Category Archives: Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Talk to God Anywhere

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Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? —1 Corinthians 6:19

The angel of the Lord said to Moses, “Take the shoes off your feet, for the ground on which you stand is holy ground” (see Exodus 3:5). The ground was holy because the Holy One was there. Now through faith in Jesus, you are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Everywhere you go becomes a holy place because the Holy One dwells in you.

God is not in a building, where you can only visit Him on Sunday morning. He is with you everywhere you go. You can talk to Him while you vacuum, or while you change the oil in your car. When you let God become involved in every aspect of your life, every day becomes exciting.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – No More “Selective Hearing”

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But the house of Israel will not listen to you and obey you since they will not listen to Me and obey Me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and stubborn of heart. —Ezekiel 3:7

God has taught me that when we are unwilling to hear in one area, it may render us unable to hear in other areas. Sometimes we choose to turn a deaf ear to what we know the Lord is clearly saying to us. We only hear what we want to hear; it’s called “selective hearing.”

A woman once shared with me that she asked God to give her direction concerning what He wanted her to do. He clearly put in her heart that He wanted her to forgive her sister for an offense that had happened between them months earlier.

Because this woman wasn’t willing to do so, she pulled away from her prayer time. When she did seek the Lord again for something, He responded, “Forgive your sister first.”

Over a period of two years, every time she asked the Lord for guidance about something new, He gently reminded her, “I want you to forgive your sister.” Finally, she realized that she would never grow spiritually if she didn’t do the thing God had told her to do.

She got on her knees and prayed, “Lord, give me the power to forgive my sister.” Instantly she understood many things from her sibling’s perspective she hadn’t considered before, and within a short time their relationship was healed and made stronger than it had ever been before.

If we really want to hear from God, we can’t approach Him with selective hearing, hoping to narrow the topics down to only what we want to hear. People want God’s direction when they have issues they want solved. But, don’t just go to God and talk to Him when you want or need something; spend time with Him just listening. He will open up many issues if you will be still before Him and simply listen.

Trust in Him Is there anything God has spoken to you that you have not yet obeyed? Why are you hesitating? Trust God to give you the strength to do whatever He has asked of you, knowing that He always has your best interest in mind. Your obedience will lead to your blessing.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Be Led by the Spirit

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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). —2 Corinthians 3:17

One of the most dynamic ways to keep your joy is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you (see Psalm 139:24). If you pray first, asking God for a plan, He will never push you into a work of the flesh. Instead, His Holy Spirit prompts, guides, and gently leads you to a place of joy; He will never manipulate or control you. If you are too consumed with your own plan, too locked into the way you think things ought to be, you won’t even hear God speak to you or recognize the promptings from Him. If you are too determined to follow your own ritualistic rules, you can miss the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit and lose the joy God intends for you to have.

It is not wrong to have a plan, but always offer your plan to God and tell Him that if He has something else in mind, you are willing to submit to Him.

Power Thought: The Spirit of the Lord has led me out of bondage and into a life of freedom and joy.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – It’s Unconditional

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But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. —Romans 5:8

According to God’s Word, He loved us before the world was formed, before we loved Him or believed in Him. God does not require us to earn His love, and we must not require others to earn ours. We should realize that love is something we are to become; it is not something we do and then don’t do. We cannot turn it on and off, depending on whom we want to give it to and how they are treating us.

As believers in Jesus Christ, the love we are to manifest to the world is the unconditional love of God flowing through us to them. Our love has conditions and limits; His does not.

Loving people unconditionally is a very big challenge. I would be tempted to say it is impossible, but God tells us to do it, and He never commands us to do something and then leaves us to perform it on our own. His grace (His power, ability, and favor) is sufficient for us, which means He enables us to do what He has called us to do.

God actually sends some people into our lives to function as “sand¬paper” to help smooth our rough edges. Learning to walk in love with unlovely people is one of the most important tools God uses to develop our spiritual maturity.

Love Others Today: “Lord, give me grace to love everyone in my life, even the difficult ones.”

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Shake It Up

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And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. —Revelation 21:5

Although I want to be dependable and faithful, I don’t always want to be predictable. Sometimes I get bored with myself, and I have to ask God for a creative idea to shake up my life a little.

Doing something outrageous means different things to different people. For one it might mean climbing Mount Everest and to another it might mean a clothing style change. I have always liked lots of glitz and everything very fancy. My children kept trying to get me to keep up with changing styles and I firmly resisted for quite a while. They kept saying, “C’mon Mom, start styling.” At first I told them, “I can’t dress like that; I am sixty-two.”

