believe one reason God has blessed me more than I can imagine is not because I am perfect, not because I do not have weaknesses, but I have done my best to honor God.
I learned from the time I was a little boy to keep God first place, to make pleasing Him my aim in life, to always hunger and thirst after righteousness—that means to strive to do the right thing, to treat people with respect, to be a person of excellence and integrity.
When you reverence the Lord, God promises you honor, wealth, and a long life.
One way we reverence God is by bringing the tithe—the first ten percent of our income—to the house of the Lord. When we do that, it says in Malachi God will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing too great to contain.
This is what happened with Hezekiah. He had to build buildings to hold all the blessings that God gave him. Make sure you are doing your part, and God has promised He will pour out blessings you cannot contain—blessings that will take you into the overflow.
From Lack to Overflow: Peter’s Story and the Israelites
We see this in Luke chapter 5. Jesus was teaching on the shore of Galilee, and it was so crowded He asked Peter if He could borrow his boat. They had never met before, but Peter agreed.
When Jesus finished teaching, He told Peter to launch out into the deep and he would catch a great amount of fish. There were no fish there a little earlier, but Peter went back out and caught so many fish that his net began to break—overflow, abundance.
He had to call other boats to help him get the fish back to the shore. Here is the principle: A few hours earlier Peter had fished all night and caught nothing.
But when he honored Jesus by letting Him use his boat, when he put God first place, now instead of dealing with no fish, instead of being in lack, struggling—his focus has gone from not having enough to how is he going to get all the fish back to the shore, how is he going to manage all the profits?
That is God’s dream—to pour out blessings you cannot contain. Instead of living worried, wondering if you are going to make it, wondering if there is going to be enough—you spend that same energy trying to figure out how you are going to invest the increase, how you are going to be a good steward with what God has blessed you with.
It all starts by keeping God first place.
The Israelites had been in slavery four hundred years—struggle, lack, mistreated. They had no resources, no money—just the opposite of abundance.
Yes, we all go through seasons of struggle, seasons where we are not seeing increase. You may be there now, but that is not how your story ends. Do not give up in the middle. Something is coming.
God is a God of justice. He is not only going to bring you out—He is going to make up for what you have been through.
Psalm 105 says God brought the Israelites safely out of Egypt loaded with silver and gold. They did not come out of that injustice empty-handed. They came out loaded.
That is what God wants for you—not to be loaded with burdens, debt, depression, sicknesses, but loaded with blessings, loaded with resources, loaded with joy.
When we were little children and we would see someone we thought was well-off, we would say, «Man, look at them—they are loaded.» When I look at you today, I see loaded people—loaded with favor, loaded with good breaks, loaded with creativity.
Now do your part. Keep God first place. Take the limits off of Him and have this abundant mentality.
If you will do this, I believe and declare increase is coming in ways bigger than you have ever imagined. God is going to open doors you never dreamed would open.
Because you reverence Him, you are going to have honor, wealth, and a long, blessed, abundant, favor-filled life—in Jesus' name.