Joyce Meyer – “Look at Her Fruit”

Joyce Meyer – Let’s take a REAL GOOD LOOK at her ‘fruit’

Regarding Joyce Meyer and others, whenever genuinely concerned Christians warn others against false teachers and their false doctrines, the matter is usually put to rest with the adage “Look at their fruit.” The question we need to ask is: what do those who readily defend their favourite teachers and preachers with this ready-made adage, mean by “fruit?” When asked to define the fruit, most of them say it is:

1. Their loving and compassionate disposition.
2. Their kindness to others.
3. Their positive attitude toward others by not putting them down and telling them they are lost sinners unless they repent.
4. Their huge affluence and philanthropic zeal to help the poor. Joyce Meyer has become a very popular speaker. She certainly is one of the well-known and best-paid TV preachers (especially for women). Her ministry revenues have steadily increased from 1998 where they took in 40 million, to 1999 they brought in 55 million, to 2000 70 million, to 2001 near 80 million, to 2002 near 90 million. Today her Life in the Word organization estimates to take in $95 million this year. The ministry says it spends about 10 percent – $880,000 a month – on charitable works around the globe.
5. Their spiritual influence on especially the downtrodden, the downhearted, the ones who hurt and have been emotionally strained by bad experiences during their youth or adult life.
6. The alleged results they get in their healing ministries.

JOYCE MEYER’S MOTIVATIONAL TALKS

It is very important to distinguish between biblical preaching and motivational talks. The latter leans heavily on the “preacher’s” own experiences in life. Their experience of unhappy and ill-fated circumstances form the basis of their teaching. Ironically, this is precisely how Joyce Meyer sways and controls her mainly female audiences. It is the stories from her personal history – her abuse as a child, her failed first marriage – that resonate with her female audiences.

Women resonate more easily with Joyce Meyer’s messages than men men because they usually suffer the most in divorce and child abuse cases. Here now follow some of the uplifting and inspirational quotes from Joyce Meyer’s sermons (if you can call them that).

“I believe confidence is all about being positive concerning what you can do – and not worrying over what you can’t do. A confident person is open to learning, because she knows that her confidence allows her to walk through life’s doorways, eager to discover what waits on the other side. She knows that every new unknown is a chance to learn more about herself and unleash her abilities.”
Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

Note that her inspirational or motivational talks focus mostly on the person’s self-esteem. She uses metaphors – like walking through life’s doorways to discover what waits on the other side – that have no meaning whatsoever but make women feel better about themselves anyway. In fact, a psychologist or psychiatrist can learn from them quite a bit.

A woman I spoke to recently told me that she sensed something was desperately wrong when her emotions played havoc with her. She went to God and prayed, “Why do I feel so pumped up and full of emotional energy when I attend the meetings at our church but when I’m at home alone these feelings disappear and I grow despondent, unhappy, empty and unfulfilled?” She likened her experience to a huge floating bubble which, when pricked with a sharp object, vanishes into thin air.

God showed her that her uncontrolled emotions were manipulated by the crafty pep talks of her pastor and that everything he taught, was designed to steer her away from the cross of Christ. She broke before the Lord and confessed her reliance on her own self-worth, self-importance, self-confidence and self-reliance and was instantly restored to a right relationship with God.

The word “confidence” means to rely on yourself, to be self-assured. In fact, it means to believe in yourself. Jesus said that we should rely on his Father and Him alone (John 14:1), to focus our eyes on Him and to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Him. (Hebrews 12:2; Luke 9:23).

Self-esteem, self-worth, self-reliance, self-importance and everything else that pertains to self is wholly incompatible with the cross of Jesus Christ. In fact, the SELF is the worst enemy of Christ’s cross. Anyone who promotes these things in their sermons, motivational talks, connect groups in church, and Bible studies are not preaching the Gospel of God, but another gospel that cannot save.

Taking up the cross does not relate to hardship, infirmities, bad experiences and the likes. To take up your cross means to die daily to yourself so that Christ may live in you. (Galatians 2:20). God says that our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9). Self-confidence relies on the heart we do not or cannot know and is desperately wicked.

