The Open Windows Of Heaven | Joel Osteen

God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes, and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. I like to start with something funny, and I heard about this family that lived way back in the woods. They never left their little town, never watched television. One day, they took a vacation to New York City, and the father was showing his son a famous skyscraper, and they were so impressed. They were especially intrigued by the elevator. They didn't know what it was. This elderly woman walked up and pushed a button. The walls opened up. She stepped into a little room. The walls closed back up. They sat there contemplating what they had just seen. In a few seconds, the same walls opened back up, and a beautiful 24-year-old girl stepped out. Almost in disbelief, the son said, Dad, what just happened? He said, I don't know, son, but go get your mother. 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 the open windows of heaven.

We all come to places in life where we reach our limits. We've gone as far as our education allows. The medical report says we're not going to get well. We've tried to break the addiction but haven't been able to do it. It's easy to settle where we are and think that it's never going to change. But the Scripture says in Malachi, when you honor God with your giving, He will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you cannot contain. You may have reached your limits on your own. There are obstacles you can't seem to overcome. The good news is, you're not on your own. Because you're a giver, because you're honoring God, you are under the open windows of heaven. If you'll get your passion back, start believing again, start expecting again, God is going to rain down favor, rain down good grace, rain down abundance. The medical report may not look good, but under the open windows of heaven, healing is raining down. God can do what medicine cannot do. He has the final say. You may have gone as far as you can in your career, but under the open windows of heaven, increase is raining down, divine connections, opportunities. You haven't been able to break that addiction. Don't accept it as the way it's always going to be. You have an advantage. You're under the open windows of heaven. It's just a matter of time before freedom rains down. But sometimes we think we're at a disadvantage. We don't have the talent we need. We don't have the connections, the experience. Joel, if I was taller, if I had a better personality, if I knew the right people, then I could be successful. If you think you're at a disadvantage, you will live at a disadvantage.

If you think lack, you're going to have lack. Instead of thinking, I'm at a deficit, I'm lacking, turn it around. I'm under the open windows of heaven. I have everything I need, an abundance of talent, an abundance of ideas, abundance of strength, abundance of health. Get rid of a lack mentality and have an abundant mentality. You may not have seen it yet, but don't worry, your time is coming. God is about to do something unusual, something extraordinary, something that you haven't seen. He said he would pour out blessings that you don't have room enough to contain. That means if you have room, you haven't seen the fullness of what God is going to do. He's going to give you so many opportunities, you can't take them all. You have to pick and choose. So many clients, so much business, you have to send some to your coworkers. So many resources, so many savings, you have to pass them to your children, your grandchildren. Not just material things, but so much joy that you can share joy wherever you go. So much peace, strength, stability, that instead of needing to be encouraged, you're the encourager. You're the lifter. You're the one that brings a smile to people's face. This phrase, open windows of heaven, is found another place in the Scripture. It's when the flood came in Noah's day. God said he opened the windows of heaven. What happened? Water covered the whole earth. Wasn't a little sprinkle, a minor event, it was a major flood, a huge downpour. When God says he's going to open the windows of heaven, he's not talking about a flood, open the windows of heaven in your life. That doesn't mean He's going to help you through the day or give you strength to get past a problem. That's good. We're grateful for everything, but that's not what this is talking about. God is going to send a flood of His goodness. He's going to do something major where you step back and say, wow, I didn't see that

