Joyce Meyer - Your Life is What You Make It - Part 6

You know, there's an interesting thing about God. He never asks us to give away anything that he hasn't given us first. He loves us so we can love other people. He's merciful to us so we can be merciful to other people. He forgives us, so we can forgive other people. God wants us to have a kingdom life, and the kingdom life is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness, right relationship with God, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And I believe that we need to seek that instead of seeking things. Be right with God. Learn who you are in Christ. When you have a right relationship with God, then you can have peace, and when you have peace, then you can have joy. But it comes in that order.

So, I've learned how to trust people. Matter of fact, sometimes I might be a little too trusting now, but I just don't have the energy to be suspicious of everybody. That's hard work to always suspect and be suspicious. We had a man that, this happened probably 20 years ago, but we had known him 20 years: he worked for us, and long story short, he ended up stealing some money from the offerings. And I was so shocked, because that was the last person I would have ever, would have thought would have done that. And the first thing that came to my mind was, "I will never trust anybody again". Now, that's a devil thought. That's not a God thought, that's a devil thought. The devil wanted to take that situation and get a soul poisonous thought in my mind that, "I will never, you cannot trust anybody".

And I mean, right away, God put in my heart, "You can't live like that". You can't blame everybody else for what one person does. You can't blame everybody else for what 10 people do. There's so many things today that people do that are shocking. You know, I didn't know Christians lied, but Christians lie. I didn't think that was an option for us. And I'm like, "You just told me a lie"? People that you trust will talk about you behind your back, they'll tell your secrets. So, you gotta have a balance. It seems like people go to one extreme or the other. They're either just like overly trusting, and don't use any discernment or wisdom at all, or they go all the way over to this extreme, and they're not going to trust anybody, and they're suspicious of everybody. So, let's look at the way Jesus handled these kinds of situations.

In John 2:24-25, it says, "But Jesus [for his part] Did not trust himself to them", that was his disciples, "Because he knew all men". Now, it doesn't say that he didn't trust them. It says, "He didn't trust himself to them". So, what that tells me is he didn't just throw himself all in and tell them everything and every secret he had. You need to use a little bit of wisdom. You know, if there's something that you don't want to be told, then you probably ought to just keep it to yourself. I know maybe three people that I feel like I could say to them, "Don't tell anybody this," and they wouldn't. So, you gotta use wisdom, and I pray a lot for discernment concerning people. Discerning of spirits is one of the gifts of the spirit, but in addition to that, we just need discernment, just plain discernment.

And, so, you don't want to mistrust people, but you don't want to just throw your heart wide open to everybody that comes along and just ask to get hurt. So, we want to put our trust in God. We wanna have decent relationships with people, and you cannot have good relationships with people if you're not ever gonna trust anybody. Let's talk, for a minute, about a thankful attitude. If you want something that's gonna make your life better, just be more thankful. I love what Psalm 100 says. It says, "Be thankful and say so". So, we may think, "Well, I'm thankful". Well, are you saying so? How many people are in your life that are a real blessing to you, but it's been a long time since you've said, "Thank you," to them? It's amazing how quick we are to complain, but what about "Thank you"? "I appreciate you".

You know, if there was more of that in marriages, there would be a lot less divorces. Let's don't have somebody in our life that treats us good and start taking 'em for granted. And let's be sure and be very thankful to God. You remember the ten lepers? Ten got healed and only one came back to say, "Thank you," and Jesus said, and it's kind of sad, he said, "Where are the other nine"? It's kind of sad, isn't it? "I healed ten: where are the other nine"? Our petition should never outweigh our gratitude. The Bible even talks about giving thank offerings. And I like to do that once in a while, just give an offering, just a special offering, just to say, "God, thank you for all that you've done in my life".

You know how much happier you'd be if you'd think more about all that God has done instead of all you want him to do? So, be sure you keep a thankful attitude. I'm talking to you about things that are gonna make your life happier, better. "Your life is what you make it," that's what we're talking about. Trust God. Don't have a suspicious attitude about people. At least, if you're not gonna trust 'em, wait until they give you a reason not to. And even then, many times, God's gonna tell you to forgive 'em and start over. Have a thankful attitude. You know, the Lord told me one time, I was complaining about something, I was praying but complaining. Well, we do that, don't we? You know, you're praying about this thing over here, but you're complaining about this thing over here. And God said, "Why should I give you more when you're already complaining about what you got"?

Whoo-who! You know, complaining is a bigger problem than what we think it is. Actually, it's sin. The Israelites complained and complained and complained. And God let serpents into the camp and 23,000 of 'em fell dead in one day. I'm glad I live under the new covenant. But that scripture from the Old Testament's brought up in the New Testament in 1 Corinthians. It says that he's reminding us of this so we don't make the same mistake that they made. "Don't complain," it said, "Against God". "Well, I'm not complaining against God: I'm just complaining". No. "If you believe I'm in charge of your life, then if you complain, you're saying I'm not satisfied with God". Do you know if we could get through one whole day without complaining, it would be a minor miracle? Maybe a major miracle. Okay, I wanna talk to you about a confident attitude.

Now, I want you to listen to what I'm gonna say carefully. You can be confident even if you don't feel confident. "Huh"? Yeah. You have to learn how to separate who you are from what you feel. My confidence is in Christ and he's as solid as a rock. Amen? And he tells me he'll never leave me nor forsake me. And if I step out in faith and do what he's asking me to do, that he'll always be with me. He told Moses, "You go and I'll be with your mouth," and I trust God to be with my mouth. All you can do is pray and ask God to help you and put your confidence in him, and then make a decision, "I am gonna be confident, I'm gonna hold my head up high, and I'm gonna believe that God is helping me, and I'm not gonna go by what I think or what I feel or even by what other people say".