Then God told me to stop making decisions based on my age, and I decided I would do something outrageous, something totally unexpected, and change my dress code. My children finally convinced me that just because I was in my sixties, I didn’t have to dress like it. They wanted me to wear jeans, boots, and belts hanging on my hips. One day I made a decision that I was going to shock them, so I changed my wardrobe style. I have decided that from now on I am going to dress up-to-date no matter how old I am.

Lord, keep me fresh and new and alive in my attitudes and perspectives. Help me to shake it up today and break out of my rut. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Foundation of Happiness

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All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is] and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man [the full, original purpose of His creation, the foundation of all happiness …] and the whole [duty] for every man .—Ecclesiastes 12:13

The writer of Ecclesiastes was a man who literally tried everything to be happy. He had much wealth, great power, and many wives. He restrained himself from no earthly pleasure. Anything his eyes desired, he took. He ate, drank, and made merry.

He had tremendous knowledge, wisdom, and respect, yet he hated life. Everything began to appear useless to him. He tried to figure out what life was all about and became more and more confused. Finally, he realized what his problem had been all along. He had not been obeying God’s commandments. He was unhappy because of it and made the statement that the foundation of all happiness is obedience. There are many, many sad, grieved individuals walking around blaming their unhappy lives on people and circumstances, failing to realize that the reason for their dissatisfaction is their disobedience toward God.

I believe you want to be happy. The key to happiness is obeying God. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says that obedience is “the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances.”That means that anything out of order or harmony got that way through disobedience and only obedience can bring it back into harmony. Every time we obey God, something in our lives improves.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – First Things First

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But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. —Matthew 6:33

Too often we spend all of our time seeking God for answers to our problems when what we should be doing is just seeking God.

As long as we are seeking God, we are staying in the secret place, under the shadow of His wing. Psalm 91:4 says, “Under His wings shall you trust and find refuge.” But when we start seeking answers to all the problems and situations that confront us, trying to fulfill our desires rather than God’s will, we get out from under the shadow of His wing.

For many years I sought God about how I could get my ministry to grow. The result was that it stayed just the same as it was. It never grew. Sometimes it even went backward. What I didn’t realize was that all I needed to do was to seek the kingdom of God, and He would add the growth.

Do you realize that you don’t even have to worry about your own spiritual growth? All you need to do is seek the Kingdom, and you will grow. Seek God, abide in Him, and He will cause increase and growth.

A baby just drinks milk and grows. All you and I have to do is desire the sincere milk of the Word, and we will grow (see 1 peter 2:2). We can never experience any real measure of success by our own human effort. Instead, we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; then all these other things we need will be added to us.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Overcoming Passivity

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Jesus said] When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it roams through waterless places in search [of a place] of rest (release, refreshment, ease); and finding none it says, I will go back to my house from which I came. And when it arrives, it finds [the place] swept and put in order and furnished and decorated. And it goes and brings other spirits, seven [of them], more evil than itself, and they enter in, settle down, and dwell there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. —Luke 11:24-26

This word from Jesus can be frightening. His purpose for the warning is not to cause us to cringe and worry about unclean spirits coming back. It’s a warning to tell us that it’s not enough to get rid of wrong thoughts-we must keep the door locked so our enemy can’t return. Not only does evil come back, but it comes back worse than before.

I once read an article about diets, and the author said that most people who diet actually lose weight-until they stop dieting. Then they regain the weight they lost and about 5 percent more. When they stop working at the problem, they not only stop losing, but they’re worse than before they started. The author went on to say that the only way to win the battle of being overweight is to make a lifestyle change by becoming aware of the danger areas and guarding ourselves against making wrong choices.

It works that way spiritually; as well. One way to keep wrong thoughts out of your mind is to keep the mind active and alert and full of right things. You can cast out the devil, but then you must remain alert, always aware of his tricks.

As I point out in my book Battlefield of the Mind, there are aggressive sins (or sins of commission) and there are passive sins (sins of omission). That is, there are things we do that hurt a relationship, such as speaking careless words. But it is just as true that we hurt relationships by the omission of kind words, those thoughtful words that express appreciation, affection, or awareness of kind deeds others have done.

When confronted, passive individuals yell, “But I didn’t do anything!” That’s exactly the point. It’s what they don’t do. Their lack of action actually invites the devil back into their lives.

