Joyce Meyer - Love and Joy - Part 2

TOPICS: Love, Joy

Let's look at Matthew 22 beginning in verse 37. And this is an important part of this because I can preach to you today all day long about how you need to love people and you'll be sincere and go out of here and try. But I can tell you if you don't like yourself, you're not gonna get along with anybody else. If you've heard me do much teaching, you already know that I think that's the root of most people's problems. They don't like who they are, so they're trying to be somebody else. Beginning in verse 36, "Teacher, which of the commandments is the greatest"?

Which one is the most important? Which one is the heaviest? Some are light and maybe not as important as others. Which one is the most important? "And he replied to him, 'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength'". That's the number-one thing that we need to do, love God with everything that we've got. "This is the greatest and the most important commandment and there's a second one that's like it. You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself. These two commandments sum up all the law and all the prophets".

The best I can tell he's saying, "If you'll do this, everything else is gonna work out. If you do this, then you're gonna fulfill all the law and everything the prophet said. All you have to do is focus on love and everything else is gonna work out". I just wrote a devotional, 365 devotions called "Love out loud" and the whole entire thing is about loving God, loving yourself, and loving others. You say, "You want me to study that for a year"? Yeah, or 5 or 10. That's our problem now, we think we hear a sermon on something and we've got it. We don't have anything until we're doing it. Loving God, loving yourself, loving others. Loving God, loving yourself, loving others. Letting God love you.

Letting that love fall out of you back to him, worshiping him. Loving yourself in a balanced way, knowing that you're created by him that he loves you. He has a purpose for your life, that you don't do everything right but you can still love who you are. I love myself. See, you got quiet when I said that it was like, "Well, should we clap for that"? I do that on purpose just to show the people the reaction we get. See, people think, "Well, you shouldn't love yourself". Well, can you find me one place in the Bible where it says that you should hate yourself, be against yourself, disrespect yourself or not like yourself? No, David talked about how God made him and then he said, "Everything that God has made is good".

So wasn't he saying, "I'm good. Everything I do is not good, but my 'who' is good". Your 'who' is good. Who God has created you to be is good. Forget about your gifts and develop the fruit. What does everybody in the world want? They just want to be loved. You go out, you encourage the clerk that waits on you. "Hey, your hair is great". "That color looks great on you".

You get somebody that's slow and not waiting on you the way that you want 'em too. Oh, well, we'll save that for tonight when I teach on patience. You know, love is doing things for other people, but love has, it has some really practical benefits in our own life. And since everybody wants to know the benefit, I'm gonna tell you what you get from being a great lover. Number one, getting your mind off yourself and purposely planning to be a blessing releases joy in your soul.

Now, it's a supernatural thing. It's a God ordained thing, but I tell you, I've learned to do this and I have got a trick, the devil can't keep me unhappy. And I don't know about you, but do any of you ever find that early morning is the hardest to keep your brain going in a right direction? I think maybe some of the hormones stayed in bed. You know, I don't know what it is but it's like it's, you know, we're kind of tired. Gotta go to work again. It's just a little bit easy, if you're not careful, to let your mind get in the ditch so, if I feel the least bit unhappy or discontent, I've learned what I can do.

I start okay, "God, show me who I can be a blessing to today. Let's see, I'm gonna be with mike and penny. I'm gonna be with Dave. I'm gonna be here. I'm gonna be... And you know show me. Now show me which one of those people need a blessing. What do I have that I can give away? How can I encourage them? How can I be a blessing"? And I am telling you the honest to God's truth, not exaggerating at all, I will feel, physically feel, a release of joy on the inside of my spirit. This has been one of the greatest finds in my life that I don't have to wait to feel like loving somebody. I can do it on purpose. I can plan it. I can go out and do it no matter how I feel. I can walk around and look at what I have that I can use to make somebody else happy. And every time you do that, you're giving the devil a black eye.

The Bible says it is more blessed to give, than to receive. We get joy when we give. When we receive, we get a gift. He who is liberal shall himself be watered. The more liberal you are, the more watered your life, is gonna be. 1 Timothy 5:6, let's take a look at this. Y'all doing okay out there? Whereas she/he, I know that, that's what God meant so. "Who lives in pleasure and self-gratification, [giving herself up to luxury and self-indulgence] Is dead even while she [still] Lives".

