Joyce Meyer – What Is True Love Sermon 2017

the following program is paid for by the friends and partners of Joyce Meyer ministries you know it really doesn’t matter who you are where you’re from or what your background is we all have one important thing in common we all have questions and God’s Word is the source of all the answers that we’re looking for and I’m dedicated to sharing what I’ve learned in ways that you can apply to your life every day answers with Joyce Meyer is coming soon where we take your questions discover together the answer in God’s Word and then face those daily challenges head-on so join us and join the conversation [Music] [Music] second Timothy chapter 3 weather we’re so grateful for your word and I pray that each of us will approach it tonight with meekness knowing that we need all of it that is just for us and I pray that your word would renew our minds and change our lives in Jesus name Amen but understand this that in the last days we’ll come and sit in perilous times of great stress and trouble hard to deal with and hard to bear for people will be lovers of self and utterly self-centered now I’d like to say that we’re only talking about the world out there and that we’re not talking at all about the church or any Christians but I think we know that there are still a few selfies self-centered Christians hanging around amen I know it’s not you I’m well aware that it’s not you but we just want to pray for all those selfish self-centered Christians that still need to get a revelation about dying the self and living for God they’re lovers of money aroused by an inordinate greedy desire for wealth proud and arrogant contemptuous boasters abusive blasphemous coughing disobedient to parents ungrateful unholy and profane they will be without an actual human affection callous and inhuman you know what that means they when people are callous they can look at needs and not feel it all that they should be the one that tries to do anything about it somebody else should always do something but somehow or another it’s never them they will admit to no truce or appeasement they’re slanderers false accusers troublemakers intemperate loose and morals and conduct uncontrolled and fierce haters of all that is good thankfully this is going to be over in two more verses because I’ll guarantee you this is not a very happy way to start a conference they will be treacherous betrayers rash and inflated with self conceit there will be lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God for although they hold a farm of piety true religion they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it now let’s just stop right there for although they hold a farm of religion they deny the power of that religion well what is the real power of the gospel message it’s the love message it’s the one thing that Jesus said I’m going to give you as a new commandment one new commandment love one another just as I have loved you by this shall all men know that you are my disciples you know we often think we need somebody to love us but really what we need is somebody to love and everybody can find them there’s nobody in the whole world that can’t find somebody to love because the whole world is desperate to be loved now you’re looking at me kind of like hmm wonder where this is going so let me just tell you something I wrote a book two three years ago I don’t know when it was called The Love Revolution and this is a worst selling book I ever wrote I mean the sales were banned I mean really bad and the most we’ve ever sold in any conference is 112 they told me tonight and so when you have you know seven eight nine ten thousand people in the building that’s just not really very impressive you say well that must really be a bad book why are you telling me about it well because it did not sell because it’s bad it didn’t sell because people frankly don’t think that this is an important message are they think they already know all about love but really if we did if we really if every believer if every one who considers himself to be a follower of Christ was really out in their part of the world walking in love I would venture to say that most of the world would already be saved and we absolutely would not have the mess in our society that we have today and many people they are interested in what the answer is to our dilemma in the world and from a spiritual standpoint I believe that the answer to that dilemma is really getting out in society and representing Christ not just having a bunch of dead dry religion but really having the character of God developed in our life walking in the fruit of the Spirit which the Bible says there’s no law that can come against the fruit of the Spirit you see when we walk in love it’s it’s impossible for people to really find anything wrong with you they may try for a period of time but love will melt the hardest coldest part but it has to be real love so I’m calling this tonight what is true love you know there’s magazines true love true romance so I guess if there’s true love then there must be an untrue love and if there’s true romance there must be an untrue romance so the kind of love that is no good is the kind we talk about that has no action to it at all it’s just a conversation it’s just a sermon but when it comes down to really putting it to work in our daily lives then we back off from that so you know what I’m just mad at the devil and so I’m just going to preach on love until people either get so tired of hearing me preach on it but they will do it because you know it really is pitiful how much we talk about love and church and really how little of it there actually is I mean you know we may get together in church and hug each other and say I love you with the love of the Lord I tell you sister I just love you to death like please don’t love me to death I’m trying to live thank you I tell you sister I just love you to death we just say some of the goofiest things well where were you when I