Purify Yourself | Joel Osteen

Well, God bless you, it's great to be with you today and I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, our YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. Now I'd like to start with something funny and I heard about these two men, the Pope and a lawyer. They died on the same day and went to heaven and Peter met them at the gate, said, follow me, I'll take you to your homes. Peter dropped the Pope off at this small wood frame house, one bed, one table, nothing to it. He then took the lawyer to this magnificent house, it was huge, it had a big swimming pool, big backyard. The lawyer was overwhelmed. He said, Peter, tell me, how did I manage to get this spectacular place when the Pope only got a small place? Peter said, we have dozens of Popes, but you're the first lawyer. All right, y'all, it's just a joke, here we go. 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 purify yourself. It's easy to go through life carrying things that are poisoning us, pride, jealousy, and unforgiveness. We don't realize that's contaminating our life. As long as it's there, it's blocking the blessings that belong to us. God has already scheduled times to be good to you, to show you favor, open doors, turn problems around, but we have to be in alignment with Him for that to happen. And the Scripture says, blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

This implies if there are impurities, then you're not going to see God's best. On a regular basis, you need to ask yourself, is there something I'm doing that's keeping me from growing? Am I holding on to bitterness that's blocking my joy? Am I dwelling on doubt, convinced my dream can't come to pass, it's blocking my faith? Or am I running with the wrong crowd that's polluting my decisions and blocking my destiny? You have to get rid of the blessing blockers. It's not that God is withholding His goodness, those impurities are keeping you from seeing His goodness. Maybe you went through a disappointment, a door closed, a friend walked away, and you're tempted to live sour and think that life's not fair. Don't let that bitterness block the new things God has in store. If you'll keep that poison out of your spirit, God will make it up to you. You may have made mistakes, now you believe in those lies that you're not worthy, nothing good is in your future, it's too late now, that guilt is blocking your blessing. When you ask for forgiveness, God forgave you the first time. He doesn't remember what you did wrong. Why are you remembering what God has forgotten? Why are you dwelling on your failures when you've been forgiven, restored, and washed clean? Try a different approach and purify yourself. See, sometimes we're waiting for God to do something, but God is waiting on us. You have to remove the blessing blockers. When your heart is pure, you will see God's favor, His healing, His restoration. This is not something we should do once a year, once a quarter. On a daily basis, you need to empty out any unforgiveness, doubt, anger. If you'll get in this habit of purifying yourself, then you're in position for God to show Himself strong in your life. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites were about to go into the promised land.

Moses had died, now Joshua was in charge. They were camped at the Jordan River, needed to get across. The problem was it was swollen over a mile wide. Well, Joshua had seen how God parted the Red Sea for Moses, and he believed God would do that for him. Early one morning, he called everyone together and told them how the next day they were going to follow the priest into the water. The priest would be carrying the Ark of the Covenant that represented the presence of God. He was sure some of the people were worried, thinking, Joshua, there's a river there. We can't get across. Joshua said in verse 5, purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you. The next day, the Jordan River was going to part. A few days later, the walls of Jericho were going to fall. These were moments of favor God had already planned for them, but there was a request. Requirement something the people had to do before it could happen Joshua said purify yourself They had to go through this process of cleansing and consecration. I could imagine some of them were busy They were tired. They didn't feel like it, but they didn't see it as an option They knew if I don't purify myself, I'm not going to be allowed to go Purification was a requirement They had to wash their clothes abstain from intimacy offer a burnt offering for sins It's a time of consecration and cleansing that prepared them for what God was about to do And they had these ceremonial laws back then. Of course, we don't have today But the principle is still true if you're going to see the wonders of God If you're going to step into new levels you have to purify yourself The higher you go the more consecrated you have to be

