Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.- 1 Peter 5:8-9

In the United States, there is an over-the-counter medication advertised as the medicine to take at the first indication of a cold, to keep it from getting worse and becoming full-blown. I take a lot of vitamin C if I have a scratchy throat or a runny nose because it often keeps me from getting worse. Catching something before it goes too far is wisdom.

I recommend that anytime you even begin to feel fearful about anything that you immediately begin to pray and confess, “I will not live in fear.” You will see amazing results. When we pray, God hears and answers. When we confess His Word, we renew our own minds and come into agreement with His plans for us. No matter what God wants to do for us, we must agree with Him in order to receive and enjoy it (see Amos 3:3). We must learn to think like God thinks and talk like He talks—and none of His thoughts or words are fearful.

This thought—I will not live in fear—will help you become courageous rather than fearful. Call it to mind the instant you begin to feel fear, and meditate on it even during the times when you are not afraid.

By doing this you will be even more prepared to stand against fear when it does come. Remember that it will take time; be committed to stick with it until you see change. I still say, “I will not live in fear.” Say it as soon as you feel fearful about anything, and you will be able to keep fear from controlling you. You may still feel fear, but you can move beyond it by realizing that it is merely the devil’s attempt to prevent you from enjoying life or making any kind of progress. Do what you believe you are supposed to do even if you have to “do it afraid.”

Trust in Him: What can you do to “catch it early” and not let fear control you? Trust that God does not want you to live a life of fear.

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity….– Psalm 94:12-13

According to Exodus 13:17, When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer (emphasis added). There was a shorter route, but God took the Israelites the long, hard way on purpose because they were not ready for the battles they would face. He continued to work with them during forty years of wandering, waiting for them to get to the point where they could praise Him in their adversity.

God will continue dealing with us until we learn how to stay peaceful in the storm. Nothing shows our spiritual maturity more than staying calm when our circumstances are not calm. Stability is a sign of maturity, and the more mature we are, the more God can trust us with His power and blessings.

Power Thought: I have the power of God to remain calm in adversity.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

And when he was about to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, . . . when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say, I beg of you, that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.- Genesis 12:11-13

Are you so afraid of displeasing people that you say yes to a lot of things you know you should be saying no to? If so, your stress is not caused by all the things you have to do, it is because you are afraid of disapproval.

We are afraid to be different, so we desperately try to keep up with all the other people in our lives, and it wears us out. The truth is we just want to go home and sit in a chair, but we don’t want people to think we are a dud, so we keep pushing ourselves to do things we don’t want to do.

Take a minute to stop and look closely at the reasons you are doing the things you currently do. If any of them are being done out of fear, then eliminate them. You will be amazed at how much time you may have if you have a Spirit-led schedule rather than a people-driven one.

Lord, it’s so easy to succumb to the intimidation we feel from others. Help me to be true to myself and live for Your approval alone. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer

http://www.joycemeyer.org

The righteousness of the upright . . . shall deliver them, but the treacherous shall be taken in by their own iniquity and greedy desire. – Proverbs 11:6

Here’s an important question for you: When you do things to bless other people, why do you do it? Do you bless others because you love them, or do you do it to get them to love you? There was a time in my life when I tried to “buy” protection for myself. I thought if I was extremely nice to people and gave them gifts, I could protect myself from their rejection. It took me a while to learn that my motives were impure and therefore my act of kindness was not acceptable to God.

I was deceived. I really thought I was walking in love until God revealed to me that I was not giving my love freely to others without strings attached. I was giving my love to others in order to get them to love me.

When we give gifts, we should always do so for the joy of giving, not with the ulterior motive of trying to manipulate the recipients in some way so they feel they owe us something.

When our behavior is excessive and out of balance people can sense that something isn’t right about our attitude toward them. When you do things to bless others, be sure to do so out of a heart of love, care, or appreciation for them, not out of a personal need for security.

Love Others Today: Take an honest inventory of your relationships. Are you trying to buy anyone’s friendship for your own benefit instead of blessing that person out of sincere love?

