God's Gracious Hand of Favor | Victoria Osteen
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Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. We love you guys so much. Thank you for being here. This is our year of acceleration. Let's believe that as we go into this year of acceleration, that God is going to do extraordinary things in our life.

Let's don't limit God because of our own ability, because of our resources, because we don't feel like we have what it takes to do something extraordinary. See, God has designed you and created you to be special, to be different. He's placed something on your life that gives you the advantage. Too often we limit God because we only look at ourself. We don't look at God, we look at ourself.

into this trap before, wanting to pray a big prayer, wanting to believe for something spectacular in my life, but stopping at the moment of faith because I look at myself and wonder, could that really happen to me? Could I really accomplish something like that? See, our victories are not going to be won by our own strength.

Our victories are going to be accomplished by God's favor. His gracious hand of favor on our life is what's going to bring about the extraordinary in our life. I think about Joseph, Moses, Nehemiah, Esther, just to name a few. They believed that they were anointed and they believed they were called by God to do great things.

Now, in the natural, on paper, they didn't hold a great position. They didn't have plenty of resources. They didn't necessarily come from the right family. But they believed this one thing, that God had anointed them to do something great. Think about Joseph. He was a young boy doing great things, having an enjoyable life, when he realized his brothers despised him so much that they threw him in a pit and they sold him into slavery.

His brothers despised him so much, they threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery. Let me ask you something. Have you ever heard yourself say, "My boss doesn't like me. That's why I can't get the promotion. Oh, my in-laws, they're pushing me down. My sister, the reason I'm the way I am is because she's always been so ugly to me. Oh, my husband, he never encourages me." Have you ever heard yourself say something like that? Maybe make up an excuse why you couldn't do something.

Well, Joseph was sold into slavery. He ended up coming into Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife accused him falsely of doing something he did not do. He landed himself in prison. See, through Joseph's ups and downs, he still believed he had the anointing of God. And do you know Joseph ended up being second in command of all of Egypt? He was the one that was running the show. How could that have happened? How could that have happened?

His brothers threw him in a pit. He became a slave. How did that happen? Moses, he was not even supposed to be alive. He was supposed to be killed as soon as he was born. You see, some people say this, our generation is never going to do anything because you know what? There's too much evil out there. There's too many things going against them. This internet, these evil people, this generation will never make it. Well, Moses was never intended to make it. The king had planned to kill every child

under the age of two, and Moses was that child. Moses tried to do something good, turned out bad. And he found himself wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Some people think they've wasted their life.

They think, man, I just haven't done anything. Nothing's happened for me. Well, Moses probably felt the exact same way, but he knew this. He had the anointing of God on his life. He persuaded Pharaoh to let them go. He talked them in to letting them escape from their bondage and slavery. And just about the time he wrapped them up and was headed out,

He found himself up against the Red Sea. He looked behind him. The enemy's army was coming on horses and chariots. They were way overpowered. The Israelites were on foot, maybe had a few little wagons with them, taking their children, their older folks with them. They look behind them and here's these young bucks coming with swords and spears, going to take them down.

All of a sudden, Moses raises his rod and this big body of water, that big obstacle, just split in two. It was as if the winds just blew it back and those people walked through on dry ground and got to the other side. What is that? If you read that in the paper today, you'd say, "That's sensationalism. That couldn't have happened." Moses wasn't even supposed to make it to three years old. He wasted 40 years in the wilderness. How did that happen?

Nehemiah, he was a cupbearer in the king's house. He served wine to the table of the king, but he had a desire in his heart to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt where his ancestors were. They were in shame. They were in shambles. Cupbearer. He didn't have the resources. He didn't have the money. He didn't have the influence. He wasn't a cabinet member.

But he went to the king and the king, he not only granted him the time to take off to go, but he sent with him the resources, the timber, and he was able to round up the mighty men to rebuild those walls. Where that wall should have taken a year or two, Nehemiah did it in 52 days. 52 days. It was acceleration for Nehemiah. What was that?

