Now look at the example. This always amazes me. Verse 21: A woman, when she gives birth to a child, has grief anguish, agony: Because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers her pain her trouble, her anguish: Because she is so glad that a child has been born into the world. I’ve never really used this to preach on but I’m going to start using it because if you’ve ever had a baby… Back when I had babies, they didn’t have epidurals. So, all you young ladies today who think you’re having such a rough time having a baby, wow! My last son lacked one ounce weighing ten pounds.

And I didn’t have no epi-anything. You think a woman would have to be crazy to go through that and then go have another one because when you’re having the baby, you’re like: I am never doing this again! I will never do this again! Right then you hate your husband who got you pregnant and the doctor who’s telling you to push and everybody else, but it’s so true that as soon as it’s over, you forget it because now you have the soft, cuddly, squishy, cute little baby. This can teach us all something big today! Jesus said: Look, I’m going to go away and it’s going to be hard for you when I leave, but I’ll come back again.

He didn’t say when. He said it’s no different than when a woman has a baby. She’s in anguish, in agony, but as soon as the baby comes, she forgets all that pain for the joy of what she has now received. Then he goes on and says “for this present time you’re going to be in distress but joy will come and I’m going to give you my name and you can ask anything you want in my name.” He goes on through this encouraging them that they’re getting ready to go into a hard time but they will come out.

Could I tell you something? My kids did grow up. All is well. They’re serving God. They’re all married. I have eight grandchildren. Probably with three out of the four of my kids, I seriously wondered at different times if I could stand it and if they would make it.

I was only concerned about my happiness and I had to first face truth about me. God began to convict me about this self-pity thing and when I first started giving it up, my flesh didn’t give it up easy. Sometimes I’d want to feel sorry for myself for an hour. Okay, God, I know I have to obey you and you don’t want me to feel sorry for myself all day but just while I have this cup of coffee. You know what it’s like? It’s like a baby trying to give up a pacifier. Three of my kids took pacifiers and one didn’t but you know how it is: they cry. You take it away. Aaah! Aaah! Aaah! It’s the same thing. If every time your flesh cries out for something, you give it what it wants, you’re never going to be free.

If every time somebody doesn’t do what you want, you get: you hurt my feelings. Actually, this one wouldn’t work for some of you. Some of you need a bigger one because you’ve got a bigger problem. I had one even bigger than this, but I couldn’t get my mouth around it. When we first started taking the pacifiers away from our kids, their crib was right next to our bed: waah! Waah! Waah! And I’d be like:  Dave, just give them the stinking pacifier. I want to get some sleep. And dave was like: no. No. We’re just gonna go through this and get it over with. He’s really into suffering. Let’s just suffer and get it over with but I was like… Back then he knew what I know now that I’m trying to teach you that i didn’t know then. I was always wanting to put the pain off until another day. Some of you know that there are things in your life that are going to have to go, you know God has dealt with you about it – attitudes or different things like that – and you just keep putting it off till another day. The flesh cries too loud.  Aaaah!

You have to look at that scripture a long time. It says it’s the root of character. In other words, if we want the character of Christ developed in us, the only way we’re going to have it is to obey God, and I can tell you, it’s not always going to feel good to obey God. There’s a price to pay for freedom. You’re going to have to say no to yourself and yes to God, and your flesh is going to have a little screaming fit. Obedience is the full duty of man.

What am I here for? To obey God. What’s my purpose here? Obey God. What’s going to make my life good? Obey God. What’s going to get me out of bondage? Obey God. What’s going to release joy in my life? Obey God. But what happens when we don’t want to do what the word says to do? What happens when even though I know these are my boundaries and I’m safe up here, what happens if my flesh says: I just feel like jumping off? If I tell my flesh:  no! I don’t care what you feel like.

I don’t care what you want. Don’t care about your opinion. You’re not voting today. We’re going to go with God. You have a free will and if you line your free will up with God, your flesh can’t control you but it will throw fits. You’ll actually feel pain. I’m not taking about physical pain but I mean:  whoo! How many of you know how hard it is to keep your mouth shut when you want to have the last word? We’re talking pain! To be honest, when I first decided that I was going to no longer stay home and feel sorry for myself when Dave went and did something, it’s not that Dave isn’t good to me. He goes places with me all the time. He takes me places all the time so really for him to want to watch his football on Sunday or whatever it is, it’s really not that big a deal when I look at it compared with everything else but years ago I wanted my way all the time and I didn’t really care too much if anybody else was happy.

But it’s bringing things through to the finish that takes that godly determination. 1 Kings 18. Elijah had prayed for it not to rain and the bible says that it did not rain for three years and six months. Then Elijah prayed for it to rain. And he told Ahab, the wicked king, in verse 41: and Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain. vs. 42: so Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees.