coming. There will be blessings you cannot contain and you cannot explain. All you can say was that was the goodness of God. I know a lady that was diagnosed with a tumor under her arm. She'd gone through all the tests and x-rays and they discovered it was cancerous. She had been scheduled to have surgery to have it removed. She went in that morning. The doctors wanted to take more x-rays just to verify before the operation. She had already been prepped, had the IV in, about to go into the operating room. The doctor came out scratching his head. He said, in 26 years of practicing, I've never seen this, but the tumor is no longer there. You could see it on one x-ray, but not the next. How could this be? She lives under the open windows of heaven. When God rains down healing, cancer can't stay. When He rains down joy, depression has to go. When He rains down favor, good breaks, it's going to thrust you to the next level. You're not going to be able to explain it. You weren't the most qualified. You weren't next in line. You shouldn't have been chosen, but you look up and you're further than you ever dreamed. What happened? The heavens opened up. God rained down increase, took you where you could not go on your own. In this year of yes, you're going to see things that you cannot explain. Like with this lady, the medical report suddenly turns around. Your business suddenly takes off. You suddenly break the addiction. You've been faithful. You've given. You've served. Get ready. The heavens are about to open up. God is going to do something that you've never seen. It's going to be a bountiful year, an abundant year, a prosperous year. Problems that looked permanent are suddenly going to turn around. Doors that have been closed for years are suddenly going to open. You're not going to have to go after opportunity. Opportunity is going to come after you. Now, do your part all through the day. Father, thank you that I'm under the open windows of heaven. Thank you that you're pouring out blessings that I cannot contain. Your mind may tell you, this is not going to happen for you. Nothing's going to change. Don't believe those lies. Keep thanking God for what he's about to do. Praise causes the heavens to open. Living worried, discouraged, complaining, that keeps the rain from coming down. You may not see how it can happen, but this is what faith is all about. God, I don't see a way, but I know you have a way. My circumstances say that I'm stuck, but I'm not moved by what I see. I'm moved by what I know, and I know I'm under the open windows of heaven. When you get this down in your spirit, you won't be intimidated by the size of your dreams.

You won't be discouraged by problems. You won't live thinking you're at a disadvantage. You'll have a confidence, an expectancy, a knowing that at any moment, the heavens are going to open up. I talked to a young man that's battling cancer. He lives in another state, and he would fly into Houston for treatment at MD Anderson. He got to the place where it was so expensive, he couldn't keep flying back and forth, so he started driving. He would take the treatment and then drive home by himself nine hours. He heard a message on becoming a giver and tithing your income. He had all these medical bills and travel expenses. It didn't make sense to his mind, but something in his heart told him he needed to take a step of faith and become a giver. Nobody pressured him, but he started tithing. A month later, his boss called and asked about his travel arrangements. He explained how he used to fly, but now it was too expensive. He was driving. His boss said, I don't want you to drive anymore. I want you to start flying and put all of your flights, all of your travel on our company credit card. This young man was so amazed. He said, my boss knew about my situation for over a year, but as soon as I started tithing, this happened. What was that? He stepped under the open windows of heaven. When you do your part, God will do his part. He'll cause people to be good to you. He'll open doors that you can't open. Same God that sent provision can send healing. He can send the person of your dreams. He can send the breakthrough. Like this young man, you're about to see the heavens open up. God is going to surprise you. People are going to go out of their way to be good to you. Contracts, scholarships, opportunities are going to come looking for you. You're not going to have to force it to happen. Try to persuade people to be for you. God is going to cause it to fall into place. Quit worrying about the legal situation. Quit losing sleep over that problem at work.

The battle is not yours. The battle is the Lord's. He's your vindicator. He's protecting your reputation. Stand still and you will see the deliverance of the Lord. It's going to happen sooner than you think. It's going to turn out better than you thought. Now you have to let the seed take root. Thoughts will tell you, oh, this is not for you today. Don't let your mind talk you out of it. You're a giver. You're planted in the house of the Lord. God has promised he will open the windows of heaven. He will pour out blessings you cannot contain. It goes on to say, he will rebuke the devourer for your sake. That means what would have devoured opportunity, devoured finances, caused you to lose income, harm your children, spend on things that keep breaking down. Because you're a giver, God is going to rebuke the devourer for your sake. It's one thing when we pray. It's good when we stand against the forces of darkness, but when you're under the open windows of heaven, the creator of the universe says, I'm going to rise up and rebuke the devourer for you. You don't have to live worried, uptight, in fear, on edge. You have a protector. You have a defender.

The most high God is standing guard over your life. There have been many times God has rebuked the devourer and we knew nothing about it. He kept you from that sickness. He protected you from that accident. He kept that tree from falling on your house, causing you so much in repairs. He kept that supervisor from holding you back. It's good to thank God for the blessing, the promotion, the favor, but sometimes you need to thank God for what didn't happen. Thank Him that you didn't get sick. Thank Him that you didn't get laid off. Thank Him that your child didn't get in trouble. That was God behind the scenes, rebuking the devourer for your sake. Genesis chapter one, the earth was dark and without form. God said, let there be light and light came. He called the light day and the darkness night. This was on the first day of creation. What's interesting is God didn't create the sun or the moon until the fourth day. Yet He had light from day one. That doesn't make sense. How could that be? The sun is our source for light. God was showing us He can bless you without a source. He can promote you without people being for you. He can heal you without the treatment.

