Category Archives: Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – How to Gain Wisdom

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If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you. (Proverbs 1:23)

We need to pray and obey God’s leading when He speaks to us. Obedience is not to be an occasional event for us; it is to be our way of life. There’s a big difference between people who are willing to obey God daily and those who are willing to obey only to get out of trouble. God certainly shows people how to get out of trouble, but He bestows abundant blessings on those who decide to live wholeheartedly for Him and who make obedience to Him their lifestyle. The only pathway to true peace is obedience to God.

Many people obey God in the big issues, but they aren’t aware that obedience in the little things makes a difference in His plan for their lives. The Bible says plainly that if we are not faithful in the little things, we will never be made rulers over much (see Luke 19:17). There is no reason for God to trust us with a major responsibility if we are not going to be faithful to do the little things He has asked us to do.

I strongly urge you to be obedient to God even in the smallest of things. A sixteenth-century monk called Brother Lawrence was well known for walking continually in the presence of God. He said that he was pleased to pick up a piece of straw from the ground in obedience to God and because he loved Him.

In the verse for today, God says He will make known His words to us if we listen to Him when He corrects us. If we follow His guidance and are pleased to do each little thing He asks of us, then He will open His wisdom to us, and we will have more revelation than we could ever imagine.

God’s word for you today: If you are faithful in little things, God will make you ruler over greater things.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Simple, Believing Prayer

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And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. —MATTHEW 6:7

We must develop confidence in simple, believing prayer. We need the confidence that even if we simply say, “God, help me,” He hears and will answer. We can depend on God to be faithful to do what we have asked Him to do, as long as our request is in accordance with His will. Too often we get caught up in our own works concerning prayer.

Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that prayer is simply conversation with God. The length or volume or eloquence of our prayer is not the issue, it is the sincerity of our heart and the confidence we have that God hears and will answer us that is important.

Sometimes we try to sound so devout and elegant that we get lost. If we could ever get delivered from trying to impress God, we would be a lot better off.

Several years ago God caused me to realize that when I had occasion to pray out loud in front of other people, I really was not talking to Him at all. I was actually trying to impress those listening with my eloquent, spiritual-sounding prayer. Simple, believing prayer comes straight out of the heart of the one praying and goes straight to the heart of God.

First Thessalonians 5:17 says, Be unceasing in prayer [praying persever-ingly] or as the King James Version puts it, Pray without ceasing. 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. We should remember that prayer is made powerful by the sincerity of it and the faith behind it.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Truth in the Inner Being

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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.—Psalm 51:1–6

The heading under this psalm reads: “A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.” David cried out for mercy because he had sinned with Bathsheba, and when he learned she was pregnant, he had had her husband murdered in battle.

After David confessed his sin, Nathan said to him, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord and given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born to you shall surely die” (2 Samuel 12:13–14).

That’s the first lesson I want you to grasp from this incident. When you fail God, you harm yourself, but you also bring dishonor to His name. Whenever you take a false step, there are those who watch and gleefully point their fingers. The two always go together. Not only do you bring disgrace on the name of the Lord, but you fail yourself. You knew the right but chose the wrong.

As if that were not enough, the evil one also whispers, “See how bad you are. God won’t forgive you. It’s too awful.” Of course, he’s lying, because that’s what he does best. Don’t listen to those words, because there is no sin you’ve committed that God won’t forgive. You may have to carry scars or pay the penalty, but God wipes away the sin.

There’s something else to learn from this: You need to face reality. You sinned. You disobeyed God. What will you do about your sin? You can plead excuses (and most of us are good at that), or you can follow David’s example. When the prophet said, “You are the man . . .” (2 Samuel 12:7), the king did not deny his wrongdoing or try to justify his actions. David admitted he had sinned and confessed.

He wrote in the psalm quoted earlier: “For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (vs. 3–4).

If you follow Jesus Christ, not only are you declaring to yourself, to your family, and to the world your trust in the Savior, but you are also declaring your stand for truth. It’s easy for us to deceive ourselves, but God has called us to be totally, completely, and scrupulously honest in our inner being. Don’t look at what others may get away with or how they justify their behavior. We can’t blame others, the devil, or circumstances.

