Recognize Who You Are | 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. I'd like to start with something funny, and I should mention this was sent to me by a woman. But according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer, male reindeer lose their antlers at the start of winter in early November. Female reindeer keep their antlers all the way till spring. This means all of Santa's reindeer from Rudolph to Blitzen had to be female. She goes on to say, we should have known that only a woman could drag around a fat man wearing a red velvet suit all over the world in one night and not get lost. [LAUGHTER] I do not receive that at all, but here we go. 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 recognizing who you are. It's easy to go through life being defined by how we were raised, what we saw model growing up, what people have said, or mistakes we've made. We end up wearing these labels-- average, not talented, unattractive, too short. This distorted image is keeping us from who God created us to be. How you see yourself will determine how high you will go. It's possible to live your whole life and never recognize who you really are. This scripture says, "Before we were formed in our mother's womb, God knew us. Before you showed up on planet Earth, God already decided who you would be. He already laid out a purpose for your life. You came through your mother. She gave you birth, but you came from Almighty God. He gave you life. God didn't create anyone average. He calls you a masterpiece. He put greatness in you. There is potential on the inside that you've not yet tapped into. But if this is going to happen, you can't see yourself as weak, lacking, inadequate. Tune all that out and get in agreement with God. How about seeing yourself as a masterpiece, one of a kind, valuable?

Instead of lacking, unqualified, I'm equipped, empowered. I have everything I need to fulfill my assignment. Don't let a distorted image of who you are keep you from your purpose. When I was 20 years old, I went to India with my father. It was my first time being overseas. One evening, I was sitting on the beach by myself watching the sun go down. It was so beautiful, almost surreal, miles of pure white sand, swaying palm trees, glistening blue water. The sun was huge on the horizon, just about to set. I remember the distinct smells, the salt water from the ocean spray, the smoke from people grilling on the beach, and the marijuana from the hippies getting high. The longer I stayed, the better I felt. It looked like a postcard. I had never seen anything so magnificent. The thought came to my mind about how God is such an amazing painter, such an amazing artist. As I was sitting there and just reflecting, thinking about my life, I heard God ask me something, not out loud, but just an impression in my spirit. He said, Joel, you think this is a beautiful picture, do you? I said, yes, God, it's a magnificent picture. He said, what do you think my most prized painting would be? My most incredible creation. I thought about it a moment. I said, God, it must be this, this is beautiful. He said, no, it's not this sunset.

Earlier that year, I'd been in the Rocky Mountains, and they were so beautiful. I said, I bet it's the Rocky Mountains. He said, no, it's not that. I thought, what could it be, the Grand Canyon, the Milky Way, the solar system? He said, no, Joel, my most prized creation. The one I'm the most proud of is you. I thought, me, it couldn't be me, I'm just average. Nothing special about me. He said, Joel, you don't understand. When I made the solar system, the sun, the oceans, that was all good. I'm proud of that, but when I made you, I created you in my own image. I put my DNA on the inside. Don't discount who you are. Don't let lie, people, disappointments, convince you that you're just average. Nothing special about you. You have royal blood flowing through your veins. God has crowned you with his favor. He doesn't call the Rocky Mountains a masterpiece. Doesn't call the solar system a masterpiece. He didn't call that magnificent sunset a masterpiece. He calls you a masterpiece. He calls you his most prized creation. Now, the question is, what do you call in yourself? If you see yourself as ordinary, not that talented, I don't have a good personality.

I'm dealing with these weaknesses. That distorted image is going to keep you from shining. What a tragedy to go through life and never discover who you really are. Are you wearing labels that are limiting you, average, not talented, dysfunctional? Who put those labels on you? Who told you that was who you are? Quit letting other people define you and go back to who God says you are. People will tell you you're not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not talented enough. Why don't you take that label off and put on a new one fearfully and wonderfully made? Masterpiece, one of a kind, strong, talented, successful. Judges, chapter six, the Midianites had surrounded the people of Israel. There was a young man named Gideon that was hiding in a wine press. He was afraid, intimidated. While he was hiding, an angel came into the wine press and said, mighty hero, the Lord is with you. I can imagine Gideon looking around, thinking, who's he talking about? I'm not a mighty hero. I'm afraid, I'm hiding. God was saying, in effect, Gideon, you don't recognize who you are. You're wearing all these labels, insecure, weak, not enough. But I came to tell you who you really are.