“Sometime we get so addicted to murmuring about the past and blaming the past for everything that we miss our whole future. You’re not going to enjoy your future, and you’re not going to enjoy your right now, if all you can do is be guilty and ashamed and afraid of your past.”
Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

I wonder what Brother Paul would have said about this statement. Indeed, we should no longer linger in the past and feel sorry for ourselves because of all the bad things that happened to us. However, the motive for letting go bad past experiences is not to gain and enjoy a better future.

The only reason why you should forget and let go your ill-fated experiences in the past is because – when you get saved – you are a new creation in Christ, the old things have passed away and all things have now become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). It simply means that your purpose in life is no longer focused on the satisfaction or enhancement of yourself and your future but to turn your back on the old things that kept you away from God’s will for your life and to now seek and live for his will, no matter what the future may hold for you.

Paul’s future was spelled out for him in very distinctly and in clear-cut language the day when he was saved.

“But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Act 9:15-16).

Many Christians are suffering this very moment because they love Jesus Christ. They have lost everything and will probably never have a bright future on this planet ever again. Yet they do not feel sorry for themselves; they rejoice in the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Acts 5:41).

I wonder what would happen if Joyce Meyer taught her women audiences that suffering for and in behalf of Jesus Christ is part of a Christian’s life. Her audiences would probably immediately decrease from 25 000 to a beautiful round zero.

The most dangerous thing about Joyce Meyer’s teaching is not that she ignores or sets aside Bible truths but that she often quotes Bible verses in conjunction with her own superimposed views on them, for instance “confidence.”

On one of the sites that promotes Joyce Meyer’s teaching they quote her own devotional quotes together with her quotes from the Bible. Guess what? Her Bible quotes receive zero, zilch, nada likes or smileys while her own devotional quotes receive up to 54. What does that tell us? It tells us that her own devotional sayings have a greater impact on women’s lives than God’s Word. (Read more here).

Perhaps we ought to rehash Jesus’ profound words in Matthew 4 and rather have Him say:-

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of Joyce Meyer and her Word of Faith buddies.'” (Matthew 4:4).

This, at least, is the message one gets when we take into account that her quotes from the Bible receive absolutely no likes from her fans.

“I believe people give their mistakes more power than they need. We should admit them, repent, and ask God to forgive us for them. We should also learn from our mistakes because by doing so, they can add value to our lives. Instead of allowing mistakes to make you feel guilty and bad, let them be your teacher, and always remember that just because you make a mistake does not mean you are a mistake.”
Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

Apart from the fact that the words “mistake” and mistakes” never even once appear in the Bible, her use of these words imply that sin is merely a little mishap – a glitch or a hiccup we can learn from. Sin is not merely a little mishap or a glitch or hiccup from which we may learn. Sin is in essence the transgression of God’s Law.

It is a transgression against Him and Him alone (Psalm 51:4) and needs to be repented of, and what’s more, it needs to be forsaken altogether. (Proverbs 28:13). How can you learn from something that separates you from God (Isaiah 59:1-2) and needs to be forsaken completely?

What can you learn from the sin of using God’s Name in vain, for instance, when his commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain” already teaches you not to do it? Ah! But of course – experience is supposed to be your teacher these days and not the Word of God because the Bible is supposedly too paternalistic (patriarchal) and too condescending (patronizing).

Most women do not like the patriarchal overtones in the Bible. What they want is a more feminine touch because women are more sensitive to the spiritual and emotional needs of women than men – so they say.

This is one of the main reasons why men and women are separated in Bible studies, camps, conferences etc. Angus Buchan, the South African evangelist’s Mighty Men Conferences are limited to men folk only. This is not biblical and in fact a breeding ground for all kinds of heretical teaching.