For God to release more of his favor. You have to step up to a new level of commitment focus discipline You may not be able to hang around the same friends and see the wonders of God You may have to adjust how you spend your time what you're watching your attitude your thought line If you'll come up higher in those areas you're positioning yourself for God to do greater things The next day after they had purified themselves the priest walked into the water with everyone following them Just like the Red Sea it opened up. The people went through on dry ground. They saw the wonders of God God is saying to us what he said to them if you will purify yourself You will see me do amazing things in your life If you will release the unforgiveness If you'll be happy for that friend instead of jealous if you'll bite your tongue and not say hurtful things If you'll stop believing that you're not enough Not valuable if you'll get rid of the insecurity Then you will step into favor good breaks the wonders that God has already planned for you And it's significant that Joshua didn't say the priests will help purify you the leadership will do it Find a friend to purify you but this is something only you can do You have to make the choice. I'm gonna live a holy Consecrated life. I'm gonna do the right thing when no one is looking. I'm gonna be kind when I don't feel like it I'm gonna resist the temptation to get angry to compromise If it was up to other people our destiny would be in their hands. It's up to them to keep us on track Make sure we're disciplined. They have to hold me accountable That's all good, but you can fool other people They can't be with you 24 hours a day. They don't know what you're thinking. They don't know what's happening in secret This is all about self-discipline Self-control you making the choice to keep your temple pure To get rid of the toxins the doubt the jealousy the compromise These things that are keeping you from the favor that God has in store Joshua said tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders The blessing was already scheduled your breakthrough is already on the calendar Meeting the right person the healing the promotion your promised land

God has already set the time he's already marked that moment But before it can happen You have to purify yourself Well, if your set time is in two days from now, are you ready? If God has scheduled your Jordan River to part next Friday. Are you able to go on the trip? Have you forgiven the person that did you wrong? Have you cleansed yourself from watching things that are polluting you? Have you broken away from relationships that are pulling you down? Have you deleted those thoughts telling you you'll never get well never be free Those are toxins that will poison your life. I Know some of this is not easy But God will never ask you to do something and not give you the ability to do it His grace will be there to empower you Maybe you tried before you weren't able you need to try again God is breathing on you in a new way. You have the power to resist the temptation The grace to release the hurt the discipline to do the right thing It may be hard to forgive but that unforgiveness is blocking your blessing It's harder to live bitter to go through life with that poisoning your spirit It may be difficult to control your temper bite your tongue not be argumentative But it's more difficult to live in mediocrity and miss the great wonders God has for you You have to get rid of the blessing blockers purity is power It doesn't mean we're perfect. We all have things we're dealing with but you're doing your best You're not accepting mediocrity You're taking steps daily to empty out the negative to release the hurt or to forgive yourself for mistakes God sees you doing your part. You're in position to see his favor in greater ways It's interesting how God designed the body to function each day We eat food and get our nutrition The body takes what's helpful and uses it for energy and growth and new cells Then every day there's a process of elimination where the waste

Toxins and things that aren't helpful are released from the body if there's not a daily Elimination, you know what happens you get constipated You don't feel good. You don't have energy. You're lethargic You can be nauseated all because you're holding on to things that are supposed to be released. I Don't want this to be gross, but some people are mentally constipated They've held on to every hurt every disappointment every closed door great-grandmother said something 40 years ago They're still upset still mad at the boss that left him out still dwelling on mistakes. They made decades back Still reliving the loss the pain from a breakup as long as you're holding on to that. It's poisoning you You're not gonna have the energy the creativity the joy to become who you were created to be Do yourself a favor have an elimination Purify yourself release anything negative the guilt the hurt the insecurity God has great wonders in front of you. He saw what wasn't fair He saw who hurt you what didn't work out. He's already scheduled beauty for those ashes He's already put on your calendar ways to pay you back There thrust you ahead where you don't even think about who did you wrong? There are great wonders in your future But remember the requirement you have to get rid of the blessing blockers Just like in the physical you need to do this on a daily basis Don't let things build up the scripture says don't let the Sun go down while you are still angry Why would God tell us to not let anger last over 24 hours? Because he doesn't want us to get clogged up this is saying don't go to bed mad at your spouse Don't get up in the morning with condemnation or jealous of that friend or thinking you're not good enough every morning there needs to be a cleansing a Reset where you let go of all the negative you forgive people for what they said yesterday You forgive yourself for not performing perfectly You set your mind in faith in hope Discipline thanking God for the favor on your life. That's purifying yourself If not, the anger is going to be there one night then two then a month in a year Now it's a part of who you are and that may be the way it's been but you don't have to stay that way You wouldn't be hearing this if God wasn't calling you up higher

