Joyce Meyer - How Can I Transform My Life? (08/21/2019)
Joyce Meyer celebrates the greatest transformation: God gradually changing us from selfish and broken to Christ-like, loving people through His grace. She urges believers to believe they already have righteousness, peace, and joy in Christ, pursue them actively by studying the Word, spending time with God, and following the Holy Spirit – even if it means suffering the death of the flesh for lasting freedom.
The Greatest Transformation – God's Work in Us
The greatest transformation, I believe, is what God does in us and how he changes us from what we were when we started to what he wants us to be. And it's a process. It's not something that happens all at once. It doesn't happen instantaneously. It happens over a period of time.
And if you want to enjoy your journey with God, then you will have to be patient and realize that although you're not yet where you need to be, that God's not mad at you about that, that he loves you every step of the way.
And the main thing I believe that God wants is for us to just keep pressing on and to be making some kind of progress.
I don't know about you, but I like progress. I like to know that I'm getting somewhere, even if it's not everywhere that I would like to be, at least I'm getting somewhere.
So we tell people, I've been telling them for years, you may not be where you want to be, but thank God you're not where you used to be.
And I encourage you. Now listen to me. I want to encourage you this morning to be excited about the growth that you've had.
Don't be, don't always just be looking at what you're not, what you're not, what you're not. But really get excited, and take some time, sometimes, and think about just the difference in you from when you started with God, and where you're at now.
How many of you are a little bit nicer than you used to be? Okay. Thank God.
So, the greatest transformation, I believe, is for a person to be selfish, self-centered, self-conscious. Self-conceited, self-confident, self-absorbed, and be turned into a Christ-like, unselfish child of God who walks in love.
That's our goal, walking in love. Not the world kind of love that we turn on and off, depending on what people do, but the agape of God, the kind of love that just loves, because that's what it is.
A good thing to pray is, God, reduce me to love. Let me be a body wholly filled and flooded with love.
The greatest commandment is, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. And you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.
I think the Bible's a book largely about relationships. It's about our relationship with God, our relationship with people, but it's also a lot about our relationship with ourself.
And I don't know if you've noticed it yet or not, but a lot of the Bible talks about the way God wants us to see ourselves, and the attitude that He wants us to have toward ourself.
God actually wants you to love yourself, not in a selfish, self-centered way, but in a balanced, healthy way.
He wants you to not be against yourself all the time and constantly finding everything that's wrong with you, but He wants you to see what He has created you to be, and that although you've not arrived yet, you are on your way.
Everybody say, I'm on my way. I'm on my way.
So I think to experience this kind of transformation, one of the things, and the first thing that we need to do, is we need to learn who we are in Christ, and then begin to walk in that.
Who We Are in Christ – Righteousness
Now what do I mean when I say who we are in Christ? Well, when we're born again, we're put into Christ, and he comes to live in us. We become one. And so, him being in us, we now share in everything that he is, everything that he has, and everything that he's done by faith.
Jesus is totally righteous. Nothing wrong with him. And do you know the Bible says that he that knew no sin, being Jesus, became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ.
So in Christ, one of the things that we now have is rightness instead of wrongness. Isn't that wonderful?
Let's look at Romans 3, 23. Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and the glory of God. I like that.
It doesn't say that we've all sinned and did fall short. We are falling short every day, every moment. We are falling short of the honor and the glory which God bestows and receives.
All... Everybody say all. All. How many of you agree we've all sinned? Okay. Okay.
But you know what? Not everybody knows. And even if they did know, they might have a hard time agreeing to the rest of this.
So all are justified. That means made just as if you've never sinned. And made upright and in right standing with God. Freely and gratuitously by His grace, His unmerited favor and mercy, through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus.
So in Christ, we are made right with God. You know how wonderful and freeing it is to not have to constantly meditate on everything that's wrong with you?
Am I the only one in the building that's excited about that? I mean, isn't that... My gosh, I did that for so many years.
And you know, the world is full of people that are more than happy to tell you what's wrong with you.
And when I say that we're righteous, I don't mean we do everything right. And that's the glory of this. We all are falling short of the glory of God.
You've already done wrong things this morning. I've already done wrong things. I had some kind of stupid thoughts earlier this morning. I mean, do you ever get into stupid in your head? It's like...
And it's like you're just going around thinking stuff, getting ready, doing stuff. And then all of a sudden, you're like, what? Why am I even thinking about that?
So the Bible says that when we sin, we not only sin in behavior, but also in thought and word. Thought, word, and deed.
So we might as well just give up the pressure of perfectionism and stop feeling like that God's going to reject us or be mad at us if we don't perform perfectly every day.
Now, somebody might say, well, Joyce, don't you think you're taking a chance in saying that to people? What if they just now think it's okay for them to sin?
Well, you know what? I'm not the least bit worried about that, and I'll tell you why. But if you love God enough, then you are not a person that's getting up every day looking for an excuse to sin.
So I'm going to help you by telling you, yes, do your best, and let God do the rest. And every day, you'll get better and better and better, little by little, from glory to glory, we improve.
And I tell you what, I still have not arrived, but I am sure not like I used to be. And that's what the Word of God is supposed to do for us. Amen?