Joyce Meyer continues to say that we should not allow our mistakes (sins) to make us feel guilty or bad but to let them be our teacher and always to remember that just because you make a mistake does not mean you are a mistake. Let’s assume Joyce means that our mistakes are in fact sins. In that case we may transliterate her statement as follows, “and remember just because you sin does not mean you are a sinner.” In fact, she believes she is no longer a sinner. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit was sent for the purpose to reprove (convict) the world of sin, righteousness and judgement. The word “elegchoÌ„” means to “make one feel guilty.”

Therefore, one of the Spirit’s ministries is to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. In fact, no one can be truly saved unless he or she is convicted (cut to the heart) and realizes (under the conviction of God’s Spirit) that he/she is a lost sinner, guilty and on their way to hell, and that they will eventually land up in hell unless they repent and truly receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Jesus said that only those who are sick will go to a physician (Luke 5:31). The heart of mankind is so deceitful and wicked above all things that it always tells you not to feel bad about yourself. You’re OK and all you need to do is to learn from your mistakes. Moreover, Joyce Meyer’s statement “remember that just because you make a mistake does not mean you are a mistake” is totally unbiblical as well. What she is saying, is what she has been saying about herself all along.

JOYCE MEYER IS NOT A SINNER

“I am not poor. I am not miserable and I am not a sinner. That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I were and if I still was then Jesus died in vain. I’m going to tell you something folks. I didn’t stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head I wasn’t a sinner anymore. And the religious world thinks that’s heresy and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I am righteous and I can’t be righteous and be a sinner at the same time.”

Joyce Meyer is definitely not from God. How do we know? Well, God Himself says so.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10).

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20).

If the truth and the Word of God is not in you, you are NOT saved and lost, unless you repent of your evil ways. Period. Hence the Holy Spirit cannot and will not produce his fruit in you.

God said to Israel:

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:12-13).

God says you only need to acknowledge (admit) that you are guilty and to repent so that He may pardon and save you. Joyce Meyer says: No! We should not allow our mistakes (sins) to make us feel guilty and bad. And she makes millions upon millions of dollars with her deliberate twisting of Scripture? Why?

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:1-4).

According to God Himself, Joyce Meyer is not saved and therefore cannot possibly be from Him.

JOYCE MEYER vs BIBLICAL PREACHING

In contradistinction to motivational speeches of which the design is to uplift, pep up, add zest, and give your life a bit of a zing, Biblical preaching of the unadulterated Gospel of God does the exact opposite. It is not designed to make sinners feel good or better about themselves. In fact, if the Gospel does not make you feel ill at ease and guilty then you are not preaching the Gospel of God but another Gospel. The Word of God which is sharper than a two-edged sword must pierce you to the dividing of spirit and soul and joints and marrow. (Hebrews 4:12).

It is said that the knife the High Priest used in the Old Testament to slaughter the sacrificial animal during their offerings, was a very sharp knife, even to the extent that it could cut through bone, exposing the marrow to the bright rays of the sun. The Word of God works in the same way. It reveals and brings to light the innermost part of your being and reveals your secrets.

Remember the Samaritan woman who Jesus met at Jacob’s well and asked her to give Him water? When she eventually realized that He was the Messiah and got saved, she returned to her hometown and said to her fellow-citizens, “He told me all that I ever did.” And that’s precisely why Jesus said:-

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:19-20).

Instead of coming to the light of Jesus to have their sins reproved and forgiven, multitudes of women listen to Joyce Meyer who tells them they are not sinners. Her works are NOT the fruit of the Spirit but are evil and downright demonic.

When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, He did not intend that He would compromise the Gospel to accommodate your carnal needs and emotions. The way the Holy Spirit comforts is to first convict you of your sin, God’s righteousness and judgment and then to lead you to the cross where Jesus paid for your sins in full.

You cannot come to the cross for your salvation unless you first realize and acknowledge that you are a lost sinner on your way to hell because you deserve to be cast into hell for all eternity. Paul said that he was “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Why? Because the cross of Christ, an instrument of death, is the power and wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The Word of Faith preachers have not only compromised the Gospel but have also taken away or diminished the offence of the cross. (Galatians 5:11). And the way they do it seems so biblically correct that most women who listen to Joyce Meyer have swallowed her lies hook, line and sinker. This is how Joyce Meyer and her compatriots in the Word of Faith Movement interpret the cross.

