Joyce Meyer - Confidence In Christ (08/21/2019)
Joyce Meyer teaches from Philippians 3:1-9 to delight and rejoice in the Lord constantly, making Christ the center of everyday life so ordinary moments become enjoyable. Stop upside-down righteousness—don't trust fleshly efforts or privileges; receive God's righteousness by faith first, then live from that secure identity in Him, free from condemnation and comparison.
Welcome – Enjoy God for Everyday Joy
Well, welcome to Enjoying Everyday Life. And I'm glad that you're with us today. And I believe, when you hear the Word of God that I'm going to share today, that it will help you to enjoy your everyday life, because I believe it's going to help you enjoy God. And really, that's the only way that you can enjoy your everyday life. Now, you might be able to do some things that would be fun, but I'm talking about just ordinary everyday life that can get so humdrum if we don't look at it the right way.
When you have the right relationship with God through Christ, you can enjoy things that other people would not be able to enjoy at all. I want stability in my life, and I'm sure you want that too. I don't want my joy to be affected by my circumstances all the time. I want it to be in Christ.
Philippians 3 – Rejoice in Him Always
So, today I'm going to teach from Philippians chapter 3, and I'm going to actually be doing the first nine verses, and there are some really powerful things in here. And it says, For the rest, my brethren, delight yourselves in the Lord, and continue to rejoice that you are in Him. Now, you know, that little phrase that is really so tiny and can be so easily missed is so powerful. And especially in the epistles, we see in Him, in Him, in Him. We're redeemed in Him. We're sanctified in Him. We're set free in Him. We live in Him. We die in Him. Everything is in Him.
And when we do allow Christ to become the actual center focus of our lives in everything that we do, then the quality of our life begins to change really, really dramatically. I like to keep telling people all the time that being a Christian is not just about, well, I go to church. So, many times you ask people, do you have a relationship with Christ? They'll say, well, I go to church, and then tell me what religion they are.
More Than Church – Do Life with God
Well, going to church is great. We want everybody to do that. But a relationship with Christ is so much more than that. When we learn to do everything that we do in Him, and through Him, and with Him. I kind of came up with this phrase last year, and I like this. We need to do life with God. Let's just do life with God. I don't want to have one day where He's not the center focus of everything that I do.
And it's really important to remember, I think that there's such a fallacy in the thinking, which we can sometimes get, that God is only interested in the, quote, spiritual things that we do. But actually, that's just not true. He's interested in you. Yes, I said He's interested in you. And in everything that you do. He's happy to fellowship with you in the grocery store, just like in church.
Invite God Into Everything – Amazing Difference
And so to me, when I entered into a more serious relationship with God over 40 years ago, that was what made my walk with God so exciting. Rather than just be rules and regulations and these different formats that I followed, life began to be about Him. And when I learned that He was concerned about everything that concerns me, that got pretty exciting.
And I really feel strongly that I want all of you here, but people watching today, there's lonely people, there's hurting people, people that don't know Christ, people that do, people that are just religious and wonder, is this all there is? I want you to realize that Jesus is concerned about everything that concerns you. And He wants to be involved in everything that you do.
But He is a gentleman, and He's not going to force His way into your life. You have not because you ask not. So just start inviting Him into everything, and you'll be amazed at the difference that you'll see in your life.
Keep Hearing the Same Things – Safety Precaution
Then Paul says, to keep writing to you over and over of the same things is not irksome to me, and it is a precaution for your safety. Now, that's really important too, because I think a lot of times if we've heard something once or twice, we think we've got that, and we want something new. And you know, a lot of us radical Christians, we underline things in our Bible. Or, I mean, we'll even make a note in our Bible. Imagine writing in your Bible. There would have been a time when I would have thought I might have got struck dead if I would have done that.
And there is a tendency to think, if you've got it underlined, that means that you know it. But there's a difference in knowing something in your head and knowing it in your heart. And keep this in mind, we never really know anything until it's actually working in our lives. And even when we know things, we have to be reminded of things. It always helps me personally when I study, because I teach a lot of different things in a lot of different places, so I need to do a lot of studying, and it's a huge variety because of being on TV every day. I can't just say the same thing every day.
Study Deep – Don't Rush Through
And it's so helpful to be reminded of things over and over and over. That's what keeps us strong in things. And you know, even like in the natural area, if I would start to get kind of sloppy in my eating habits or not taking care of myself nutritionally, I can go and read a chapter out of a good health book or, you know, that a nutritionist has written, and boy, all of a sudden I have a desire to take better care of myself.