What's that saying? A selfish, self-centered person who does nothing but spend their time trying to figure out how they can get what they want, even though they're walking around and breathing, they're full of death. No joy, no peace, no contentment. 'cause you know what? No matter what you own, it's never gonna be enough to keep us content. You know that? You think if you can just get that next thing that's on your prayer list, that then you'll be happy. But trust me, you won't be. Well, you might be for a while. Couple days, a week, maybe 2 weeks. Then it will be something else, and then something else, and then something else, and then something else. God's the only one that can keep us satisfied and walking in his ways.

Now, we're gonna look at Solomon in the Bible for a minute because he had a big problem and we're gonna look at what the root of his problem was. That guy couldn't get happy no matter what. Everything was useless. Everything was vanity. Everything that was had already been. There was no point in anything and on and on and on. Ecclesiastes 2, we're gonna look at verses 3-11. And if you're one of those wild Christians that underlines in your Bible, then get your pen out, especially if you've got the Amplified translation here. I'm gonna show you something. If not, we got it up on the screen. "I searched in my mind how to cheer my body with wine, yet at the same time having my mind hold its course and guide me with human wisdom".

I guess he meant he's trying to figure out how much he could drink and be happy and not get drunk. That's the only sense I can make out of what he's trying to say here. We'll just leave that alone and go on. "And how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. I made great works: I built myself houses, I planted vineyards. I made for myself gardens and orchards and I planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made for myself pools of water from which to water the forest and make the trees bud. I bought menservants and maidservants and had servants born in my house. And also I had great possessions".

Is anybody following me? "Of herds and flocks more than any who had ever been before". I mean the guy said, "I had everything. I did it all. I had it all". But he's telling us what the problem was he did it all for himself. "I also gathered for myself silver and gold and treasures of kings and of the provinces. And I got for myself men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men-concubines, very many". This guy should have been smart enough to know that if one woman couldn't keep him happy, a bunch couldn't.

Back to the message. "So I became great and increased more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. And my wisdom remained with me and stood by me". I think he's a little deceived. I think he let go of wisdom a long time ago. "And whatever my eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my portion and reward for all my toil". Look at verse 11. "Then I looked on all that my hands had done and the labor I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity".

Useless, no good, had no lasting value, did nothing for me. Well, there you have it. Why could he never find any satisfaction although he had all the money, all the women, all the pleasures, all the houses, all the silver, all the gold, all the honor, all the authority? Why could he find no lasting joy? Because he did it all for himself. Some of you sure got some big eyes out there. You're like you're standing like a calf at a new gate like... Let me tell you something, we've had an excessive amount of teaching in the last 30 years about how we can get what we want from God. It's time for us to grow up and say, "God, what can I do for you"?

Come on, think. Who's gonna be in your path today? Don't go to lunch with somebody today and hope you can out wait them so they'll pay the bill. Get your money out and be a blessing to somebody. And don't give some cheapo tip either. Whoo, hallelujah! Walking in love gives you confidence, it really does. 1 John 3:16, "By this we come to know (to recognize, to perceive, and to understand) the essential love: that God had for us, that he laid down his own life: and we ought to lay [our] Lives down for [those who are our] Brothers [in him]". That means sacrifice for other people. "If anybody has this world's goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him".

We have a heart of compassion but we can close it, if we want to. I wonder how many people sit sometimes in a church service, or maybe even watching a TV program or whatever, you see somebody asking for finances for missions or to help the poor, receiving an offering in here and something rises up in you from God. "Yes, I want to help". And then the devil says, "Just another preacher trying to get your money". People talk to you about money everywhere you go. "Why is it that you only get mad about it in church"? We'll leave that and press on. Verse 18, "Little children, let us not love [merely] In theory or in speech but in deed and (in practice and in sincerity). By this we'll come to know (and recognize) that we are of the truth, and can reassure ourselves".

Verse 20 says, "Whenever our hearts in [tormenting] Self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [for we are in God's hands]". If you go on and read this, it's really good. He's basically saying, if you're a person who walks in love, then you're gonna have a confidence in you that you're doing the right thing that you need to do in life. And when satan comes and tries to tell you how no good you are, you're gonna have the confidence to know that he's a liar.

Let me tell you something. I don't care what other religious activity we do, or what other religious sacrifices we try to make, you can go pray 2 hours every morning at a church prayer group, but if you're not treating people right at home behind closed doors, you know that you're not living right. I suffered so much from guilt and condemnation for so many years as a Christian and I went to all the prayer meetings. I went to every seminar. I had every cd and book that you could have, but I wasn't walking in love. And I'll tell you what, I don't have any problems with that anymore. I'm not doing everything right, but I'll tell you one thing I am doing, I'm trying to focus on what's important to God. I haven't arrived yet, but I think I finally know what's really important to God and I'm pressing toward that Mark. Amen?

