Joyce Meyer - Believe That God Is and That He Is a Rewarder - Part 1

We're doing a seminar this weekend, got started last night. I felt like we had a good start last night. If you were here last night and had a good start. And we're talking about, what must I do to please God? And I think we all, at different times, feel like or we're afraid that we're not pleasing God. We don't even know what it is we think God might want us to do, but we're afraid we're not doing it. You know, even if you had bad parents, you still liked to please your parents. And so, we want to please God, but our flesh gets us in trouble. However, I have got some really, really, really good news for you, today, and that is it's much easier to please God than what you think it is. It's easier to please God than any person that you know. He's really not requiring that much. There's one thing, and if you do that one thing, it'll straighten out the other things.

In Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God or to be satisfactory to him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that he is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek him [out]". So, really, what does God want you to do? He wants you to believe what he says in this book. There's about 7.000 promises in here, and God just wants you to believe 'em. When you read, "I will be with you always". Then he wants you to not say, "Well, God, where are you? I don't know where you are. God, I feel like you've left me". He wants to hear you say, "I may not feel you, but I know you're here because you said that you would be. You are with me always".

We just need to believe and speak the Word of God. I'm telling you what, the word coming out of a believer's mouth can rip the devil to shreds. If you remember, when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights, it says it over and over, "And the devil said to Jesus," "And Jesus said to the devil, it is written," and he quoted a scripture. So, one lady told me, she said, "The first time I ever came in contact with you, I thought you were a raving lunatic". She said, "I turned the television on and there's this woman screaming at the top of her voice. 'And the devil said to Jesus!' 'And Jesus said to the devil!' 'And the devil said to Jesus!' 'And Jesus said to the devil!'" But she said, "Somehow, I got hooked... And now, I just can't seem to get rid of you".

You can talk back to the devil. You don't have to stand around and just let him beat your head off. You can talk back. He is a liar. He does nothing but lie. He is a father of lies. He is a deceiver. And he wants you to not believe the Word of God. And you need to fight back. Let him know, "I don't believe you. This is what I believe". And then, in John, chapter 6, verse 28 and 29, I love this, "They then said, 'what are we to do, that we may [habitually] be working the works of God? [what are we to do to carry out what God requires?]" aren't we always saying, "God, what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do"? "And Jesus replied, 'this is the work, (the service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the one whom he has sent [that you cleave to, trust, and rely on, and have faith in his messenger]'".

So, we see two places here in the Word of God where it tells us, plainly, what God wants us to do. He wants us to have faith and believe him, to trust him, to rely on him. That's what God wants you to do. Believe the word. If you've sinned God says, "Your sins are forgiven. Paid for with the blood of Jesus. And that there is no guilt and condemnation to those who are in Christ". So, when you sin, guess what? You don't have to be miserable for the next 40 days. You can repent. Ask God to forgive you, or basically, thank him that he already has paid the price, receive that forgiveness. And you do not have to feel guilty for one minute.

Now, I know that's hard to do. But I'll tell you, what we're doing, when we sin and then we feel guilty, you know what we're doing? We're trying to pay for our sin. And I had a big problem with this. I mean, a big problem. And I finally saw that. That's what I was doing. I was trying to pay for what Jesus had already paid for, and he doesn't need our help. He did a perfectly good job. The issue of sin has been taken care of. All we need to do is admit we've sinned. Admit it to ourselves first, admit it to God. If you need to apologize to somebody else, apologize to them. It doesn't have to be this long, drawn out ordeal that ruins your whole life. Because most of us are doing something wrong on a fairly, semi-regular basis. Amen? I mean, it doesn't even always have to be big stuff. I mean, we can just take my mouth. I don't know how, I mean, I have no idea how many times, in one week, I say things I shouldn't say.

You would say, "Joyce, I wouldn't expect that out of you". Well, you know, my gift is in my mouth, but sometimes I get a little mixed up and I try to exercise it when I don't need to. I'm a little bit selfish. I want my way. I'm a little bit impatient. And sometimes, I can just say things, boy, God, don't let me get by with it. If I say something to somebody, I shouldn't, I have to go and apologize to 'em. And that's what we need to do. It's humbling to do, but it will help break the sin off of you. Amen? But then, I refuse to feel guilty. I spent half of my life as a Christian feeling guilty. And God showed me, "You're trying to pay for what I've already paid for, and I don't need your help. Thank you. I did a complete job".

How many of you see that? That, that's what you're doing. And I even kinda divided my sins up into categories. If it was a little sin, I'd only have to feel guilty for, maybe, a day. C'mon, we do this. If it was a medium sized sin, maybe, take two or three days. But, boy, if it was a biggie. Whoo! Come on. We can't pay for our sins, they've already been paid for. You can't pay for something that there's no debt due on. God doesn't want us to try to pay for our sins and be miserable. And he wants us to believe. He wants us to believe that he died for us, that he shed his blood for us, that he died on the cross, he took the punishment we deserved, "The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed". He went into that grave, but it couldn't hold him. Three days, out he came. Amen?