needed a babysitter where were you when I needed somebody to help me move where were you when somebody else was trying to ruin my reputation and you could have talked up for me and said no you’re not right about that come on I’m glad that you love me with the love of the Lord but whatever that is you know I mean if we really loved each other with the love of the Lord the kind of love that Jesus loved with oh my gosh I mean if the church was that loving you couldn’t get all the people in and I have found out and discovered that the only way that I can walk in love is to do it on purpose I can’t wait to feel like it I can’t wait to want to I can’t wait to think it’s fair and I have to study it study it study it study it keep it in front of me all the time because our flesh is inherently selfish and self-centered and we have to start a war with selfishness and say I am NOT going to live a life where I am the only person in it [Applause] the Bible says that love is the most excellent thing that we can do let’s look at first Corinthians 1231 let’s see I know a lot of you came tonight thinking hope and I would solve your problem well I am this is the answer to all of our problems because here’s what happened let me tell you God’s formula for solving problems you have a problem you cannot help yourself however at the same time you cannot help yourself God will enable you to reach out and help somebody else now when you reach out and help somebody else you’re sowing a seed now God can bring a harvest in your life they used to just aggravate me that I couldn’t help myself but I can help somebody else and then finally I saw it that’s what God wants us to do we’re not called to inReach we’re called to outreach we’re not supposed to reach in and fix ourselves or reach in and bless ourselves we’re supposed to do what forget yourself lose sight of yourself get yourself off your mind and live every day of your life to make somebody else happy starting at home Oh starting at home hallelujah you know if I if I drank all my water and said would somebody here be willing to get me a glass of water I mean there would be 500 people boat for the drinking fountain to bring me a glass of water you would think that was the coolest thing ever oh I gave choice the water but if your husband I asked you at home for a glass of water what do you think I am just Slade get your own water why is it that we’re willing to do as a ministry well and let me tell you something I’m not saying anything to you that God hasn’t made me eat I mean I didn’t go by sermon book and get my messages I’ve had to live them and I don’t preach anything that I haven’t lived and that I don’t know for sure works and I’m telling you if you want to be happy forget about yourself and start living to make somebody else happy amen first Corinthians 12 31 but earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and the best gifts and graces the higher gifts and the choicest Grace’s and yet I will show you still a more excellent way one that is better by far and the highest of them all and that is love we can see it in Matthew 5:44 let’s go there how many of you think you need this and you’ve already thought of all the people you wish were here that aren’t then I wish my husband would have come with me tonight boy does he need this message come on how many vol ready thought of somebody that you wish was here tonight say well you know what I wish they were two but the thing is is you’re here and I’m here so we must need it Matthew 5:44 through 47 but I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you to show that you are the children of your father who is in heaven why does God ask us to do that to show people that were not normal like all other people but we’ve got something working in us that enables us to do things that are way beyond the ordinary where he makes his Sun to rise on the wicked and on the good and he makes the rain to fall on the upright and the wrongdoers alike and I love this for if you love those who love you what reward can you have do not even the tax collectors do that and if you greet only your brothers than what more than others are you doing do not even the Gentiles the heathen do that so here’s my question tonight are we able are we willing to even ask God to teach us how to love the way he loves because if we love the way God loves that means that we’re going to love when there’s nothing in it for us hi everybody [Music] we’re going to love when there’s nothing in it for us when it’s just an all giving out and I can tell you from experience I know that it will win people to Christ and it will win some of the hardest people to Christ that you can imagine I’m sure if you watch my TV program much you’ve heard my story about my dad sexually abused me for many many many many many years my mother knew what was happening she just was a very fearful woman who didn’t know how to deal with him and so she just let it happen and so I was abused and abandoned later on many years later after I thought that I had totally forgiven God put it in my heart that as they were getting older that I needed to buy them better house to live in take really good care of them until they died well that was the last thing in the world I wanted to do because the first thing that I said to God is well what they ever do for me he said well you’re breathing aren’t you so the point is is God wants us to be good to people who haven’t done anything for us because that is the best way in the world that you can do spiritual warfare and keep the devil under your feet love is the highest form of spiritual warfare if we think that we’re doing something smart to stay mad at somebody and try to get revenge on them it’s the absolute worst thing that we can do for our own selves it poisons our lives when we do that and it’s all based on feelings well I feel I feel I feel at the end I think it I feel like a day I didn’t feel like buying my mom and dad house and I started out trying to buy a cheap house