Joyce Meyer - What Has Jesus Done for Us? - Part 2
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I’m having to look back at a lot of things, and man, we talk about the early years, and I wish sometime I had the time to just sit down and try to make people understand what it was like. I mean, it was just almost downright silly. But I had a dream. And I didn’t give it to myself. God gave it to me. I was making my bed when God spoke to me. And he really spoke to me more with a desire, an overwhelming desire to teach his word. I was listening to a teaching cassette tape, first one I’d ever heard. And I was so impressed by what I was hearing, and it just blew up in me.
«Someday I’m gonna do that and I’m gonna go all over the world and teach the word». And from that day until this, I’ve never quit. But I taught five years, a home Bible study, twenty-five people in my living room floor, I didn’t get paid for that. I quit my full-time job in order to be able to study. And for six years we needed a miracle every month just to pay our bills. Oh yeah, there’s sacrifice if you wanna serve God, but there’s also great rewards. Amen. Great rewards. I just wanna encourage you today, even if you don’t have some big dream for your life, you might be raising a child that’s gonna be a world-changer. Whatever you’re doing, it is very important. The power of believing.
Do you know that the Bible has 430 references to the word believe, believed, believing? And in the book of John there are ninety-nine of them. Ninety-nine of 'em in the book of John. And you know, John lived longer than any of the other disciples. What does God require of us? What does God want us to do? «What do you want me to do, God? What do you want me to do»? We’re always asking God, «What do you want me to do? Tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it». Well, the other disciples, not just the twelve, but people listening to him, and it’s recorded in John 6. «What can we do to please God»? You wanna please God, don’t you? And so, we ask that, «What can I do to please you»? And however, we never think we’ve done enough, no matter what we do. And Jesus said, «This is the work that my father requires of you. That you believe in the one whom he has sent».
If you believe, all things are possible to you. I mean, if you just ran the believing scriptures in a Concordance. I mean, it’s so easy to study today. Just put in the search engine of your computer, show me all the scriptures on believing. I mean, you go, «What? If I just believe that, I’ll have it? What else do you want me to do»? «Just believe». And see, the truth is, is when you really believe, you believe, not just somebody else you know, really believes, but when you really make that real life connection with God and he becomes your everything and you believe and you lean on him and you trust him, things become so amazing in your life.
You know, Abraham Lincoln reminds me of a story called «The Donkey In The Well». One day, a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. And the animal just cried piteously. I mean, it sounded horrible. I don’t know what a donkey sounds like when it’s crying, but, I don’t know. Bad. That wasn’t bad enough. And the farmer was trying to decide what to do. 'cause it was gonna be a real job to try to get this donkey out of this well. And so, he said, «Well, you know, he’s old, he’s getting old anyway. Probably ain’t gonna last too much longer. I think I’ll just call a bunch of neighbors over and have 'em help me bury him».
So, he got four or five neighbors and they were all getting buckets full of dirt and throwing 'em, just throwing 'em in the well on top of the donkey. And he continued to cry for quite a while. And then to everybody’s amazement, he quieted down. And they thought, «Well, maybe we’ve got him covered up. Maybe he’s dead now». So, a few shovels later, the farmer looked down in the well and was astonished at what he saw. Every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and get on top of it.
How many shovels of dirt have been thrown on your back in your life? Are you gonna let it bury you or are you gonna shake it off and get on top of it? Let it lift you to a higher place! Let your troubles lift you to a higher place in God. And all of a sudden, that donkey just stepped out of that well and just trotted right off. Oh, I remember the people that told me I couldn’t do this. I don’t really know what happened to any of them, but I’m still here. Forty-eight years later, I’m still here, still teaching the word.
