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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed 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. Well, God bless you. It is always a joy to come into your homes.
We love you and we're praying that you're gonna have a blessed, prosperous year. If you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and see us. I promise you it will make you feel right at home. But thanks for tuning in. And again, thanks for coming out today. I like to start with something funny each week. And you know, these are just jokes. Please don't be offended by them.
I heard about this man. He was in a dark restaurant. He leaned over to the woman next to him and said, hey, would you like to hear a blonde joke? She said, well, before you tell me, you should know that I am blonde, six feet tall and a professional bodybuilder. And the lady next to me is blonde, six foot two and a professional wrestler.
And the lady next to her is blonde, six foot five and the kickboxing champion of the world. Now, do you still want to tell me the blonde joke? He thought about it a moment, said, no, not if I'm going to have to explain it three times. All right, I may need a ride home today. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have.
I can 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 not giving away your power. Every day we have opportunities to get upset, to be frustrated, to go around offended.
Maybe our plans didn't work out, or somebody was rude to us at the office, or what should have taken an hour ended up taking three hours. Life is full of inconveniences. There will always be interruptions, people that are hard to get along with. We can't control all of our circumstances, but we can control our reaction.
Now I heard somebody say, life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond. And we should go out each day positive, hopeful, expecting God's favor. But at the same time, we should be realistic, knowing that most days are not going to go exactly as we had it planned.
And if you get stressed because you got off schedule or upset because your child wouldn't eat his breakfast, frustrated because somebody offended you, what you're doing is giving away your power. We were created to be in peace. And when you have this calmness on the inside, a joy in your spirit, a smile on your face, that's a position of power. That's when you're at your very best.
But too many people these days have the wrong approach to life. They think they can't be happy unless they control all their circumstances, make sure everything goes their way. But that's not realistic. We have to come to the place where we can say, I don't have to have my way in order to have a good day. My plans don't have to work out for me to be happy.
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Chapter 2: What does it mean to not give away your power?
He shouldn't talk to you like that. I'm going to go in there and set him straight. but the husband did just the opposite. He said, honey, I love you, but I cannot control him. He has every right to have his opinion. He can say what he wants to, but you have every right to not get offended. At first, she couldn't understand why her husband wouldn't really stick up for her.
Time and time again, she would get upset. If he was in one room, she would go to another room. If that man was outside, she would make sure she stayed inside. Her whole focus was centered on avoiding this man. One day, it was like a light turned on. She realized she was giving away her power. She was allowing one person that had issues of his own to keep her from becoming who she was meant to be.
When you allow what someone says or does to upset you, you're allowing them to control you. When you say, you make me so mad, what you're really doing is admitting that you're giving away your power. As long as that person knows they can push this button and you'll respond this way. And they can make this remark and you'll get upset. And they know if they go outside, you'll go inside.
As long as you keep responding the same way, you are giving them exactly what they want. People have a right to say what they want, to do what they want, as long as it's legal. But we have a right to not get offended. We have a right to overlook it. But when we get upset and go around angry, we change, somebody walks in a room, we get all tense.
What's happening is we're putting too much importance on what they think about us. What they say about you does not define who you are. Their opinion of you does not determine your self-worth. Let that bounce off of you like water off of a duck's back.
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Chapter 3: How can our reactions control our happiness?
They have every right to have their opinion and you have every right to ignore it. I found that some people, they feel like it's their calling in life to point out what we're doing wrong and where we're missing it. They're constantly critical, always finding fault. There's nothing they'd love anymore than to keep you upset and arguing and always trying to prove why you're okay.
You have got to rise above that. You don't need them to agree with you. You don't have to have their approval. Let that go and just be who God made you to be. One time, even with Moses, his relatives didn't like who he chose to marry. They didn't like the fact that they weren't from the same nationality. And they criticized Moses. They even did it publicly. They said, we don't agree with this.
We don't give him our approval. But down deep, Moses knew he was making the right decision. He didn't argue with them. He didn't get upset. He didn't criticize them back. He just kept his peace. Long story short, the person that was giving him the most trouble, his most vocal critic, they came down with leprosy. Couldn't even stay around. What am I saying?