And there's just some really neat things about that. I'll just tell you one story that I've heard. It was customary with the Israelites when they went to somebody's house for dinner, if they really enjoyed the meal and intended to come back some time, they would fold their napkin, nice and neat, and lay it on the plate. If they didn't care much for it, they'd just throw the napkin on the plate. Well, when Jesus was resurrected and they went in and looked at where he laid, the cloth he was wrapped in, was laying there, and the napkin was folded, nice and neat. You know what? He's coming back. And I'm so excited! I'm so excited. I'll tell ya, the longer you live, the more ready you are to get out of here. Whoo, boy! So, this is so good.

What does God want out of you? What does God expect out of you? He wants you to believe that he is, that he exists, that he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. And he wants you just to believe the promises that he has put in his word. Well, I believe I could do that. What about you? But we stay too busy trying to do stuff that God's already done that we don't need to do. So, last night we talked about faith, and I'm sure I got off into a whole bunch of other stuff. And this morning, I wanna talk about the fact that God is. And that's an amazing subject. I hope that God'll say something through me that will get you to realize how amazing it is that God has chosen you, a believer, to be his home. "The mystery of the ages is Christ in me, the hope of glory".

God lives in you. So, you never go anywhere without God. You can't even go to the bathroom by yourself: he goes. But see, this doesn't become a reality to us unless we think about it. We need to think about it. God is with me. Say that, maybe, 50 times a day, "God is with me". He is. He's here, right now. Be conscious and aware of God's presence. And that's a good thing to pray for. "God, help me to be conscious and aware that you are with me all the time, no matter what I'm doing". He's just not with you in church. Matter of fact, a lot of the churches around today, Jesus wouldn't be seen caught in 'em. A lot of 'em might be a little too religious for him. He wasn't very religious. Jesus colored outside the lines. He did things that nobody'd ever done before. He did shocking things. And he certainly didn't worry about what anybody thought. Amen? And we have the privilege of being the home of God.

That's one of the reasons why you need to take care of yourself. Don't treat yourself like a pile of trash. Ruin your health and be miserable all the time. Get a smile on your face, you represent God. You're the only Jesus that some people are ever going to see. Amen? Actually, there's a scripture in 1 John 4:16 that was very life-changing for me. I really needed a revelation on how much God loved me. And I could read it, I could say it to people, but it still wasn't as real to me as it needed to be. Once you know, that you know, that you know, that God loves you unconditionally and he will never stop, whoo!

Let me tell you, it changes some things. For one thing, it casts out fear. Only the perfect love of God can cast out fear. And you'll see, as we read some scriptures today, the only reason that the Bible ever gives for us not to fear is because he's with us. "Yea, even though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will have no fear because you're with me". Over and over, and over: "You don't have to be afraid because I'm with you". You don't have to know what God's gonna do to solve your problem. It doesn't matter because he knows. And he's with you, and he loves you. He's very fond of you. You're his favorite. Did you know that? Isn't that cool? That every one of us can be God's favorite? C'mon, say it, I'm God's favorite.

Now, I don't suggest that you go walk around the neighborhood saying that, but you can say it at home, "I'm God's favorite. I'm his favorite child. The apple of his eye," that's what the Bible says. You're the apple of his eye. But in 1 John 4:16, the Amplified Bible says, "Be conscious and aware of God's love". Wow, was that ever life-changing for me? Because I started seeing that a lot of the things, just the cool, little things that happened in my life, that it wasn't just, "Wow, what a coincidence". But it was, actually, God showing his love for me. I mean, little things that might not make any sense to anybody else, but things I had, maybe, asked God to do for me. One day, I said to somebody, "I'd love to have some zucchini bread". Well, I wasn't gonna bake it, that's for sure. And if I would have, nobody would have eaten it.

Now, listen, as God is my witness, about a week later, somebody came to one of my meetings with a box and said, "I felt like God told me to bake you some Zucchini bread, so I hope you like it". Whoo-hoo! A week and a half ago, in Florida, we were driving in the car and a guy ran a stoplight and he was about to hit my side of the car. And somehow, by God's grace and mercy, my driver turned just the right way, and that guy turned just the right way, and I mean, he missed us, I don't think you could have dropped a hair between us and him.