Come on. Do not tell me that you can’t do anything for God. I started this ministry with three teenagers and a baby. Three teenagers and a baby. My daughter was talking to me yesterday because they’re wanting some stories from the early days for this autobiography. And we were like a joke in the beginning, but you know, a few people came. We rent a hotel ballroom, have maybe 100. Actually, when we got to 100, we thought we’d died and gone to heaven. Her and her husband drove all the equipment and the resources in a box truck, and Dave and I flew. And then she had a baby. And so, she decided to keep doing it because we needed her. So, she took the baby on the road and then she had another baby. And so, she’s traveling on the road, trying to do this with two babies.
And I remember that year. I think she cried the whole year. And she said, «Many times, we would just get home and have one day to wash our clothes, repack, and get back in the truck and take off to the next place». Because at one time, I did thirty-six conferences a year! Thirty-six! Plus, I took every speaking engagement that I could get my hands on. It’s a wonder we’re not all dead. But God gave us the grace to do it. And, man, we worked so hard! That’s why it is so annoying to me when people wanna get online and judge something that they know absolutely nothing about.
I ran into, and I mean, ran into, 'cause I don’t look for this stuff. I ran into some stuff the other day and it was about three people. It’s just stupid stuff, but people believe it. And I thought it was interesting, you know, they don’t pick on pastor John that has been faithful to 250 people for twenty-five years. They pick on the people that are affecting the most people. Because, believe me, the devil wants to shut our mouth. Oh, I found out stuff about myself. I have tennis courts, which I don’t. I own seven houses, which I don’t. Oh, I mean, I got stuff. You should see the picture of my house online. You’ll go looking now, this afternoon. It looks like an absolute castle. I mean, like something, you know, the kings would have lived in. I thought, «You dumb thing. If that’s all you have to do is do stuff like that, just have at it. It’s not gonna make me quit». Amen?
Come on, you got what it takes! You have got it. You don’t have to try to go get it. When you change families, the Bible says that the devil was your father. But when you changed families, God becomes your father, and you are his child, and he is going to take care of you. But you have to believe it. Come on, why don’t you just take a few days and just study everything the Bible says about believing? I mean, it’s phenomenal. «And all I gotta do is believe». And I know it’s hard sometimes to believe things that you can’t see, but we believe in things that we can’t see all the time. I believe in gravity, but I can’t see it. I’m making good use of it right now though. I believe in electricity, but I can’t see it. I believe in air. I like breathing it, but I can’t see it. We believe in stuff that we can’t see.
So why isn’t it, when it comes to things about God, you say, «Yeah, well, Joyce, if I’m so good, then why do I act so bad»? Because the Bible says a wonderful thing in Philippians 2:12, it says, «Work out your own salvation with (self-distrust) and fear and trembling, for it is God who is all the while working in you». It’s just this simple. When you’re born again, you get a download into your spirit, but it doesn’t do anybody any good if it just stays in your spirit. It’s gotta get worked in your soul and then out through your body where it can be seen.
You say, «Well, what do you want me to do»? I want you to go to work and act like a Christian. I want you to be in your neighborhoods and act like a Christian. You know what I do, when I’m around people that don’t believe in God? I talk the same way I do, if I was talking to a believer, they’ll say, «Oh, I got a problem with such and such». I say, «I’ll pray for you». And I talk about God, you know, «God said this, God did that, God did». And I don’t care what they think. Interesting thing, I know somebody, it was actually one of my kids that uses a certain Uber driver all the time. Same one, always gives him outrageous tips. He’s muslim.
And long story short, three years later, my son prayed with him to receive Christ in his car. Why? Because for three years he acted like a Christian. You don’t always have to preach everybody a sermon. You just be who you are. I mean, if you’re gonna pray over a meal at a restaurant, don’t act like you have a headache. Now, you don’t have to shout and scream and make a fool out of yourself either. But you can bow your head and let 'em know you’re praying. Amen? How many of you recognize that Christians are more and more hiding who they are in public? Like it’s something to be ashamed of. I’m proud to be a believer. And I’ll tell you something. Being a believer, it’s not for sissies.
