Popular Bible teacher, author and television host Joyce Meyer opened up about the recent tragic death of her younger brother during the C3 Conference at Fellowship Church in Dallas last week.
While delivering her message on the life of self-pity versus the life of diligence and faith, Meyer told the gathering of church and ministry leaders how she learned that her brother was dead when Los Angeles authorities called her in late December.
They informed her he had been dead about 30 days but that they had only just found his body in an abandoned building in the city. About a week ago she received his cremated ashes and the handful of personal effects found on him.
"My personal effects and his personal effects are sadly different. How one's life turns out is not dependent on what people do to us or what they don't do for us," she told the attendants. "There is no man on earth or devil in hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you."
Comparing her life choices with her brother's, she illustrated her point that a person's determination by faith to follow God's plan, not circumstances, allow him to reap God's promises. For many years growing up, Meyer suffered from sexual abuse by her father. It wasn't until she was much older that she knew God was calling her to preach, she said. Meanwhile her brother David joined the Marine Corps and started using drugs, later becoming dependent on them and ultimately quitting a rehabilitation program with the Los Angeles Dream Center.
Her response to sexual abuse could have been like the paralytic's in John 5, she said, who lay by the healing pool for 38 years waiting for a touch from God. He could have at least wiggled to the edge of the pool, she pointed out.
Meyer noted that both she and her brother came from the same bloodline, same family and, in some aspects, went through their own unique struggles. While she eventually took responsibility for her behavior, she said her brother always ran from his.
She said she wasn't bringing up the story of her brother to bring disrespect, but she believed he would have wanted her to speak about him to teach others "a lesson."
"I think sometimes God has a miracle for people but He sees if they're going to wiggle first," she said. "Next time you're having a pity party and want to give up, I hope the Holy Ghost whispers in your ear, ‘Wiggle!’"
While delivering her message on the life of self-pity versus the life of diligence and faith, Meyer told the gathering of church and ministry leaders how she learned that her brother was dead when Los Angeles authorities called her in late December.
They informed her he had been dead about 30 days but that they had only just found his body in an abandoned building in the city. About a week ago she received his cremated ashes and the handful of personal effects found on him.
"My personal effects and his personal effects are sadly different. How one's life turns out is not dependent on what people do to us or what they don't do for us," she told the attendants. "There is no man on earth or devil in hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you."
Comparing her life choices with her brother's, she illustrated her point that a person's determination by faith to follow God's plan, not circumstances, allow him to reap God's promises. For many years growing up, Meyer suffered from sexual abuse by her father. It wasn't until she was much older that she knew God was calling her to preach, she said. Meanwhile her brother David joined the Marine Corps and started using drugs, later becoming dependent on them and ultimately quitting a rehabilitation program with the Los Angeles Dream Center.
Her response to sexual abuse could have been like the paralytic's in John 5, she said, who lay by the healing pool for 38 years waiting for a touch from God. He could have at least wiggled to the edge of the pool, she pointed out.
Meyer noted that both she and her brother came from the same bloodline, same family and, in some aspects, went through their own unique struggles. While she eventually took responsibility for her behavior, she said her brother always ran from his.
She said she wasn't bringing up the story of her brother to bring disrespect, but she believed he would have wanted her to speak about him to teach others "a lesson."
"I think sometimes God has a miracle for people but He sees if they're going to wiggle first," she said. "Next time you're having a pity party and want to give up, I hope the Holy Ghost whispers in your ear, ‘Wiggle!’"
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