Who's In Your Ear? | 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 like to talk with something funny, and I heard about this mother. She had two young boys that were known for their mischievous behavior. Any time trouble occurred, they were certain to be a part of it. She decided to take them to see their pastor one at a time. The pastor said to the first boy, "Son, where is God?" He sat there silently. He asked again, "Where is God?" Still no reply. The third time he asked the boy bolted out the door, ran home and told his brother, "God is missing," and they think we did it. (audience laughing) 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 wanna talk to you today about who's in your ear. It's so important who we're taking advice from. We're listening to their counsel, following their suggestions, doing what they say. We all have people that are influencing us, people that are in our ear. The question is, are they the right people? You shouldn't take advice from everyone. You shouldn't be swayed by every opinion. You need to look at their track record. Where are they in life? Have they made good decisions? Do they honor God? Do they have your best interests at heart? You have to be careful who's in your ear. If you have wrong voices, you're going to make wrong choices. If you hang around friends that compromise them, co-workers that gossip them, family members that get you all riled up, they're not moving you towards your destiny. Their example, their advice, how they're influencing you, those wrong voices are keeping you from your potential. Pay attention to who you're taking advice from. Some people have an opinion about everything. They're quick to tell you how to run your life, but they can't even run their own life. They're giving you relationship advice, but they've been through six break-ups.

They have all these suggestions, how to spend your money, buy this, invest here. This is a great deal, but they can't pay their own bills. Before you take that advice, you should consider the source. Do they have credibility? Do they have good character, integrity? Are they a person of excellence? I'm not saying don't ever take advice. I'm saying be selective. Pay attention to who's in your ear, who you're giving credibility to. You should weigh every suggestion, every piece of advice against what you feel in your spirit. God will not speak to other people about your life without speaking to you. You can hear from God. You don't have to run to that friend to try to get direction, run to this family member to see what you should do. That's all fine, but why don't you try running to God? The scripture says if anyone needs wisdom, let him ask of God and he will freely give it. One verse says you will know the right decision every time. Now I've found the more you ask God, the less you have to depend on people. The problem is people can miss it, even friends that love you, family members that want you to succeed. Sometimes they don't know the right thing. They'll give advice that's not the best.

But if you look inside, you'll feel that still small voice telling you what you need to do. Just an impression, an urging, not in your head, but in your heart, giving you clear direction. In the Old Testament, God spoke to the people through the prophets when they needed direction. They were up against a big army. They would say go find the prophet, go get Elijah, go get Jeremiah, we need a word from the Lord. We need to know what to do. They were dependent on certain people, the ones God had chosen to speak to them. But when Jesus died, we came out from under the old covenant into a better covenant. In this new covenant, we don't have to go to people to see what God says. The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of each one of us. He's called your counselor, your guide, your advisor. He'll give you advice. He'll help you make the right choices. It's not that God is not speaking to us. It's that we're so busy listening to others. Some people are alarmist. Everything is a major crisis. When they call, something is always wrong. You've got to come fix this. You've got to go here. This is not right. I can't believe this is happening. If you keep them in your ear, you're going to live wrought up,

stressed out, on edge, do yourself a favor, tune them out. Quit letting them control you. What if they get upset, Joel? They're already upset. Let them be upset by themselves. You joining them doesn't do them any good. Certain people like to get you stirred up. They live off the drama. You were content. Enjoying the day. They come in their office. You know, this company doesn't treat you right. They promote everyone except you. That guy next to you, he's been here less time, but he makes way more. That's just not fair. Most of the time, they don't know all the facts. They just want to get you riled up. If you let them in your ear and start dwelling on that, they get up all the negative, you'll end up sour, frustrated, slacking off. What's the problem? Wrong voices lead to wrong choices. Be careful of people that try to stir you up. It should be a red flag when someone comes and starts pointing out everything that's wrong. Blowing things out of proportion, knocking your balls, telling you what's wrong with your spouse. I wouldn't let my wife treat me like that. You know she doesn't respect you. I put my foot down.

Tell her if it doesn't change. They're going to be trouble. Don't take that bait. They're so in discord trying to poison your spirit. This scripture tells us to be peacemakers, not troublemakers. That's someone that wants you to get bent out of shape. They're quick to give advice. They always have the answers. You have to consider the source. Do they have integrity? Are they a person of good character? How is their relationship with their spouse? Oh, they're not married. They don't have a spouse. They've been married a few times. Why are you taking advice from someone that's not where you want to be? From someone that doesn't have high standards. From someone that's going against what God says. God will never contradict His word. You need to weigh any advice with does this line up with the scripture? Well, God told me you'd leave your husband and become my wife. God didn't tell you that. You had too much pizza last night. God told me you don't have to pay your taxes this year. Give those funds to support my family. While they're enjoying your money, you'll be enjoying our prison ministry. Those are wrong voices. Those coworkers that sit around in gossip. Friends that tried to get you riled up. Relatives that so discord.