You don't have to respond to every critic and try to prove to people who you are. Just stay on the high road and let God fight your battles for you. I've learned some people that come across our path don't want to be at peace with us. No matter what we say or do, it's not going to convince them to agree or like or even accept us.
Even if you were to change who you are, even if you were to meet all their demands, they would still find some reason to be critical. You have to accept the fact that no matter what you do, some people are never going to be at peace with you.
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Chapter 4: Why do we often let others steal our joy?
When Jesus sent his disciples out, when they went into certain homes, he told them to speak peace over that home. And he said, in effect, if they don't receive it, then the peace that you're offering them will come back to you. That tells me if you will do your best to be at peace with people, even if they won't take your peace, the good news is then that peace will just come back to you.
You'll not only get your peace, but you'll get that other share as well. When you do the right thing, when the wrong thing's happening, God sees it and he rewards it. I heard this man tell how he was walking down the street with his friend and they were going to buy a newspaper. They came to the little store on the corner and the clerk inside was very rude, very inconsiderate.
The man bought his paper and when he got finished, he smiled real big and just said, as friendly as can be, I hope you have a great day today. As they were leaving, his friend said, is that clerk always that rude? The man said, every single day. He said, well, are you always that nice? He said, every single day. His friend was kind of puzzled. He said, why? The man said, I've made up my mind.
I'm not going to let one person ruin my day. What he was saying was, I'm not going to give him my power. He has every right to be obnoxious, rude, inconsiderate, but I have every right to be happy, kind, and friendly. When you encounter people that have that poison on the inside, it's so important that you don't let that poison rub off on you.
If you sink down to their level and you're cold and rude back to them, what's happened is you've let them contaminate you. You've got to rise above that. Be a part of the solution, not the problem. You overcome evil with good. If somebody's rude to you, just bless them, smile, and keep moving forward. Jesus put it this way, blessed are the meek, they will inherit the kingdom of God.
When we hear that word meek, many times we think of weak, shy, reserved, just like a little fearful person. We can't stand up for ourselves. We let everybody run over us. That's not meek at all. Meekness is not weakness, it's strength under control. Meekness is like a wild horse that's been tamed. He's just as strong, just as powerful, has just as much speed as before he was tamed.
The only difference is now that strength is under control. You can walk up to him, pet him, lead the horse around, probably get on him and ride him, but don't be fooled. He has the same power, the same tenacity. Now he's just learned how to control it. When you're a meek person, you don't go around trying to straighten everybody out. You don't respond to every critic.
People may be talking about you, but you don't let it bother you. You may have the power to do something about it, but you realize your time is too valuable. That's just a distraction. It's not even worth putting your energy toward. When you're meek, you don't try to prove to people who you are. Somebody insults you, makes those cunning, demeaning remarks.
You realize that's their problem, not yours. Read between the lines. They must be pretty impressed with you or they wouldn't be trying to pull you down. Keep your strength under control. It's not how loud we get or how many people we straighten out or let me show you what I'm made of.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of maintaining peace in our lives?
This motorcycle gang came in. These guys were big and tough and mean and one biker, just to show who was in charge, he went over to his table and knocked his hamburger on the floor, picked up his water and poured it on top of his head. Said very sarcastically, oh, I'm sorry, it was an accident. Just trying to pick a fight.
The guy sitting there calmly got his napkin, wiped off the water, got up out of his chair and just walked out of the restaurant. The biker shook his head, said to the waiter, not much of a man, is he? The waiter said, no, and not much of a driver either. He just ran over 12 choppers driving out of here. That's strength under control.
One time when I was dating Victoria, I was in my early 20s, and I was driving home from her house alone about midnight. I had a real nice sports car. I kept it spotless, didn't have one scratch on it. And as I was driving, I came to a light at an intersection. And there was a car already stopped in the left-hand lane going the same direction, and I was still coming up.
And the light changed before I got there, so I never had to stop. But the man in this lane, he decided to turn right from the left lane. And I came up, I had nowhere to go. And so he hit the back of my car and spun me around. In a few moments when it calmed down, I got out of my car knowing that it wasn't my fault. And I'm naturally easygoing. There's not much that upsets me.