When you fail, remind yourself that the greatest king of ¬Israel cried out to God and said, “My sin is ever before me” (v. 3). Those sins, failures, or shortcomings (or whatever you may choose to call them) will always be there until you admit them and confess them to the Lord; only then can you know the joy of living with integrity and in truth.

Strive to live with truth in your inner being. You—you and God—are the only ones who know what’s in your heart. Live in honesty and truth.

Holy God, David prayed, “You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.” Through Jesus Christ, I plead with You to help me desire truth in my inner being, to live in such a way that I’m as honest and as open with You as I can become. I know that the life You honor is the life You bless. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Sleep in Peace

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In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust. —Psalm 4:8

In the quiet of the evening after a long day, it’s not unusual to think about and evaluate the events of the day. But thoughts can be disturbing, especially if you faced problems that remain unsolved.

Sometimes these thoughts are not easy to turn off and can threaten to rob you of a peaceful night’s sleep. But staying awake and worrying will not change or improve the situation at all.

This is a good time to share your concerns with God and ask for His help. He tells us in His Word to cast our cares on Him, so give your thoughts to Him and trust Him to provide a solution. Then lie down and sleep in peace.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Walk in Love

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And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a slain offering and sacrifice to God [ for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance. —Ephesians 5:2

Jesus said, “ If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [ forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me] (Mark 8:34, emphasis mine).

Living a disciplined life means laying aside personal feelings, deciphering which choice is most important in God’s eyes, and then allowing that choice to take preeminence over the others. As Jesus laid down His life for you, He is asking you to lay down your interests for His greater cause

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – What’s in your Hand?

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And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, a rod. —Exodus 4:2

In Exodus, God appeared to Moses to tell him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses didn’t believe he could do all God was asking him to do. God responded to Moses’ excuses by asking him, “What is that in your hand?”

God is essentially saying, “Stop telling Me what you don’t have and can’t do, and tell Me what you do have—what is in your hand?” Then God takes what Moses has—a rod (stick)—and fills it with His power.

God can use anything we are willing to offer Him. If He can use a stick, surely He can use you and me! Don’t wait until you can figure out how to do it all on your own—let God infuse His power into you now and do whatever He asks of you through His strength.

Power Thought: When I give God what I do have, He will do great things through me.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Like the New You

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Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! —2 Corinthians 5:17

You can be a blessing everywhere you go because Jesus lives in you and His life overflows from within you. Not only that, you can like yourself because of what Jesus has done in your life. According to today’s scripture He has completely recreated you. There’s a new you!

The old you died with Christ. Now spiritually you’re alive in Christ, a new creature, filled with possibilities. As you learn God’s word, He will use it to change you into His image. The new you that is inside will make its way to the outside where other people can see it.

God says that you are valuable so don’t determine your worth and value by they way other people have treated you and what they have said about you. The fact that someone rejected you doesn’t mean you are a bad person.. Perhaps the person rejecting you has problems of their own and are merely critical. God says you’re accepted in Christ and what He says is more important than what anyone else says. (see Ephesians 1:6, NKJV).

Why don’t you decide right now to like yourself?. Plunge into the ocean of God’s love and say, “If You love me, God, I can love myself.”

I’m talking about loving yourself in a balanced way, not a selfish, self-centered way. I finally got tired of thinking negative thoughts about myself, not liking myself, hating myself, listening to every negative person who wanted to tell me everything that was wrong with me. I decided to believe what God said about me, and you can do the same thing.

Stop letting people run your life, and be led by the Holy Spirit. Stop trying to please people all the time and be a God-pleaser instead. Enjoy the new you and maintain peace with yourself by refusing to live in guilt and condemnation, recognizing that God is greater than all your sins. Let go of your past mistakes and embrace all the new things God has for you.