Why are you letting them in your ear? You have a destiny to fulfill. Junior High, I was at one of my basketball games sitting on the bench. I played the first quarter and wasn't going to go back in until the third quarter. I was kind of bored and thought I need some entertainment. My friend was sitting next to me. I said, "Hey, man, this rep is making really bad calls. You need to let him know." He looked at me kind of strange. I said, "Yeah, let him know." The ref called a foul. My friend hollered out, "Come on, ref. That was terrible." I looked at him. We laughed. I said, "Man, that was great, but I don't think he heard you. You need to say it louder." The ref blew the whistle. He screamed it out. All of us on the bench were laughing, having fun. He started to like all the attention. I said it again. You know what? The ref still didn't hear you. Next time you need to stand up, really be forceful. The ref called a foul. He jumped up off the bench, walked onto the court, threw his hands in the air, shouted, "Come on, ref. Everyone in the gym looked at him." Our coach said, "Son, what are you doing?

Go to the locker room." He walked out of there looking at me. I looked down like, "I didn't have anything to do with this." Two minutes later, I was in the game playing. He was in the locker room in trouble. All because he let the wrong voices in his ear. Now that's a small thing, but people may tell you, "Hey, you don't need to say "faithful" in that relationship. They'll never know. You can cut corners at work. They're not going to find out. That person that did you wrong, you need to get even. Don't let them get away with it. If you take their advice, let them get you riled up, convince you to compromise. Here's the key. They don't suffer the consequences you do. It's no skin off their back. They're at home enjoying life. You have to deal with the pain, the heartache. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you'll learn to tune out the wrong voices. It's important to discern, is this a good voice? Is this a positive influence? Is there advice something I should take? There can be many different opinions, even things that on the surface seems right. Looks like a good suggestion, but you need to ask God for discernment because every good thing is not a God thing. Every piece of advice is not for you,

and they can be good people with good intentions, but they're telling you may not be God's plan for your life. There have been several major opportunities. In the natural, they look so great. People that I trust encouraged me to move forward, but down deep I had an unrest. I couldn't get peace. I believe in getting good counsel and advice from others, but in the end it comes down to what do you feel in your spirit? What are you discerning? You can hear from God. He's not going to make the path so vague, so confusing that you can't follow it. But if you're dependent on people, if you're letting them be your guide, what they say determine your decisions, there will be times that's not the right course. You may have to go against what certain people leave you should do in order to follow what God wants you to do. 1 Kings 12, King Solomon had just passed, and his son, Rhea Bohem, was about to take the throne. Solomon was incredibly successful. He built an unmatched kingdom of wealth and influence, but some of the people had become discontent. There were heavy taxes. People were forced to work in labor camps. Now that Solomon was gone, the people wanted relief from these burdens. Verse 3 says, "The main leaders went to Rhea Bohem and said, 'Your father was a hard taskmaster.

"Lighten these heavy loads off of us "and will be your loyal citizens. "We'll continue to support you.'" They weren't asking to not work or to not pay taxes, but simply that it wouldn't be so much. He had good attitudes. They could have rebelled and started sowing strife and division, but they took the high road and went straight to Rhea Bohem with their concerns. Rhea Bohem said, "Give me three days to think about it." He went to the older men who had counseled his father and asked for their advice. They said, "If you're willing to serve the people "and show them that you care by making these adjustments, "then you'll have a strong kingdom. "They'll always support you." Well, Rhea Bohem didn't like that advice, so he went to his young friends, the people he grew up with, and asked them how he should respond. They said, "You should tell those complainers "that my little finger is thicker than my father's waist. "If you think he was hard on you, "just wait to see what I'm gonna be like." These young men knew this is what Rhea Bohem wanted to hear. This fit is ego. They didn't feel more powerful, more in charge, but you need people that will tell you not just what you wanna hear, but what you need to hear. You can't surround yourself with yes people,