What is your confidence in? Is it in how you look? How much money you have? What your job title is? What neighborhood you live in? Who your friends are? Do you try to get around people that you think are important so you'll feel important? Or do you do what the Bible says and look for the lowly? Philippians 3:3, "For we [Christians] Are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and we exalt in glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] In the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances". He said, "We don't put any confidence in our level of education. We don't put any confidence in who we know, what we wear, what we look like, our confidence is in Christ and Christ alone," because everything else in the world and every other person in the world is shaky, and they change: people change.

But God never changes and he's the rock that never shakes. Amen? We have to stay, if you're gonna be confident you have to stop living by how you feel. "Well, I don't feel like God loves me". Well, he does. "I don't feel like my prayers were any good today". Well, if you prayed in Jesus' name then he made 'em good. Amen? "I don't feel, I feel, I don't feel, I feel, I feel, I don't feel". No, what do you believe? That's the key. What do you believe? It's not about what you feel. See, I had to learn that I could feel something and not let that dictate my behavior. But see, that's where we could slide right into having an obedient attitude. You know, obedience to God is not an option. When God says, "If you obey me you'll be blessed and if you don't you won't," that's what he means.

People get some of the goofiest ideas today because of, to be honest, a lot of weak, watered-down preaching. And yes, God loves you. He loves you very much and he's gracious and he's good. But he'll also only put up with our nonsense so long. It'd be like I used to tell my kids or I'd behave with my kids, "I wish you would listen to my word but if you don't, I will touch your circumstances". Amen? Well, see, God tells us, and tells us, and tells us.

I had my son tell me, one time, he's the one that's ahead of our world missions and he had a real strong personality and we had to correct him a lot in the beginning when he came to work for us. I mean, a lot. And he told me, one time, he said, "You know something? Every time you and dad correct me, I can tell you that God has tried to correct me on that several times and I didn't listen before it got to you".

And see, I believe that God always tries first to deal with us privately. Amen? And if we'll listen to that, then we won't have to be dealt with publicly. Even like some of the people in ministry that fall into sin and make a big mess and it all comes out in the papers and there's no telling how many times God tried to deal with them. Because God doesn't want it done that way either. Because every time that happens it hurts the whole body of Christ. And it gives Christianity a weaker reputation.

So, make a decision that you're gonna start listening to God, behind closed doors, at home, in even the smallest, tiniest things. That's where you learn how to obey God. And be a person of excellence. Don't just do a half-baked sloppy job. Even if nobody's watching, do the best you can with everything that you do. Amen? And keep your word. When you tell people you're gonna do something, do it. Don't tell somebody, "I'll call you next week just to get rid of 'em," when you don't have any intention of calling them next week or next year or any other time. We want God to keep his word, don't we? Have an obedient attitude. Be like Jesus was, "Your will be done and not mine".

Obedience should be our lifestyle. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey me". He didn't say, "If you obey me, I'll love you". He already loves us and his love is not for sale. We don't buy God's love with our obedience, but he said, "If you love me, you will obey me". And I think that's very true. Amen? You can do great things for God and God will do great things for you, but it's gonna have to start with obedience. And if I ask, right now, how many of you know an area in your life, right now, where God's told you something and you haven't been obedient, probably most hands would go up. So, I want to tell you, go home and take care of it. Amen?

"Well, I'm gonna do it. I'm going to". Well, God has a question for you, "When"? You know, procrastination is such a thief. Because procrastination makes you think you're okay because you intend to do it. But good intentions are not obedience. Obedience is doing it. Maybe you need to call somebody up and apologize to 'em. Maybe you're waitin' for them to call you. But God's saying, "Just humble yourself and make peace". You know, I found out it really doesn't matter if I'm right or Dave's right: I just gotta have peace. I don't have, I already wasted too much of my life being upset. I don't wanna waste another day being upset. Amen? I'd like to camp on top of sacrifice for a minute.

Can I tell you something? Even if you're gonna love somebody, it's gonna require sacrifice. You can't have a decent marriage without sacrifice. Sometimes, for me, just to not tell Dave again, that he left his closet light on is a sacrifice. It's amazing how we always like to tell people what they did wrong. But love covers. God will say sometimes, "You don't need to mention that". "Ooh, but I want to". Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Be an obedient, little, lovely servant of God. And last, have a merciful and a forgiving attitude. How many of you like to get mercy? Well, the Bible says, "Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy".

Take some of that mercy that God gives you and give it to other people. Don't be hard on people. The world is already hard enough on people. The devil's hard enough on people. Give people a break. Give yourself a break. Don't be so hard on yourself. Amen? God's mercy is new every morning, and we should be merciful to other people. And above all, if you're gonna walk in love, which I think in the days that we're living in, I think love is our protection. I think it's armor. I think if you wanna keep the devil off your back, you just, man, you better stir up your love walk. And you can't hold unforgiveness in your heart and love people at the same time.

Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would help us have the same attitude that Jesus had. I want to have a better attitude. Help me even, like tomorrow, when I'm tired to have a good attitude. Help people, as they go home, to behave like they actually went to a conference. And Father, I pray for everybody here that they would accept you into their heart as their Lord and Savior by simply asking you to come and live in them and forgive their sins.

Let's all pray this together, and then we're gonna be dismissed. Say:

Father God, I love you. Jesus, I believe in you. I'm sorry for the way I've lived. And I ask your forgiveness. And I receive it now. Jesus, I want you in my life. I surrender my life to you. Take me just the way I am. And make me what you want me to be. Amen.