Joyce Meyer - A Living Hope (08/20/2019)
Being born again means receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, accepting His payment for all sins, and allowing God to live inside you as a new creation with eternal life and hope—it's a done deal through faith, not works, leading to a transformed life that witnesses to others.
What It Really Means to Be Born Again
To be born again, to be saved, whatever language you use, means that you receive Christ as your Savior, the payment for your sins, and that He comes to live inside of you. You know, when you're saved, it doesn't just mean that you agree to try to be good and go to church once a week. It means that God comes to live in you. You become the home of God. A new creature.
If you're born again, you're different than other people who aren't born again. You have a power in you. You have a hope in you. The Bible says that we're born again into an ever living hope. The interesting thing about salvation is, it's already a done deal. You don't have to struggle to try to get it. You don't have to try to talk God into doing something for you.
Jesus already died for us. He's already paid for our sins. Whether you know it or not, every sin that you've ever committed or ever will commit has already been forgiven. All you have to do is receive it. The word "get" means to obtain by struggle and effort, but to receive means to just take in what's being offered. Become a receptacle and just take in what's being offered.
No Sin Too Great for God's Forgiveness
You say, well, maybe I've committed too many sins. Well, let's just use an example. There's a power line coming into this building. If someone reaches up and cuts the power line one time, we would have no power, right? It'd all be gone. Well, let's just say somebody cut the power line five times. We still wouldn't have any power. Or let's say they cut it a hundred times. We wouldn't have any power.
So, whether you cut the power line once or a hundred times, you don't have any power. Whether you sin one time and manage to be good the whole rest of your life—which is not too likely—or if you're like I was, one of those especially wicked sinners that the Bible talks about, somebody who just feels like you've done so many things wrong that there couldn't possibly be any hope for you, either way, the power line between us and God is cut.
And we need somebody to restore that. We can't do that ourselves. Our sin is so great, and God's holiness is so amazing that there's no way through any effort or works of our own, or any amount of good behavior, or any trying to pay for our sins, that we could ever restore what's been broken.
God's Simple Invitation to Whosoever
That God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever... I think that's you. That whosoever... Not some people. Not a few people. Not special people. But whosoever... What? Believeth in Him.
Now, you know, can I tell you something? You don't have to have some special feeling to believe. You can just choose to believe the truth that Jesus died for all your sins over 2,000 years ago. That He loves you. Say, I don't feel loved. Choose to believe it and the feelings will catch up with it. Anything you choose to believe, your feelings will catch up with it. Eventually.
Choose to believe that the Word of God is true. That God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets them. And He removes them as far as the East is from the West.
Becoming Pregnant with God's Nature
In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, a man must be born again. When you're born again, a seed of everything that God is comes to live in you. You become pregnant with all that God is. Man or woman. Young, old. You become pregnant with everything that God is—pregnant with hope, pregnant with joy, pregnant with faith, pregnant with peace.
And as the Holy Spirit works in you, you grow, and you grow, and you grow, and you begin to give birth to first this thing, and then that thing, and then another thing, and this freedom, and that freedom, and some other freedom. And that new creature that you are made by the grace of God at the moment of your new birth begins to be manifested through your life.
Living as a Witness in a Dark World
And all of a sudden, people begin to say, I think I'd like some of that. See, God doesn't save us just so we can lay on the couch and eat donuts and watch soap operas. He wants us to all be witnesses in a dark world. And that's not a scary thing. It just means get out in the world and be what you are. Just simple. Just get out in the world and just be what you are.
If you're here tonight, you say, I need a new beginning. Do you need a new beginning? If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things pass away. All things become new. Tonight, you can have a free new beginning. All your sins forgiven. Peace with God. A belief and an understanding that you will go to heaven.
But not only that, when you're born again, you receive eternal life. And eternal life is not just a ticket to heaven when you die. But listen to this. Eternal life means to have life as God has life while you're here on the earth. Life as God has it. Overcoming life.
It's Never Too Late to Come Home
And all you have to do is say, can that be for me? Yes. That's for you. Maybe you've tried to serve God and you've fallen back into sin. And so now the devil's really got you convinced God will never have you back. Well, you know what? He's a liar. And you're here in the right place.
It's your time to say, just like the prodigal son, I'm coming home. I'm tired of living in the pig pen of life. I'm coming home. If you're ready to surrender tonight and say, only Jesus. No other way. Only Jesus. Always and only Jesus. Never me. Never my works. Only Jesus.
Then I want to pray for you. We're going to lead you in a prayer. The Bible says, if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that He did what He said He did, you will be saved.
A Simple Prayer for Salvation
And so I want to lead you in a prayer. If that's you tonight, I want you to be bold. You say, I need Jesus. I want a relationship with Jesus. I want to know that I'm born again. Then we're going to start out bold tonight. I want you to stand up right where you're at, and I'm going to pray for you. Come on, all over the building. Stand up.
You say, "I want a relationship with Jesus Christ." Now, I just want you to pray this prayer after me. Very simple prayer. Not complicated. But you pray it loud, and you mean it.
Say: "Father God, I love you. I believe in you. I need you. I'm sorry for my sins. Sorry about the way I've lived. Sorry for shutting you out. But I want you in my life. I surrender. I yield. I receive Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I believe He died for me. He rose from the dead. He's alive today. Come into me. Take me just the way I am. Now make me everything you want me to be. I believe I'm saved. I'm on my way to heaven. But I'm going to enjoy the trip. Amen".