people that always agree, people that are afraid to hurt your feelings. They can't tell you the truth, or you may not listen to them anymore. It's interesting that Rhea Bohem went to the older men for advice. He went to the younger men for advice. He wanted to make the right decision. The mistake he made is he never went to God. He was only relying on people. If he would have looked up and said, "God, give me wisdom. "God, give me discernment. "I have two different opinions. "I don't know which way to go." He would have made the right choice. Instead, he went back and told the people what the young men said. Verse 13 says, "He spoke harshly to the people, "rejecting the advice of his older counselors." When the Israelites heard this, they revolted. They said, "Fine, build your own kingdom. "We're not going to support you. "We're not going to pay taxes. "We're not going to work for you." Rhea Bohem sent an official that was in charge of the labor force to restore order, but the people stoned him to death. Rhea Bohem had to flee to Jerusalem for safety. Verse 28 says, "On the advice of his counselors, "the same young men, Rhea Bohem made two gold calves "for the people to worship."

He said, "These are the gods that brought you out of Egypt." Here, he's the son of Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, a man that honored God. Now, his son is making idols, oppressing the people, saying that the gold calves were their savior. Wrong voices lead to wrong choices. He surrounded himself with people that didn't honor God, people that compromised, people that told him what he wanted to hear. He let the wrong people get in his ear. When we heard that the Compact Center was coming available, I knew that we needed the best legal team that we could find. There was this one attorney that was very well known and very influential. He had worked with the city on different projects for years. I thought, if we could get him, that'd put us way down the road. He agreed to meet with us. I shared with him the vision, how it's gonna impact the world and how excited we were. He said he would represent us, but he was so negative. He went on for 30 minutes telling us all the reasons why we weren't going to get it, how the city wasn't gonna let a church have it, all these hurdles we would have to overcome. By the time he was finished, I was depressed. We walked out of there and I told our team, he is not for us.

Doesn't matter how influential, how powerful, we cannot win with his attitude. If you allow negative voices to continue, you can't do it, it's too big, you'll never get well, those wrong voices will keep you from your destiny. There are dream stealers, people that will tell you all the reasons it's not going to happen, but there are also dream releasers, people that will fuel your faith, people that will tell you you're well able, you have what it takes, the favor of God is on your life. Who's in your ear? Dream stealers are dream releasers. Tune out all the negative naysayers, never work out, get around people that speak faith, speak abundance, speak victory, people that ignite your dreams that lift you, courage and build you up. David understood this principle. He was careful about who he allowed in his ear. His father didn't really believe in him. When Samuel came to choose the next king of Israel, David was left out in the shepherd's fields. His father thought he was too small, too young, not talented enough. I'm sure David felt the sting of rejection. He could have let what his father thought of him cause him to be insecure and intimidated. His brothers made fun of him, tried to make him feel small, like he wasn't up to par.

When David told King Saul that he wanted to fight Goliath, Saul said, David, you're just a boy, don't be ridiculous. If David would have listened to those voices, we wouldn't be talking about him. Be careful who you led in your ear. The enemy would love to use people to discourage you, talk you out of your dreams, convince you to live intimidated, thinking that you're not up to par, the giant's too big. You wouldn't be facing it if you weren't already equipped. God won't allow a giant that you can't defeat. If that obstacle was too big, God wouldn't have put you there. Tune out those negative voices, tune in to what God says about you. You're a giant killer, a history maker, a barrier breaker. Years later, David and his men had been protecting the property of a man named Nabal. They were camped in that area. They didn't know Nabal, but since they were there, they made sure that no one bothered him or his animals. During sharing season, David sent some of his men to ask Nabal for some food and water. Since they had been good to him, he thought Nabal would be happy to help, but Nabal was rude and stubborn. His name means fool, and he lived up to it. He insulted David's men, told them to get off his property, that he didn't know them anything.

When David heard this, he was furious. He told his men to get ready, and they headed out toward Nabal's house. He was going to wipe out him and all of his family. But when Nabal's wife, Abigail, heard what he had done, she had her staff load up horses with bread, cakes, grain, all kinds of supplies. She went and met David along the road. She bowed down before him and said, "David, please forgive my husband, he's a fool. "Don't let this innocent bloodshed be a blemish "on your record." She was saying, "You're about to make a decision "that's going to affect your destiny." David said in verse 32, "Surely the Lord God of Israel "has sent you to me today. "Thank God for your good sense. "You have kept me from taking vengeance "into my own hands." is he knew what voice is to listen to. He didn't let his father's negative voice in his ear, his brothers or King Saul's. He could have blown off Abigail. I don't know you lady. You're not gonna tell me what to do, but David had a spirit of discernment. Something on the inside said listen to her, she's right. God will always have the right voices, voices that will keep you from making a mistake, voices to warn you, voices to encourage you,

