Dying to Live

Ugh, can't sleep. Why tonight? I really don't need this. Did I have too much coffee? Shouldn't have scrolled so late. Can I pay that bill? My neighbours are so noisy. Did that email work? Is that rush on my mail? Too hot, too hot, too hot. At Boots we know poor sleep really has one root cause! Ah, which is why we can help find a solution that's right for you. From advice to products, speak to us to find out how we can turn sleepless nights into a good night's sleep. Boots with you for life. We have to die to self- self-centeredness, me, what I want, what I think, what I feel. And like Chris said tonight, elevate the truth of God's word above all of those things. And Paul talked to the Corinthians who were spirit filled, had the gifts of the spirit, and he said, you're all still just a bunch of babies. You're immature and you're babies, and he goes on to tell them you're jealous and you, you covet and you're greedy and you do all these different things. And one of the things he said is you're not able to talk yet, it says that in the Amplified Bible, you're not able to talk yet, it's in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And so your mouth is what gives expression to your soul. So we might say it's part of the soul too. And you can locate where you're at spiritually and you can locate where other people are at spiritually just by listening to what they say. And when you find somebody complaining all the time, that's somebody that's not trusting God. When you find somebody that's gossiping about other people all the time, that's somebody who's not walking in love. And you need to protect yourself and choose people to be around for the most part, not that you don't ever want to be around people who need your example, but for the most part, you want to make your close relationships people that can challenge you by their behavior, just by their behavior. I want to be like you, be around people that you want to be like, not people that you used to be like. Amen. And so I read a lot of books by Watchman Me, I read a lot of books by Madame Guyon, I read a lot of... I probably read everything in Andrew Murray's library, I read things on obedience and things that would help me grow. And it bothers me that people today go for the stuff that's going to get them something, instead of going for the things that's going to help them be what Jesus has called them to be. And Priscilla said it so well this morning, Jesus is coming back. It's not just something we say, he is coming back. And so many of the Old Testament prophecies have already been fulfilled. I think there's only like 30 left, I heard recently, to be fulfilled. And things are moving pretty fast in our world. And so I don't know if Jesus will come back in our lifetime, but it's not going to be long. And he's going to return. And we are going to be asked to give an account. Romans said that every man will stand before God and give an account of his life. Now that's not talking about your salvation. You're saved by the grace of God, not by your works. But your works give you rewards when you get to heaven. The Bible talks a lot about the rewards that will be waiting for us when we get to heaven, or we can just blow the whole thing and not have any rewards. Well, I don't intend to spend my whole life doing this, just to get there and have to still be in kindergarten, trying to grow up spiritually. I'd like to hold a nice meeting with Moses and Joseph and, you know, some of the big guys. And maybe preach with Jesus sometime, that would be nice. And so the things that I'm talking to you about this weekend, they're not necessarily real easy to hear. They're not the kind of things that people shout and clap about. But if you don't hear these things, you'll never shout and clap. You'll never end up being really happy. Because as long as we stay carnal and fleshly, our lives are not pleasing to God. That doesn't mean he doesn't love us, but our lives, the way we're living, is not pleasing to God. And two times the Father spoke out of heaven and said of Jesus, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And I hope that God can say that about me when he looks at me. And I hope that he can say that about you when he looks at you. And each one of us has to make our own decision. You can't just do what your friends are doing. You can't just do what other family members are doing. You can't just do what even your pastor is doing sometimes. You have to make a decision how you're going to live. And I hope this weekend that some of you make that decision to go for it all. To really make your mind up that you understand that being a Christian means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Being a Christian doesn't mean I go to church on Sunday like Priscilla said, I dip in and dip out. I dip in on Sunday morning and dip right back into sin on Monday morning. We don't ever want to take it for granted. Well, because God forgives us that we can just do things and live sloppy lives. Now, like I said, this has nothing to do with your salvation. If you believe in Jesus and you've received him, you don't buy your salvation with any kind of good works. But if you have let God really love you, and you've spent that time getting to know the Father like Priscilla said this morning, and you got a close relationship with God where you know he loves you and you love him, you cannot continue in sin. The Bible says it is impossible for you to continue purposely, habitually