One day, upon a cruel cross, the crystal Christ-the paragon of virtue-was transformed into a defiled demoniac. The lamb became a serpent[1] and was ushered into the very bowels of the earth. There Christ was tortured by Satan and his Minions.[2] And all hell laughed.[3] Little did Satan know, however, that the last laugh would be on him. For just as Adam had fallen for Satan’s trap in Eden, now Satan had fallen for God’s trap in hell.[4]

You see, Satan had blown it on a technicality. He had dragged Jesus into hell illegally.[5] Satan had completely forgotten to consider that Jesus had not actually sinned. Jesus had merely become sin as a result of the sin of others. Alas, Satan and his demonic hosts had tortured the emaciated, poured out, little, wormy spirit of Christ without legal rights.[6]

This was exactly the opening God had been looking for. Seizing the moment, God spoke His faith-filled words into the bowels of the earth. Suddenly the twisted, death-wracked spirit of Jesus began to fill out and come back to life. He began to look like something the Devil had never before seen.[7]

There, in the sinister presence of the evil one himself, Jesus began to flex His spiritual muscles. As a horde of whimpering demons looked on, Jesus whipped the Devil in his own backyard. He snatched Satan’s keys and emerged from hell as a born-again man.[8]

Listen to Joyce Meyer’s view of the cross

If this is the Gospel truth, then Jesus is a liar who said He accomplished all of his Father’s will – not in hell – but on the cross. When He cried out on the cross “It is finished” he used the Greek word “Tetelestai” which means “paid in full.” He paid the ransom for our sins in full on the cross – AND NOT IN HELL. In fact it was his Father who dealt Him the death blow on the cross and not human hands.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him [on the cross]; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isaiah 53:10) (Please read here).

Furthermore, He never said that the man next to Him on the cross would be in hell with Him that very same day. He said “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). However, the conniving thief and murderer, Satan, has inspired the Word of Faith preachers to move the comma so that the verse reads as follows: “Verily I say unto thee today, you shalt be with me in paradise.”

Why would He have said “I tell you today, not tomorrow, next week or next year, but today” when everyone knew he spoke these words on that particular day? There was no need to say to them “I say unto thee today, . . . when that day was known to all, and especially to the thief on the cross.

LETS LOOK AT JOYCE MEYERS FRUIT

First of all, we must make it abundantly clear that the good fruit mentioned in the Bible, is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It is interesting to note that the very next verse (24) provides the condition which God’s children should meet in order for the Spirit of God to produce his fruit in them. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Galatians 5:24).

We cannot expect the Holy Spirit to produce his fruit in us if we do not deny ourselves, take up our cross daily to follow Him. (Luke 9:23). This in turn means that the Spirit will never produce his fruit in anyone who misrepresents the cross of Christ in salvation, because the Spirit will never circumvent the cross and its work in believers’ lives to produce his fruit in them. The Spirit’s fruit is intrinsically embedded in the cross.

You cannot minimize the meaning of the cross and add something else to it to make it effective. We have already seen that this is precisely what Joyce Meyer and all the other Word of Faith teachers are doing. They belittle the cross of Christ, which is the power and wisdom of God, and have added to it the notion that Christ did not accomplish our salvation on the cross but in hell.

It must be said once again: The Spirit of God will never produce his fruit in those who twist the biblical meaning of the cross which is nothing else than a deliberate denial of the power and wisdom of God. In fact, it is blasphemy of the worst kind.

An important question we must ask, is, can Satan produce fruit in peoples’ lives that look like the fruit of the Spirit? The short answer is, yes! Buddhists are among the most compassionate and loving people on earth. The Dalai Lama’s main objective in life – so he says – is to spread compassion and love. Dare we say it is the Holy Spirit of God who engenders compassion and love in his life? Judge for yourself whist you read the following:

And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, transform themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).

