"All sin can be forgiven, but it must not be ignored."
Joyce Meyer at Lakewood Church Friday 11/14/14
We all want freedom but we’re not all good at facing truth.
Truth is the way things really are.
Not the way we think they are, or wish they were.
Truth is reality from God’s Point of View.
Jesus is the Truth.
He is the Word of Truth.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of Truth.
John 1:14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth.
John 1:17 For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).
One of Joyce’s favorite scriptures is John 8:32 [the truth will make you free].
We all want to grow spiritually.
If not, we need to examine our whole relationship with God and say "Am I looking at this the right way?"
God wants us to do right and be happy.
There are people on the brink of going to hell.
God cares about them and He wants us to care about them.
Pray for them and be a witness.
We get too caught up in doing witnessing rather than being witnesses.
Joyce used to be part of the evangelism team at a church many years ago.
She wanted to help and probably did it out of a sense of obligation.
They were knocking on doors and passing out tracks.
But at that point in her life she didn’t have the power to be a witness.
In 1976 God touched her life in a powerful way.
Those who come to Me I will in no wise cast them out. [John 6:37]
Joyce wanted to be what God wanted her to be.
We probably say "Read your bible" too much when we should encourage people to study it.
Your personal bible study time and personal time with God is more important than anything else in your life.
The Holy Spirit went to work in Joyce’s life like a weed eater.
One day she was praying for Dave to change, and God spoke to her.
You can’t have relationship without conversation.
God said JOYCE, DAVE IS NOT THE PROBLEM.
She was so self-deceived that she had considered that she was the problem.
"Well who is Lord?"
For the next 3 days God showed her what it was like to live in the house with her.
And she cried for 3 days.
She was so sorry for her attitude and anger.
It took time to change.
It happens little by little, from glory to glory.
It’s like peeling an onion;
Layer by layer, and you get down to the stinky stuff.
Joyce found an old forgotten salad in her vegetable drawer.
Sometimes we hide things away and they’re causing a real stink in our lives.
God wants us to stop spraying room deodorizer.
And invite the spirit of truth into your life tonight.
It won’t all be fun but what freedom you will have later on.
Does anybody care about later on?
Be an investor in life; don’t just see what you can get by with.
Invite God to come in and really deal with you.
Matthew 7:3-5 Looking at the speck in your brother’s eye...
If we don’t let God work with us first we won’t know how to bring godly correction to someone else.
Very few people really know themselves and take ownership for their issues.
Matthew 5:48 You, therefore, must be perfect [growing into complete [a]maturity of godliness in mind and character, [b]having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity], as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Growing. Growing is the key word.
So we haven’t reached perfection but we need to have perfect hearts of wanting to grow.
Don’t ever be satisfied with just good enough.
Be one who’s on fire for God and wants to serve Him.
Joyce had many years where she was saved and loved God but didn’t love God enough to sacrifice and let Him run her life.
She liked being able to run to God when she was desperate.
She wasn’t taking anyone to heaven with her.
In fact she was probably keeping some people out.
Growing is difficult.
We have growing pains but boy is it wonderful [when we're grown].
Last night Joyce talked about sin and holiness.
Romans 14:12 And so each of us shall give an account of himself [give an answer in reference to judgment] to God.
Hebrews 12:14 Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.
Pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
If I’m taking responsibility and moving towards that perfection then it’s good.
Salvation is a free gift, but there are rewards that God has for us.
They’re given to us according to our works.
For a work to be acceptable to God it must be done out of pure motives.
What we do must be done in a total spirit of giving.
What we do in secret we’ll be rewarded for in the open. [Matthew 6:4]
Ephesians 4:15 Rather, let our lives lovingly [a]express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
I cannot grow and mature spiritually without truth.
I have to have truth to make progress.
I have to have the truth of God’s word and apply it to my life.
We don’t grow in God because we sit in church every Sunday and hear the word.
It doesn’t mean anything if we’re not doing it.
The spirit of truth (John 16:13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].)
Not the truth about somebody else.
The truth about you.
Psalm 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.
God desires truth in the inner being.
God wants us to be truthful with ourselves about ourselves.
Slow down and take time to look at yourself and ask yourself some questions.
Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; test my heart and my mind
We prayed for God to examine, prove and test us, and that His spirit would lead us and guide us into all truth.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!
There’s a lot to keep up with as a Christian.
We can get loose in certain areas.
God said REMIND PEOPLE WHAT SIN IS
It’s what God says it is.
Sometimes it’s not even what other Christians say it is.
Each one of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Joyce wants to be able to stand before God and hear well done good and faithful servant.
1 Corinthians 11:28 Let a man [thoroughly] examine himself, and [only when he has done] so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup
We need to be serious about our relationship with God.
We need to have reverential fear and awe.
We dare not rush in and take communion with all kinds of sin in our lives.
There are many scriptures we need to take more seriously.
Know that God is holy.
Joyce wouldn’t try to get up on that platform and preach with a lot of hidden junk in her life.
One of Joyce’s assignments is to help people enter into a deeper relationship with God.
Joyce is glad when people are saved, but she doesn’t want them to be saved and miserable.
There’s much more for you than showing up at church once a week and thinking you put in your time with God.
It’s about a lifestyle.
1 Corinthians 11:31 For if we searchingly examined ourselves [detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition], we should not be judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgment].
We don’t need to be sin conscious all the time we need to be God conscious.
But it’s good to take a little time and have a short meeting with yourself.
Some have gotten good at staying busy and running from themselves.
Joyce has learned how to encourage herself in the Lord.
We can even be so busy working for God that we don’t spend time with God.
Galatians 6:4 But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [[a]in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.
Satan is the deceiver.
To be deceived means to believe a lie.
To be set free means to believe the truth.
Deception is satan’s entrance into our lives.