So actually, we need knowledge, and without that, we perish. That's why I'm really having a push here at the ministry to get people to understand the importance of studying the Word of God. Now, so far, we've made it through one verse of what I want to share today. And this is what we've gotten out of one verse. And that's what I want you to understand. It's just like there's so much in the Word of God, and it is so valuable to our everyday lives. Don't try to read the Bible fast just to see how much you can read. But study it and make sure that you are getting something out of what you study.
Beware Legalists – Philippians 3:2
The next verse. Look out for those dogs and Judaizers, legalists. Look out for those mischief-makers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. Now, to be honest, many of you may have read that and just think, what? Dogs? Mutilate the flesh? What are you talking about? Well, if you don't understand the Old Testament law and how people had to try to relate to God through keeping the law, and then if they didn't keep the law perfectly, they had to make sacrifices, you won't understand this.
Paul is now teaching people the new covenant because after Christ died for our sins, we came into a new covenant, a whole new deal, you might say, and He became the final sacrifice for our sins. We no longer had to sacrifice, but when we sin, we go to Him, receive His forgiveness because He paid the price for our sins. And one of the things that they had to do as a person in covenant with God was the men had to be circumcised. So that's what He's talking about when He says, those who mutilate the flesh.
New Covenant – No More Law Rules
Now, keeping in mind what I just told you, let's go back and read it again. Look out for those dogs, the Judaizers, the legalists. He's saying, look out for the people who are still trying to bring you back under the law. And let me tell you something, that is pertinent today. I mean, there's all kinds of rules and regulations floating around out there and all kinds of things you have to do to belong to this church and that church and something else.
And even if nobody else is trying to put laws on you, trust me, we can make enough of them up ourselves. You know, Bible study can become a law. And what I mean by that is if you don't do it every day for a certain amount of time, then you feel guilty. Prayer can become a law. Instead of a pleasure and a joy, prayer can become a law, where you feel like if you don't spend a certain amount of time in prayer and if you don't feel like you made a connection and if you don't get goose bumps and all these different things, then something's wrong.
Heart Circumcision – Worship in Spirit
And we can do that in all kinds of different things. Well, under the new covenant, God does not want us to serve Him because we think we have to and we're afraid we're going to get in trouble if we don't. He wants us to serve Him because we love Him. And everything that we do is done because we love Him. I well remember when God put on my heart many years ago, I want you to stop, I don't want you to do anything anymore for me out of obligation.
Now, there's duty and duty is a good thing, but that's different than just feeling like, well, I need to do this or God's going to get mad at me. That's not the way that He wants us to serve Him. And if you can lay aside all that stuff, you'll find that there is a desire in your spirit to do all these things. But if your flesh tries to force you to do them for a wrong reason, then the law actually increases sin. No matter how much you like something... I mean, I'm telling you, if you like chocolate, I could say to you 12 times every day, you have to eat four bars of chocolate today, or you cannot work here. You have to eat four bars of chocolate. And some of you might think, oh, that's really cool. But I can tell you, no matter how much you like chocolate, after a few days, you would be like, I do not want this chocolate. If no other reason, just because somebody's trying to make you do it.
True Circumcision – Spirit and Truth
So, do you understand then how that applies to our spiritual walk with God and our relationship with Him? I've got to get going, or we're not going to get finished. Then he says, for we Christians are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the spirit. So, the circumcision, the cutting away of the flesh, which is what circumcision means, that God wants from us is a circumcision of the heart, not the flesh. We don't have to mutilate the flesh anymore to prove that we're in covenant with God. He wants us to circumcise our heart, to have a right heart, and He wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
The Amplified Bible says, in reality. So, here's the way I like to say that. It's not about just going to a church service and singing songs and lifting up my hands in worship or if the church you go to doesn't do that, sitting quietly or however you go about it. Yes, that is worship, but the Bible says that He's looking for worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. So, I can worship and not be a worshiper. The way I become a worshiper is if my whole life is lived with Him as the center, and I offer up everything that I do to Him in praise and worship, and I want to glorify Him in every single thing that I do.
No Confidence in Flesh – Philippians 3:3-6
So, then he goes on to talk about confidence, and Paul says, put no confidence or dependence on what we are in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances. Well, we could make a four-part series out of that, couldn't we? Because you know what? We live in an age of image. How many people are on my Facebook account? How do I look when I take my selfies? What do people think about me? What are people saying about me? Do I have the right degrees? Am I in the right social group? Do I have the right friends?