EVER LEARNING

In conclusion we must again look at Joyce Meyer’s “wisdom” quoted above,

“I believe confidence is all about being positive concerning what you can do – and not worrying over what you can’t do. A confident person is open to learning, because she knows that her confidence allows her to walk through life’s doorways, eager to discover what waits on the other side. She knows that every new unknown is a chance to learn more about herself and unleash her abilities.”
Joyce Meyer, The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Inspirations

A confident person is open to learning? Really? This is what the Bible says,

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy  3:5-7).

Why are they unable to learn God’s Truth? Well, silly women usually are more concerned about learning about themselves to unleash their so-called abilities (whatever that may mean) than about God and his everlasting Truth.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. (Revelation 18:4-5)

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[1] Charles Capps: “The sinless son of God became as a serpent that He might swallow up all evil…. If you will behold what happened when the sin offering was made and the fact that Jesus became a serpent upon the pole, it will change your I ife…. Jesus died spiritually, not to any of His own sin! He became the serpent on the pole, the snake on the ground, in the Old Testament type.” (Authority in Three Worlds, 177, 166-67.)

[2] Paul E. Billheimer: “The Father turned Him over, not only to the agony and death of Calvary, but to the satanic torturers of His pure spirit as part of the just dessert of the sin of all the race. As long as Christ was ‘the essence of sin’ he was at Satan’s mercy in that place of torment…. While Christ identified with sin, Satan and the hosts of hell ruled over Him as over any lost sinner. During that seemingly endless age in the nether abyss of death, Satan did with Him as he would, and all hell was ‘in carnival.”‘ (Destinedfor the Throne, special edition for TBN [Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1988 (orig. 1975)1, 84.)

[3] Charles Capps: “If there’s any part of hell Jesus did not suffer, you’ll have to suffer it. But, thank God, Jesus suffered it all, for you! In the place of the wicked dead, all the demons of hell and Satan rejoiced over the prize. The corridors of hell were filled with joy. ‘We’ve done it! We’ve captured the Son of God! We’ll no longer be in the pit of the damned! The earth and all that is therein is ours! Forever it will be ours!’ Rejoicing in hell had never been so great as it was that day. But it was short-lived.” (Authority in Three Worlds, 143, emphasis in original.)

[4] Kenneth Copeland: “Satan didn’t realize He [Jesus] is in there [hell] illegally…. This man had not sinned. This man has not fallen out of the covenant of God, and He had the promise of God for deliverance. And Satan fell into the trap. He took Him into hell illegally. He carried Him in there [when] He did not sin.” (“What Happened from the Cross to the Throne” [Fort Worth, TX: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 19901, audiotape #02-0017, side 2.)

[5] Charles Capps: “When Jesus was in the pit of hell, in that terrible torment, no doubt the Devil and his emissaries gathered around to see the annihilation of God’s Son. But in the corridors of hell, there came a great voice from heaven: ‘Turn Him Loose! He’s there illegally!’ And all of hell became paralysed.” (Authority in Three Worlds, 143, emphasis in original.)

[6] Kenneth Copeland: “He [Jesus] is suffering all that there is to suffer. There is no suffering left apart from Him. His emaciated, poured out, little, wormy spirit is down in the bottom of that thing [hell]. And the Devil thinks he’s got Him destroyed.” (“Believer’s Voice of Victory” program [21 April 1991]. This message was originally delivered at the Full Gospel Motorcycle Rally Association 1990 Rally at Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas.)

[7] Kenneth Copeland: “That Word of the living God went down into that pit of destruction and charged the spirit of Jesus with resurrection power! Suddenly His twisted, death-wracked spirit began to fill out and come back to life. He began to look like something the devil had never seen before.” (“The Price of it All,” Believer’s Voice of Victory 19, 9 [September 19911:4.)

[8] Kenneth Copeland: “He [Jesus] was literally being reborn before the devil’s very eyes. He began to flex His spiritual muscles…. Jesus was born again-the firstborn from the dead the Word calls Him-and He whipped the devil in his own backyard. He took everything he had away from him. He took his keys and his authority away from him.” (Ibid., 4-6.)