Pushing People Up | Joel Osteen

Hi, this is Joel in 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. God bless you. It's a joy to come into your home. We love you. We know God has great things in store and 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 it will make you feel right at home but thanks so much for tuning in today. Thanks for coming out again. I like to start with something funny each week and I heard about this teenager. He had just gotten his driver's permit and he asked his dad if he could borrow the car. The dad said, son, I'll make a deal with you. If you bring your grades up, read your Bible every day and get your hair cut, I'll let you borrow the car. Month later, he came back and asked about the car and the dad said, son, you brought your grades up. You've been reading your Bible but you still haven't gotten your hair cut. The son said, well, dad, I've been thinking about it. Moses had long hair, Samson had long hair, even Jesus had long hair. The dad said, yes, son, and they walked everywhere they went. Hold up your Bible. 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 pushing people up. There are people that God brings into our lives that hold the key to our promotion. They hold the key to us reaching our full potential. But these are not people that are there to help us, to give us breaks and to open new doors. It's just the opposite. These are people that God puts in our path so we can help them. So we can show them favor and help them get to a new level. They are divinely connected to our destiny. We won't go higher until we help them go higher. God's waiting for us to sow a seed. And if you will push them up and help them succeed, it's all connected. The higher they go, the higher you're going to go. If you will help others fulfill their dreams, God will help you fulfill your dreams. On purpose, God will put people in our life. It may be a neighbor, a coworker, a student from another country, or even a cashier at the grocery store that you see each week. You may not realize it, but that person could be connected to your destiny. If you will take time to invest in them, to encourage them, to use your influence to push them up, then as they go higher, you're going to go higher. When you sow those seeds of kindness and help others improve, it's just like a boomerang is going to come right back to you. That's what it says in Ecclesiastes 11-1, give and your gifts will come back to you. That means when you give favor, you're going to receive favor. When you give your influence and open doors for others, you're going to receive more influence. People will open doors for you. When you help somebody get better, somebody will be there to help you get better. Every one of us should have a project, somebody we're believing in, somebody we've taken under our wings. We're encouraging them. We're giving them advice, introducing them to our contacts, doing everything we can to help them become the best that they can be. It may be a coworker at the office, at the job site. You could easily help that person go to a new level. They just need a little mentoring, a little training, a little advice. Well, Joel, I'm busy. I've got my own goals. I've got my own challenges. I don't have time. No, you need to see it a different way. Your increase is linked to that person. God brought them into your path for a reason. If you will push them up, God will make sure you get pushed up. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you. We were never created to live in groan, where we just focus on ourselves. And this is what limits many people they think inward. But when you take time to invest in someone else, you go out of your way to give them a break. Maybe you introduce them to somebody they would never normally meet. What you send out is going to come back. That's when God will open the right doors for you. He'll bring the right people into your life. And those seeds that you're sowing, they'll not only come back, they will come back multiplied. Let me ask you today, who are you pushing up? Who are you investing in? Who are you promoting? Who are you helping with their dreams? Look around. There are people in your life that hold the key to your promotion. I realize I am where I am today because people have pushed me up. People have invested in me. I think about all the seeds that my parents have sown. All the times they've encouraged me and told me that I could do anything. Think about all the meals my mother cooked growing up. I mean, it took a lot of work to heat up those TV dinners. I think about how my grandparents on my mother's side, they made great sacrifices for us children. When my parents were out of the country, they would always stay with us, and grandmother and granddaddy were always building me up and telling me how great they thought I was. I found a note from my grandmother the other day. I was nine years old. It said, Darling Joel, you are so sweet. I've never seen another young man like you. I must admit, my grandmother didn't get out much, but they invested in me. I remember specific Sunday school teachers that took time to impart into my life. A baseball coach that went out of his way. He'd swing by and pick me up and take me to practice, take me to the batting cages. When I was 19, and I first started working here doing the television production, there was an older gentleman, very experienced, very knowledgeable. He took me under his wing, and he taught me everything that he knew about production. And if you could see all the people that made me into who I am today, they wouldn't fit on this platform. Brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, friends, relatives. The