He has some great wonders scheduled for your life There are some promised lands some Jordan rivers that are about to part Like Joshua told the people tomorrow it's going to happen. You need to get ready You're about to see God show out in your life Now my whole challenge is make sure you're prepared Don't be left on the shores Watching others go into the promised land because you didn't deal with things You didn't release the toxins. You didn't break away from bad influences. You held on to the hurt. This is a wake-up call We're not going to be here forever. Life is flying by We don't have time to miss opportunities. There is greatness in you God has raised you up to set new standards now be responsible for what he's entrusted you with Maybe there are things you're watching Listening to that are Contaminating you told us no big deal. Everybody does it but you're not everybody you're called to stand out in the crowd Some of these shows on television where people are unfaithful No morals Backstabbing friends if you're constantly watching that those seeds are being planted in you. You're allowing that to take root They're gonna become the same thing Your destiny is too important your assignment too valuable to play around with things that are going to limit you the scripture says You are a chosen people, set apart and called by God. One version says a peculiar people, not weird, but different. You're supposed to stand out. You're supposed to be the exception. Everyone else is compromising, not you. You've been set apart. And Joel, all my coworkers complain, bad mouth the company. They all show up late and cut corners. That's fine.

You're not responsible for their life, but that's not who you are. You're a cut above. You've been called to live with integrity, honesty and excellence. When they're complaining, don't let that poison get in you. Don't join in and add to the problem. Be a part of the solution. Be grateful that you have a job. Lord, I want to thank you that you blessed me with this position. They come in late, be the exception. You get there early. You do more than you have to. Paul said in second Corinthians, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. God is not looking for the crowd, for what everyone is doing. He's looking for people that will separate themselves, that will live consecrated, holy, excellent, not doing as little as they can to get by, but people who go the extra mile. I like to watch football and the quarterback will get the ball and he'll look out for a receiver, someone he can throw it to. That receiver has a defender, someone on the other team that's covering him, trying not to let him catch the ball. The defender will stay as close as possible, even bumping against him.

The receiver's whole job is to create separation. He's trying to lose the defender to get open so the quarterback will be able to throw him the ball. The quarterback is ready to pass it. He's standing there waiting. It's up to the receiver to break away, to create space so he can receive that pass. It's the same principle. God is the quarterback. He's ready to pass you the favor, the healing, the abundance, but you have to do your part and create separation. You have to get away from the crowd, the compromisers, the complainers, the naysayers, the jealous people. If you'll come out from among them, choose to live by a higher standard, then you'll be open, ready to receive the great wonders of our God. A few days before Joshua told the people to purify themselves, he sent spies into Jericho to see what the city was like. They looked around, got the information they needed, but before they could leave, word got out that they were there. The police were going everywhere trying to find them, knocking on door after door. There was a lady that lived there named Rahab. She was a prostitute. She took the spies into her house and hid them.

She knew they were Israelites. She told them, we're all afraid of your God. We know he's all powerful and we cannot stand against him. The authorities came knocking on her door and asked if she'd seen the men. She said, no, they were here earlier, but they left before the city gates shut. You can probably catch them if you'll go chasing after them. The whole time she had them hidden upstairs underneath the straw on her roof. Well, Rahab had lived a life that she wasn't pleased with. She didn't feel valuable. She was looked down on, but when those spies showed up, something came alive on the inside. She thought, this is not who I am. I wasn't created to live in shame and compromise. She told the spies, I'll hide you, but when you come back to take the city, you have to promise that you'll save me and my family. She was saying, in effect, I believe in your God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When the walls of Jericho fell, all the people were defeated except Rahab and her family. She went with the Israelites into the promised land. She later had children. Her great-grandson was Boaz, who married Ruth. You remember, Ruth was David's grandmother. That means that Rahab, this former prostitute, is in the family line of Jesus.