That’s a strong statement, so I will say it a different way. You can win any time you take action and push away the thoughts and desires that don’t come from God. You may do this on your own through prayer, reading the Bible, or even by resisting the passivity that may be natural for you. But once you’ve been set free, that’s only the beginning. It’s not just one victory that lasts forever. It’s an ongoing battle-it’s constantly rebuking the devil.

The best, easiest, and most effective way to rebuke the devil is to fill your mind and your heart with praises to God. When you worship and praise God, you’ve slammed the door in the enemy’s face and put up a “No Trespassing” sign.

I don’t want to make it sound as if you have to fight demons every second of your life. That’s a trick of the devil himself to make you think like that. But when you fill your life with praise and positive, healthy thoughts, you can live in victory.

Please read this verse again-aloud-and hear the message of the Holy Spirit: “Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 CEV).

Victory over passivity is just that simple: Focus your mind on the good and you will have no space left for the passive or the bad.

God, thank You for showing me the way to win over passivity and live in victory every day. In the name of Jesus, I ask You to remind me each day so that I can fill my mind and heart with only worthy thoughts. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – A Kind Reward

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But love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant).—Luke 6:35

Has God ever asked you to do something really special for somebody who hurt you? When He does that, you think it will turn you inside out. Perhaps you have spent a lot of time in your life blessing someone who never blesses you in return—but God will still find ways to reward you.

Some of us are a little more naturally disposed toward kindness than others. Many of us find we can be kind to those who are kind to us, but we run into trouble with those we don’t think deserve kindness. The truth is you should extend kindness to people because they don’t deserve it—otherwise, it’s not kindness.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – peak Positively

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Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart. —Psalm 51:6

Focus on speaking words in faith today; keep your confession truthful but positive. Don’t deny the existence of your circumstances, but confess what God’s Word has to say about your situation.

For example, if you are sneezing, coughing, and finding it difficult to breathe, it isn’t truthful to say you aren’t sick. But you can learn to present a negative situation in a positive way. You can say, “I believe.”

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Step out to Find out

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The plans of the mind and orderly thinking belong to man, but from the Lord comes the [wise] answer of the tongue. —Proverbs 16:1

We often find it difficult to trust what we believe may be direction from the Lord. It is not that we distrust Him, but we distrust our ability to hear from Him.

I eventually found that I had to take a step of faith, and then I would find out by experience how to recognize the leadership of the Holy Spirit. “Step out and find out” is what I always say. As we are learning to be led by the Holy Spirit, we are bound to make a few mistakes, but God always helps us get back on the right track, and we learn from our mistakes.

The process of learning to be led by God is no different from the process that babies go through when learning to walk. They all fall down in the process, but as long as they get up and try again, eventually they will end up not only walking, but also running at full speed.

James, chapter 1, begins by telling us how to handle the trials of life. There is a natural way of handling problems, but there is also a spiritual way to handle them: If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5–6)

Jesus is saying here, “If you are having trouble, ask God what you should do.” You may not receive an answer immediately upon making your request, but you will find as you go about your business that God’s wisdom is operating through you and His wisdom is divine and beyond your natural knowing.

Trust in Him If you are having trouble trusting your ability to hear from God, “step out and find out!” Learning to discern God’s voice is a process. Even if you fall down, you can trust Him to help you find your way again.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Start Strong, Finish Well

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. —Hebrews 12:1 NIV

Typically, we are excited at the beginning of an opportunity, a relationship, or a venture; we’re also happy when we can celebrate our achievements and have the satisfaction of fulfilled desires. But between the beginning and the end, every situation or pursuit has a “middle”—and the middle is where we often face our greatest challenges, hurdles, roadblocks, obstacles, detours, and tests.

The enemy wants you to stop short of receiving and enjoying everything God has for you, and he will tempt you to give up by sometimes making the middle of your venture seem too long or too hard. God, on the other hand, wants the very best for you; He wants you to finish the race set before you, enjoying every step along the way. Be determined to be faithful all the way through and enjoy your victory.

Power Thought: I will not give up. I will run my race with perseverance and finish with joy.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Understanding the Chastening of God

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Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. —Hebrews 12:11 NKJV

When God is chastening or dealing with you, endure it. Don’t try to get away from it because God chastens us just as a loving father chas¬tens his children. Notice in today’s verse that God’s chastening brings “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” into your life (italics mine).

I have peace in my life now for only one reason. I have endured the chastening of the Lord (see Deut. 8:5). I’ve let God do what He wanted to do in my life. I let Him show me that I was prideful, haughty, obnoxious, selfish, self-centered, and hard to get along with. I’ve let Him show me these things because the truth about our behavior will set us free (see John 8:32).