You're a mighty hero. You have courage, strength, talent that you haven't tapped into. The angel went on to say, you were to lead the Israelites against the Midianites. Gideon answered back, how can I rescue Israel? I come from the smallest tribe, and I'm the least one in my family. Here, God had just called him a mighty hero. He just told him he was going to do something great. But Gideon let how he was raised to find him. What family he came from, his education, his size, his perception of who he is, is keeping him from becoming who God called him to be. If the angel were here today, he would look at you and say, mighty hero, the Lord is with you. But how many of us would do like Gideon? Not me. I'm not a mighty hero. I come from an ordinary family. I'll never do something great. I can't defeat this giant. I don't have the courage, the skill, the expertise. So don't let your wrong perception keep you from your greatness. Get an agreement with God. Take off all those negative labels, unqualified, wrong family, intimidated. How you see yourself is going to set the limits for your life. And Gideon finally changed his thinking.

He got a new image of who he was, and he went out and defeated the Midianites. He saved the people of Israel. But sitting in that wine press, afraid, feeling inferior, he never dreamed we would be talking about him today. He never dreamed he would become a hero of fame. If the angel had not shown up to speak to his destiny, to tell him who God created him to be, he would have lived and died and never discovered who he really was. Maybe God sent me like that angel to tell you who you really are. You are not what people say you are. You're not limited by how you were raised. You're not what your feelings say you are. Your feelings don't always tell the truth. You may feel weak, not valuable, not qualified, but don't let your feelings determine your identity. Feelings are fickle. Feelings will come and go. You have to go back to what your creator says. He calls you a mighty hero. He calls you a barrier breaker, a giant killer, a masterpiece, a prized possession. I can imagine, in the wine press, Gideon, praying for God to send a great leader, believing for the right person to show up. God send us a deliverer, send us someone strong, talented with your faith. He was the answer he was asking God for.

Now, wonder if, like Gideon, you're the one you've been praying for. You're the one to do great things, to set a new standard, to take your family to a new level, but perhaps you don't recognize who you are. When we're always looking to others, always counting on someone else, it's because we're overlooking what God put in us. There is greatness in you. There is leadership in you. There is talent, wisdom, creativity. Don't overlook yourself. Don't discount who you are thinking everyone else is so talented. They can deliver us from this army. They can get me out. They can go further. No, God has destined you to do something awesome. He's destined you to leave your mark. When God told Abraham and Sarah, they were going to have a baby. They were both way too old. In the natural, it was impossible. Years went by, no sign of a child. So Sarah told Abraham to sleep with her maid, that way they could have a baby. They had a child through Hagar, but that wasn't the promised child. God said to Sarah, "In effect, I didn't put the promise in someone else. I put the promise in you." Sarah was discounting herself. I'm too old. There's no way I can have a baby at this age. That's impossible. As long as she saw herself as barren, not able to have children, she was limiting her destiny. She had to start seeing herself as a mother, seeing that baby in her arms. When she changed her perception of who she was.

When she quit counting on other people to make it happen, when she believed I'm the one to give birth to this child, that's when she conceived and gave birth to baby Isaac at 90 years old. God will put promises in your heart that seem impossible. Thoughts will tell you all the reasons it's not going to happen. If you look at it only in the natural, you'll talk to yourself out of it. How do you know you're not a Sarah? That God's going to do something out of the ordinary, uncommon. How do you know you're not a Gideon, a mighty hero, someone that will take your family where they've never been? See, easy to think, "Well, Joel, that's not who I am. That's for someone younger, more talented, more influential, more attractive." No, God put the promise in you, not someone else. You have to do like Gideon. Do like Sarah. Recognize who you are. You're a person of destiny. You're a mighty hero. You have the favor of God. You've been raised up for such a time as this. Don't discount who you are. It's good to celebrate others, but you need to recognize you're gifted. You're talented. You're valuable. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. A friend of mine grew up in a small town in Kentucky and they were very poor. Didn't have too much at all. As a little boy, he always had a desire to help children in need. He saw on television how you could support a hungry child in another country for $15 a month. He didn't have any money, but at eight years old he started mowing lawns in the neighborhood so he could help.

