See Your Dream Come True - Joel Osteen

We all have dreams we want to accomplish and promises God has put in our hearts. We're praying, believing, standing in faith, and that's good, but there's another important step. The scripture says in Habakkuk, write the vision, make it clear so it can be read on the run. One version says, write what you see. When you close your eyes, what do you see? What has God whispered to your spirit? Maybe it's to start a business, to have a baby, to see your health turn around, to move into that new neighborhood, to be free from that addiction. It's not enough to just think about it, hope that it happens, imagine it. When you write it down, you give it permission to come to pass. The scripture says, make it clear so you can read it on the run. That means you need to have it in front of you. All through the day, you should see it. Put it up on your bathroom mirror, on your phone, your computer at work, your refrigerator, in your Bible. When you constantly see what you're believing for, it's getting down in your spirit. Every time you see it under your breath, Lord, thank you for bringing it to pass. If you're dealing with an illness, you need to put up, I am healthy and whole. I am strong and energetic. Put scriptures to back it up. God is restoring health into me. The number of my days, he will fulfill. If you're believing to pay your house off, you need to see, I am debt free. I have abundance. I am blessed so I can be a blessing. Put scriptures underneath it. Because I honor God, I will lend and not borrow. What I touch prospers and succeeds. My cup runs over. Every time you walk by and see it, it's going to inspire you to keep believing. As you see it again and again, you're drawing it closer and closer. Every service here at Lakewood, you know how we make these declarations of faith. You see them on the screens. I'm blessed, I'm strong, I'm healthy, I'm valuable. We've written down what God says about us. We keep it in front of us. We read it, we declare it. It's getting down on the inside. That's writing the vision. Now those are generic things that belong to all of us, but God has spoken specific things to you that you need to write down. Maybe a child is off course. It's good to pray, it's good to believe, but you need to write down my child. Put his name there. John is making great decisions. He's a leader, he's honoring God. Put the scriptures underneath. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. My children are mighty in the land. My seed is blessed. Every time you see it throughout the day, let it be a reminder to thank God that it's on the way. I met a lady after the service in the visitor's reception. She handed me her business card. It was this financial company, had her name on it. Underneath it said president and owner. And she told me something interesting. She had that card made four years before she ever started her business. God put that dream in her heart while she was working for another company. She wasn't even in management. She didn't have any backing. In the natural, there was no way she could start her own business, but she took this step of faith and had the card printed. She couldn't even hand it out because the company didn't exist, but she kept it in her wallet, on her shelf in the closet, in her bathroom, the kitchen, the computer, in her car. Everywhere she looked, she saw that card. One day, God caused things to fall into place. Doors opened she couldn't open. Right people showed up. Clients came to her. This landlord offered her space in his building. Today, she has over 300 employees, very successful. She smiled and said, Joel, now I can hand out my card. It's no longer a vision, it's a reality. But I wonder if she would have had that business. Would she be seeing God's blessing in favor if she had just hoped for it? She just thought that'd be nice to have a business. She took this step of faith to write the vision. When God births a dream in your spirit, don't dismiss it. When he speaks something that ignites your faith, that you get excited about, don't take it lightly. Yeah, that'd be great. Let it be a passing thought. Write the vision down. Get in agreement with God. You need to see it again and again so it will take root. But sometimes we dismiss things because they seem too good to be true. Well, Joel, I could never have a business that successful. Could never live in that neighborhood. Never marry someone that great. Never be totally free from this addiction. My children could never accomplish that much. Why are you telling God what he can't do? Who are we to tell the creator of the universe what he's capable of? He spoke worlds into existence. He flung stars into space. What he's spoken to you is no problem to bring to pass. Why don't you get in agreement with God? He said write the vision. He didn't say write what you can afford. He didn't say write what makes sense to you. Write what others in your family have done. Write what the medical report says. Write what you have the education for, the experience. No, when God gives you the vision, he'll take care of the provision. What he puts in your spirit, you're not on the line for. What he orders, he's going to pay for. It's not just up to you, he's going to make it happen. He's going to open the doors. He'll cause you to stand out. He can heal you without the medicine. He can turn that child around. He's just asking you to write what he put in your heart. Maybe it's, I will lead my company in sales. I will build that orphanage in Africa. I will break this generational