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

…Work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).- Philippians 2:12

We can allow the Holy Spirit to invade our lives. We can be so filled with His presence and power that we allow Him into every aspect of who we are and into everything we do. He can get into our thoughts, emotions, and even our wills and bring healing and wholeness to our entire being, but He wants an invitation.

Tell the Holy Spirit you are ready to work with Him to bring what He has done in you by the grace of God to the forefront of your life. “Work it out,” which is the theme of our scripture for today, means that we must learn to live from the Spirit. We need to learn to live inside out. Be cautious not to offend God by giving in to temptation and sin. Learn to live in such a manner that your conscience is entirely clean at all times.

You might be thinking, Joyce, all of this sounds hard and I am not sure I have what it takes. But, I want to assure you that you do have what it takes, because you have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. You cannot do it in your own strength, but as you partner with God you can do whatever you need to do in life. Don’t settle for a “barely get by” kind of life when there is a life of abundance waiting for you.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.- Philippians 1:6

According to the Bible, God is the Potter, and we are the clay (See Romans 9:20-21). When we first come to the Lord, we are like a hard lump of clay that is not very pliable or easy to work with. But God puts us on His potter’s wheel and begins to refashion and remake us so that we can discover the wonderful plan He has for our lives.

Sometimes that process of molding is uncomfortable at first. The reason it hurts is because God has to peel away the things in our lives that would keep us distant from Him. So out of His love for us, He keeps working and working on us, trimming away this bad attitude and that wrong mind-set, carefully reshaping us until gradually we are changed into the likeness of His Son Jesus.

Don’t be discouraged with yourself because you have not yet arrived. The more God works in your life, the closer you are growing in relationship to Him. Enjoy your life each day, even as God is shaping you. Let the Potter do His work, and trust that He has your best interest at heart.

You can always trust God that He has your best interest at heart, and all that He does in your life is for your benefit.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.- Revelation 3:20

We have the great privilege of developing a relationship with God and inviting Him to be a vital part of everything we do, every day. That starts with simple prayer—just talking to Him and sharing your life with Him as you go about the things you have to do. Be thankful that His presence is with you, and include Him in your thoughts, in your conversations, and in all your everyday activities.

When you let God out of the Sunday-morning box that many people keep Him in, letting Him invade your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and all day Sunday as well, you’ll be amazed at what a difference it will make. Don’t try to keep God in a religious compartment; He wants to have free access to every area of your life. He wants to be involved in every part of your life. He desires an intimate relationship with you.

Prayer of Thanks: I thank You, God, that You love me enough to want to be in relationship with me. I want to share every part of my life with You. Help me to remember that You are with me every minute of the day.

From the book The Power of Being Thankful by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

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. . . . 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

It doesn’t matter what kind of problem we have in our lives, we need self-control and discipline to gain and maintain the victory. I believe this is especially true with regard to our thought life and the battle for our mind. What begins in the mind eventually comes out of the mouth, and before we know it, we’re telling anyone who will listen how we feel. We have to discipline our mind, our mouth, our feelings, and our actions so that they are all in agreement with what the Word of God says.

Every quality of God that is in you and me, God Himself planted in us in the form of a seed the day we accepted Christ (see Colossians 2:10). Over time and through life’s experiences, the seeds of Christ’s character begin to grow and produce the fruit of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). I have found that it is virtually impossible to operate in any of the other eight fruit of the Spirit unless we are exercising self-control. How can you and I remain patient, for example, in the midst of an upsetting situation unless we exercise restraint? Or how can we walk in love and believe the best of someone after they have repeatedly hurt us unless we use the fruit of self-control?

As Christians, we have the fruit of the Spirit in us, but we must purposely choose to exercise them. Not choosing to exercise the fruit of the Spirit is what produces carnal Christians—¬those who are under the control of ordinary im¬pulses and walk after the desires of the flesh (see 1 Corinthians 3:3). Whatever we exercise the most becomes the strongest.

Our thoughts and words are two areas in which the Holy Spirit is constantly prompting us to exercise self-control. The Bible says that . . . as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he, and out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks (Proverbs 23:7; Luke 6:45b). The devil is ¬constantly trying to get us to accept wrong thoughts about everything from God’s love for us (or the lack of it) to what terrible thing is going to happen to us next. Why? Because he knows that once we start accepting and believing his lies, it is just a matter of time until we begin to speak them out of our mouths. And when we speak wrong things, we open the door for wrong things to come into our lives (see Proverbs 18:20-21).