Well, I don't just take that as, "Gee, wasn't I lucky"? No, God protected me. You say, "Well, what about the people that aren't protected"? You know, I can't answer all those questions. We can't answer every question about why God does some things for some people and some things for others. God has a reason for everything he does. And even though we don't understand it and it may not seem fair, there is a promise in the Bible that I believe with all my heart, and it's Romans 8:28: "All things, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose". They may not feel good to us. They may hurt. They may seem unfair. They may seem unjust. But God, if you love him and want his will, will work it out for your good. I don't know how he does it, but he can do anything he wants to because he's God.

So, start paying attention to all the little things, all the little ways that God shows you, his love. How many of you can think of little things like that, that God does for you? See, even if you told somebody else, they wouldn't even get it. Because it's just a thing between you and God. It's just a thing, he does it for you. Boy, relationship with God gets exciting when we start seeing all these things. All the years that I just went to church once a week and acted like an idiot the rest of the week... C'mon, why go to church on Sunday and act like the devil on Monday? I mean, we're supposed to be doing life with God. He's with you all the time. "I will never leave you nor forsake you. But I will be with you right until the very end of times". God is. Don't believe that God exists, but that he exists everywhere, everywhere.

Exodus 3:14, "God said to Moses, 'I am who I am'". Moses kept saying, "Who should I tell people you are? What's your name? How can I tell 'em who you are"? And God says, "'I am who I am. And this is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I am has sent me to you"'". God didn't even try to explain who he was to Moses because it's over our heads. We wouldn't get it. He just says, "I am". And God is omnipotent, all powerful. He is omniscient, all knowing. He is omnipresent, everywhere, all the time, at the same time. See, that's why Jesus said, "You're gonna be better off when I go away". You know why he said that? Because Jesus was in a body just like this one, and he could only be one place at one time. But the Holy Ghost... We don't talk enough about the Holy Spirit like we should, today. He's not just the third person of the Trinity. He's God, also. And Jesus said, "I'm gonna send you a comforter. I'm gonna send you a helper". And he told the disciples, "Go to the upper room and wait". Basically saying, "Don't try to do anything without this help I'm gonna send you".

They didn't even know what they were waiting on. But on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost fell, Peter, who was a big coward previously, went out into the streets and preached and 3000 people got saved that day. Let me tell you something. When you let the power of God touch your life, it's not just gonna be normal, everyday living. We can live supernatural lives. Not just natural, but supernatural. Amen? And so, now, Jesus went away, and he sent the Holy Spirit. And we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. And boy, wow. Do you know what we can do for the Kingdom of God if each and every person who calls themselves a Christian would just get out in the world and act like one. What about if every Christian was just kind to one person every day? Kindness is so amazing, and people are hurting so bad they just need kindness. Or what about when you hear that somebody that you work with has a need?

Let me tell you something that I think aggravates God. I remember hearing a story, at work, about this girl who didn't have a bed. She was sleeping on a mattress, on the floor. And the woman that was telling me about it said, "Well, we're all praying for her". And I thought, "Well, why don't you just buy her a mattress"? Why do we need to pray about God doing things that we could easily do ourselves and just don't wanna let go of a few bucks? Come on. I mean it. Let's just stop all that stuff. I mean, if you know somebody that needs something, and you can do it or you can get together with four or five other people and do it... There's a man I know. He, and his wife, they know a widow. And her house is paid for, but she can't pay her taxes at the end of every year. And so, every year there's four or five of us that get together, pool our money, and pay her taxes every year so she can have a place to live. We don't need to pray about that. If you can do it, do it. You know why? Generous people are happy people.

What if every Christian just got generous? Wow. It's kinda interesting, you know, with not, right now, not being able to pass any kind of offering receptacle. It's interesting to see how many people will actually take the trouble to remember to leave their offering before they leave. And that's an important part of what we do in our church services. We should remember that. And if you forget, then mail it in, whether it's your home church or something like this. Don't just use it as an easy excuse to not give, but make sure that you do it. Amen? Let me say it again. What would happen, in our society, if every person who calls themselves a Christian would, actually, get out, in the world, and act like one? You know what? You can preach a better sermon with your actions than you ever could with your mouth. Matter of fact, it's worse to go around with a bumper sticker on your car, acting like an idiot than it would be if you just took it off your car.

We don't need to be, "I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian". Just act like one. Amen? Just act like one. Be kind to people. Be good to people. Don't be easily offended. Forgive quickly. Help people when they need help. Acts 10:38 says, "See, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and fire who went about doing good". I love that. What did Jesus do? He just went about doing good. I believe I could do that. I believe I could do that. Wouldn't it be fun if we just got up every day and got ourselves off our mind and just said, "God, show me somebody that I can help today"? "Show me what I can do to be a blessing today". You can bring people into the kingdom just by behaving like a Christian. Hello? Hey, I'm gonna let loose today, 'cause I won't be back for a while. God has no limits. He has no restrictions. He can do anything, anytime, anywhere, for anybody.