2 Thessalonians 2:10 And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved.
They refused to love it (truth).
Nobody can tell Joyce that God didn’t try to get to them, but they turned away at some point.
God himself said that what David did to Uriah was much worse. [2 Samuel 11]
It was a planned deception and a cover up.
What he did with Bathsheba was a lustful temptation he gave into.
Covering up his sin with Uriah was worse than the sin.
Sin is wrong, but it’s the cover up of our sin that’s even worse.
Adam and Eve sinned but the bigger mistake was trying to cover it up. [Genesis 3:8]
Animals had to die; blood had to be shed. [Genesis 3:21]
Only the blood can cover us and cleanse us.
They hid from God.
We have the value of confessing our sins.
Joyce doesn’t think we have to mention every single sin to God but she can’t receive forgiveness for something that she’s ignoring.
All sin can be forgiven; but it cannot be ignored.
If frightens Joyce when she thinks about what could be in her life that she’s not even seeing.
She doesn’t want to not know because God tried to tell her and she wouldn’t listen.
If she’s being rude she wants to know it right away.
She wants to sense that conviction from God.
Last year Joyce told a lie, but she’s faced the truth about it.
When you bring things out into the open they lose their power.
What we hide torments us.
Confession is so valuable.
It gets things out in the open.
One time Joyce prayed “Forgive me I missed it.”
God said Missed what? What did you do?
I want to hear you say it.
To say forgive me for being jealous of my friend hurts.
But when you call it out then you can truly repent.
God wants everything between Us to be free and clean and clear.
Not living with the fear of being found out.
Sometimes a bondage can be broken by confessing it to someone else.
There’s embarrassment in that but it breaks some things off our flesh and sets us free.
1 Kings 15:5 Because David did what was
right in the eyes of the Lord and turned not aside from anything that
He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah
the Hittite.
Uriah was one of David’s 30 mighty men who’d been in the cave with him; who’d laid down his life for him…
Uriah was a great man of honor.
All sin can be forgiven, but it must not be ignored.
Joyce is giving us another homework assignment.
Start listening to yourself.
Out of the heart the mouth speaks. [Matthew 12:34]
We can locate ourselves by listening to ourselves.
James 1:26-27 26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religious service is worthless (futile, barren).
27 External [a]religious worship [[b]religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.
27 External [a]religious worship [[b]religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.
It’s more important to God that you bridle your tongue than show up to church every week and try to act holy.
There are 3 things here if you want to be real.
Listen to what’s coming out of your mouth.
Studying for this message has even helped Joyce.
We live in the fast lane but that’s not the lane God is in.
Last week Joyce heard herself say 6 words to Dave and in those six words she recognized judgment, resentment, and self-pity.
Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to.
She wasn’t condemned, she was happy.
Truly spiritually mature people know the difference between conviction and condemnation.
This is all about spiritual growth.
Joyce was actually happy because she had something new and exciting to do with God, as He showed her herself.
You can’t go anywhere if you don’t know where you’re at.
When Joyce started working out with a strength coach they gave her a strength test.
The weakest area of her body was between her shoulder blades.
It made her walk somewhat slumped over.
They located the weakness and they went to work on it.
Within 3 months her posture improved and her back pain went away.
James 1:2 says be joyful… [Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.]
[Trials] brought a lot of stuff out of Joyce before she got around to patience.
We’ve got a lot of junk in our soul that needs to come out.
If you only get one teaching from the conference get tonight’s.
Joyce wants people to start dealing truthfully.
And not be afraid to invite the spirit of truth into their life.
When Joyce was an immature Christian she used to feel condemned by the Holy Spirit's conviction.
I’m the biggest mess in the whole world.
What God is doing in somebody else is none of our business.
Joyce isn’t giving us milk but meat.
However, brethren, I could not talk to you as to spiritual [men], but as to nonspiritual [men of the flesh, in whom the carnal nature predominates], as to mere infants [in the new life] in Christ [[a]unable to talk yet!]
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it],
3 For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?
2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not yet strong enough [to be ready for it]; but even yet you are not strong enough [to be ready for it],
3 For you are still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordinary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are you not unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves after a human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?
He meant I can tell by the way you talk that you are spiritually immature.
So often we say things and then say "I was only kidding".
It’s OK to joke, but sometimes we do that because what we said was so unpleasant.
Joyce will pay more attention.
She wants to grow in her walk with God.
There’s a danger in getting satisfied with where you are in the Lord.
There might be someone praying to be a millionaire but the truth is it would kill them. They’d be selfish, turn away from God, etc.
4 ways you deceive yourself.
1. Reasoning – excuse away everything.
2. Procrastination Exodus 8: a plague of frogs came on the land.
There were frogs everywhere.
Pharaoh finally gave up. He said take it away.
Moses said I’ll pray them away. When do you want me to pray?
"Tomorrow" said Pharaoh. [Exodus 8:10]
Really?! If you could get rid of the problem why would you wait until tomorrow?
Some of you are sleeping with frogs.
3. Intellectualism and 4. Deceitfulness
Am I jealous when I see someone else get blessed?
Pay attention to what comes out of your mouth.
Am I jealous or insecure?
Always comparing myself to others?
How much do you weigh?
How much do you make?
How many people are at your church?
How many people attend your meetings?
It is not going to go away until we own it.
How long do you pray?
Gossiping under the guise of prayer.
Am I a positive person or a complainer?
Do I talk to the mountains or about the mountains?
Do I point out the flaws of others?
God told Joyce "If you can get through these early years without complaining then you’ll be able to go wherever you want to go".
There’s always something to be thankful for.
Am I selfish?
How much do I talk about myself?
My plans, my desires, etc.
What am I really doing to make somebody else’s life better?
PRAYER
ALTAR CALL
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