Continue reading Joyce Meyer – Reminders →

Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work.- John 4:34

I believe the Lord wants us to finish whatever He calls us to do, even when it requires patience, preservation and hard work. God wants us to grow roots and learn to endure until the fruit of His promise is manifested.

Be willing to endure patiently to see God’s plan take place in your life. If God has given you a vision of something He wants you to accomplish, keep doing whatever He has given you to do, even when the excitement for the work is over, and all the goose bumps are gone. If you don’t have a vision, ask God to show you something that you need to do, and then commit your work to the Lord until it is completed.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep.- John 10:11

The more I study the men and women in the Bible whom we consider to be “great,” the more I see that they all made huge sacrifices and there was nothing convenient about what God asked them to do.

Abraham had to leave his country, his relatives, and his home and go to a place God would not even tell him about until he went there. Joseph saved a nation from starvation, but not before he was violently removed from his comfortable home and put in an inconvenient place for many years. Esther saved the Jews from destruction, but God certainly interrupted her plan in order for her to do so.

The list of individuals who entered into sacrificial obedience could go on and on. The Bible calls them people “of whom the world was not worthy” (see Hebrews 11:38). These people we read about were inconvenienced so that someone else’s life could be easier. Jesus died so we could have life and have it abundantly. Soldiers die so that civilians can remain safe at home. Fathers go to work so their families can have nice lives, and mothers go through the pain of childbirth to bring another life into the world. It seems quite obvious that someone usually has to experience pain or inconvenience for anyone to gain anything.

If you make the decision that you don’t mind inconvenience or interruption, then God can use you. You can make a difference in the world. But if you remain addicted to your own comfort, God will have to pass you by for someone who is more willing to endure the hard things in life in order to do God’s will.

Trust in Him: Think about a situation in which God is asking you to do some things you would rather not do—stay in a situation, leave a situation, spend time with someone you don’t get along with . . . Are you willing to trust the “interruption” from God in order to do His will?

From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

This is the day which the Lord has brought about; we will rejoice and be glad in it.- Psalm 118:24

I believe the psalmist discovered the secret to living ordinary days with extraordinary enthusiasm. He simply decided and declared that since the Lord had made each day, and that it was a gift to him, he would enjoy it and be glad. He made a decision that produced the feelings he wanted rather than waiting to see how he felt.

God’s presence makes life exciting if we have a proper understanding of life as a whole. Everything we do is sacred and amazing if we do it unto the Lord and believe He is with us. Ask yourself right now if you truly believe God is with you even in the midst of very ordinary tasks. If your answer is yes, then you can have an extraordinary day!

Power Thought: I will rejoice in “ordinary” days because God is with me every day.

From the book the book Power Thoughts Devotional by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

To you it was shown, that you might realize and have personal knowledge that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. Out of heaven He made you hear His voice, that He might correct, discipline, and admonish you; and on earth He made you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. – Deuteronomy 4:35-36

One night I was lying in bed and heard a noise upstairs. The longer I listened to it the more frightened I became. Finally, shaking from fear, I went upstairs to see what it was. I had to laugh when I discovered it was ice cubes falling in the ice tray from the ice maker. It just happened that the way they were falling was making a noise they did not normally make.

Lack of knowledge causes fear, and knowledge removes it. Knowledge will help you have confidence.

If you are going for a job interview, make sure you are prepared and have all the knowledge you will need with you to answer questions the interviewer may ask you. We live in a world today where knowledge is as close as your computer. Not only can you do online research about the company you’re applying to, but you can find tips on how to have a successful interview.

Lord, equip me with the knowledge I need to be confident and that leads to success. Point me to what I need to know to be effective for You. Amen.

From the book The Confident Woman Devotional: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets.- Proverbs 1:20

God wants us to use wisdom, and according to today’s scripture, wis¬dom is not difficult to obtain; the Holy Spirit wants to reveal it to us; we simply need to pay attention. For example, have you ever needed to make a decision and had your “head” (your intellectual abilities) try to lead you one way while your heart is leading you another? Have you ever had a situation in which your natural thoughts and feelings seemed to be guiding you in one direction, but something inside of you kept nagging you to go another direction?