And then we begin to get our worth and value out of all those things, and that's not pleasing to God. Because it's all right to have them, but He doesn't want our confidence to be in them. Education would be a good example. I mean, yes, education is great, and I'm all for being educated and going to college if you can, and getting a degree, whatever. I didn't get to do that, but I'm certainly not against it.
True Righteousness – By Faith, Not Effort
However, when you go out to look for a job, I wouldn't depend on your degree, because there's a lot of people with degrees that aren't getting jobs. I think that if you go depending on God, then He may use your education, but if you depend on your education and you're not asking God to get involved, see, He can open a right door for you that nobody else can open, not even your degree.
So, Paul is trying to make the point here that, look, let's just go and read the next verse, and then you'll see. He says, Though for myself I do have grounds to rely on the flesh, if any other man would consider that he has or seems to have reason to rely on the flesh, I have more. Circumcised when I was eight days old, the race of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew, the son of Hebrews, as to observing the law, I was a Pharisee.
And so, let's put it in today's terms. Man, I was born on the right side of the fence. I was born into a well-known, important family. I not only have one degree, I have two degrees from two top universities. I not only have a regular degree, I have a master's degree. And I know the Bible, I can quote the Psalms, and I can quote the Proverbs. And we can get all proud of ourselves because of everything that we have. And here again, God's not against us having it. But He doesn't want us to put our confidence in that.
Who vs Do – Righteousness First
Don't put your confidence in things that you have, or the social group you're in, or what you look like. You know what? You might be 20 and looking great, but you're not gonna stay 20. And that doesn't mean you can't look great, but it will be a different version of great. Let me tell you. Some morning, you're gonna get up and look, and everything that used to be up here has now fallen down here. And you're gonna think, I need a whole body left, you know?
And so, he said, listen, I was zealous. I persecuted the church. And listen, and by the law's standards of righteousness, which is supposed justice, uprightness, and right standing with God. Supposed righteousness, not true righteousness, but supposed righteousness, I was proven to be blameless, and no fault was found in me.
So Paul's saying, look, I did it all right. And so, I had what everybody would think was righteousness, but he's teaching the people just like I'm teaching you today, and he's saying, but let me tell you something, that's not real righteousness. And then he goes on to talk about the God kind of righteousness. And so, there's two kinds of righteousness we can seek in this world, and one is our own righteousness that we gain through doing right things.
Receive Righteousness – Then Do Right
And it's not that we don't wanna do right things, but we wanna do right things for the right reason. And we don't do right things to be made right with God. We first receive righteousness by faith through what Jesus has done for us, and then we begin to know that we are righteous, and out of knowing who we are in Christ, then we're gonna want to do the right thing.
As a matter of fact, nobody can talk you into not trying to do the right thing. You will put every effort that you can into trying to do the right thing because you love God and you want to do it for His glory. Now, I wanna give you an example. I think a lot of Christians have it upside down. This is part of my coffee pot. And this is a coffee pot I haven't had real long, but I've successfully used it on a number of occasions. And it's small if you see the whole thing, and so I carry it on the road with me.
Upside-Down Righteousness – Messy Results
And one morning when I was out in a conference and, you know, wanted to get my coffee, sit down and study, didn't wanna have a mess. How many of you know about those mornings? You don't wanna have a mess. Well, I made my coffee and went in the other room to do something, came back, and it wasn't in the cup. It was all over the counter. It was a mess. And the coffee grounds were still stuck up in the coffee pot. And you, I don't know if you're a coffee person or not, but coffee grounds are not easy to clean up because they are little, and they just get absolutely everywhere. And even when you get them in your dish rag, it's hard to get them out. So it's not very much fun.
So I cleaned it up, tried to be nice about it, stay in the fruit of the spirit, getting ready to go preach. You don't wanna get nasty. Didn't wanna throw the coffee pot at the wall. And so I got it all cleaned up, and I thought, well, I must have done something wrong. So I put it together again, cleaned it up, made another pot of coffee, same thing. Another time. So now here I am. I don't have coffee. And I tell you what, I need caffeine until the anointing kicks in. Amen?
