Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. -- Isaiah 61: 7 (ESV)
The darling of women's ministries across the land, Joyce Meyer, can sometimes seem like spiritual Jello for discernment ministries. Not that her heresies are not evident, for they are. It is that she does not often put herself out in the public for scrutiny. Perhaps this is from the hard lesson she suffered in 2004 when it was reported that she was taking a whopping $900,000 in salary from her church on top of the $450,000 they paid for her husband's salary. Sitting on an estimated net worth of 25 million today, Meyer enjoys plying her craft out of the media spotlight that so many others seem to revel in. She is a regular speaker at false Christian conferences across this country where she spews her brand of word-faith, sloppy agape, and prosperity heresies with a definitive NAR flair that values this life and the riches of this world over the eternal life. Recently, she has begun writing for several Christian websites, including Charisma News and Christian Post. This gives us a more definitive opportunity to hold her teachings up to the Bible and hopefully show some who are enamored with her that she is simply put a wolf devouring the sheep of the Lord. The link above is to a recent article, apparently based upon a recent sermon she had given. Let us reason together beloved through the teaching of Joyce Meyer and see what God wants to show us and warn us about:
"God is good. And He has a good plan for each of our lives. No matter what may be going on right now, God's plan is unfolding. In the meantime, Rom. 12:12 (NLT) tells us to "Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." I think that's good advice, especially in times when it feels like we've been waiting and waiting ... and waiting for something to happen in our lives. Hope is vital in times like these and it will keep us looking ahead, anticipating, expecting whatever it is we're hoping for." -- Joyce Meyer
God is most certainly good. Unfortunately that is the last accurate thing she says here. First we see the influence of Rick Warren and the purpose driven church by her assertion that God has a "good plan" for each of our lives. Now, this is a true statement in terms of the eternal life we have in Christ that transcends this world but that is not what Joyce Meyer is in the business of selling. She means good plans for this life. Is that what Jesus promises us? Not at all! We are promised persecution and even death for following Him. We are commanded to pick up our cross and deny ourselves -- not seek out temporal blessings. He specifically said that we would have tribulation in this world! That the world will hate us! The problem is those things do not sell. So the purpose driven life scam is to convince goats visiting churches to come back because God has some grand plan for each of their lives that apparently starts in the parking lot ministry of their mega church. To further compound matters, Meyer tries to leverage Scripture and in doing so reveals she is not fit to divide the Word of Truth. Rejoicing in our confident hope refers to our hope in Christ -- not in this world. Here is how Gill's Exposition deals with this verse:
"Rejoicing in hope ... Of the glory of God, than the hope of which nothing can make a believer more cheerful in this world; the saints' joy is therefore called the "rejoicing of the hope", Hebrews 3:6. This is placed between serving the Lord, and being patient in tribulation; for nothing tends more to animate the people of God to a cheerful serving of him, or to make them more patient under afflictions, than a hope of being for ever with the Lord" -- Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Nothing should make us cheerful to serve Him under great tribulation and patient under affliction than our hope of being with Him forever. What does Joyce Meyer turn this into? Instead of an assured hope in the Lord it is "whatever we are hoping for." It is purely carnal and of this world. It is not surprising since Meyer ascribes to the teachings of word faith, prosperity, and the NAR. Her god is this world. Don't believe me? She elaborates:
"Over the years I've learned how to lock myself up in a prison of hope, knowing that God has nothing but His best planned for me. He promised me things concerning my ministry and my life. And hope is what helped me hold on in those early years when it got hard." -- Joyce Meyer