I looked at the back of my car and it was just totally destroyed. About that time, the man got out of his car. It was very dark, but I could see he was probably in his 50s. He started ranting and raving, cursing, saying, kids, you need to learn how to drive. I am so mad at you. I thought to myself, I'm the one that should be upset. He just turned from the wrong lane. He was about 30 yards away.
He got himself so worked up and so angry, he started running toward me like he wanted to fight. My first thought was, do you want some of this? Y'all know that's not true. My second thought, the real thought, was how big is he? He got about 15 yards away, and I saw he was about twice my size. Right then and there, I had a revelation. This was a battle not worth fighting.
I went around on the other side of my car. You said, Joel, you mean you were a chicken? No, I mean I wanted to live. You gotta accept the fact some people are never gonna be at peace with you. They are never gonna see your point of view. You might as well let it go and move on. And even if you can win, you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? What is this gonna accomplish?
I mean, what if I would have stood up to him, show him what I'm made of? Big deal. I don't even know the man. Hadn't seen him 10 minutes my whole life. It's not worth it. I made a decision. I'm not going to give him my power, my joy, my peace. There are enough battles in life that are worth fighting without getting involved in the ones that don't really matter.
Some of you today, you get upset too easily. You allow too many things to steal your joy. The traffic, the weather, a grumpy salesman, an inconsiderate receptionist. Don't go year after year that way. Draw the line in the sand and say, you know what? That's it. I'm not giving away my power anymore. I'm going to stay calm, cool, and collected.
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Chapter 6: How can we respond to rude or inconsiderate people?
Sometimes these days we need to have a steel lid. People are dumping out so much poison and criticism, bad news, anger. Keep that lid tight. We can't stop people from dumping their garbage, but if we'll keep our lid on, we can stop it from affecting us. Right after 9-11, I was invited to come to a local television station and be a part of a news program.
I had to be there early Monday morning, around 6-30. I was already kind of tired after Sunday. It was cold and raining, still dark. Didn't really feel like going, but I'd made the commitment. I was on my way. They told me to park right up front in this special reserved lot for the people that were on the program. And so I pulled in there, but when I got out of my car, this lady came running over.
She was a security guard. She came like I just committed a major crime. She was not friendly at all. In fact, she was downright rude. She said, sir, what do you think you're doing? You cannot park here. This is reserved for our special guest. I wanted to say, lady, you can't get any more special than me. I had to bite my tongue.
I said, well, ma'am, I'm on the program today and they told me I could park here. She said, oh, they don't know what they're talking about. I'll run this lot. You're going to have to go outside the gate. I got back in my car. I couldn't find anywhere to park. I had to go in a little neighborhood way away and it was still raining. I didn't have an umbrella.
And as I ran to the station with every step, I thought this is not right. I'm going to get in there and tell somebody on that lady. I'm going to get her straightened out. I was about to give away my power. I got in there and forgot all about it. A couple hours later, I came out after it was over. Now it was light and it was cleared up. I was wearing my suit.
As I walked out, the same lady, the same security guard, she was like a different person. She said, oh, Pastor Osteen. If I had known that was you, I would have let you park there. I was so glad I bit my tongue. She went on to say, do you think you'd have time to pray for me? And I wanted to say I would if I didn't have to walk so far. We have to make up our mind.
We are not going to take other people's garbage. They may dump it, but we don't have to receive it. Keep your lid on. I heard somebody say a small pot boils the quickest. You can tell a lot about how big a person is by what it takes to get them upset. Your emotions will either be controlled by your circumstances or by your character.
Somebody's rude to you, your emotions will tell you, pay them back, get even. That doesn't take any discipline. Just like a wild horse, you let them have it. But when you've got your strength under control, when you've developed your character, you realize I'm bigger than this. I'm not gonna let them pull me down. I've got places to go, goals to accomplish, dreams to realize.
You don't give away your time and energy on things that don't really matter. Character is only developed during the difficult times. It's developed when we do the right thing when the wrong thing's happening. This is why some people don't have strong character, because the easy thing is to just do what you feel. When somebody's rude to us, it's easy to get offended. It's easy to pay them back.
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