Love Yourself Today: You are a new creation in Christ. I hope you like what He has made!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Power from on High

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But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.—Acts 1:8

When the 120 people gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, the count included women (Acts 1:14–15). If women did not need power to spread the Gospel, why were they included in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

When Joel prophesied about the future outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he said that God would pour His Spirit out upon all flesh. Upon his menservants and his maidservants He would pour His Spirit out (Joel 2:28–29). He said that “they” would prophesy. He did not say that just men would prophesy. To prophesy can mean the same thing as teaching and preaching. It means to speak forth the inspired Word of God.

Of the thirty-nine co-workers that Paul mentions throughout his writings, at least one-fourth are women. In Philippians 4, Paul encourages Euodia and Syntyche to keep cooperating and states that they had toiled along with him in spreading the good news of the Gospel. Beyond that, I could create a very long list of women who have been successfully used throughout church history to do major things in God’s kingdom.

Lord, I ask You to send the Holy Spirit with power to make me a witness for Your name. Help me to spread Your name throughout the world. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Rest in the Gift

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While the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it. —Hebrews 4:1

When I teach on righteousness, I like to use the following illustration, and I ask you to give it a try. Sit in a chair, then try to sit in the chair. I know that sounds silly, because you are already sitting in the chair. Once you are in the chair, you cannot get into it any more than you already are.

The same idea applies to righteousness. Jesus has made us right with God through His sacrifice and we cannot do anything to make ourselves more righteous than He has made us. Our behavior can improve, but not until we fully accept our righteousness through Jesus. Jesus puts us in the seat of righteousness and we need to learn to relax and stop trying to be what we already are. No amount of right actions can ever make us right with God apart from Christ.

Affirming this, the apostle Paul prayed that he would be found and known as being in Christ, having no righteousness of his own, but only that right standing that comes through faith in Christ (see Philippians 3:9).

When we truly understand that we cannot do anything to make ourselves righteous and that we do not have to prove anything to God, we are able to rest in the gift of righteousness Jesus gives to us—and that will make us bold in our petitions and confident in God’s desire to answer us. I know that God does not hear or answer my prayers because I am good; He hears and answers because He is good!

God’s word for you today: Love who you are because God created you with His own hand.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Calm Down and Lighten Up!

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Do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.—Matthew 6:34

My personal definition of anxiety is mentally leaving where you are and getting into an area of the past or the future. One of the things we need to understand is that God wants us to learn to be “now people.” Too often we spend our time in the past or the future. We need to learn to live now—mentally as well as physically and spiritually. There is an anointing on today.

In John 8:58, Jesus referred to Himself as I AM. If you and I, as His disciples, try to live in the past or the future, we are going to find life hard for us because Jesus is always in the present. That’s what He meant when He told us in Matthew 6:34, Do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

Jesus has plainly told us we don’t need to worry about anything. All we need to do is seek the kingdom of God, and He will add to us whatever we need, whether it is food or clothing or shelter or spiritual growth (See Matthew 6:25-33). We don’t need to be concerned about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have problems of its own. We need to concentrate our full attention on today and stop being so intense and stirred up.

Calm down and lighten up! Laugh more and worry less. Stop ruining today worrying about yesterday or tomorrow—neither of which we can do anything about. We need to stop wasting our precious “now,” because it will never come again. The next time you are tempted to get anxious or upset about something—especially something in the past or the future—think about what you are doing and turn your mind to what is going on today.

Learn from the past and prepare for the future, but live in the present.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Blessings of Meditation

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My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all their flesh.—Proverbs 4:20-22

In these verses, the writer used the words, attend to my words, which is another way of exhorting us to meditate. I love the fact that God not only frequently tells us to meditate—to ponder seriously—His Word, but He frequently promises results. It’s as if God says, “Okay, Joyce, if you meditate, here’s what I’m going to do for you.” In this passage, the promise is life and health. Isn’t that amazing? It’s even a promise that when you contemplate and brood over the Bible, it will affect your physical body.