fact is, none of us got to where we are by ourselves. Somebody pushed us up. Somebody made sacrifices so that we could go further. Somebody put in a kind word when we were down. Somebody gave us a break when we needed it. Well, you said, Joel, I wasn't raised in a good environment like you were. Maybe not, but you wouldn't be as far along as you are if somebody somewhere didn't go out of their way to help you. Well, my father left us at an early age. Maybe so, but your mother stepped up. She worked twice as hard to give you everything you needed. Or maybe those grandparents came into your life to give you guidance. Or that coach took you under his wing to help you succeed. Nobody makes it alone. You may think you got that good position. You got that break just because you were lucky, but listen, luck didn't have anything to do with it. It wasn't a coincidence. Somebody in your family line was praying. It may have been a great, great grandmother you didn't even know, but she prayed that her seed would be blessed. And today God is honoring that prayer through you. Somebody pushed you up, or you wouldn't be where you are. Now, one of our goals should be to reach out and push somebody else up. It should be a continual cycle. We're doing our best to help someone else be better. We're going out of our way to give a break. We're using our influence to do something good for somebody. And as we sow those seeds, God is orchestrating another person's steps to be there for us, to give us a break, to put in a kind word when we need it. When we're pushing people up, God will make sure that we're going to get pushed up. I read a story about a little boy by the name of Andy Valdez. He grew up in a single parent home. They didn't have too much, and so he would sell newspapers on the street corner. This was back in the early 1960s. During the summer, a little eight-year-old Andy would go to the same street corner, Main Street and Second. He would make three cents a paper. After four or five hours, he'd usually come home with a little more than a dollar. There was a gentleman named Jack Keller that owned a printing shop across the street. Now, every morning, Jack would pass by a little Andy, but he already had his paper. One day, Andy got his nerve up, and he said, Hey, mister, why don't you ever buy your paper from me? That kind of took Jack back, and he laughed. He said, I don't know. Maybe I'll start. That man not only began buying the newspaper from him, but he took little Andy under his wing and began to mentor him. He met with his mom and asked if he could come help at the printing shop. She was thrilled. At 11 years old, Jack started taking Andy to the country club where he belonged, and he taught him how to play tennis. Andy would hear some of the other kids joking behind his back about his clothes, about his race, about how he was different. Jack would tell him, Don't worry about that, Andy. You don't have a problem. They have the problem. He instilled confidence and self-esteem into this young man. Andy got better and better at tennis. In fact, when he graduated from high school, he was offered a full tennis scholarship to a major university. Nobody in Andy's family had ever gone to college. Andy decided that he was going to become a lawyer because all the people at the country club that wore nice suits were lawyers. He said the lawyers dressed better than the drug dealers in my neighborhood. Today, it's no longer Andy. It's Judge Andrew Valdez. He's not only a lawyer. He's a state district judge. One of the things that Judge Valdez is known for is he started all these youth mentoring programs, helping other troubled teams. Now he's reaching out, helping teenagers that were just like him. And what's interesting is over the years, Judge Valdez lost contact with his friend Jack. He began to wonder about him, worried about how he was doing. So he went back to the printing shop, couldn't find him, went to the home where Jack lived, but he had moved. He even checked the death records, assuming that he could have died, still nothing. For six years, Judge Valdez looked for his friend Jack. One day, he was at a grocery store, and he saw this old man over in the corner. He was about to be arrested. He was homeless, disoriented, had health problems. When they looked at each other, their eyes met. He said, Jack, is that you? There was a small smile. Jack was in the early stages of Alzheimer's. He had wandered from his home and lost everything. Now it was Judge Valdez's time to return the favor. When you give, your gifts will come back to you. Judge Valdez, Judge Valdez took Jack in, got him a place to live, and hired somebody to take care of him, to feed him, to watch over him. For the next four years, until Jack went to be with the Lord, Judge Valdez would go visit with him time and time again. He said his favorite thing was to walk in and see Jack reading the paper, sitting there eating dinner. That's where it all began. Friends, you never lose when you push people up. Today, Judge Valdez is pushing other young people up. Why? Because Jack pushed him up. When you take time to invest in others, it starts a chain reaction. Not only will you come up higher, but all down the line, people are going to be impacted. You never know the difference you make when you take time to care, when you take time to make someone else's life better. It may seem like something small, but very often, it'll have a domino effect. It'll keep giving and giving. Let's develop a lifestyle of pushing people up. Let's get in a habit of looking for people we can be good to. It doesn't have to be something