Now, when he told Ahab it was going to rain, it wasn’t raining yet, nor was there even one sign that there was going to be any rain. So he was speaking to him what he felt God put in his heart, and he was speaking strictly by faith. And you’re going to see the power of faith here in just a minute. Vs. 43: and he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked and said, there is nothing.  Elijah said, go again seven times. Now, lest we just rush right over that and not get the full impact, let’s think about that. Elijah says to Ahab: “you better get out of here; it’s going to rain.” “It doesn’t look like any rain to me.”

So he goes and he gets down on his knees and he begins to pray. He sends one of his servants up to the top of the mountain, which I guess that was a little bit of a jaunt to get up there, and he said, “go up there and see if you see any clouds.” Well, he went and he came back and there’s nothing. Elijah said, “go again.” he went and he came back — nothing. “Go again.” Seven different times he did that.

And finally he came back and he said, “well, there’s not much but there is a little cloud the size of a man’s hand.” With that, Elijah got excited. It says that he girded up his loins and the spirit of the Lord came upon him and he ran 20 miles, and he outran Ahab.

Joyce: Actually, the bible has a term for it in Proverbs 15. Let me read it to you actually because it’s probably something that you can help some people with right here on the program.

Dr. Leman: You have to run toward the fear. That’s what people don’t always get. And that nebulous, something’s going to happen, that free-floating anxiety, that’s what people are running to shrinks for every day and popping pills for.

Joyce: Like I’ve learned to say, you have to do it afraid, which is running against it. Here’s what it says in Proverbs 15:15: “All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings]. So, even if you’re having a good day, you can make it an evil day through anxious thoughts and forebodings. But it says, “he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].” So it’s really not life and what happens in life that makes us happy or sad, it’s how we view…

Dr. Leman: It’s the perception. See, the key to early childhood memories is how do you perceive this? It’s not reality; it’s what your perception is. But when you grow up in that fearful environment where you feel like you’re walking on eggs and something very doomful is going to come upon you, it colors everything you do, and the problem is it turns into who you are. A writer once said that children are like wet cement. I never forgot that phrase. “Children are like wet cement.” Well, you know, if you’ve ever watched anybody work with cement, these guys are really good. They can make anything. I marvel at people who can use their hands because I’m not real handy. I’m still memorizing the tools so when my wife wants something, I can bring her the right tool.

Joyce: Well, you know, also a lot of times it’s the way you were raised. I was abused in my childhood and made to feel that a lot of things were my fault that weren’t my fault. And a child can’t discern that. You always think if somebody’s mistreating you, there must be something wrong with you. So early in my childhood I took on a false sense of responsibility. To be honest with you, John, I just about worked myself to death as a young adult because I thought I was responsible for everything — my problems, your problems, people’s problems I didn’t even know — everything. And it was such a great relief to me and so simplified my life when I realized that I need to take care of what God was really making me responsible for and not get off into all this stuff that really didn’t need me to get involved in it, and to learn to release things to other people and to realize that when I released them to them, I didn’t need to try to make them do it exactly the way I would do it if I were doing it, otherwise I might as well keep the job.

John: Look at Jesus. He’s here just three years imparting his life and ministry to his disciples and then he goes back to be with the father and he says, “okay, guys, it’s your church.” Then when you think of who he left the church to, some of the people that I would have been a little bit nervous about — Peter’s kind of up and down.

Joyce Meyer: Now wait a minute — I’m like Peter. Be careful here!

Joyce Meyer: How do you hear from God? A lot of people ask that question and we have answers today on “enjoying everyday life.”

Joyce: Did you know that God cares about every aspect of your life? If you ask him, he will help you with every decision you have to make, but if you don’t recognize when he’s trying to communicate with you or don’t know how he communicates, then you can’t really receive his help.  Joining me today to help you acquire the tools you need to hear God is author and pastor, Jentezen Franklin.

Announcer: Jentezen Franklin is known for helping people apply the word of God to their everyday lives. He has written several books, hosts a weekly television program, and pastors a congregation of 10,000 at free chapel church. Franklin’s desire is for people to understand and develop the gifts God has given them to live a fulfilled and joyful life.

Joyce: Jentezen, It’s good to have you on the program today.

Jentezen: Thank you, Joyce. It’s great to be here.

Joyce: I’ve been in your church a couple of times and have enjoyed that. We’ve enjoyed your ministry so today we’re going to talk about how to hear from God. I think that’s always a very major concern for people. People who love God want to make sure they’re hearing from God and are being directed by God but I think even in the times we’re living in now there are so many volatile things happening in the world, it seems like there’s so much pressure from everywhere, it’s more difficult to raise children, so on and so forth that I think it’s even more of a concern for people today.

Joyce Meyer Online – I know you have some good material on that and so do I, and we’ve both had some experience, so how can people hear from God?