The devil doesn't want us to love people because love is spiritual warfare. Love is the highest form of spiritual warfare. If you wanna defeat the devil, learn how to be a great lover. I mean, I could take you 20 places and prove it to you, but I don't have time. The devil hates it when we love people. He hates this kind of preaching. He doesn't want you to focus on what's important to God. He wants you to focus on getting something else for yourself, getting your way, learning three more principles on how you can pray in such a way that you get everything you want.

I'll give you one scripture that proves that love defeats satan, Romans 12:21, "We overcome evil with good". I got the devil back for everything that he ever did to me the day that I totally and completely forgave my father for 15 years of sexual abuse. That's how you get the devil back, not by being mad and bitter and full of hatred. You get him back by being good to the person who hurt you.

"Well..." Well, then I guess you just have to stay miserable. Walking in love does amazing things for your social life. I mean, everybody's gonna want you around. Everybody's gonna enjoy you and love you if you do nothing but try to build them up and make them feel better about themselves. Your faith doesn't work without love. There's no point in praying while you're mad at somebody. The Bible says you can pray the prayer of faith, "But if you have anything against anyone, (leave it, let it drop, let it go), that your father in heaven might forgive your sins," and answer your prayers. Doesn't do any good to pray while you're mad at people.

The Bible even tells a man, if you're not treating your wife right, your prayers are gonna be hindered. Guys, you better be nice to us. Love must be pursued. You must put it on. I didn't go stand in the closet this morning and my clothes just jumped on my body. I had to put them on. But there's something else I put on today too. I put on some spiritual clothes before I got here. I spent more time getting dressed spiritually than I spent getting dressed physically. Come on. I put on mercy. I put on compassion. I put on love. I put on my shoes of peace. I put on righteousness. And the Bible says, "Above all, above all that you put on," Colossians 3:14, "Above all that you put on, put on love".

Put on love. You might be impressed with my outfit, but God's not. He sees something else. The devil sees something else. He sees how I'm dressed spiritually. You wanna be a powerful person? Walk in love. You wanna get your prayers answered? Walk in love. Do you want to be happy and satisfied and content? Walk in love. You wanna have a great social life? Walk in love. Come on, you wanna increase your joy? Walk in love. Set your mind, make a plan, don't wait for some feeling to fall on you. Get creative. Get creative.

Now, we're gonna look at one scripture and then maybe I'll let you go eat, I don't know. Hebrews 10:24. All right, I know it's in here. There you go. This is so good. What do you do when you sit around and talk at lunch, when you have time with your friends? What do you talk about? I love this. "And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities".

Now what would happen if you started when you got together with your friends saying, "Hey, let's just talk for a little bit about what we could do to be a blessing"? Now, you know why you're laughing? 'cause that's like "Well..." I mean, what would happen if you heard about somebody at work that had a need? A single mom, her husband had left her. She couldn't pay her rent last month. Well, how about if you go find six or seven other people and say, "Hey, let's pool our money together and let's help her"?

Come on, somebody can get something good started. You wanna be a leader? This is a great way to lead. Get yourself a sneaky givers' club and you be the president. Amen? Be a spy for God. Go out every day and just look...And then go find some people and say, "Hey, I wanna help this person, but I don't have enough to do it by myself. Will you help me help somebody"?

Come on. If you're not careful, you might get happy today. I mean, if you're not careful, you might just get over yourself. It's time that we learn what's really important to God and I can guarantee you, if you learn how to really walk in love, and I'm not telling you your flesh isn't gonna have a few fits 'cause the flesh is not into giving stuff away. I mean the flesh is not into helping anybody, 'cause here's the first thing you're gonna hear, "Well, what about me? Well, when's somebody gonna do something for me? When", no, I ain't doing the robot. No, no, no. No, I'm not doing that robot! No!

What about me? What about me? What about me? What about me? What about me? What about me? What about me? Come on, get up on your feet. Well, how many of you can hardly wait to get out of here and start practicing your new love walk? Come on, take hands with somebody around you, act like you like 'em. Whoo, hallelujah! Imagine that, a Baptist holding hands with a tongue-talking Pentecostal, I don't know. Whoo! That makes me nervous.

Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help us act like a real body and help us do this message, God. We need help. Help us, God. Help us see needs and be willing to meet needs and to lay our lives down for one another. Let us begin in simple ways by not saying unkind things about each other, believing the best, not being rude. Help us to focus on what's important to you, which is love. In Jesus' name, amen.