We’ve known for a long time that when we fill our minds with healthy, positive thoughts, it affects our body and improves our health. This is just another way of repeating this truth. Or take the opposite viewpoint: Suppose we fill our minds with negative thoughts and remind ourselves how frail we are or how sick we were the day before. We soon become so filled with self-pity and self-defeating thoughts that we get even sicker.

I talk a lot about prosperity, and we really need to understand what it really means. (see Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:8). I believe that by “prosperity,” God means that we’ll be enriched and prosper in every part of our lives. It’s not a promise of more material wealth, but an assurance of being able to enjoy all the wonderful blessings we have.

Recently when I meditated on several passages in the Bible, I realized God was showing me that the Word has hidden treasures in it—powerful, life-giving secrets—which God wants to reveal to us. They are there for those who muse, ponder, and contemplate the Word of God.

What we often forget is that God wants our fellowship, our company, and our time with Him. If we want a deep relationship with our heavenly Father, we have to make quality time for God. I recently heard someone say, “Quality time comes out of quantity times.” In other words, it’s only as we spend time with God on a regular, daily basis that we have those special, life-changing moments. We can’t program them to happen, but if we’re there on a daily basis, God will cause some of those times to be quality times of special blessing.

D. L. Moody once said that the Bible would keep us from sin, or sin would keep us from the Bible. That’s the principle here. As we concentrate on God’s Word and allow it to fill our thoughts, we will push away all desire to sin or to displease God in any way. We become more deeply rooted in Him. Again, think of it in the negative. When our mind remains ¬focused on our problems all the time, we become consumed with them. If we meditate on what’s wrong with others, we see even more flaws and faults. But when we concentrate on God’s Word, light comes into our souls.

I want to go back one more time to that powerful statement in Philippians 4:8. No matter which translation or paraphrase we read it in, the message is powerful and exactly what we need to do to condition our minds for victory.

Here’s Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message: “Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.”

Dear Father in heaven, teach me the blessings of pondering Your Word, of filling my heart and mind with Your spiritual manna. May I grow into maturity and become more and more like Your Son, Jesus. It’s in His name that I pray. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Give It Up!

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Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life. —Psalm 25:1

This is a very short but powerful verse. In fact it gives you the answer for your whole life: give it to the Lord.

This doesn’t mean you should bring Him just your worries and problems. It means bringing Him your entire existence and everything it entails. Grasping that truth will set you free from weariness and a feeling of wanting to give up.

I used to get worn out preparing for my meetings. I would get so intense about it and work so hard at making sure everything was right that I worked myself into exhaustion. Then I learned that all I have to do is give Him my life and everything in it. As we yield to Him, His peace fills us.

As you pray tonight, give your entire life to God and experience the freedom of knowing that whatever you face—good or bad—He has it under control.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Do Your Best

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But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father— [it is] Jesus Christ . . . And He [that same Jesus Himself ] is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of ] the whole world. —1 John 2:1–2

You are responsible to people, but God has not made you responsible for their joy. You may have children, or siblings, or a spouse God has given you to love and nurture who seem uninterested in your testimony. Some people just refuse to be happy, so don’t let them steal your joy.

You cannot fix anyone, and you shouldn’t take the blame for everything that goes wrong in someone else’s life. Obviously, you cannot make everybody you know believe in Jesus. But you can get up every day and do your best, and then trust God for the rest.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Do It for God

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And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. —2 John 1:6 NIV

I remember one Sunday years ago when my church’s pastor encouraged the congregation to take a moment to say hello to other people and even give them a hug and tell them we loved them. I looked down the row where I was sitting and saw a woman who had hurt me in a significant way. I strongly sensed the Spirit of God impressing me to give her a hug and let her know I loved her. Walking over to her and saying, “I love you” took everything I had! I can’t guarantee I was totally sincere, but I know I was obedient to God.

Several months later, God led me to give one of my favorite possessions to that woman. “Now God,” I responded, “I don’t mind giving it away. I mean, I really would like to keep it, but if You are going to make me give it away, at least let me give it to someone I like so I can enjoy seeing her with it!” God responded to me: “Joyce, if you can give her that, if you can give your favorite possession to someone who really hurt you and is least deserving of it, you will break the power of the enemy. You will destroy his plan to destroy you.”