He had such a burden for these children. By the grace of God, he was able to go to college and he went on to medical school and became very successful in his practice. All the while, he was still doing what he could to take care of children. One of his medical suppliers heard about it and they started donating medicines, vaccines, antibiotics. A shoe company donated 100,000 shoes to him. God so large he had to rent a warehouse to hold it all. Today our friends Dr. Todd and Sue Price have donated over a billion dollars in supplies and medicines to children around the world. He told how from the time he was a little boy, he always prayed that God would send a wealthy person to help those children in need. He said, "Joel, I never realized I was the person I was praying for." He was the answer to his own prayer. Sometimes we don't recognize who we are. We have all this potential. These God-given dreams, abilities, but often our circumstances, other people, our own thoughts tell us we're ordinary. We can't do anything significant. So we go through life with little dreams, feeling unqualified, praying that someone else will make a difference. Someone else will push our family forward. I'm saying you're the one that you're praying for. You're the one that can leave your mark. There is favor on your life. There are doors God will open that will thrust you further. You may not see how it can happen. Every voice says no, you're limited. You're stuck, that giant's too big. That dream is too great, that's okay. That's when God will step in. That's when he'll breathe in your direction, give you favor, ability, blessings that take you where you can't go on your own. It's significant that the angel said to Gideon, mighty hero, the Lord is with you.

He could have just said Gideon, God wants you to go deliver the Israelites. God knew he had to convince Gideon to see himself the right way. He had to help him discover who he really was, a mighty hero. As long as he saw himself as weak, limited from the wrong family, we wouldn't be talking about him. Don't miss your destiny because you don't recognize who you are. After college, I came back to Lakewood and worked 17 years behind the scenes doing the television production. My father tried many times to get me up to speak but I didn't think this was in me. I thought I wouldn't know what to say. I can't speak in front of people. I'm too quiet, too reserved. But when my father passed in 1999, I knew I was supposed to step up and pastor the church. I felt it so strongly, but these fears and insecurities came louder than ever. The angel, you don't know how to minister? Nobody's gonna listen to you. You're gonna get up there and make a fool of yourself. All these voices were trying to push me down, limit my potential, convince me that I wasn't smart enough, talented enough, experienced enough. Like Gideon, I had to make a decision. Am I going to sit here and let my fears and doubts

talk me out of stepping up? Or am I going to believe what God says about me? That I'm a mighty hero, that I'm strong in the Lord, that I can do all things through Christ. There was a battle taking place in my mind over who I was going to become. I overheard people talking, he's not as good as his father. He'll never make it with Joel. Was I going to be what people said? What my doubts said? What my feelings said? Or was I gonna believe I am who God says I am? I'm a masterpiece. I'm valuable, I'm talented, I'm well able. I took that step of faith and never dreamed where God would take me. I thought I knew who I was, but I'm still discovering who I am. I've learned once you think you know, God will take you higher. He'll trust you with more. He's taken you from glory to glory. In the scripture, there was a young man named Mephibosheth. He was the grandson of King Saul, the son of Jonathan David's best friend. He was born into royalty, destined to one day take the throne. But when he was five years old, his grandfather and father were killed in a battle on the same day.

After the enemy finished King Saul off, they headed into town to find Saul's family. When Mephibosheth's nurse heard the news, she grabbed him, took off running as fast as she could, trying to spare his life. And as she's going downstairs, she tripped and dropped Mephibosheth. He fell so hard that both of his legs were broken. He became crippled and would never walk again. He ended up living in hiding in a place called Lodabar. One of the poorest, most rundown cities of that day. Here, he's the grandson of the king. He had grown up in the palace in royalty, but now he's living in the slums, barely surviving. When we go through disappointments, loss and bad breaks, it's easy to forget who we are and let that become our identity. I've been dropped, Joel. I've been hurt. I've been betrayed. I have a good excuse to be this way. But what you've been through doesn't change who you are. You are still royalty. You are still a masterpiece. You are still a child of the Most High God. He's promised to give you beauty for those ashes, to pay you back double for the unfair things, but you have to get your passion back. You have to get your vision back.