This is an important time for you. Amen! (applause) look at how beautiful they are, coming to get a brand-new life. Amen? (applause) what a wonderful opportunity! A new beginning. A brand-new life. God loves you so much. You’re so special and he has such a great life planned for you.  They’re still coming from the balconies.  Just keep encouraging them a little bit. Amen! Father, we thank you for touching these souls tonight for your kingdom. While the rest of the people are coming, let me say a few things to you.  Darlene’s gonna close with a song here in a minute so you might want to stay for that, too. It’s just so beautiful to see all these people streaming down the aisles here, still from the balconies, coming down here to make Jesus the lord of their life.  Can you scoot in just a little bit so everybody can get down here? Okay, now listen. Even while you’re coming, listen to me a minute. I want to tell you something: you are so important to god. I don’t even want you to look at it like Jesus died for everybody.  The truth is really if you would have been the only person here, he would have done everything he did just for you. You’re that important to him. God has a really, really, really good plan for your life and the devil has worked overtime super hard trying to mess it up.  So many people just live in destruction but they just don’t know the truth.

Joyce Meyer Online – I think a lot of people even think that god is for Sunday morning and yes, we believe in god, but the bible has a practical answer to every problem you could possibly have. That’s why it’s very important for you to make a decision before you leave this altar. I can pray with you and you can “officially” become a Christian but I will tell you the truth, if you’re not gonna study the word of god, you’ll never enjoy the life that you have here.

Joyce Meyer: welcome back to “enjoying everyday life.” today I’m answering your questions that you’ve sent in to our website about the subject of love. It’s such an important subject. I mean, Jesus said: one new commandment I give onto you, that you love one another just as I have loved you. By this — by this love — shall all men know that you are my disciples. So we really want to make sure that we’re receiving love from god, having a right relationship with ourselves, and loving other people. As we all know, not everybody is loving and are not easy to love, so we just have to stay after this subject.  So we’re happy to answer your questions, and ginger’s back with another one of those great questions. What was that question you said?

Ginger: alright, here we go: “I have a coworker who is not a Christian.  She was fine in the beginning — we had a good relationship — but now she has gotten hostile towards me and just plain rude about my Christianity.  It’s really hurting.  I give it to god every day in prayer but she seems to be getting worse. Can you tell me why I’m not seeing the changes that I’m asking for in prayer?”

Joyce Meyer: okay, well, I just have to say this, and I’m not saying that it’s true or not true, but one of the things that we have to make sure of as Christians when somebody is responding to us in a hostile manner about our Christianity is that we’re not trying to cram something down their throat that they have no interest in. Sometimes when people get like that, it’s like you’ve said all you can say for a while and maybe some of the things that you’ve said are convicting them, and you need to just be quiet for a while and let god deal with them because you cannot make somebody love god. I have people that I have relationship with that aren’t as committed to god as I am, and I just don’t spend all my time talking about god. But when I get an opportunity, I’ll say something and I try to show the love of god. I’ve found that over the years it has an effect, and as long as they’re not infecting me and I’m affecting them, then I think it’s good. – Joyce Meyer Online.

Joyce Meyer Ministries – You don’t put an excessive amount of time into those kinds of relationships, but how is the world ever going to find Christ if we hide from everybody? So I think it’s important, but you just have to be really careful that you don’t come across as being this overly zealous, fanatical, religious person who has the spiritual answer to everything that’s going on.  Here again, you can’t make somebody love god; they have to want to.

People would ask me to do things and I was like, “no, I’ve got work to do. No, I’ve got work to do.” Then I’d always be saying, “all I ever do is work. Everybody else has fun. Dave plays golf. They do this, they do that. Kids go outside and play. I do all the work.” I mean, I was martha-martha- martha to the max.

According to Joyce Meyer, as I grew in my walk with God and he was trying to set me free from some of this, one day somebody called and asked me to do something and I said, “no, I need to do this today,” something to do with the house. And I just heard the Holy Ghost say, “that dirt will be here tomorrow; why don’t you go?” Now I’m not suggesting that we don’t have any discipline, and every time somebody calls we throw the work aside and go somewhere, but I had made a law out of it. I had to do all these things every day. I had to have all of my work done before I thought I deserved to have any fun. Have I got any sisters or brothers out there who get that? You feel guilty if you try to enjoy yourself at all while you still have any kind of a project left. Amen? See, we get real scared. We’re like: Oh! I’d like to suggest to you that you try to form a new habit: Stop saying “I have to do things,” and say “I want to.” Don’t say, “I have to pray. I have to go to church. – Joyce Meyer Ministries.

I have to clean my house. I have to go to the grocery store.” Why don’t you just say, “I’m going to church. I’m going to pray. I’m looking forward to praying and I’m looking forward to my bible study.” I even heard myself, and I know better — we have a terrible habit of this — I heard myself say yesterday, “I have to go to Winston-Salem tomorrow and do a conference.”

Joyce Meyer Online- See, even when I say that to you, it almost makes it sound like, “I really don’t want to be here but here I am.” And that’s not the truth at all. How much better would it be to even say… We hear what we say to other people. It gets in us. The bible says that we feed on our own words.