We do not take steps of obedience and overcome difficult times because we feel like doing so or think obedience is a good idea. We do it because we love God, we know He loves us, we want to obey Him, and we know His ways are always best for us.

Whatever adversities you are facing right now or will face in the days to come, I urge you to confront them, embrace them, and deal with them. Face them like a conqueror. Remember, they are working for your good, and God will use them to strengthen you. Embrace them with a conqueror’s attitude, and you will find yourself in a place of greater maturity, wisdom, and ability than you have ever known.

Trust in Him If God asks you to do something, you know He is asking because it is what’s best for you. Even if you don’t want to do it, do it for God because you trust Him and He knows best.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Finding My Identity in Christ

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You are God’s masterpiece. (Ephesians 2:10)

The dictionary defines a “masterpiece” as “a person’s greatest work of art,” or a “consummate example of skill or excellence.” Now, when God’s Word describes you as His masterpiece, what comes into your mind? Do you accept His assessment, or do you think, Well, He must be talking about someone else…if He really knew me, He wouldn’t think that!

Your personal identity—how you see yourself—is often shaped by your early experiences in life. Maybe your parents said things to you as a child that made you doubt your worth. Maybe you were rejected or abused. If so, I can relate to what you have been through, because I experienced every kind of rejection and abuse as I was growing up. I was sexually, verbally, emotionally and physically abused by my father from the time I can remember until I finally left home at the age of 18. I then carried those emotional wounds into my first marriage to a man who also treated me badly and eventually left me.

Even when I met and married Dave Meyer—a wonderful, loving man—I didn’t know how to give or receive love. I was controlling, manipulative, angry, critical, negative, overbearing and judgmental. All I had grown up with, I had become. My problems were deep inside me, caused by years of abuse, a wrong mindset and my wounded emotions.

In Christ Alone

Now, I was born-again during those years. I loved Jesus. I believed my sins were forgiven and that I would go to heaven when I died. But I had no victory, no peace, no joy in my life. I felt condemned all the time. The only time I didn’t hate myself was when I was working toward some personal goal I thought would provide me a sense of self-worth. I was worn-out, burned-out, frustrated, and miserable.

I had made the frustrating, tragic mistake of trying to find the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace and joy (see Romans 14:17), in things and other people. I didn’t realize the kingdom of God is within us, as the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27. My joy—and my identity—had to be found in Christ alone.

The Word says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). But I had not yet taken hold of the “new creation reality.” I was living out of my own mind, will and emotions, which were all damaged. Jesus had paid the price for my total deliverance, but I had no idea how to receive His gracious gift.

A “Light Bulb” Moment

One day as I was reading the Bible, I noticed this statement in 2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance” (AMP). The Holy Spirit stopped me and asked, “What do you believe, Joyce, about your relationship with God? Do you believe He loves you?” As I honestly began to search my heart and to study His Word on the subject, I concluded He did love me—but conditionally.

But the Bible teaches that God loves us perfectly or unconditionally. His perfect love is not based on our perfection or anything except Himself (see 1 John 4:8). He always loves us, but often we don’t receive His love because of guilt about our wrong behavior. We are supposed to be conscious and aware of God’s love and put faith in it. But I was unconscious and unaware of God’s love; therefore, I was not putting faith in His love for me. What a breakthrough! That was the beginning of my emotional healing. It has been a process, but today I can honestly say I am healed and content. I know in my heart that God loves me—and I also love myself.

Saturate your mind with the truth of God’s Word. It’s filled with reminders of His unconditional love for you. He says you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He says that nothing can separate you from His love (Romans 8:35). Don’t let the enemy steal your identity. You are God’s masterpiece. Believe it!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Follow God With Boldness

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. . . the righteous are bold as a lion. —Proverbs 28:1, NKJV

God has uniquely created you and gifted you to fulfill His purpose for your life. It may be something others regard as “important,” or “cool,” or it may be something other people don’t find impressive. For example, we live in a society that esteems being a doctor more highly than being a janitor; some believe leading a Bible study is somehow better than being a stay-at-home Mom, but really, what matters is that you do what God is calling you to do. Regardless of your chosen profession or how you choose to spend the time God gives you upon this earth, the only way to find joy and satisfaction is to live your life according to His will.