The enemy would love for that one bad break to define you, to where you see yourself as a victim. Nothing goods in my future. Let me just endure life. No payback is coming. God saw what happened. He saw who left you. He saw what you didn't get. He's a God of justice. He's going to make it up to you. Years went by. Now, my fiba chef is a grown man. He asked his staff if any of Jonathan's relatives were still alive. They said yes He has a son, but he's crippled David said go find him The king's men showed up in the slums of load of our knocked on his door sternly. He's alarmed His scoots over and opens the door very slowly when he sees the officials his heart sinks Thinking old man. They finally found me. I'm in big trouble The main leader says to him a fiba chef the king is looking for you Can't walk they have to pick him up and carry him to the palace You can imagine what's going on in his mind his grandfather King Saul tried to kill David Through spears at David. He chased him through the desert They bring him before David the first thing my fiba chef says is why would you even bother with a dead dog like me? Notice how he saw himself not valuable Unworthy a victim. I don't deserve anything. Look what I've been through. I'm at a disadvantage When in reality, he was the grandson of the king. He was royalty Just because someone dropped him that didn't change his name He didn't suddenly not become King Saul's grandson The problem was he let life change his name He let that bad break define his identity. He forgot who he was. I can see him trembling with fear So worried about what David's going to do

David said to him in effect my fiba chef. I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to remind you who you are Your royalty you're the grandson of the king your father was my best friend From now on you're going to live in the palace with me Every night you will sit at my table and have dinner all the land that belong to your grandfather I'm giving it back to you. I Can see my fiba chef wipe in tears his face begins to brighten You can't believe it. He says you mean I'm not a dead dog. I'm not unworthy. I'm not washed up David said no, that's not who you are. You don't belong in low to bar. You belong in the palace with me Had David not told him who he was he would have spent the rest of his life in defeat and mediocrity I wonder how many of us kind of like my fiba chef have that dead dog mentality We see ourselves the wrong way. We've been through disappointments. We made mistakes Now we think we're not worthy. We can't expect anything good. Can I tell you the king is looking for you? God sent me down your path to get you out a load of our To remind you who you are a masterpiece a mighty hero a king's child There's royalty in your blood. There's a crown of favor on your head I get rid of that dead dog mentality and start having a child of the king mentality Were the valuable blessed abundant victorious? When my nephew Jackson was a little boy just a toddler my sister-in-law Jennifer Paul's wife Would take him to bed each night after they prayed she would go through this long list of superheroes Tell him Jackson. That's who he was just to make him feel loved and valuable She would say Jackson. You're my Superman. You're my rescue hero. You're my Buzz Lightyear You're my lightly McQueen. You're my power ranger on and on. He would lie there and just take it all in One night they got home late. She put him to bed in a hurry and didn't go through the list in a few minutes She heard this voice calling loudly mama mama. She went rushing to his room Yes, Jackson. What's wrong? He said mom. You forgot to tell me who I am Too many people have never been told who they are They've had negative voices playing over and over. They believed the lies your average You're not talented. You're unattractive. You'll never do anything great. No, let me tell you who you really are You're a child of the most high God. You're beautiful. You're talented. You're strong You're successful

You're one of a kind a history maker a giant killer a mighty hero Paul said in Romans 8 the entire universe is standing on tiptoe yearning to see the unveiling of God's glorious sons and daughters Paul is saying all of heaven is waiting for you to recognize who you are They're standing on tiptoe. They can maybe today Maybe they'll realize they're a masterpiece. They're a mighty hero, a king's son. Maybe today they'll realize they don't belong in Laudebar that they can step up to the table, that they're royalty. You wanna give heaven something to cheer about? See yourself the way God sees you. Quit discounting yourself. Hakin' you're at a disadvantage, you're lacking. Get out of Laudebar. Get out of that negative mindset and come over into the palace. The king is looking for you. He sent me to help you discover who you really are. See, many of us, like Gideon, we have much more in us, but we're stuck in an old version of who we are. I didn't know this ability was in me. Get up and speak in front of people. I was stuck in who I used to be. Behind the scenes, doing the production, that version was fine for the time, but it wasn't the final version. There are new versions of you coming that are stronger, wiser, more successful, greater favor. You don't see it all at once. It happens in stages.

If you'll stay open, you'll discover a greater version of you. My challenge is don't get stuck in who you used to be. Letting limitations from the past, what someone said, keep you from stepping up to who you really are. This is a new day, I'm calling out the mighty hero, the barrier breaker, the masterpiece. Take off all those negative labels and get an agreement with God. If you'll do this, I believe and declare like Gideon, you're gonna discover talent, courage, creativity, favor that you never knew you had. You're gonna accomplish dreams bigger than you thought, overcome obstacles that look insurmountable and become all you were created to be. In Jesus' name. And if you receive it, will you say 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. I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church, keep God first place.

Victor and I'll be right back to speak a blessing over you.