If you’re gonna be a real believer in the world today, it’s gonna take some guts. Amen? If you believe you’re a failure, you’re gonna fail. If you believe God is not pleased with you, you’re gonna be unhappy. Even though he’s pleased with you and loves you very much, you’re gonna feel like he’s not. So, you’re gonna keep trying to do things to get him pleased with you. And you’re just gonna wear yourself out with works of the flesh. If you believe you’ll never overcome your past, then you won’t. But if you believe that you can make a difference in the world, you will. If you believe that you can get over the last disappointment you had, you will.
Come on. If you believe you can get over divorce, you will. If you believe you can get over being abused when you were too little to help yourself, you will. And you really will have an advantage because you will have experience. And see, man, I have such empathy for girls that are being trafficked into sex. And we are working hard to get that situation turned around. Every time somebody hurts you, every time somebody hurts you, you can use it to help somebody else. Amen. Okay, now listen, real quick. 'cause as usual, I’m out of time. If it was left up to me, I’d never be out of time, but. Maybe you’re here today and you need to change families. Maybe you’re tired of the devil being your father and running your life and telling you what to do. Maybe you’d like to change families and get in the family of God and become a child of God who is adored and loved. The apple of God’s eye.
Think about that. «He who touches you touches the apple of God’s eye,» the Bible says. And I just simply wanna ask if you’re here today and you’ve never received Christ as your Savior, you’ve never really surrendered your life to him, or maybe you’ve been kind of playing at this thing, but yet you’ve never really given your life to Jesus. Maybe you’ve had enough of Jesus to stay out of hell, but not enough to walk in victory. If you wanna make a commitment to be a real Christian and follow Christ, can I see your hand?
Come on, I wanna see your hand. Up, up, up. Put them up nice and high. All right, now all of you who raised your hand, just stand up. I’m not gonna bring you down here, but I want you to stand up. Not to embarrass you, but just to simply say, if you won’t take a stand in here, you won’t go take one out there. Wonderful! Wonderful. Pray this prayer with me. Close your eyes. Forget about what everybody’s doing and just, «God, I believe in you. And I believe that you sent your son, Jesus, to die for me, that my sins are forgiven. I’m washed in the blood. I want to be a follower of Christ. I open my heart and I ask you to come and live in me and take me fully and completely and make me what you want me to be. Thank you for saving me. Amen».
Come on, let’s give him a big hand clap. Kevin: I was a thief. You know, I was a thief: I stole and I took. And I remember having a conviction. I knew that what I was doing was wrong. I knew that, you know, but it was all about me. I didn’t care about nobody else. I didn’t care about the consequences. You know, as long as I got what I wanted, that’s all that mattered. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and I was at a very low point in my life. I used to walk down the streets and I would just throw my hands up and say, «God help me. I can’t stop. I need your help. I can’t stop doing this».
God uses what he needs to use to get our attention, and that, for me, it was a time of incarceration. He showed me all about me, and I didn’t like a lot of the things that I saw. I was so selfish and self-centered, you know. Life revolved around me and what my desires was and what I wanted in life. Upon being incarcerated, you know, I met a person right off the bat. I was laying, I’ll never forget it: I was laying down on the floor, in a cell, and a guy just walked by and just handed me a Bible. He just handed it to me, and he just walked away. I knew, I said, «Okay, God,» you know, «I knew that this was time for me and you. I knew that your word is true».
God was there from day one. He was there when I walked in. He was already there. I’ll never forget I was at a service while I was incarcerated, I just happened to walk into a service and God’s presence was there. Everybody was singing. All the men there, everybody was singing and clapping. His presence filled that room. I just started to cry. I didn’t know what that was. I couldn’t understand it, and it was like, he just washed me. It was a moment of surrender. It really was. It was like, «Okay, God, I give you, my heart. I give you everything».
It was amazing. It was amazing. And I remember watching, Joyce Meyer was on TV there, you know, and I found encouragement in the things that she was saying. And you have to get to the point where you stop waiting for your circumstances to change, and you decide, «God, you change me». That’s what has to change, not your circumstances. Jesus said, «In the world you will have tribulation».