We are transformed into His image. Amen? Our destination is Christ-likeness. And our destination is to respond to people and things and situations the way that Jesus did when He was here.
Thank God that the world is not our standard, but Jesus is our standard.
So I love that, that we are falling short. It's not just a one-time thing. I didn't just like get all messed up, but now I've got it all together.
We are falling short of the glory of God, but we are all justified and made right with God through Christ. In Him. Not in my behavior. I don't do everything right, but I still am right.
And here's the reason why this is so important. Now, please listen. You're never going to produce anything that you don't believe you have.
So how foolish would it be? And this is many times what people do. You got to do this. You got to do this. You need to do this. You need to do that.
That's what religion, just raw religion without relationship, does to us many times. Loads us down with rules and regulations and all of these guidelines about behavior, but never gets around to telling us who we are in Christ. Amen?
If I don't know that I have something, I can't produce it. If you said to me, give me a dollar. I couldn't give you a dollar if I didn't know that I had a dollar.
So how can you ever have better... How can you ever produce more right behavior if you don't know that you are right and that seed of rightness is in you as a gift from God?
So I want everybody to say, I've got it. I've got it.
And this is what we need to know. We've got it. We've got what it takes. We're full of everything that we need and it's just working its way from deep inside of us to outside of us where everybody can see it.
This is a happy day, happy day, happy day. Okay.
We Are Loved – Unconditionally
We are loved. Wow. So many people desperately need to not only hear that, but believe it.
I've said several times in this conference, God is never going to love you any more than he does at this moment right now.
You might think, oh. Because see, sometimes we think, well, if we improve, then God will love us more.
God doesn't love us because of anything we do. He loves us because that's who he is. God is love.
And he loves us with everlasting love, with a perfect love that is unconditional and cannot be bought.
Can I tell you something today? God is not for sale, and you cannot buy him with your good works. Amen?
It's free grace. God loves us not because we deserve it, but because he has to do that. That's just what he does.
And so, even if you just are having a really hard time getting a hold of how God could love you, just receive it, and let that love begin to heal the wounds in your life.
Forever Cleansed and Perfected – Hebrews 10:14
Hebrews 10:14. For by a single offering... I love this one. He has forever completely cleansed and perfected those who are consecrated and made holy.
Forever, completely. Forever, completely. Forever, completely. Forever, completely.
Everybody say, I've got it. I've got it. Whoo!
We're changed by God's grace, not our works and effort. You say, well, what is my part? I'm supposed to do something.
Here it comes. Four things. Believe. Dare to believe God is changing me.
I want God to change me. I've asked God to change me. I want to be what He wants me to be, and I believe that God is working, and that I'm getting better and better all the time.
I actually believe that God changes us in such minute, little degrees that we don't really see it or recognize it.
That's why sometimes you have to look back to how you were ten years ago, and then say, wow, God really has done a work.
So first thing, believe. Second thing, study God's Word.
Now, I didn't say read the Bible. That's cool. Do that too. But I'm talking about studying the Word of God.
Even if it's 30 minutes a day. Even if you start with 15 minutes a day. Study. Don't get into the Bible for quantity. Look at it for quality.
Stick with it till you can say, okay, I learned something today. I saw something that encouraged me.
Don't just go through it at warp speed and then feel proud of yourself because you read three or four chapters if you can't remember one thing you read. Amen? Amen.
Get in a Bible study. Study the Word. It's great to hear preachers. I'm glad you watch my program. I'm really glad you came to the conference.
But I want you to study. And we have things to help you. And don't use the excuse, I can't understand the Bible.
There's too many modern translations of the Bible for anybody to say they can't understand it. And there's too many other books and things to help you study.
Time with God. Got to have time with God. Time with God. Spend time with God. Put God first. Work the rest of your schedule around Him.
Start with five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. But go somewhere. Get by yourself. Get a good book. Get a Bible.
Have nothing but just you and God. But spend time with God.
Because here's the bottom line. No matter what anybody else teaches you, He's the one that's got to put it all together and make it work in your life.
And then learn to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I'm telling you, what if we would just do what God tells us to do?
You say, well, Joyce, what about discipline, self-control, making right choices, doing what's right, whether you feel like it or not? Well, that's all part of it, too.
See, the thing I like about this is, this whole restoration thing, there's a lot of parts. There's the part that only God can do. There's the part He expects me to do.
There's His grace, and I can't do anything without that. And now here's a scripture that just makes you want to scream.
Colossians 3, 5. So kill, deaden, deprive of power, the evil desire lurking in your members, those animal impulses and all that's flesh in you.
Anyway, on and on and on and on. It basically says, kill the flesh.
Any time that you're used to something, whether it's self-pity or reasoning or fear or worry, when you first start not giving in to it, you are going to S-U-F-F-E-R.
I thought you might handle it better if I spelled it. But in case you didn't get it, it's suffer.
You can get free from anything if you're willing to believe, study, spend time with God, follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and be willing if God leads you the hard, long way to let your flesh go ahead and not be comfortable for a while, because you will come out on the other side comfortable. Amen.