and God said no you’re gonna buy a nice house and it’s not like we just had a bunch of money laying around to go buy people houses it was going to take everything that we had and so I thought well surely Dave would tell me no that was going to be my out and he looked at me and said well if you think it’s God you better obey and I was like I don’t want to okay [Applause] fast forward the story to the end took three years I’ve taken into the doctor’s making sure the bills all got paid making sure the grass got cut making sure somebody got the groceries taking them to the doctor on and on and on and finally one morning my dad my mother said your dad’s been crying all week he wants you to come over wants to tell you something all these years my father had never apologized to me never even admitted what he did and on that day was tears he said I’m so sorry for what I did to you when you were a kid he asked if we would pray with him he received Christ we baptized in ten days later and I always say this I thought I was buying a house but actually I was buying a soul and I don’t mean that in the wrong way we know that Christ paid for our salvation but you know sometimes well let’s put it like this one of the main reasons why people don’t walk in love is because love is an effort and it will always now get this it will always cost you something if it’s real love it’s always going to cost something it’s going to cost some time some effort even to not start a fight in your home it’s going to cost you some pride you’re going to have to be willing to swallow your pride and let somebody else think they’re right when you’re pretty sure you’re right but you don’t think it’s worth starting a fight over because you know that God has said to keep the peace come on now oh this is going to get better as the bezel sessions go by it’s not that you become a doormat love doesn’t mean that you just let everybody walk all over you and you let everybody push you around but here’s what it does mean you confront when God shows you to confront and you wait on him when he tells you to wait on him and I found that when I do it like that most of the time when God tells me to confront I just soon leave it alone and most of the time when I want to confront he’s telling me to leave it alone when somebody have heard us one of the hardest things in the world is to wait and let God bring our vindication we want to take up for ourselves don’t we has anybody gotten anything out of this yet let’s see if you’re waiting for the other person to do what’s right I have an announcement to make tonight you’re the one here in this message so guess what you get to start first and not only that if you’re the Christian in your house then you ought to be the one to start first you can’t expect people that don’t know the word to do anything right they don’t even know what right is so we have to do it as an example I tell you my husband was a wonderful example to me in the early years of our marriage and you hear me tell all the funny stories about Dave and I’ve got more funny ones this weekend Dave has done some new stuff that you will not believe I mean that is hot off the press this weekend we got a new day of story amen but see the thing is is when Dave and I got married he was a strong Christian I believed in God I had been born again when I was a child but I didn’t know anything you know no matter how born-again you are if you don’t know anything then you’re not going to act like you should be acting that’s why we need to study the word Dave Hauser was a very mature strong man of God and he was the perfect man for me because I needed somebody not to tell me II about Christ not to tell me yes I like the words I love you but I didn’t even know what it was I needed somebody to show me what it was and he was the same no matter how I acted I want you to get this no matter how I acted he stayed the same if you want to make an impression to the unbelievers in your home at your place of business no matter how they act you stay the same that’s what Jesus did he didn’t change with the circumstances and act up with the people who are acting up he remained the same oh Jesus I just want to be like you I surrender all see that’s what I mean about phony baloney religion and don’t misunderstand me I’ve participated in it plenty in my life too it’s just like we learn these outward behaviors and these little Christianese words I love you Ethan over the Lord what in the world is that like I said where are you when I need you where are you when somebody needs to speak up for my reputation where are you when I need somebody to just sit with me for an hour because I feel like my guts are falling out and I’d really rather that you don’t preach to me I’d like you just to be there with me I called this book the Love Revolution which probably was a mistake because I don’t think people got it but I put the word revolution on it because a revolution is a sudden radical change and the way things are ordinarily done and if we don’t need a sudden radical complete change and what’s going on in the world today I don’t know who does and the only thing that I think is going to really change all the hatred the bitterness the resentment the wickedness the sin the wretchedness the selfishness of self-centeredness is full-on love and it’s going to take a whole lot of Christians that are willing to light their lamps and get out in the world and act like Jesus it’s not going to come through preaching the people while we do nothing in the little game that kids play at school show-and-tell you know where they take an item and then they show it and then they tell everybody about it well what we have many times as believers is telling no show and we need Show and Tell once we show people the love of Christ it’s not going to be hard then to tell them about the Jesus that we love amen well I love to preach this message so you’re just going to have to put up with me all weekend in Matthew 22 36 they asked Jesus what is the