When the angel came to Mary, he said, you're going to have a baby without a man. In the Old Testament, God brought water out of a rock, no lake, no stream, no source. When you look at your situation, you may see all the reasons why you can't get well, why you can't accomplish a dream, why you can't break the addiction. You don't have what you need, but God is not limited by what you don't have. He doesn't have to have a traditional source. He's God. He controls the universe. When He needs light, He doesn't wait for the sun. He speaks and He has light without the sun. What God has destined for you, He can do without a bank, without the treatment, without the experience, without the support. He may not do it a traditional way. I know a man that had 90% of his vocal cords removed. He had some kind of infection, kept getting worse. Finally, the doctors had to remove them. He was told he would never speak again. He might be able to make some sounds, but never speak. But he talked to me like we're talking now. I couldn't tell anything was wrong. The doctor said he was a medical marvel, an anomaly. They couldn't explain it. But when God wants you to speak, He doesn't check with your vocal cords.

What God has planned for you, He doesn't check with your bank account. He doesn't check with your friends to see if they approve. He doesn't check to see if you have the talent. He speaks, and it becomes. He's going to bless you without a source. You're going to see things happen and think, how did I get here? How did I know how to do this? How did we see this growth? How did we get the Compact Center? That was God blessing us without a source. This is what happened to Ruth in the scripture. She was out in the fields picking up leftover wheat, trying to survive. God spoke to the owner of the field, told him to leave wheat on the ground on purpose for Ruth. Now she had more than enough. She could finish in half the time. It was like the windows of heaven opened up. She came into an abundance, but she didn't see a source. She didn't know that the owner was doing that. God is going to make things happen where you don't see a source. It's not going to be traditional. Quit worrying because you don't see how your situation can work out. God's ways are not our ways. They are higher and better than our ways. Sometimes we're waiting for the sun for light.

God says, I don't need the sun. I just speak and it happens. In Acts chapter eight, an Ethiopian man had traveled a great distance to Jerusalem to worship in the temple. It was a treasure for the queen of Sheba, an influential man. On his way back home, he was riding in his chariot, reading from the book of Isaiah. Philip had been in Samaria with Peter and John, leading the church, having great success. An angel appeared to Philip and told him to go down to the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza. I'm sure this didn't make much sense to Philip. Things were going great in Samaria. Now he's supposed to go to the desert. While he was there, he saw this chariot passing by with this Ethiopian man. God told him to go catch the chariot. He took off running full speed and he caught up with it. He could hear the man reading from the book of Isaiah. He asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man said that he didn't. So Philip got up in the chariot with him and began to explain how Isaiah was talking about how Jesus came as the savior. He shared the good news. This man was so excited. He saw some water, told his driver to stop the chariot.

He said to Philip, I want you to baptize me in water right here. His whole life was changed from that one encounter. What's interesting is this man wasn't looking for Philip. He didn't even know Philip. Philip chased him down, an unexpected blessing. This man was minding his own business, riding in his chariot. Out of nowhere, Philip showed up and gave him insight that took him to the next level. Like this man, because you're a giver, because you're honoring God, God is going to have the right people search you out. He's going to cause good breaks to find you. You may not realize it, but right now there's a Philip chasing your chariot. There are blessings God has ordained to track you down. People that will use their influence, their experience to push you forward, to help you go where you could not go on your own. Some Philips are coming your way. This man was leaving the temple when Philip found him. When you take time to go to the house of the Lord, don't be surprised if when you get home, if sometime this week, sometime this month, Philip shows up. Something unusual, an unexpected blessing is because you're under the open windows of heaven. When I look back over my life, I can see the Philips. In my early twenties, I walked into a jewelry store

