Joyce Meyer - Traits of a Perfect Heart - Part 3

TOPICS: Heart

Well, thank you for joining me today on, "Enjoying Everyday Life". And I want you to know that God loves you very much and you are very valuable to him, and he has a good plan for your life. And you know, you may be going through something very difficult right now, but it will come to an end and there will be blessings on the other side. So, hold steady, your breakthrough is coming. I've been teaching the last couple of days about the characteristics of a perfect heart because God is more concerned about our heart being right, than even about our performance being right. We may have weaknesses, but as long as we're not wicked, God will deal with us and teach us and bring us along concerning those weaknesses. We all wanna be used by God and we all wanna see God's power in our lives.

In 2 Chronicles 16:9, love this scripture, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward him". Just imagine God just sitting on his throne, just looking around. Who can I use? Who can I work through? Who's heart is in a condition where I can do something special for them today and they won't let it go to their head? And so, I was very happy to know that I needed a perfect heart, not a perfect performance. Because I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried to do it all right. And no matter how hard I tried: I always seem to make a mistake. Anybody else feel like that? Then I would feel guilty about that mistake for days on end. I felt guilty so much I actually didn't feel right if I didn't feel wrong.

If I had a day where I didn't feel guilty about something, I would go back and pick up something from a few days ago and feel guilty about that. I was kind of addicted to it, especially growing up being sexually abused by my father, I always was convinced that somehow or another it was my fault. And I felt guilty about it, because it always had to be, this secret I had to keep. And so, I just grew up with that always feeling guilty. I didn't know anything else. And I grew up in a house of turmoil, no peace. And that became normal to me. I didn't know what peace was like. I didn't even really know what it was. And I didn't know what love was. My parents told me they loved me, and I saw how that turned out. And other relatives told me they loved me, but when I asked 'em to help me, they didn't want to get involved.

So, I remember my first husband, I married the first guy that came along, and he told me he loved me, but he cheated on me, and stole from me, and wouldn't work. And so, the words, "I love you," didn't mean very much to me. And when Dave asked me to marry him, and he told me that he loved me, I couldn't even say it back, because I really didn't even know what it was. And so, God teaches us how to love. And he teaches us that by loving us. And God wants us to love unconditionally. And boy, that's the part that becomes hard, when you start loving people who don't deserve it. Matter of fact, they deserve you to not like 'em and be mad at 'em and get 'em back. But God tells us he wants to be our vindicator.

So, I'm personally glad that I can work on having a heart that's right toward God and trust him to work on my behavior. That doesn't mean that I won't have to work with him. But I don't have to every day be finding some new thing wrong with me, that I feel like I have to work on and try to change. I need to spend my time focusing on Jesus and let him focus on what's wrong with me and deal with it. A perfect heart is at peace. The Bible says that a perfect heart is very precious, a peaceful heart is very precious in the sight of God. That's so good.

John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you". That's very interesting. You know, he bequeathed it to us. And it was one of the last things he said when he was here on the earth, "Peace I leave with you". I mean, I guess there was a lot of things he could've left us with but, one of the things he chose was peace. "Peace I leave with you... Not as the world gives do I give unto you," but my own special peace I give to you. "[stop allowing yourselves to be disturbed: and upset and fearful and intimidated.]" so, we see there's a co-working with God. He said, "I've given you all that you need. Now, you need to draw on that and not allow yourself to be upset and disturbed".

And I can tell you, after 48 years being what I call a serious Christian, that means I've been going after God with all I've got, wanting to change, wanting to grow. I can say that I believe that peace is one of the things that God desires for us, above other things. And that peace only comes from trusting God. It's amazing, I've been thinking about it more and more lately. It's like, trust God is the answer to every problem we have. I mean, I could just have one piece of advice the rest of my life, one sermon the rest of my life. But you know how you trust God? You don't just trust God because a preacher tells you to. You trust God because you gain experience as you go through things that are uncomfortable, and you see God come through for you time and time again.