big. Wherever you go, give a smile, brighten somebody's day. Give a compliment. Hey, you look great today. Or if you see someone sitting alone by themselves, don't stay in your same group. Reach out to them. Invite them to dinner. We should always be looking for ways to push people up. Remember, the higher they go, the higher we're going to go. Here's the key. It may not be someone under you they may be over you. You're tempted to think, well, all I'm doing is making my company rich. All I'm doing is making my boss look good. I do all the work and he takes all the credit. Had a lady tell me the other day, Joy, my supervisor takes all my ideas. I'll work for two days planning, strategizing, meeting with people, and she'll walk in a room and present it like she was the one that did it all. I told her what I'm telling you. You got to look at it differently. You're sowing seeds. The higher you help your supervisor go, the higher you're going to go. The better you make that person look, eventually it's going to boomerang right back to you and God's going to get you to where he wants you to go. You're going to get the credit that you deserve. I think about in the scripture, Elisha. For a long time, he took care of the prophet Elijah. Elijah was much older than he was. Elisha was basically bringing him food and water just doing these menial tasks. Here, Elisha was a young man. He had big dreams and goals. He wanted to do something great in life. I'm sure some of his friends said, Elisha, what are you doing wasting your time taking care of this old man? Why are you spending all your energy trying to make him look good? You need to go out and do your own thing. But Elisha understood this principle. He knew his destiny was linked to Elijah and the higher Elijah went, the higher he was going to go. So he just kept pushing him up and pushing him up. When it came to the end of Elijah's life, he was caught up in that whirlwind taking to heaven. And as he went up, the mantle that he had came down on Elisha. Not only that, it was a double portion. Elisha had twice the anointing, twice the favor. He did twice as many miracles as Elijah did. That's what happens when you push people up. Blessings are going to come down. Don't ever be intimidated to invest in those that are ahead of you. A lot of times we think, well, Joel, they don't need my help. They're successful. They should be helping me. They don't need me to give them a break. They got so much favor. Or that church, they got so many people. They don't need me to serve. No, it's just the opposite. If you'll get linked up to the right people, just like a train, the higher they go, the higher you're going to go. When you push people up, the blessings are going to come down on you. For 17 years, I worked behind the scenes here with my father during the television production. And I say this very humbly, but I always did my best to make my father look good. I know I was called to be here. I didn't understand it all at the time, but I realize now my destiny was linked to my father. The more I pushed him up, the more it was pushing me up. I would spend hours working on the lighting, adjusting one little slash, making sure it was perfect. I would go to my parents' house every Saturday night and pick my dad out a suit and tie to wear. I wanted to make sure it looked good on television. I'd seen some of the other things my father had picked out. Let me put it this way. My dad loved color. If you've been around here very long, you remember at the old campus, the blue buildings, the red buildings, the orange buildings, the yellow buildings. It's because a friend came by and said, John, you ought to paint this place like a rainbow. I took him seriously. I still haven't forgiven that man. When we remodeled the platform area at the other facility, I had my father come in, stand behind the podium, make sure it was the right height, the right width, make sure everything was sized properly. I never dreamed one day I would be standing behind the podium. Never dreamed one day the lights would be focused on me, but that's what happens when you push people up. You're sowing seeds. The higher you help them to go, the higher you're going to go. Some of you today, this may be the reason you're not seeing God's blessings in favor like you should. Are you pushing anybody up? Are you making someone look better? Are you investing in that friend? If you're not sowing into others, you don't have any good seed in the ground. We need to be on the lookout of who we can be good to. Remember, God sends people as the key to our promotion. It may not be a family member. It may be a friend, maybe a neighbor, maybe a young man selling newspapers on a street corner. In the Scripture, there was a lady that lived in a certain town, and every so often, Elisha would come through that town. She started noticing him, and she began to feel this desire to help him, a desire to be good to him, to make his life easier. She sensed that her destiny was linked to Elisha, and so she simply invited him to her house to have dinner with her and her family, and then she offered him a place to stay. Elisha was gracious, and he accepted that. The next day, after he left, she said to her husband, let's add a room to the house, so anytime Elisha's in town, he'll always have a place to stay. She reached out to him from the kindness of her heart, and they built that spare bedroom, and time and time again, Elisha would come and stay with her family. This lady wasn't trying to get anything. She wasn't trying to manipulate him into doing something for her. She was simply investing into his life, pushing him up, making it a little