sinning because God lives in you. Matter of fact, the Amplified Bible says the divine sperm of God lives in you. And that's talking about Jesus. So I tell people, literally, you're pregnant with God. He's in you and he wants to grow up. But before you give birth, you have what they call labor pains. Amen? And so they tell women when you're giving birth, don't fight against the pain. Just relax. And the more you relax, the easier it's going to be. And then they'd say, breathe. Just breathe. And you're not going to like what I'm getting ready to say. But I know it to be the truth. See, I'm old enough now that I can just say whatever I want to and I don't care. And you have a hard time telling me I'm wrong because I've lived through it. And you can be 20 and disagree with me. But the time you get to be 80, you'll say, well, you'll be telling somebody else. Amen? And so many of the things that we don't like in our life, the things that we call suffering, and I don't even know that we know what suffering is. But by the way, that word is in the Bible a whole bunch of times. Amen? And sometimes a lot of the places where we suffer is in our soul. It hurts when you have to forgive somebody that has really done you wrong. You feel that pain in your soul. But instead of fighting it, just breathe, relax, and realize that pain is doing a work in you. It's cutting something out of you that is keeping you from the life that God really wants you to have. Thank you for sitting down for another candid conversation today. Oh, you're welcome. We're going to talk about something that no one wants to experience, but probably most of us do at one time or another. And that's when God just feels kind of distant, almost like we can't reach him. People say the prayers are hitting the ceiling, whatever that may be. Have you had times like that in your life or what has that been like for you? I have had in the past, to be very honest, I don't have anymore and I'll tell you why. Because I no longer need to feel God to believe that he's there. I think that as you grow as a believer, and I've had lots of time to do that, you begin to know things, not just like know them in your head, but you know that you know. It's like it's a revelation and there's so much in the Bible about God being with us all the time. And he's ever present. He's everywhere all the time. He knows everything and sees everything and the Holy Spirit lives in us. And he does. There's nowhere in the Bible that tells us he ever moves out. And so it's just so important that people don't live by how they feel. That's a really big thing for me and my teaching. And I mean, I still see it all the time. It's like, boy, if you live by how you feel, you're just really going to have a rough, rough time. Now, there's actually a name for what you're talking about. It's called Dry Times. And a lot of people do experience them. But like I said, I think it's a matter of knowing. You know, Thomas, doubting Thomas, he always had to be shown everything. And Jesus did show him, but he said, blessed are those who believe and have not seen. And I think you could also say, blessed are those who believe and have not felt. That's a good way to say it. I think if people can realize that, I don't have to feel it. I know. I know that God is there. I know that he loves me because it's impossible for God to lie. He's not a man that he should lie. It's an impossibility for God to lie. So if he says, fear not, for I am with you are, like he told his disciples before his ascension for low, I'll be with you always, even until the end, the ends of the earth. And I love this statement. God is no more than a thought away. You know, all you have to do is think about God. And instead of thinking, well, I just don't feel God. Just think, God, I don't have to feel you. I know you're here. Yeah. You know, it's been a while. I completely agree with you. And I think now that the thing is experience. The thing is, I have enough of a bank of what I've seen and experienced in God that even when I'm not seeing it or experiencing it right now, I know who he is. And so that makes such a difference. But there are still those times when something really, really difficult happens. You know, maybe someone's dealing with a very difficult illness. And they're not seeing those answers that they're asking for. It doesn't mean that God isn't working, but we're not always seeing the results of what he's doing. So there are those times, whether it's that or a huge change in the way that God is doing it. Or a huge change in your life, losing someone really close to you. That for me, it is an easy place for me to slide into whether it's thinking God is distant or even being angry because he allowed these things to happen. And I do have to be very careful that I pull myself back and correct that thought pattern. And adjust because it's very simple to get there. Well, I can tell you, just to kind of go back to your original question, it is important to me that I don't ever sound overly spiritual. Like I don't ever have any problems because if I... No, you're so practical and real. I don't think you have to worry about that. If I go by how I feel, there are times when... Many times when I don't feel like I'm hearing from God or... Matter of fact, he's pretty silent sometimes for a long period of time. And I'm much rather... I mean, I love to just get one word from God or one special touch from God, one something. And there are times when I do feel closer to God