Who First – Do Follows
So I asked somebody to get me some coffee, and I still didn't know what was wrong with the pot. Couldn't figure it out. Couldn't get it put back together. So I finally asked one of the guys to see if they could put it back together, and here's what I had done. I was putting the lid on upside down. Looks almost the same way, but it didn't fit in there just right. And so, see? It really does. It looks like it works okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I think that's what I'm talking about today with righteousness. You might have it upside down. And as long as you have it upside down, nothing is going to work right. And let me tell you, life is going to be a mess. You're not going to get your desired result.
So please, please be sure that you have what's first, first, and what's second, second. And I've been using this phrase for probably 40 years that God gave me a long time ago. You need to know the difference in your who and your do. See? If you say, well, now this is who I am, and this is what I do. Okay, I want to be right with God. That's what I want my who to be. I want to be right with God. I want to have right relationship with God. I don't want to be struggling all the time with works of the flesh, and every time I make a mistake, having to feel guilty and condemned.
Luke 18 Parable – Pharisee vs Tax Collector
I want to realize that I'm a normal human being, that if I could be perfect without Jesus, then I wouldn't need Him. So I'm going to have some weaknesses that are going to show up here and there. I don't want them. I wish I didn't have them. I have a perfect heart toward God, but I cannot get my performance to be perfect. Does anybody relate to that? Well, you know what the Bible says? It says we are weak in Him, and we are strong in Him. So rather you're weak or strong, if He's the center of your life, then you're still in Him. And His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.
And the Bible says if we live, we live in Him. And if we die, we die in Him. So Paul was saying, I don't need to be afraid of death, because if I live, I'm in Him. And if I die, I'm in Him. And so that's the way I want my who to be. Okay, well, how do I think I'm going to get that? Am I going to get over here and struggle and try to do the right thing all the time and never make any mistakes, so now I can feel good about myself?
Receive by Faith – Behavior Follows
Or am I going to realize that my do... Now, get this. My do will never fix my who. But if I know who I am, then out of who I am, my do, what I do is going to come as a natural result of being in love with Jesus. And I think we should just give a little hand clap right there. Amen.
Now, you know, there's all kinds of examples. There's a great scripture in Luke 18, 9 through 14. So Jesus told this parable to many people who trusted in themselves. Trusted in themselves. When I walked up here today, I have preached hundreds of thousands of times. But I can promise you, I didn't come here trusting in myself. If you want to trust in yourself, that is the quickest way to make an absolute fool out of yourself and fall completely on your face, and God will be more than happy to help you do it.
Parable – Humble Tax Collector Justified
Because the only way that we can really have right relationship with Him is to know that we need Him in every single thing that we do all the time. He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous. That they were upright and in right standing with God, and they scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men.
Now see, when you think that your righteousness is based on something you do, then you're always going to look down at other people who can't do what you do. If they're not as good as you are at that thing that you do well, then you're going to judge them and criticize them because we're proud of what we do. Instead of realizing that anything I can do well, I do it well because it's a gift from God.
Pharisee Boasts – Tax Collector Begs Mercy
Now, that doesn't mean that we don't study and that we don't, you know, sharpen our gifts and work with God. It's not that we have no part. We definitely have a part. But I'm just saying, let's don't go about this upside down. And I have a feeling that there's many of you watching right now, and you probably are just thinking, could this possibly be true? Is there any way that this can be true?
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. So, one of them was a religious scholar, and the other was like the scum of the earth. The tax collectors were like the worst. Everybody hated them. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously. I think that means something like this. Come on. And he began to pray, and I love this, before and with himself. He wasn't even talking to God. He was trying to impress himself with his own prayers.
I thank you that I'm not like the rest of men. Extortioners, robbers, swindlers, unrighteous in heart and life, adulterers are even like this tax collector over here. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of everything that I have. But the tax collector merely standing in a distance will not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but he kept striking his breast saying, Oh God, be favorable, be gracious, be merciful to me, because I am an especially wicked sinner.
Justified by Faith – Not Self-Righteousness
I tell you, this man went to his home justified, forgiven, and made upright and in right standing with God, rather than the other man. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Amen? Come on, tell me that's good stuff.
All right. One last scripture I want to read you. All who sinned and come short of the glory of God. If you're watching today, we've all sinned. But the next verse says, Therefore all are justified and made upright. The only thing that you need to be to qualify for the righteousness of God is to be a sinner and admit it, and be willing to turn away from it.
Receive Righteousness – Behavior Follows
In faith, turn to Jesus Christ. Ask Him to take over your life. And at that moment, according to God, you become right with God. Then the Holy Spirit will work with you throughout the rest of your life to help work that out of you and cause your behavior to become the way God wants it to be.