heaviest most important law what what’s the heaviest ‘m what’s the greatest commandment the heaviest commandment which kind of commandment is great and important which one is the principle kind some commandments are like which ones are heavy I love that yes bring us a heavy word sister and he replied to them you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and your intellect another verse says with all your strength this is the greatest and the most important commandment and a second is like unto it you shall love your neighbor as you love your self if you’ve got a war going on with you you live under condemnation all the time you’re ashamed of the who that you are and you just plain don’t like yourself then you need to just tuck this message on love away don’t get rid of it tuck it away over here somewhere and then get a hold of some good teaching I’ve got some other people have got some about accepting yourself because of what Christ has done for you learning who you are in Christ get a good relationship with yourself a good relationship with God and now you’re ready to go out and attack the world with the love of God if we really if every believer if everyone who considers himself to be a follower of Christ was really out in their part of the world walking in love I would venture to say that most of the world would already be saved and we absolutely would not have the mess in our society that we have today and many people they are interested in what the answer is to our dilemma in the world and from a spiritual standpoint I believe that the answer to that dilemma is really getting out in society and representing Christ not just having a bunch of dead dry religion but really having the character of God developed in our life walking in the fruit of the Spirit which the Bible says there’s no law that can come against the fruit of the Spirit you see when we walk in love it’s impossible for people to really find anything wrong with you they may try for a period of time but love will melt the hardest coldest heart but it has to be real love so I’m calling this tonight what is true love you know there’s magazines true love true romance so I guess if there’s true love then there must be an untrue love and if there’s true romance there must be an untrue romance so the kind of love that is no good is the kind we talk about that has no action to it at all it’s just a conversation it’s just a sermon but when it comes down to really putting it to work in our daily lives then we back off from that and you know what there’s a lot of stuff to learn to really be a powerful Christian I mean I’ve got I mean I’ve got thousands of messages that I’ve preached and they’re all vital and they’re all good but you know some days when I just feel like you know man lord I don’t know I don’t know if I’m doing it all you know there’s this message in that message in this one in that one another one another one I just sent her back to walk in love if you just walk in love you’re going to cover all the rest of them amen love God love your neighbor as you love yourself that just keeps it simple for me so for the last good number of years in my life I have tried to focus more than anything else in my personal life on loving people and everybody that I get around and my personal life because believe it or not I don’t live in the little box I do have a personal life they let me out of the TV screen occasionally people are amazed when they see me somewhere it’s like I’m not supposed to be anywhere but in that box but I do have a personal life and in my personal life I try to make it my business to add value to everybody that I come across and I’ll tell you the truth in the natural I’m not a real outgoing friendly person I mean I’d much understand in front of a crowd of a million people then try to get to know one person I’m not afraid of people but I’m just I’m just you know that’s just the way I am I’m not like a sand when real friendly I mean we go out to eat and I mean Dave is talking to a waitress well where’d he go to school what are you taking in school and where’d you come from what are you going to do with your life and I’m like Dave can we order the food eat it and get out of here and he’s like I just want to be friendly I’m telling you what the Mike’s the pastor that was up here he can get on an elevator by the time he gets off have a friend so I’m just letting you know that it doesn’t have to be your natural gift that’s not you know I would probably my natural bent would be to go out in society go shop and do my stuff just not say much to anybody just do what I wanted to do get the job done get it over with and go back home but I have learned that I can affect people’s lives just by being friendly so I’ve learned to do that and I’m trying to let you know that even though something may not be a real natural gift for you if it’s something that God leads us to do we can learn to do it amen amen amen [Applause] now all you free all you people that were born friendly you’re just like all over them some of you deeper people are like well I don’t know if I really want to get involved or not not asking to get involved say hello how are you how’s your day that color looks good on you your hair looks nice you know just simple little things it’s amazing how just a simple little adding value to someone’s life can make a big difference let me read you a story that I pulled off the web and this just gives you a good example of what what love is and how little things can just make an unbelievable difference in people’s lives this is by a man named kent nerburn just to give credit where credit is due 20 years ago I drove a cab for a living one time I arrived in the middle of the night to pick at a building to pick someone up that was dark except for one single light on the ground-floor window under these circumstances many driver would just sit outside and honk once or twice wait a minute and then drive away if nobody came out but I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as