Chances are, wisdom is crying out to you. One way to love yourself is to listen to it and obey. Many times, it cries out in your heart that you should or should not do a certain thing—you should eat healthily, you should be kind to other people, you should not spend money you do not have. These are all practical examples of using wisdom in everyday life. When you sense such leadings, the Holy Spirit, who speaks to your heart, is trying to help you make a wise decision, even though it may not be the choice you want to make or it may not seem to make sense in your present circumstances.

The Spirit wars against our flesh, and vice versa (see Gal. 5:17). When we know the wise choice and don’t make it, the reason is often that we are allowing our flesh to lead us and to see if we can get away with unwise decisions—which are also known as “foolishness.” The flesh leads us to foolishness, but God wants us to walk in wisdom and make choices now that we will be happy with later.

Love Yourself Today What is wisdom saying to you today? Are you willing to follow it?

From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways and set your mind on what has come to you. – Haggai 1:5

God has a great big, wonderful, fulfilling life planned for you and me, but if we are stubborn (see Exodus 33:3) or hard-hearted, then we will miss what He has for us. Stubbornness and refusal to hear and obey God’s voice keeps us set in our ways and unable to make progress. When we find ourselves in this condition, we often fail to stop and ask ourselves what the problem is.

Today’s verse recounts a time when God’s people were dissatisfied and experiencing many problems, so God told them to consider their ways. Many times when people are not fulfilled in life, they look everywhere except within themselves to find the reason. If you are unfulfilled in your life, do as God told the Old Testament people to do and “Consider your ways.” Ask God to speak to you about “your ways,” and pay attention to what He says. I have had to do this many times, and I have had to make changes in my thinking, my motives, or my behavior as a result. As I considered my ways over time, I found I was stubborn, hardheaded, opinionated, proud, and many other things that kept me from making progress. But, thank God, He has changed me! I pray He keeps on changing me and never stops.

I want everything God wants me to have and nothing He doesn’t. I belong to Him and so do you. He wants you to have a happy, blessed, wonderful life, full of satisfaction and fulfillment. If you aren’t living that kind of life, take time to consider your ways; ask God to show you what needs to change; and then do what He tells you to do.

God’s word for you today: Don’t be afraid to face the truth about yourself, because it sets you free.

From the book Hearing from God Each Morning: 365 Daily Devotions by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! – Ephesians 3:17

If you are born again Jesus dwells on the inside of you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Your inner life—your attitudes, thoughts, and emotions—is holy ground where the Spirit of God wants to make His home. This inner life is of more serious interest to God than your outer life.

If you want to be a comfortable home for God, you must give up grumbling, complaining, faultfinding, and murmuring. The Bible says God inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3). He is comfortable in the midst of your praises. You need to wake up every morning and say, “Oh, good morning Jesus. I want You to be comfortable in me today. Praise You, Father. I love You, Lord.” And you need to go to bed every night and say, “Thank You for all the good things You’ve done today and will be doing tomorrow.” Before you do anything else, invite Jesus to make Himself at home in your heart.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody.- Psalm 57:7

In order to experience victory in our lives and achieve great things for God, it is crucial that we choose to be determined. The Bible says that Jesus steadfastly and determinedly set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), and we can do the same thing as we live for God. If we are going to accomplish anything worthwhile, it is important we “steadfastly and determinedly” set our face in that direction and not give up.

When you receive Christ as your Savior and Lord, Satan will oppose you at every turn. He wants you to give up! The devil is not going to roll out a red carpet for us just because we decide to receive Christ. But Jesus has already overcome the devil. Satan is a defeated foe. His opposition is not strong enough to stop you if you are close to God, walking in His strength and will for your life.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that everything in life should be easy for us. Ask for God’s help, receive His grace, and be determined to do the will of God, to stay positive and happy, and to walk in the peace of God no matter what.

Press on with holy determination, and God’s plan will be fulfilled in your life.

From the book Closer to God Each Day by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org