curse, this addiction that's been in my family line. I will write my book. I will produce that movie. I will graduate with honors. I will see my family restored. Whatever God's spoken to you, dare to write it. Now here's the key, don't water it down. Don't try to make it fit your budget. Don't reason it out and shortchange yourself. God, if you'll just keep my child out of trouble, then I'll be happy. That's a watered down vision. How about this? God, thank you that my son stands out in the crowd, that he will become all that you've created him to be. Oh God, if I can just pay my bills, if you'll just help me to scrape by. The scripture says, God wants you to not only have all your needs supplied, but plenty left over so you can be a blessing to others. Why don't you put a new vision up? I have abundance. I live in overflow. Blessings are chasing me down. Well, Joel, there are a lot of things in the past I didn't write down. I think I missed my chance. No, God's about to give you fresh vision. He's about to speak things to your spirit that you've never heard. You'll be tempted to dismiss it. Think that couldn't be for me. No one in my family has done that. It's gonna be far out. It's gonna seem unlikely. This time, write it down. Keep it in front of you. Several times a day, thank God that it's coming. Make plans like it's gonna happen. The scripture talks about the secret petitions God puts in your heart. Those are things that seem so big, so rewarding, doesn't seem possible. Write that vision. God's going to do things that make your head spin. Things that you could have never imagined would have happened. He's getting you prepared right now. When he speaks, what he shows you in the night, that idea he drops in your spirit, don't dismiss it. The scripture talks about having a pen like a ready writer. That should be our attitude. God, when you show me, I'm ready. I'm standing by, I'm gonna write the vision. Are you missing blessings, favor, healing, breakthroughs because your pen is not ready? You're thinking about it, imagining it, maybe it'll happen, you know, start writing it down. Here's a good one, I'm gonna have an abundant year, a bountiful year, a flourishing year. As you see that over and over, that's what's fueling your faith. Now I found that God will always put bigger things in your spirit than you can accomplish on your own. One way you know the vision is from God is you don't have the resources. You don't have the training. The odds are against you. The experts say there's no way. That's a God-sized dream. If you can do it on your own, you don't necessarily need God's help. It's supposed to be over your head. It's supposed to feel impossible. Don't make the mistake of dismissing it, write it down. That's God getting you prepared for something you've never seen. When I heard the Compact Center was coming available, that was far more than I could ever imagine. The Houston Rockets had won two world championships here and practically every major entertainer had played concerts here. Elvis, Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones. Two million Houstonians a year came into this building, the premier facility in our city. In my mind, I thought, there's no way we can get it. That's too good to be true. I had to do what I'm asking you to do, make this decision. Was I gonna water down that dream, think of all the reasons I couldn't do it, talk myself out of it? Or was I gonna do like God said and write the vision? One of the first things I did is I had our team get a picture of the Compact Center, the exterior, but I had them take off the Compact Center name and instead put Lakewood Church there. I had them take off the Compact Center logo and replace it with our logo. I made about a dozen of those pictures and I put them up in our house. On my desk, as I was writing my sermon each week, there was the building with our name on it, in my closet where I got dressed, in my bathroom, in the kitchen. Every time I saw that building under my breath, Lord, thank you that it's ours. Thank you that you're making ways where we don't see a way. For two and a half years, we were trying to convince the city council members to vote for us and going through a legal battle with a company much bigger than us. There were plenty of times I was tempted to get discouraged. Didn't seem like it's gonna work out, but I'd go back and look at that picture, that fueled my faith. Lord, I know what you started, you will finish. I know nothing can stand against you. God knew we would be tempted to be talked out of it. That's why he said, write the vision and keep it in front of you. Every time you see it, it's fueling your faith. It's helping you to stand strong and believe. Now, 20 years later, that picture I had with the Lakewood name, Photoshopped on it, I don't need it anymore. I have the real picture. God is faithful. Now, many of you have done this. You've written your vision. You've kept it in front of you. The scripture goes on to say, though the vision tarries, wait on it, for it is for an appointed time and it will not be late. Like God did for us, you're going to come in to an appointed time. You're gonna see God bring dreams to pass. Turn that medical situation around. Get that child back on course. Catapult you to a new level. The vision may be tarrying, but wait in faith. Wait with expectancy, knowing that God is working. Keep thanking him that it's on the way. Keep talking like it's going to happen. You are closer than you think. You're on the verge of seeing something that you've never seen.