our only means of transportation so unless a situation really smelled of danger I would always go to the door the passenger might be someone who needed my assistance I reason to myself so I walked to the door not just a minute I heard from a frail elderly voice I can hear something being dragged across the floor and after a long pause the door opened and I saw a woman in her 80s standing before me wearing a print dress and a little pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it she looked like something out of a 1940s movie and by her side was a small nylon suitcase well the apartment actually looked as if no one had lived in it for years the furniture was all covered with sheets there were no clocks on the wall is no knickknacks or utensils everything was in a cardboard box piled over in the corner she said to me would you mind to carry my bag out to the car so I took the suitcase to the cab then I turn to assist a woman she took my arm and we walk walked slowly toward the curb and she kept thinking me over and over for my kindness it’s nothing I told her I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated oh you’re such a good boy she said when we got in the cab she gave me an address and then said would you mind to drive through downtown well I don’t mind I said I’m not in a big hurry but but it is not the shortest way indicating to her was going to cost her more money if she went the long way and she said oh I don’t mind I’m on my way to a hospice I looked in the rearview mirror and her eyes dude had tears in them you see I don’t have any family left and the doctor says I don’t have very long to live I quietly reached over and shut off the meter that was the first act of love wasn’t it this is not somebody I need to make money off of this is somebody I need to help what route would you like me to take I asked for the next two hours we drove around the city she showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator we drove to the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds she had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building or a corner would just sit there and stare at the building and say absolutely nothing the Sun was coming up and she suddenly said while I’m tired we better go now I drove in silence to the address she had given me it was a low building that looked like a small convalescent home they must have been expecting her because two men came out ready to help her get into the building with a wheelchair how much do I owe you she asked and reached into her purse I said nothing she said no you have to make a living and he said there are other passengers that I can make a living off of almost without thinking I bent over and gave her a hug and she held onto me so tightly she said you gave an old woman a little moment of joy thank you I squeezed her hand walked into the dim morning light I didn’t go back to work that day I just drove aimless there and lost in thought for the rest of the day what if that woman had gotten an angry driver or one who was impatient to end his shift what if I’d refused to take the run or had only honked once and then driven away and this is the part I love on a quick review I don’t think that I’ve ever done anything more important in my life than that one single act we’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments but great moments often catch us unaware beautifully wrapped in what others might consider a small one let me tell you something what I’m talking to you about tonight Amen what I’m talking to all of us about tonight and you know if there’s anybody in the room who thinks you don’t need this you can throw your share back at me because I’d just be happy to preach this to myself I need this every time I teach on love every time I reach study on love it builds me up and reminded me that this really is one of the most important things that we can possibly do in our lives and it’s not always in big things many times it is in small little things like smiling at somebody or saying hello or telling somebody you know I’ve noticed that you’ve been here for several years I bet you really work hard you know one day I was in a bathroom and I noticed the lady in there emptying the trash and I’d seen her a few times and so I took some money out of my person gave it to her and I just said you know I’m sure that you really work hard and a lot of times you don’t really get you know the the appreciation that you need I shoved the money in her hand and just took off a little bit later she came chasing me into the shoe department telling me how much it meant to her and how it was just so amazing and you know what people are hurting in the world and they’re hurting a lot worse than you think you are there’s always somebody no matter how bad we’re hurting or no matter how bad we’ve got it there’s always somebody that’s got it worse than we do and somebody that’s hurting worse than we do and just for the sake of God we need to get out in the world and act like Jesus how would Jesus treat these people as he came into contact with him you know we always talk about following in Jesus’s steps well sometimes we need to study his stops because Jesus always stopped for hurting people it wasn’t just yes he was going somewhere and he had a goal but when somebody really needed help he was always there to help him and you know a lot of that is lacking in our society today and nobody’s going to bring it back if the Christians don’t so we need to stop just yelling about our Christianity and get out there and live it so people can see that we’ve got something that’s worth happening [Applause] the Bible teaches us in 1st Corinthians 14:1 that we are to pursue this love pursue it go after it with all of your might that’s been one of the things that has helped me in studying the love walk probably more than anything else is to realize it’s something that I have to do on purpose it’s not something I can wait to feel like doing it’s