to buy a battery for my watch. There was Philip, so to speak. I met Victoria unexpectedly for the first time. She kept chasing me down, finally caught me. That's my side of the story. In 2005, a book publisher called me out of the blue, asked if he could publish my next book. I wasn't looking for him. We already had a publisher, but when he made the offer, I said, hello, Philip. A few years ago, an executive from Sirius XM Satellite Radio called and asked if I would do an hour program on one of their channels each week and told him I wasn't interested in that. He said, how about we give you your own channel? I said, hello, Philip. I didn't go after it. It came after me. When you keep God first place, when you're- You're a giver because you're under the open windows of heaven blessings will overtake you They'll catch you by surprise You need to get ready some Phillips are about to show up Good breaks that you didn't see coming people that go out of their way to be good to you Opportunities that will thrust you to the next level. You couldn't have made it happen like the Ethiopian man You didn't have the connections. You didn't even know them. It was the hand of God Maybe you're single believing to meet the right person You don't have to force things to happen try to convince people to like you Compromise your values just stay on the high road keep honoring God

He'll have the right people find you Philip is on the way somebody better than you can imagine For you men Phyllis is on the way That's Philip's sister and she's good-looking That's not in the scripture, but it should be but here's what I've learned You don't have to seek after people seek after God He'll bring divine connections the right people that will move you further into your destiny In first Kings 18 there had been a drought in Samaria for three and a half years No water, no rain crops had dried up People had little food struggling to survive the Prophet Elijah could have said God, it's not fair. I'm a giver I'm serving you, but I'm not under the open windows of heaven. I'm in a drought Instead of complaining Elijah went on top of Mount Carmel and began to thank God that the rain was coming I can hear him say Lord. Thank you that rain is on the way. Thank you that you're changing things in my favor He sent his assistant out to see if there were any clouds in the sky The man came back and said in effect. No, sorry Elijah your praise isn't doing any good. There aren't any clouds It's perfectly clear This is when many people give up and get discouraged. No, I've been given I've been coming I've been helping others, but nothing has changed. I'm still in a drought When Elijah heard the news that there were no clouds Instead of being discouraged I can imagine that he turned up his praise Lord, thank you that you're opening the windows of heaven. Thank you that rain is on the way He sent the man back again and again and again same answer no clouds But on the seventh time the man came back and said this time I saw something different Wasn't much don't get your hopes up, but I saw a little cloud up in the sky Elijah sent word to King Ahab saying I hear the sound of the abundance of rain Here's the key Elijah heard rain in his spirit before he saw rain on the outside God always puts things in your spirit before they come to pass That's why you have to latch on to promises in the middle of struggle and lack. You have to hear abundance in Loneliness you have to hear friendships in sickness. You have to hear help in trouble and opposition

You need to hear victory Elijah told King Ahab you better get in your chariot and take off. There's about to be a huge downpour Ahab got in that chariot and he headed out as fast as he could got his horses going full speed ahead The scripture says that God gave Elijah special strength He tucked in his cloak and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the next city He outran a chariot When you're under the open windows of heaven, God will help you accomplish things that you could not accomplish on your own Philip caught up to his chariot to help the Ethiopian man Elijah outran a chariot Goes on to tell how the heavens opened up the three and a half year drought came to an end There was a huge downpour what Elijah heard in his spirit suddenly came to pass The things you've been hearing in your spirit the abundance the dreams the healing the child coming back home Meeting the right person you've heard it on the inside. It's taken root like Elijah It's about to suddenly happen. You've been praying thanking God doing the right thing Get ready. The heavens are about to open up. You're going to see an abundance of favor an abundance of joy an abundance of healing That drought is not just going to come to an end. You're going to outrun the chariot You're going to go further than you ever imagined. You're going to Discover ability that you didn't know was in you. God is going to bless you without a source. Quit focusing on what you don't have. All Elijah had was a little cloud, no chance for rain in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He can give water without rain, light without the sun, healing without the treatment, promotion without people being for you. Now all through the day, Father, thank you that I'm under the open windows of heaven. Have an abundant mentality.

If you'll do this, I believe and declare, God is about to pour out blessings that you cannot contain. The Phillips are about to catch up to your chariot, unexpected favor, divine connections, healing, breakthroughs, the fullness of your destiny. I declare it in the name of Jesus. If you receive it, can you say amen today? 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. Get in a good Bible-based church and keep God first place. I will be right back to speak a blessing over you.