than other times. But I think, like you said, experience and knowing that the word is true. And I wonder how much of the Bible we really believe. Or how much of it we have to feel or see. And we walk by faith. We don't walk by what we feel or what we think or see. And we'd all rather have feelings. I mean, who wouldn't? I'd rather feel God, but I just... I think I went through enough of that that I finally just wore myself out with it. It's like, I just... I don't want to... Well, God is here if I feel Him and He's not if I don't. And He's working if I see something and He's not working if I don't. And, you know, I've learned to... That's a great point. We can't live on that roller coaster. No, you just... And that's... You start to feel like a yo-yo, you know? It's like... And that's not the realm God wants us to live in. That's living in that soulless realm. And He wants us to go deeper than that to believe what He says, no matter what we feel like. And I love the story that's in Luke chapter 5, where the disciples had been fishing all night and they hadn't caught anything. And they were washing their nets and putting everything away. And Jesus said, go out in the deep water and you'll catch some. And if you read it in the Amplified Bible, Peter basically said, well, I don't feel like it. I don't want to and I don't think it's going to work. But... Those three things. Yeah. Yeah, how many times have we all said those things? Yeah. But I mean... I mean, He didn't say I'm exactly like them. I mean, He didn't say I'm exactly like that. Right. But if you really read it and see the essence of what He was saying, that's exactly what He was saying. But we've fished all night. We didn't catch anything. This isn't going to work. And, you know, we're tired. We're exhausted. We don't feel like doing this. We don't want to do this. But on the ground of your word, we will lower the nets again. And I love that. And I think that's the place that God wants us to come to, that no matter what I think or what I want or what I feel, if God's word says it, then I believe it. I mean, really, why do we believe our feelings so much? You know, feelings are fickle and they can... You can feel one way, one night, and the next morning feel something completely different. And feelings will disappear when you want them and come when you don't want them. So they're very fickle. We can enjoy the good ones. But boy, if you start depending on your feelings, you are going to have a rough, rough go. And same thing with your mind. I mean, you have to be very careful when you're thinking something. Is it just your thought or is it really a God thought? It just takes so much pressure out of you if you can get to that place. And I don't know that you can with anything other than experience, to be honest. I think that some of these things, Ginger, just take time. You know, we're growing spiritually. And I think a Christian who has to always see something and feel something to believe it, and I don't mean this insultingly, but a good example, it's like a baby with a pacifier. You know, they're not going to be satisfied unless they got their binky. And so all those feelings are kind of like our binky. You know, we want to feel everything and we're just not going to. It reminds me, our grandson was in his crib, and they were trying to wean him off of the binky. And so when he wakes up, we're supposed to take the binky away. So I popped it out of his mouth and he had two more in his hand. He just popped another one back in and I took that one out and he popped another one back in. He had binkies everywhere. Oh my goodness. And we get that way. We reach for everything. We think we have to have the feelings and we reach for all these different things when God is right there. And if we could just let go of all that other stuff that we're holding onto to feel right or to have our life the way we think we want it to be, if we can let go of that, God is nearer than we think he is. There's a scripture in Isaiah and I don't remember the reference, but it says that God will remove the props out from under us. And I think about like sometimes when a new tree is planted and it's a little skinny tree, they'll put wooden props going four different ways to keep it going in the right direction. And so a lot of times these other things we need, these feelings and these right thoughts are to see something happening all the time. They're like those props, but the time will come when God will remove those props. And it even says in Psalms that he tests and tries our emotions. And so God will take those things away. Now that doesn't mean that you never feel anything, but we do have to come to the point where we're not depending on that. Otherwise you can see, I mean like, here's a good example. There are times when I get done preaching and I just feel like it was just absolutely no good. Now that doesn't happen to me often, but it does happen. Every once in a while I'll be preaching and I'm just, it's for some reason it's really hard for me that day. And I will, sure enough that'll be the day when somebody will say, man what you said the day changed my life. And so it's not good or bad because I feel it's good or bad. You have such a good point. I mean God is faithful and he, I've done my part when I get up there and he's not going to leave me stranded. And sometimes even there's so many things that affect us and sometimes even if I just don't feel real great, it'll make the message seem a lot