It all started when she made that decision to purify herself. God is showing us through Rahab that you're never too far gone. You're never too impure, too addicted, too rough, too angry. You can still become who you were created to be. Do you have to do like her? Make that decision to separate yourself, to get away from bad influences, to quit dwelling on unworthy, not valuable thoughts, to release all the toxins that are polluting your spirit. It may not be something big like Rahab, but a sour attitude can keep you from your destiny Being critical finding fault all the time. That's poisoning your future The Holy Spirit doesn't condemn us, but he will convict us Condemnation pushes you down makes you feel bad, but conviction challenges you to come up higher You feel that uneasiness that unrest saying hey, this jealousy is not who you are be happy for them That's God saying purify yourself Don't ignore it deal with it or you'll hear that still small voice saying hey quit being so harsh with your family Quit letting that co-worker steal your joy every day. God corrects his children He's going to challenge you in areas where you may be comfortable For a season that was okay, but he's calling you up higher What was fine five years ago? It's not fine now. He's about to do greater wonders So he's saying there has to be a higher level of consecration Who you used to hang around with that was okay, but not now not for where you're about to go What you used to watch that season is over. You're stepping into greater things Now you have to have greater Separation the ball God is about to throw you is something you've never seen your promised land Are you prepared? Have you purified yourself? The scripture says in a large house there are vessels of wood and clay used for ordinary purposes and

Some of silver and gold used for honorable purposes if any person will cleanse themselves From what is dishonorable? He will be a vessel set apart Useful to the master for his highest purposes. Let's not get stuck being wood and clay That's fine for a while. We all start off that way, but we should be growing We should be better this year than we were last year Not the same bad attitude dragging me down not giving into the same temptation the same guilt cloud in my future The same hurt poisoning my dream Those are toxins keeping you from the great wonders. God has in store And again, nobody can do this except you purify yourself Rahab did it after years of compromise. She still reached her destiny You can too Are there any areas that you know are limiting you maybe things you've grown up with now you've accepted Today can be the turning point You're not a vessel of wood a vessel of clay I'm looking at vessels of gold used for God's highest purposes ready for his great wonders It's already scheduled it now do your part separate yourself Create some more room for God to bless you. I never dreamed I would be up here God has opened doors and given me favor and opportunity like I've never imagined But with that promotion comes opposition People that don't understand you try to mischaracterize you it'd be easy to let that poison get in me Where I live defensive and upset trying to pay people back I've learned the importance of keeping my heart pure if your heart gets contaminated It will affect everything about you your relationships your attitude your vision That's why the scripture says guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life I've learned on a daily basis the importance of a release a Cleansing just like with the physical you have to eliminate any worry any guilt any compromise Let all that go So you can keep your heart pure so you can enjoy the day and love your family and pursue your dreams While back I was at the hospital in the lobby at the medical center and this couple came up and the husband asked if I would go

Pray for his father. He'd had surgery and was recovering very slowly I told him I would and we walked a long way across the street to a different wing Finally arrived at his hospital door. They said we'll stay out here. You just go in and surprise him I thought I don't know about that. I'm gonna walk in on this man. I've never met They said, oh, come on, he'll love it. I went in he's about 75 years old. He didn't say a word He just looked at me as Unexcited as could be him. I started encouraging him telling him that God is our healer and he's gonna come out and then I prayed a strong prayer declared faith and healing when I finished I leaned over and gave him a hug and Walked out of the room. His children said what did he do? I said he just just laid there and looked at me. They said, oh, that's great because he doesn't like you. He always makes fun of us when we watch you. I thought if I'd known that, I'd pray something different. God, take the old goat home. But what am I saying? On a daily basis, you have to release the offense, release what someone said. Y'all still laughing, aren't you? I wasn't laughing, I was embarrassed. But anyway, release the jealousy. Don't let the sun go down without an elimination. Purifying yourself of any toxins, things you know are gonna weigh you down. Listen, God is the quarterback. He has the favor, the increase, the opportunities, but he's looking for separation. He's looking for those that will come out from among them, not that fit in, that's wood and clay. That's not who you are, you're a vessel of gold. You have greatness in you.

God has his amazing wonders already on your schedule. Now do your part and purify yourself. If you'll do this, I believe and declare, like Joshua, Jordan rivers are about to part for you. Doors open and you couldn't open, like Rahab, restoration, honor, influence, levels that you never saw coming in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen? Amen. I'd like to give you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. We'd love to send you some free information on your new walk with the Lord. You can text the number on the screen or go to the website, but I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place.