It’s not easy to endure that kind of godly chastisement. God won’t let us off the potter’s wheel until He’s ready. It doesn’t matter how tired we get of going around and around. God is the Potter and we’re the clay, and He is going to make what He knows we can be.

Staying in bondage is much harder than enduring the chastisement of God. Had I not been willing to endure the chastisement of God, I’d still be back in the same old mess I was in thirty-something years ago. Allowing God to deal with you may not be comfortable or fun or easy. But He only chastises you when absolutely necessary and only for your good because He loves you. Love yourself by submitting to the work He wants to do in your life.

Love Yourself Today: Is God dealing with you in a certain area? Don’t resist; let Him do it and see what good results from it.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Pray without Ceasing

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Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]. Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus. —1 Thessalonians 5:17–18

If we don’t understand simple, believing prayer, that instruction can come down upon us like a very heavy burden. We may feel that we are doing well to pray thirty minutes a day, so how can we possibly pray without ever stopping? We need to have such confidence about our prayer life that prayer becomes just like breathing, an effortless thing that we do every moment we are alive. We don’t work and struggle at breathing, unless we have a lung disorder, and neither should we work and struggle at praying. I don’t believe we will struggle in this area if we really understand the power of simple, believing prayer.

If we don’t have confidence in our prayers, we will not pray very much, let alone pray without ceasing. Obviously the terminology “without ceasing” does not mean that we must be offering some kind of formal prayer every moment twenty-four hours a day. It means that all throughout the day we should be in a prayerful attitude. As we encounter each situation or as things come to our mind that need attention, we should simply submit them to God in prayer.

Lord, develop a prayerful attitude in me. Help me to make prayer as simple as breathing. Whatever comes my way, let me bring it to You in prayer. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Spirit of Holiness

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And [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness was openly designated the Son of God in power [in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner] by His resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord (the Messiah, the Anointed One).—Romans 1:4

Today’s verse refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Holiness. He is called by this name because He is the holiness of God and because it is His job to work that holiness in everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Savior.

God wants and instructs us to be holy (see 1 Peter 1:15–16). He would never tell us to be holy without giving us the help we need to make us that way. An unholy spirit could never make us holy. So God sends His Spirit into our hearts to do a complete and thorough work in us.

In Philippians 1:6, Paul teaches us that God, Who began a good work in us, is well able to complete that work and bring it to its finish. The Holy Spirit will continue to work in us as long as we are alive on this Earth. God hates sin, and anytime He finds it in us, He quickly works to cleanse us of it.

This fact alone explains why we need the Holy Spirit living inside of us. He is there not only to lead and guide us through this life, but also to immediately work in cooperation with the Father to remove from us anything that is displeasing to Him. He will both speak to us about the things that need to change so we can grow in holiness and empower us to make the changes we need to make.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Putting on God’s Armor

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Be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides]. —Ephesians 6:10

Do you know what happens when you spend time with God? You begin to act like David when he faced the giant Goliath. You begin to take a stand and demand of the enemy, “Who do you think you are to defy the army of the living God?” (see 1 Samuel 17:26). As soldiers of the cross, you and I are not supposed to be afraid of our enemy, the devil.

When a spirit of fear comes along, rather than shaking like a leaf, we are to be as bold as a lion. The devil comes against those who are doing damage to his kingdom, those who are doing something for God. How do we withstand the devil? By putting on the full armor of God, taking up the shield of faith, by which we can quench all his fiery darts, and by wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (see Ephesians 6:13-17).

But all of that armor and all of those weapons come from spending time in fellowship with the Lord. Ephesians 6:10 actually begins this discourse on the armor of God, saying, “Be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him].” To me, that says, “Be strong through your fellowship with God.” Then verse 11 goes on to say, “Put on God’s whole armor.” Only after being strengthened in fellowship can we properly wear the armor.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – “I” Problems

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Now Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses [their brother] because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has he not spoken also by us?—Numbers 12:1-2

Moses’ sister, Miriam, and his brother, Aaron, complained to God about the Ethiopian woman their brother had married during his forty years of exile. But that was not the real issue. The real problem was revealed when they asked, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has he not spoken also by us?”

That’s the big “I” problem-also known as the issue of pride. That’s one way Satan gets into our lives, divides us, confuses us, and causes us to fight among ourselves. In the incident cited above, the issue wasn’t whether God spoke through them or only through Moses. It was their way of calling attention to themselves and yearning for recognition. But their plan backfired on them. If you read the entire account, you will find that God punished Miriam with leprosy and she had to stay outside the camp for a week.