My goodness, at this point, if I could look back and recount all the times that I thought I couldn't make it, and yet here I am. And all the times that I thought, I mean, I had breast cancer, "What if I die"? God brought me through. A year ago today, I was in a wheelchair. Today I'm up running around serving God again. I mean, I haven't had a lot of instantaneous miraculous healings, but I've had a lot of healings in my life from God. He's brought me through so many things, changed me from all the turmoil I went through as a child. I watch him provide. We had many lean years, but we never were in a place where we couldn't pay a bill. And so, the more you go, every single time you have a problem, if you let it, it will end up being a blessing to you.

Hmm, you don't all look like you believe me, so I think I'll say it one more time. Every single time you have a problem, actually it's a blessing in disguise... If you keep a right attitude, and every time a trial starts in your life, the first thing you need to say is, "God, help me do this right. Help me to behave, help me to do this the way Jesus would do it". The next thing that I would say is a characteristic of a perfect heart is, a perfect heart does not fear. That doesn't mean that we never feel fear, or that fear never comes to us, but a perfect heart, even when it feels fear, it knows that it's a lie from satan. It's false evidence appearing real. F-E-A-R. Isn't that cute?

False evidence appearing real. And really, to be courageous doesn't mean to never feel fear, it means to keep going forward when you feel fear. To keep doing what you believe God's asked you to do, even if you are afraid. Even David said, "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you". But a perfect heart doesn't make decisions based on feeling fearful or not feeling fearful. A perfect heart is going to do what they believe God wants them to do, no matter how they feel. 2 Timothy 1:7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear," so fear does not come from God, "But of power and love and a sound mind". Isaiah 41:10 says, "So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand".

I love that. Everybody say it at once, "We do not have to be afraid". Now let's say, "I do not have to be afraid". "I put my trust in God". See, it's a decision you make. Where are you gonna put your trust? Each day I think we can decide, "Today, God, I put my trust in you". I'm not trusting in the stock market or the bank or my friends. I don't even trust myself, 'cause sometimes I'm like, "I can't believe I did that". Now, I don't mean that I don't trust myself but I mean, I put my trust in God. I trust God to speak to me, to lead me, to guide me, to help me, to give me advice, to get me out of trouble. People often run to other people, and you should always go to God first. And if he wants to use a person, then that's his choice, but go to him first.

Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God". I love that. Do the right thing for the right reason. A perfect heart is pure. That's point number seven: a perfect heart is pure. Now, this to me is a very important point. Matthew 6:1-7, "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them". Motive, what's in your heart. "If you do, you'll have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, don't announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues". That must've been quite a show. Can you imagine getting up, "[trumpet blare] I'm gonna give to the poor! [trumpet blare]". I mean, how idiotic. But apparently, they did that.

"Truly I tell you, they have the reward in full already". They, you know, they wanted the admiration of people, they got it, but they're not getting anything else. Do you really wanna trade admiration from people for the rewards of God? Nn-nn, I don't. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing". What does that mean? Well, I believe it means even when you do something good, and even if it is for the right reason, and it really helps somebody, and they thank you, don't go home and keep thinking about this wonderful thing you did. Love stays in the shadows, and when it's needed, it steps out, and when it's done, it steps back, amen? Give, "So that your giving may be in secret. Then your father, who sees what is in secret, will reward you in the open".

Then it goes on and says, "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray, loud, long, eloquent prayers, standing on the street corners". I've caught myself, 'cause I have to pray in front of people a lot, and I have to be very careful when I'm praying in a conference, that I don't drift over into praying to impress the people, and not even really be talking to God. So, I really try to just talk to God, not try to impress the people. "When you pray, don't keep on babbling like pagans," just repeating the same phrases over and over and over. Only works done with a pure heart receive rewards. Don't do things to be applauded, appreciated, seen, and admired by others. Don't do things for others in order to put them in your debt. And that's very important.

Well, I invited you to my party and you didn't invite me to yours. Well, I gave you a really nice, expensive birthday gift and what you gave me was practically nothing. See, we have to be so careful that we don't think that people owe us, because we've done something for them. You need to receive what people give you as a gift from God, and don't ever make them feel like they are in your debt, because of what you did for them. Otherwise, you didn't really do it for them, you did it so they would owe you something. When I was in the back in between the sessions changing clothes, Amanda said, "Well, you've given us enough meat and vegetables, how about a little dessert"? I'll try to end with some dessert, we'll see. Give with no strings attached. Don't give to get.

