Sorry what ever happened to doing the right thing? To assign it to god and not take responsibility for your actions? You take the shopping cart back because it is the right thing to do! No test. You help others because it is the right thing to do. No test. And no expectation of reward . The reward is in the deed.
This same retorik is used in the strapping bombs on people " It is what god wants" .Sorry I will listen to my own higher self and do what is right before I do it because it's a test from god.
peace

Yes Joel Osteen is a gifted speaker, a great entertainer and well a known american preacher, televangelist, author of several books and a senior pastor of « lakewood » the largest church in the united states, He's nicknamed the « smiling teacher » and his broadcasts reach over 7 million people weekly and over 100 nations world wide, Many of the things he says i agree with ; use your heart to guide you rather than your head, « my mind is alert, my heart is receptive ».

However the key phrase that set the alarm bells ringing was when he said "before god will release big blessings he will give you small tests". In other words you will be blessed and rewarded by God for your «good» deeds or punished by God for being «bad», so it seems only logical that having lived in such an environment since childhood Joel has built a solid shield around himself giving the impression of a 100 % positive good image

This kind of shielding is based on fear (in this case fear of God) of an all powerful being capable of rewarding you when you're « good » and thus also capable of punishing you when you're « bad ». Fear based belief is always negative, here's a more detailed drawing of the negative based shield highlighting the different faces that it can show

Joel has most certainly learned these fear based beliefs during his childhood, his father was a pastor and founded « Lakewood Church » of which Joel is now a senior pastor,

All beliefs are self reinforcing. Genuine positive beliefs are expansive and allow freedom of choice to change that belief if you want. Negative beliefs don't allow themselves to be changed, if you want to survive you must continue believing in them. In other words you find yourself caught up in a double bind, a catch 22 situation. It reminds me as a child of playing the game of tossing a coin in the air and saying to your friend "heads i win, tails you lose" :) 

In the following video « Brick Wall Beliefs » Bashar explains in greater detail how both negative and positive beliefs work and how to detect and recognize them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWkeczoa9vE

Addendum; The best way to fight fire is to use fire;

For those of you that feel you're already entangled in such a situation here's an efficient tool you can use to free yourself

It's an "Eliminator of Harmful Influences" and will get rid of any influences that are disturbing your equilibrium.

Another tool you can use is the "Shield" which prevents you from being caught up in this kind of trap in the first place

It stimulates your automatic self-defense mechanisms and acts like a mirror sending back to it's source any harmful influences.

Both these methods should be used with precaution and precision.

You can draw them yourself or obtain them directly from Servranx, Belgium

ref "Eliminator of Harmful Influences" (no.44 Eliminateur de Rayonnements Nocifs)

http://www.servranx.com/Categories/Graphiques/DE-RADIONIQUE/N%C2%B0-44-Eliminateur-de-rayonnements-nocifs.aspx

ref "Shield" (no.15 Le Bouclier")

http://www.servranx.com/Categories/Graphiques/DE-RADIONIQUE/N%C2%B0-15-Le-bouclier.aspx

Whilst on the subject of fire fighting here's a bit of interesting reading

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/natural-disasters/fight-fire-with-fire1.htm

... have fun :)

I watched the video. It affected me profoundly. Yes, I have been ignoring the small tests for the most part....The Spirit has been nagging me for days to clean out under my desk, which was a real mess. Shoes, clothing, spilled diabetic supplies, coins, wrappers, spilled Band-Aids, garbage, old mail, books, old papers I did need- etc. Now, I have been missing my Miraculous Mary Medallion for some time, and had no thought of it while cleaning. When I finally reached the carpeting, and things were getting clear, there, beneath everything, lay my Mary Medallion!!!

Joel was right. if we listen to the Spirit, we get blessed. It really works!

Have a headache, am going to lie down now, but had to post this. Hard to do- my eyesight is mostly gone from my headache. But Praise God!

Thank you!

Jai ♥♥♥♥

Christians are told we are on this earth but not of this earth. We are ambassadors of Heaven. So we are here to represent heaven, how may we do so but by bringing some of that heaven to everyone else. As we bring the kingdom for everyone we as well bring the kingdom for ourselves. The way in which we treat others is based is belief of love and help a belief of consideration and compassion. As we live this for others it will be likewise reflected back upon us. We will be bringing his kingdom and preparing the way for his return. As we do this for others we do this for Jesus, he said as we treat each other we as well treat him. Also as we plant we harvest and so we experience this kingdom we represent by making it more and more a reality for all this of course includes the self.