bit easier on him. And one day while Elisha was staying there, he said to his servant, go find out what this lady wants. Go find out if there's anything she needs. I want to be good to her. That's the way God works. When you're good to other people, God will cause people to want to be good to you. It may not even be the same people. You may sow a seed and do good for someone or some company for a lifetime, yet you never receive anything in return from them. But don't get discouraged. The way God works is you cannot give without it causing a chain reaction. When you push people up, it sets a series of events into motion. Where somehow God will cause a person to feel a need to be good to you. They may not even know you. They may be in a different city, but all of a sudden they have a desire to show you favor, a desire to give you a good break. It's those seeds of kindness that you're showing. This servant came back and said, Elisha, the lady doesn't want anything. She's perfectly happy, but Elisha wasn't satisfied. He said, go back and ask her again. I want to do something good for her. She said, Elisha, the servant is determined. It's because you can't sow a seed without it bringing you a harvest. The servant finally came back and said, okay, Elisha, she said she's never had a baby, but she's an old lady and her husband's even older than she is. That's impossible. Elisha said, that doesn't matter. You go back and tell her by this time next year, she's going to have a child. The servant went back. When he told her, the lady laughed and laughed. She thought it was a joke. She said, I'm not kidding with me. That'll never happen. But sure enough, a year later, she was showing off her new baby boy, a dream come true. What am I saying today? When you are good to people and you develop a lifestyle of pushing them up, God will bring your dreams to pass. It doesn't have to be something big, even small things. When my mother was a child, she had polio. She had to wear braces on her legs so she couldn't run and play sports like the rest of the children. Not long ago, she met an old friend that she hadn't seen in over 60 years. They had gone to grade school together. This lady reminded my mom when they would play softball as little kids. And my mother was up to bat. When my mother would hit the ball, this was the lady that ran the bases for my mother. Just a small thing, just pushing her up, making her feel apart. One time Moses was on a hill overlooking this battle taking place. He was holding his rod up in the air. As long as he had his rod up, the people of Israel were winning. But the battle went on hour after hour and he got tired. When he put the rod down, the Amalekites would start to win. Moses couldn't take it anymore. He was just too tired. When Erin and her saw what was happening, they ran up the hill, got on each side of Moses, and they held his hands up for him. Because they stepped up and did something seemingly insignificant, the people of Israel went on to win the battle. You may not be able to do something big. Maybe you can't add a room to your house or give somebody a job, but you can run for a child that's not able to. You can't hold up somebody's hands. In other words, you can give somebody a ride to work, to church. You can babysit someone's children, or you can teach someone tips about what you know in your field. There's all kinds of ways we can push people up. And understand, it doesn't have to be something big in order to make a big difference. Probably nobody has done more to help mankind, at least in the field of medicine than Dr. Michael DeBakey. He has spent his lifetime studying the heart. Many of the procedures that lengthen our lives today, even the artificial heart, were developed by Dr. DeBakey. But do you know where it all really started? When he was a little boy, way back in the early 1900s, his mother taught him how to sow. She took time and invested into him. Little did she realize that small seed that she planted in an eight-year-old boy would one day grow and develop, and those hands would become one of the most skilled surgeons that's ever lived. Take time to invest in those around you. Here's a key. Start with your own family. Make sure you're pushing up those that are closest to you. Don't take them for granted. I wouldn't be half of who I am today if it was not for Victoria. She's always pushing me up. And these days in families, there's competition in marriages, competition in families. But if we can just realize the higher we help others go, the higher we're going to go. It's all connected. I've got to tell you, my brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sisters-in-law, they're always encouraging me, so loyal, so supportive. No wonder I'm so blessed. They inspire me to want to return the favor. That's the way it should be. Push your spouse up. Push your children up. Push your cousin up. Push your nephew up. Push your grandparents up. Start with your own family. One more I left out. Push your mother-in-law up and not out. I read a story about a young man named Patrick Henry. He was born with no eyes, totally blind, and he had no ability to walk. He couldn't fully straighten his arms and legs out. His parents were so discouraged. But after a few months, they discovered that little Patrick had an incredible gift for music. He actually started to learn to play the piano at nine months old. He grew up and not only became a concert pianist, but he was a world-class trumpet player. He went to the University of Louisville, and they invited him to play in the marching band. Of course, he couldn't march. He couldn't walk. He couldn't see. He was in a