different to me than if I do. And I have to be very careful about watching what other people are doing. You know, I usually, I don't like when I'm preaching to look at somebody that's yawning all the time. You know, I want to look at somebody that's taking notes and you know, really, really into it. And so that we are a spirit, we have a soul and we live on a body and our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. And so it's a new birth. God comes to live inside of us, but it's in that deep part of us where nobody really but us and God know about and God wants to, in order to show for us to show him to the world, he has to also own our soul. And so that's, that's the whole maturing and the growing up process. Paul said, I can't feed you with meat, I have to keep giving you milk because you're, you're not ready for it yet. Well, what do you really mean by that? I can't teach you a strong message. I have to just keep teaching you things that feel good. You know, just dessert messages. I can't give you, you know, things that are going to correct you or confront you with some kind of truth that's going to, maybe you're going to have to apply that to yourself. And so, but it's okay because we're all that way. We, we, we go through that. And as long as you are sincere and you want to grow in God, you ultimately, less and less, these things will be important to you. In the beginning, they're very important, but we're all at a different place in our walk with God. But no matter where you're at in your walk with God, if your heart's sincere, when Jesus returns, he's going to bring you across the finish line and we'll all end up in the same place. So when God seems distant, hold on to the truth of who he is and what his word says. Yeah. And not our feelings or, or even the circumstances of our lives. I don't even bother voicing that. Well, I feel like God just isn't here. I would just, it's always better to say the truth. No matter how you, you feel when I feel like God's not working, I'm not seeing anything. I will purposely say God is working on my situation right now. And I'll see the result at just the right time. Or when it seems like things are taking way too long, I'll say God's timing is perfect in my life. You know, you can, you can talk yourself off the ledge, if you will. Yeah. That's great advice. Thank you. So sometimes what we think will bring us happiness still doesn't do it for us. We try everything. Look out for number one. But life still feels empty. Well, you know, we typically look at our circumstances and try to change them in order for me to be happy. I know this because I thought this way for years. I was always on my mind. I would constantly think, what about me? What about me? I had no idea that the root of my unhappiness was something I could actually change. I was getting in my own way and missing the blessings that God has for me. You see, selfishness steals our joy. But God has such a better way for us to live. I firmly believe that people need to realize that there is great power in an unselfish life. That's why I've written, what about me? Inside I share why it's important to get out of that me mindset and how to change your perspective in a way that will benefit you and others. I have absolutely no doubt that what I share in this book will change your life, just like it completely changed mine. Request, what about me today? And take important steps to living an unselfish life. It's available to you right now for your gift of any amount. Call us today at 1-800-331-8000 or visit us online at JoyceMeyer.org. You can get out of your own way, walk in love, and live unselfishly. When you request what about me, you'll also receive Enjoy Your Journey. Two powerful books designed to help you find true joy in Christ. Discover happiness not based in circumstances, but in God's gift of peace. These books are available to you right now for your gift of any amount. But wait, there's more. For $60 or more, you'll receive this Radiate Love Tote Bag along with other gift items. Call 1-800-331-8000. Visit us online at JoyceMeyer.org or use the QR code on your screen. Remember, your contribution today allows us to share the Gospel and God's love around the world through our Hand of Hope Outreaches and media platforms. What about me, and Enjoy Your Journey are available for any amount. Discovering true happiness through Christ is just a phone call or touch screen away. Call 1-800-331-8000. Visit us online at JoyceMeyer.org or use the QR code on your screen. Boy, you know, in today's world, there are many stressors, so many things to deal with on a daily basis. How do we navigate all of life's pressures? Well, God's Word has much to say about it. So I thought we could all get together with some of my friends and talk about it. Join us for the Enjoying Everyday Life Conference, a weekend of practical messages and heartfelt worship with Joyce and her guests, Dr. Henry Cloud, Nona Jones, and Worship with Naomi Rain, April 10th and 11th in Hershey, Pennsylvania. You know, I have such a passion for teaching God's Word, and it's even better when we all get together under one roof, so I really hope to see you there. Register today. Go to JoyceMeyer.org. We hope you enjoyed today's program. We are so grateful to our Joyce Meyer Ministries partners who make this and all we do possible, including sharing God's Word and offering help to people in need all over the world. This program is supported by you, our viewers, and our partners.