not something I wait to want to do it’s something that I do don’t just pray for God to bless you pray that God will make you a blessing everywhere that you go and it’s fine to pray that God will bless you every day I say God I ask you to bless me and I ask you to make me a blessing everywhere that I go don’t let me go out in the world God and act like I don’t have ears and eyes help me to hear what people say help me to see their needs and help me to meet those needs we don’t even really need to pray for God to meet somebody’s need if we could do it and just don’t want to oh I better say that again we don’t even really need to pray for God to meet somebody else’s need if we could do it and just don’t want to well you know you can’t do everything that’s right you cannot do everything but you better not do nothing there’s a difference in thinking we have to do everything and doing nothing I can’t do everything for everybody but I refuse to do nothing for anybody amen any difference makes an excuse but love always finds a way we all have our own little excuse bag we carry it with us I mean it’s invisible you know you don’t see it like you do this one but we’ve all got one handy and boy when somebody wants us to do something that we don’t want to do we reach right in there and we just don’t see we just we plan well that’s going to be too hard or how about well I don’t know anybody else who does this well all the more reason to do it are how about I’ve never done this before and I love this one I have too many personal problems of my own I got too many personal from my own to get involved yeah well here comes a word from God you’ll keep them too you’ll keep those problems and get a bunch more with it if you don’t start doing something to help somebody else the only way we can be set free is by helping other people I if you knew how serious I am I’m telling you I don’t care what kind of a problem you got if you will get your mind off of your problem and off of yourself and off of trying to solve your problem here’s what God wants you to hear you take care of his business and he’ll take care of yours do you hear me you take care of God’s business and God will take care of yours so I’m 37 3 does trust in the Lord and do good trust in the Lord and do good I love that it’s not just trust God while you’re trusting God be a blessing to somebody else no matter how bad you’re hurting don’t shrink back into a corner and just nurse your wounds I mean more than ever keep your word keep your commitments be a blessing to people keep your commitments in giving don’t withdraw when you’re hurting come on full force and say I know that this is an attack of the devil and I know how to defeat the devil you overcome evil with good you don’t overcome evil by withdrawing from evil you overcome evil by doing good we need to learn how to live to love put on love the Bible says put it on what does that mean well many years ago I used to have a recurring dream and I didn’t know what in the world that was all about and I would dream this like fairly often you know when you dream something over and over you start to wonder well is there more to this than what I’m seeing and the dream that I had was I would get to my conferences like this and my clothes weren’t there and I would I would eventually have to come out and preach in my pajamas and I would be really embarrassed because I wasn’t dressed properly and I didn’t really get it at the time and then I saw this scripture in Revelations it says to stay awake and put your clothes on and I thought what stay awake and put your clothes on and then there’s other scriptures that say to put off the old man and put on the new man put on bowels of Mercy and put on your shoes of peace and put on the breastplate of righteousness and so I began to think and then in Colossians 3 it says clothe yourselves with mercy clothe yourselves with kindness and above all that you put on put on love and then I finally got the interpretation of my dream God said you’re not dressed properly because you’re not walking in love and so when I would come to the pulpit I had a good message but because I didn’t have a red-hot on fire love walk in my everyday life although yes I had a good message and that word was blessing people there was not the power behind it that needed to be there to change lives because the only way you’re going to get that kind of or an anointing is if you do what Jesus tells you to do and that is walking long [Applause] well the most important thing that we can do in the whole world and something that puts a big smile on God’s face is to learn how to really walk in real love you know real love is not just talking but it’s action we need to learn to step out in love and affect other people’s lives with the love of God that’s the greatest billboard that we can ever carry around for Jesus is to love people the Bible says in Psalm 37:4 that even when you are in times of having trouble yourself the thing to do is trust God and do good trust God and put a smile on somebody else’s face and your breakthrough will come today we’re offering you our lives to love CD teaching album live to love learn to do it as a lifestyle and when you get the CD teachings you’re going to get a bracelet like the one that I’m wearing is a free gift we call it the L to L bracelet it means live to love and it’s just got a scripture on it John 13:34 it’s going to stir up some conversation people are going to ask you what it is you get a chance to tell them Jesus teaches us to love people and I wear this to remind myself to walk in love that’s a great way to get out in the world and witness you sure you take advantage of this offer I think it’s going to be a blessing to you and to many other people thank you and have a great day it seems like the world today is a slave to division whether it be by age race gender or countless other outward differences you name it and the human race will be divided by it you will not respect limits or stereotypes so