Esther, she was born an orphan. She should have never made it. She had no family, no support, but she ended up being the queen of the land. And she had tremendous influence. And she saved an entire nation, the Jewish nation. What was that? It was the gracious hand of God's favor. It was the gracious hand of God's favor in their life.

And you too have the gracious hand of God's favor in your life. Don't ever forget it. When God breathed breath into you, he gave you more than resources, ability. He gave you more than friends and the right connections. He gave you an advantage. He gave you his favor. His favor. God is looking for men and women who will truly believe that they have the favor of God in their life.

Don't fall into the trap of, well, I don't have the resources. I don't have the ability. Take yourself out of the equation if you have to. Don't tie the hands of God because you can't believe. Look at Almighty God and realize it's God's strength that's going to bring these things to pass. It's His gracious hand of favor in my life. Every day, you have to get up and you have to be willing to receive this favor.

There'll be days you get up and you're doubting yourself. I'm sure Joseph did, Moses did. I know Esther did. But listen, you're a queen on the inside.

You have the royal crown on your head. If you get up every morning and you say, God, I receive this favor. It's not what I feel like. It's not in my own ability, but I'm here to honor you. I'm here to accept the free gift that you've given me, the advantage to live a life of victory. I receive your favor. And I believe through the ups and downs, God, you're going to get me to exactly where I need to be.

You see, when you have an attitude like that, it is possible for you to do the most extraordinary things. And can I tell you this? It is never too late to get started. You have not wasted your life. Moses thought he did, but God brought him back and gave him a flourishing finish.

know today that you can accomplish extraordinary things in your life. I know you're probably a lot like me at this point, and you can look back over your life and you can say, "God, it has been the gracious hand of favor that's brought me to where I am today." Sometimes the circumstances of life can be overwhelmingly negative. What should we do when we experience these kinds of negative reports and realities?

Our life is like a container. It can only hold so much. When we allow negative things in, like worry, guilt, and unforgiveness, that's taking up space for the good things that belong to you. That's why I wrote my book, Empty Out the Negative. I'll show you how to get rid of what's limiting you so you can live a victorious, fulfilled life. When you make room for joy, peace, and faith, God will fill you afresh and anew.

As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount to the ministry this month, Joel and Victoria would like to send you this powerful book, "Empty Out the Negative: Empty Out Fear and Replace It with Faith." My doctor, he said, "I went in there and there is no cancer in your body." "Empty Out a Hurt-Filled Childhood and Replace It with Confidence."

So I took what Joel said and I physically replaced them with, "I am strong. I am worthy." I started saying those over and over and over. Empty out broken relationships and find renewed love.

In a world that's just so full of so much noise and negativity and hatred, and just to come and have so much encouragement filled into you, you know, is something I've never had my whole life. Are you holding on to things that are weighing you down? It's time to empty that out so you can live a positive, faith-filled life.

Joel and I pray for you every day. We're believing for God's very best for you and your family. You know, we appreciate your prayers and your support. Your generosity is impacting so many lives. Remember, you can watch the services online every Sunday morning. Download our daily podcast. Listen on Sirius XM. Watch the new Joel Osteen Network streaming on television. But until we see you next week, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

Be sure to request your copy of Empty Out the Negative today. Visit joelosteen.com or call 888-567-JOEL. Momentum keeps us moving, keeps us flowing toward progress. The advancements being made today will power our communities of tomorrow. At SRP, we're not waiting for tomorrow. We're researching and investing in technologies that make our neighborhoods and everyday lives more sustainable.

developing solutions that help every generation. That's moving forward together.

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We all have plans in life, maybe to take a cross-country road trip or simply get through this workout without any back pain. Whether our plans are big, small, spontaneous, or years in the making, good health helps us accomplish them. At Banner Health, we're here to provide more than health care. Whatever you're planning, wherever you're going, we're here to help you get there. Banner Health. Exhale.