wheelchair, but that didn't stop him. His father resigned from his daytime job, and he took an overnight position at the mail company so he could be there to help his son. The father attended every band practice. He learned all the routines. I'm talking about a marching band. Not putting his child on the sideline and letting them march around him. This father would push his child in a wheelchair in perfect formation. Zigging, zagging, grooving, moonwalking. You're talking about pushing people up. When you watched them on the field, you would have thought the father was the child. He was so happy. He had a big smile, just maneuvering that wheelchair. He told later when their child was first born, he and his wife said, God, why us? What did we do to deserve a child like this? Now they asked the question in a different light. God, why us? What did we do to deserve such a great child like this? A child that could bring us so much joy, so much happiness. Let me ask you again. Are you pushing anybody up? Are you encouraging your family? Are you investing your time and energy making someone else better? Look around you. There are people in your life that are connected to your joy, to your peace, to your dreams. They hold the key to your promotion. If you'll help them go higher, then you're going to go higher. When you give, your gifts will come back to you. I heard somebody say, if you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. And I didn't say this. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. But if you want happiness for a lifetime, help others. I'm asking us today to develop a habit of pushing people up. When you take time to invest in someone else, it doesn't go unnoticed. Every minute you encourage that friend, every mile you go out of your way to do a good deed, every penny you spend to make someone else better, God sees that. He's keeping the records. He's not only going to pay you back, he's going to multiply what you've sown. When you push people up, you might as well get ready. The blessings are going to come down. You're going to get breaks. You're going to see favor. New doors are going to open. I believe because you're a giver, because you're looking out for others, you're going to see your dreams, your desires, every promise God put in you. Your goodness is going to boomarang right back, and you're going to see those promises come to pass. Amen. Do you receive it today? I know you do. We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. 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's going to take you places that you've never dreamed of. We all go through disappointments and things that are not fair, but God sees every hurt, every injustice, and He's promised to pay you back for the unfair things. I'd love to send you my new resource, Double For Your Trouble. It's filled with inspiration to help you stay in faith and not get bitter and think, why me? Now, that setback may have been painful, but the fact is it's set you up for double. God will make the enemy pay and bring you out better than you were before. This ministry is reaching people around the world with a message of hope. And as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount, we would like to send you a copy of Double For Your Trouble, a daily guide for restoration. This 31-day spiral-bound resource is an invitation into healing, restoration, and the abundant life God has promised. Whether you're walking through a season of loss, believing for a breakthrough, or simply looking for a deeper connection with God, this guide is designed to help you reflect, realign, and rebuild day by day. Receive your copy and know that whatever you're facing today, grief, loss, uncertainty, it doesn't define your future. Choose to trust God. He sees you. He cares deeply. And He is the God who restores double. None of us like difficulties, but if you'll stay in faith, you won't come out the same. You'll come out with double. And, Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Thank you for your prayers and support. Your donations are bringing hope to people around the world. Special thank you to our champion of hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. Until we see you again next week, may the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of Devil for Your Trouble, available this month by simply visiting us at joelosteen.com, or call 888-567-JOL. You can also receive God's Got You Restoration Duo. This book is a powerful reminder that no matter what you face, you are not alone. God's got you, and He will never let you go. In addition to these two inspiration books, you can also receive the double portion Restoration Bible Collection. This beautifully curated collection brings together the restoring of hope, of double for your trouble, and the comforting reassurance of God's got you, paired with a stunning CSB Thinline Bible, Digital Study Edition in camel suede soft leather touch. This elegant Bible offers a rich, immersive study experience, an enduring companion as you lean in to God's promises of renewal and restoration. Let these resources strengthen your faith, study your heart, and remind you each day that God is restoring, leading, and working double on your behalf. You can request these inspiring resources by calling 888-567-JOL, or logging on to joelosteen.com today. If you've never been to Lakewood, we have a great opportunity to come. We call it Homecoming Weekend. We'd love to meet you and your family. You can see the building and attend one of the services. It's a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family. Looking forward to seeing you at Homecoming Weekend.