There’s another interesting note: She held them back from moving forward. “So Miriam was shut up without the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought in again” (v. 15).

What we need to recognize about pride-one of Satan’s most powerful tools-is that while it may actually attack only one or two of us, it affects everyone. When someone stands up and says, “I am special,” the unspoken message is: “But you-you’re not special like me.” That’s when jealousies and anger erupt-and the devil is the only one who is happy.

Here’s another example. A few months ago, I saw a brief review of a college football game on the evening news. The running back stood just over the goal line, jumping up and down and screaming, “I’m the best! I’m the best!”

I’m sure he was excited because he had won the game. Or had he? What he didn’t seem to grasp was that he had only carried the ball over the line, scoring the winning points. His teammates, however, had thrown him the ball and blocked other players from tackling him. His statement would have been more accurate had he said, “We’re the best!”

This illustrates a dangerous attitude. Much of the time, we are only too eager to take all the credit. Too many people act as if they are solely responsible for their gifts and abilities (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). What they-and all of us-need to realize and focus on is that God alone gives us all of the talents, abilities, and gifts that we need to succeed in life. He is the giver we are just the recipients.

Whenever we excel in any area, it is because God has equipped us with the necessary abilities. God expects us to utilize our gifts and become better at the things we do, but we must never forget that He is the one who gives the talent. If we’re high-minded or think more highly of ourselves than we should, we tend to look down on others. This is the sin of pride, and no one appreciates it. We all back away from proud people because they not only elevate themselves, but they arouse negative feelings in the rest of us, especially if we have any issues of insecurity or inferiority.

To win over the big “I” problem, we must remind ourselves of this simple fact: Everything we are and everything we have comes as a gift from God. If we stay focused on that fact, pride will find no place in our hearts.

Patient and loving God, forgive me when I’ve taken credit for my talents and my abilities. Help me now and every day to thank You for the gifts and abilities that You have so generously placed in me. I ask this in the name of my Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Faint Not

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When you go forth to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you. . . . Let not your [minds and] hearts faint; fear not, and do not tremble or be terrified [and in dread] because of them. For the Lord your God is He Who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you.—Deuteronomy 20:1,3-4

A fainthearted person cannot take much. He has to have everything a certain way or he gives up and quits. He gets discouraged and depressed quickly.

What happens when your heart faints? It just gives up. In your heart you say, “I can’t do this. It’s just too hard.” If that describes you, know that you don’t have to stay that way. The power of God is available to you to break that fainthearted spirit off your life.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Imitate God’s Goodness

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For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever. — Psalm 21:6

God made a covenant with Abraham, that He would bless him, and cause him to be a blessing to others (see Genesis 12:2). You too are an heir to the true riches of God (see James 1:9). As you mature spiritually and are able to handle your inheritance, God wants you to have an abundance to bless others in His name.

Before you get involved with your daily routine today, seek God and feed your soul with His truth for your life. Experiencing God will cause you to imitate His goodness, and prosper in His abundance.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Why Behind the What

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The LORD’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. —Proverbs 20:27 NLT

I like to define a motive as “the why behind the what.” A motive is the reason we do what we do. We often say we are doing things for God, but sometimes we do not understand why we do them. We only know what we are doing, but we have not taken the time to truly understand why.

Impure motives can cause many problems, one of which is being overcommitted, which results in unnecessary stress in our lives. Surely we won’t live with extreme stress if we are obeying God and doing only what He wants us to do. Never agree to do something in order to impress people or because you fear what they may think or say about you if you don’t. God wants us to help and bless people, but a “good work” done with a wrong motive is no longer a good work. Don’t say yes with your mouth if your heart is screaming no.

Take the motive test as often as you can. Begin to ask yourself questions that will help you assess your motives, such as:

Why did I agree to serve on that committee?

Why did I say I would lead the missions group at church? Do I really have a heart for evangelism and a longing to serve God, or do I want people to talk about what a good church member I am, or am I afraid of what they will say if I do not agree to help?

Why do I really want that promotion at work so much? Is it motivated by God or worldly ambition?

As you evaluate your motives, you will begin to see what is in your heart. Pass the test by making sure your motives are pure and right before God—even if that means changing the “what.” The motive test is a lifelong test. I frequently reevaluate my motives and discontinue things I find I am doing for the wrong reason, and that helps me keep my priorities in order.

Trust in HimTake a look at why you are doing what you are doing. Trusting God will help you keep your priorities in order and give you the freedom to do only what He wants you to do, which is essential to living a stress-free life.