voices to push you into your destiny. We have to do like David and be discerning. Is this a voice I should be listening to? Is this voice telling me to compromise, to get revenge, to gossip, to slack off? Or is it a voice that's keeping me from a wrong choice? A voice that's calling me up higher. A voice that's telling me what I can become. The enemy knows if he can get in your ear, if he can deceive you into listening to wrong voices, then he can keep you from your destiny. And this goes way back to the Garden of Eden. You remember when Satan came to eat, she said, why don't you eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Eve said, no, we can't eat that fruit. God said, if we did, we would die. Satan said in effect, are you kidding? Do you really believe you'll die? Of course not. God knows you'll become just like him. That's why he doesn't want you to eat that fruit. Instead of recognizing the wrong voice, not giving it the time of day, Eve started thinking about it more and more. She finally reached up and ate the fruit. The enemy has no new tricks. He's going to bring voices that try to stop your purpose. Sometimes it's an outside voice, other times it's an inner voice.

You can't forgive them. Look what they did to you. It's okay to compromise a little. It's not going to hurt. Or I know God said he would restore your health, but you're never going to get well. Look at the medical report. If you're not disciplined to tune out the wrong voices, then like Eve, you'll start making wrong choices. Who are you listening to? What God says about you, that your latter days will be better than your former days, that your children are mighty in the land, that what you touch prospers and succeeds, or what the enemy is whispering. It's never going to get any better. Nothing good is in your future. It's too late. You've made too many mistakes. Pay attention to what you're giving your attention to. Who you're allowing to influence you. When those thoughts come telling you what you can't do, doubt, insecurity, lack, not enough, you have to consider the source. Where are they coming from? That's the enemy. He's been lying since the Garden of Eden. Don't let him in your ear. Don't let him convince you to believe things that contradict what God says.

First Kings 13, God sent a prophet to speak to the king named Jeroboam about his future. And at first this king wouldn't listen. He didn't like what the prophet was saying. He pointed at him and told his men to arrest him. When he did, his arm became paralyzed and he couldn't move it. He asked the prophet to pray for him and give him another chance. His arm was restored back to normal. He invited the prophet to come to the palace and have dinner with him. But the prophet said in verse nine, "The Lord has commanded me to not eat any food "or drink any water while I'm here." He wouldn't do it. He was obedient to what God said. He didn't let the king talk him out of it. But as he was leaving, another man came up and asked him to come to his house for dinner. The prophet said it again, "No, I can't." God told me to not eat anything here. The men said in verse 18, "No, you don't understand. "I'm a prophet too." And an angel gave me this message from the Lord to bring you home with me and give you food to eat and water to drink. Sounded good, God spoke to him, gave him permission, but it goes on to say, "But the man was lying." This prophet thought, "Well, man, if God told you "I can do it, then of course I will."

He swallowed it, hook, line, and sinker. He went and had dinner. On his way home, he was eaten by a lion. Don't let people talk you out of what God told you. If God wants you to do something different, he'll tell you. You don't have to rely on someone else to hear from God for you. 'Cause here's the key. Everyone is not who they say they are. This is where discernment comes in. The scripture talks about What is their track record? Do they have any fruit? Are there other people that can vouch for them? Don't get caught up in their charisma. How articulate they are. They look so impressive. You have to go beyond face value. Listen to what you're feeling on the inside. The Holy Spirit will warn you. They may look the part, sound the part, but you feel this uneasiness, this unrest. Something says it's not right, don't ignore it. That's the spirit of discernment, helping you to know things that you can't see. You can't see motives. You can't see intentions, but because of the integrity of your heart, God will keep you from making a mistake.

My question today, who's in your ear? Who are you taking advice from? Are they moving you forward? Helping you to grow, stepping to your purpose? Or are they causing you to compromise? Live upset, make poor decisions. Those are the wrong voices. Learn to tune them out. You don't have time to waste. Being distracted, deceived, manipulated. If you'll get rid of the wrong voices, the right voices will show up. Every morning, we should do like that psalmist. Lord, give me a discerning mind. Help me to see beyond the surface to make decisions that honor you. If you'll be selective about who's in your ear, I believe and declare you're gonna have wisdom to make great decisions. Like Abigail, the right voices are going to find you. Like David, people that are not for you are not going to stop your purpose. You're about to rise higher, accomplish dreams, and become all you were created to be. In Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can 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 and keep God first place. [BLANK_AUDIO]