Here's the dessert. A perfect heart is humble. What could be better dessert than humility? A good little five minutes on humility. A person with humility depends on God for everything all the time. Make your mind up to that every morning. "God, I'm depending on you. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In me, that is, in my flesh dwells no good thing. If you don't help me today, I will just make a big mess out of everything I do". He's their source and their strength. They also receive, get ready, chastisement, or correction from God joyfully. "Thank you, Jesus, for correcting me". We should thank him for correcting us. Thank God that he loves us too much to leave us in the mess we're in.

And the Bible says in Hebrews and in Revelations, "He whom the Lord chastises is loved". Those whom I love, the Amplified Bible says in Revelations, "Those whom I love, I tell their faults". I remember saying one time, "Lord, could you love me not maybe quite so much today"? A humble person will actually be thankful because they realize they don't deserve the many blessings that they get. Psalm 138:6, "For though the Lord is high, yet has he respect to the lowly, [bringing them into fellowship with him]: but the proud and haughty he knows and recognizes [only] At a distance". The Bible actually says that God hates pride. It was the sin of satan that got him kicked out of heaven. And so, it's the number one sin that satan tries to fill us with. I don't think, I taught recently in a conference on humility, and man, I liked my messages! You know why? Because I needed 'em.

We all need to hear teaching on this because pride is so prevalent in our flesh. It wants attention, the flesh wants attention. The flesh wants credit. The flesh wants to be number one, wants to be better than, more than, greater than. The flesh wants to be served, not to serve. Somebody asked me one time if I had the gift of helps. I said, "Yes, I love for people to help me". I don't have a natural gift of helps. But just because you don't have a natural gift at something, that doesn't mean you can't do it on purpose. Well, I'm not gifted in that area, well then, do it on purpose. In Habakkuk 2:2-4, "The Lord answered me and said, 'write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes might [be able to] Read [it easily and quickly] As he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time.'"

This is good for those of you who have a dream or a vision for your life. "'The vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end [fulfillment]: it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait for it [earnestly].'" And to wait means to wait with expectancy. "I'm expecting something good to happen at any minute". "'It will not deceive or disappoint. Though it wait, tarry, wait for it [earnestly], because it will surely come: it will not be late on its appointed day.'" amen? And then the very next verse says, "Look at the proud: his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] Just and righteous shall live by faith and in his faithfulness". In other words, a person full of pride, they will not wait on God. They'll wait a little bit and if it looks like God is not coming through in their timing, then they'll do something themselves. We kind of always have a backup plan, don't we? Just in case God doesn't come through. God wants us to wait on him.

Abraham and Sarah, when they got tired of waiting, came up with a backup plan, and we saw how that worked. The devil may always offer you Ishmael before you get Isaac. You gotta know what to say, "No" to, and what to say, "Yes" to. Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall". James 4, "He gives us more and more grace. God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble". And last but not least, I love this verse. Romans 12:3, "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with faith that God has given to each one of you". People that are proud mistreat other people, because they think other people are beneath them. They talk down to people. They judge people. They criticize people. They cannot receive correction. They give advice but don't know how to take advice. Pride is, it's just a killer. It's destructive. And we need to, Bible says, "Humble yourself, under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he may exalt you".

Now obviously, I've given you about five minutes on each one of these points. And if any one of them really struck you like, "Yeah, I really need that," then I suggest that you do your own deep dive into the Bible, about what it says about those things. Look up every scripture you can find on pride, and every scripture you can find on humility, and study it, study it, study it. So, you recognize pride within yourself right away, and you can repent, and once again, "Humble yourself, under the mighty hand of God". I always tell people, God gives you an opportunity to humble yourself, but if you won't, he'll be glad to do it for you. It is much better if you do it yourself. Well, thank you for joining us for the program today, and I hope that you got something that's gonna bring you closer to God. And please know that God loves you, and he's got a great plan for your life. And he's with you today, everywhere that you go. He's promised to never leave you nor forsake you. Thank you and I hope you'll join us again the next time we have a program. God bless you.