The Holy Spirit leads us into the will of God. I have discovered that boldness is necessary in order to be led by the Holy Spirit, because He may not always lead us to do what everyone else is doing. Some insecure people tend to feel “safer” doing what others do. They are fearful of standing alone or going against the crowd. But sometimes God calls us to do something new or different, and we need to be willing to “break the mold” and do whatever He asks. This is one way we honor God and express our love for Him.

Any time we step outside the boundaries of what other people say is permissible or “right,” we risk being judged or criticized. Insecure people will usually give in to the expectations and demands of others rather than face disapproval and possible rejection. We must be secure in God and not allow such things to keep us from following the Holy Spirit and fulfilling our God-given purpose.

Do you really believe you are doing what God created you to do or have you allowed other peoples’ opinions to cause you to hold back? Great joy and many good things are waiting for you as you move forward with courage into all God has called and created you to do!

Love God Today: What is it that you sense God is calling you to do, but have lacked confidence to do in the past? Break the mold, and be bold!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Whose Perspective Is It?

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But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ. —2 Corinthians 11:3

When encouraged to think positively, people often retort, “That is not reality.” But the truth is that positive thinking can change your current reality. God is positive, and that is His reality. It is the way He is, the way He thinks, and the way He encourages us to be. He says that all things can work out for good if we love Him and want His will in our lives (Romans 8:28). He says we should always believe the best of every person (1 Corinthians 13:7).

It has been said that 90 percent of what we worry about never happens. Why do people assume that being negative is more realistic than being positive? It is a simple matter of whether we want to look at things from God’s perspective or Satan’s. Are you doing your own thinking, choosing your thoughts carefully, or are you passively thinking about whatever happens to just come to your mind? What is the origin of your thoughts? Are they agreeing with Scripture? If they are not, they didn’t originate with God.

Thinking negatively makes you miserable. Why be miserable when you can be happy?

Lord, I ask You to make Your Word come alive to me so that I can see life issues from Your perspective. I want my thoughts to be in line with Yours. Amen.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Spiritual Authority

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Obey your spiritual leaders and submit to them [continually recognizing their authority over you], for they are constantly keeping watch over your souls and guarding your spiritual welfare, as men who will have to render an account [of their trust]. [Do your part to] let them do this with gladness and not with sighing and groaning, for that would not be profitable to you [either]. —Hebrews 13:17

Our modern society is absolutely filled with rebellion, and rebellion keeps us from hearing God. I have observed that many, many people have trouble relating to authority. This is true in marriages, families, schools, businesses, civic activities, and throughout our culture. submission to spiritual authority is practically nonexistent.

Often when a pastor tries to bring some kind of correction, people tend to become upset and want to leave the church—and that is not right. Paul corrected people often; that was part of his job as a spiritual leader and it remains a responsibility for spiritual leaders today. Paul said: “Not that we have dominion [over you] . . . but [rather that we work with you as] fellow laborers [to promote] your joy” (2 Corinthians 1:24). If we will understand and believe that spiritual authority exists to promote our joy, we will embrace it and when we do, our joy will increase—and so will our ability to hear God’s voice.

The spirit of rebellion that is at work in the world today is the spirit of the antichrist according to 2 Thessalonians 2:7–8, one that is willing to submit to no one. People today say they are demanding their rights, but in reality they are often only resisting any authority but their own.

God’s word for you today: Be submissive to authority as a service to the Lord, and He will bless and prosper you.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Why Does God Wait So Long?

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All things are possible with God. —Matthew 19:26

When God came to Abraham and told him that He was going to bless him, Abraham said to God, “That’s fine, but what I really want is a son.” God said, “I am going to give you what you ask for,” but He didn’t give it to Abraham right away. The Word says, Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5). Actually, twenty years went by from the time God promised Abraham that he would have a child to the time that child was born. In fact, Abraham was already old when God first gave him the promise of a son.