that you can receive a demonstration of the favor of God it comes from where God brought me from very shy than reaching me I know what it feels like to be excluded left out belittle despised and not given opportunity so I learned to respect people’s uniqueness whenever you read in the Bible there was always something of a covenant relationship or some kind of connection between people and that’s that’s just God God is not a respective person he doesn’t make a difference between genders age nationalities he will be the witnesses of Jesus Christ that you want us to be thankful for that can change the things what does he believe attending shouting that I just knew and I was called to be a preacher started doing research into Bible colleges seminary I didn’t know where to go I just knew I had to pursue this call that I had on my life and come to find out this lovely lady that works in our support department Sheryl Roberson had a husband that was a pastor and he just happened to start a ministry training class I immediately saw the hunger in him that I first saw my husband when he had taken his college to the ministry and I mean it was so I was like this is like living reliving this all over again with him but with another person and so she finally said mark you have to meet this guy he reminds me of you and I said impossible reluctantly I finally met him sat in his office slump down to my chair because I really didn’t want to be there and then all of a sudden the presence of God came in the room and he started weeping sat straight up I said this is for real from that moment I said this is what I’m gonna do I’m starting to Minister training class I’ve never done this before for you I’m doing I want you to come and be a part God wants been training bobbies things and praise you come on right where you’re at just lift your hand whatever the day tried to bring your way let it go right now cast as in him we’re all here for you not everyone will commit to a church but they’ll come to an intimate gathering like this where they can be ministered to they look for real people and they can tell real fast if you’re being authentic with them if you’re being genuine transparent and I think that’s the one thing we’ve submitted is what you see is what you get we love you we’re committed to you we’re here to do what God has called us to do and that’s teacher you can trust your brothers and sisters in Christ and they believe God loves us unconditionally and so if we’re learning that all the times and should become a part of us and to make sure that you’re walking it out you can’t be here and be the same when you leave you’re either gonna stay and get fed and get full are you gonna run because you know you know your life’s going to change and if you’re not ready for that change is she gonna run so we’re leaving the Adams mark hotel where we have our morning services faith word fellowship international Buffalo New York headed to our two o’clock service in st. Catharines Ontario where we hold those services at the Russell Avenue community center while st. Catherine’s why Canada I saw the people hurting and so I gave them a commitment that I would commit to them even if there is one because they are worth it I remember being in a sing Katherine service and Pastor Mark said when I committed to doing this for the Lord I committed for the rest of my life and he’s lived a life that’s been consistent and demonstrated consistency and integrity and I welled up I mean tears in my eyes because I never looked at it like that I’m always such so focused on the now that I never thought about years down the road and for him to say I’m here and if he’s here I’m here because I know the Lord has you know asked me follow him help him and commit to both cities regardless you desire Salvage to know your infirmity is secure we want to pray for your salvation you know the world has enough of the separation and bias and negativity that is wearing on people what they really need is someone to demonstrate the love of God to come to a place of understanding where we can move forward where progress can take place it’s not about who’s right or who’s wrong it’s about keeping the devil out of a relationship that’s right we meet so many people in our lives and you never know what kind of relationships going to evolve from that the ones with the pastor’s it started out as just as a something on the job for my husband and now it’s turned into this awesome relationship I I don’t know where we’d be if it wasn’t for our pastors and the relationship that we have with them your commitment comes from your heart and that’s what we have purpose to be an example to our children to the church family that when you commit when you when you commit to an assignment of God when you commit as a Christian just period that your commitment can be bought don’t become a compromise going somewhere to happen and lo st. Catharines have been accused of being too serious to wizard I don’t need your help I’ve been accused of being too rigid I came up with that one on my own and that’s why I’m thankful for Pastor Mark and pastor Cheryl mentors and spiritual parents in the faith that are willing to put themselves on a line to open their hearts up to me and my wife so that we can then follow in their footsteps and hopefully be used by God in a powerful way just by reaching people at a very real level enjoy life laugh and be refreshed at the Joyce Meyer conference don’t you feel better just being on this atmosphere join us in Phoenix Arizona and winston-salem North Carolina for more details go to joyce meyer org when i worship it’s like reaching up and he’s reaching down and we touched i need to be here thank you friends and partners together we’re sharing the love of christ around the world to find out more please contact us or visit us online at joyce meyer org join us in partnership as we share the love of christ around the globe the proceeding was paid for by the friends and partners of Joyce Meyer ministries