By the time Abraham fathered that child, his wife had already gone through the change of life. She had a barren womb. So Abraham and Sarah not only had a prayer request, they also needed a miracle.

Isn’t it interesting that sometimes when you ask God for something, He lets it go so long, the only thing that can possibly produce what you asked for is a miracle? Why does God do that? Because He likes to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).

When Martha and Mary sent for Jesus to come and minister to their brother, Lazarus, who was gravely ill, why did Jesus wait two days longer, until Lazarus had actually died and was buried, before He went and raised Lazarus from the dead? It was because Jesus already knew what He was going to do for Lazarus.

If something is dead—a dream, a desire, a want, a need—it doesn’t matter to God how dead it is. God can still bring it back to life in His timing because our God is an awesome God. Nothing is too hard for Him. That is why He is never in a hurry and why it seems as if He often waits until nothing will work but a miracle.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Passive Minds

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Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him]. —Ephesians 4:27

Perhaps the best way to interpret these words of the apostle Paul is to say it this way: Don’t give the devil an opportu¬nity. There are many ways we actually give the devil an opening to pounce on us. One of those ways involves being passive.

To be passive is the opposite of being active. This can be a dangerous problem because it means you aren’t on guard, you aren’t actively standing up, and you aren’t alert. One of the devil’s most deceiving tricks is to get you to do nothing and to feel content about it.

I have found a wide variety of definitions for the word passive, but I describe it as a lack of feeling, a lack of desire, apathy, laziness, and lukewarmness. It is what John referred to when he wrote to the church at Laodicea: “I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!” (Revelation 3:15).

It reminds me of something someone told me years ago. “I’ve been a good Christian today,” he said. “I haven’t hurt anyone or done anyone any harm.” In a moment of insight, I said, “But have you done any good for anyone?”

He stared at me for several seconds before he said, “I guess I never thought of it that way. I was so concerned about not doing anything wrong, that I never thought about doing anything good.”

That’s one of the tricks the devil plays on our minds. All we need to do is read the Bible to find out what God says. Paul wrote to Timothy: “That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-¬control” (2 Timothy 1:6–7). Paul told his young disciple to shake himself up and do something—which is good for us to consider, as well. Paul urged us to get moving and start using the gifts God has given us.

The devil knows that inactivity, laziness, or failure to exercise our will for doing good can throw us into ultimate defeat. As long as we move against the devil, we can win the battle. When we do nothing, we become his prime target. It’s when we get stirred into action, and passionate about faith, and zealous to follow God that we can destroy all the devil’s influence.

Peter wrote to the persecuted believers of his day: “Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined]” (1 Peter 5:8–9a).

I stress this because I see many believers who don’t feel passionate about anything, so they don’t do anything. They attend worship services and praise the Lord if they feel like it. They read their Bibles if they have the energy and time. If they don’t feel like doing something, they just don’t do it.

That’s not God’s way. We need to stir ourselves up—the way Paul urged Timothy. I’ll use myself as an example to illustrate what I mean. I don’t really enjoy physical exercise that much, but the more I exercise, the easier it gets and the better I feel. It was pretty tough when I first started the program. In fact, it hurt. I was sore. I ached all over, and I wanted to quit. I’d been so inactive (passive) for so long about physical exercise that it was painful! And my physical condition only worsened as long as I did nothing about it. But exercising consistently eventually paid off.

Let me encourage you to stir yourself. Get active. You don’t want to give place to the devil by doing nothing. If you make the effort to praise and to read the Bible, you give God the opportunity to bless you. If you don’t make the effort, you are inviting the enemy into your life. Get moving! Start today.

God, help me to stir myself up, especially on those days when I don’t feel passionate. Help me remember that it is an act of the will that You honor. In the name of Jesus, help me to stay vigilant and active—and that means being victorious, as well. Amen.

From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.