Tag Archives: Joyce Meyer

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – A Godly Testimony

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Acts 8:26-40

Christians have adopted a narrow definition of the word testimony. But sharing Jesus is much more than telling our conversion story or talking about God’s work in our life, although these things are important. We need to be prepared to meet unbelievers at the point of their spiritual need, even if our own story is very different.

Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch can teach us quite a lot. While young Israelites had friends and family to disciple them in their faith, a foreign convert often had to work alone to discern the meaning of complex scriptures. So by asking, “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip showed that he understood the Ethiopian’s disadvantage. That one question enabled him to discover that the man had a genuine thirst for God’s truth but did not know of the Messiah.

Philip used that information to tailor a gospel testimony for his particular listener. Consider how easily the Ethiopian could have become confused or frustrated if Philip—whose Jewish background was so different from the foreigner’s—had told only his own conversion story. The evangelist wisely avoided any extraneous information and instead used the power of God’s Word to introduce the man to Jesus Christ.

Philip’s testimony began with the passage the Ethiopian was reading. He effectively spoke to the man’s spiritual interest in general while specifically answering his questions about Isaiah 53. We, too, must be sensitive to unbelievers’ concerns so we can explain how God will meet their needs.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Chooses the Weak

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[No] for God selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish to put the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to put the strong to shame.—1 Corinthians 1:27

God gives us His power (grace) so we can do what is needed in spite of our weaknesses. In fact, God purposely chooses the weak and foolish things of the world to work through so we will give Him the glory for what is being done. God wants to amaze the world, and one of the ways He does so is by accomplishing great things through people who are weak and don’t have the natural ability to complete the task at hand (see 1 Corinthians 1:25–29).

Relax; don’t be afraid you won’t be able to do what God has given you to do. Step out in faith, and God will meet you where you are and give you His grace (undeserved favor and power) to complete the task. Through Christ you can do all things!

Power Thought: God uses my weaknesses to show His strength.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God Knows

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May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing . . . that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope. —Romans 15:13

You cannot have true love, joy, hope, or peace without believing in God and His promises. According to today’s scripture, joy and peace are found in believing. So when you lose your peace, check your believing.

Let your timing be in God’s hands (see Ps. 31:15). You’ll lose your peace if you try to make things happen out of God’s timing. Avoid rea¬soning, and stop trying to figure out what God is doing in your life and trust Him. Stop thinking so much and start simply believing.

Believe God loves you. Believe God has a great plan for your life. Believe God always has your best interest in mind, and that He is work¬ing all things together for your good (see Rom. 8:28). You might as well just get in the flow and go with God. Getting frustrated is not going to make God change His mind.

I have been through a lot of difficult things and have come to know through experience that God is faithful and worrying does no good. We don’t have to understand everything that occurs in our lives, because God does understand them and He is in control. You can choose to believe in God and His promises, or to continue in worry and reason¬ing. But if you choose to believe, your joy and peace will be abundant.

Love God Today: “Lord, I believe that you know all things and you are in control, so help me be comfortable, ‘not knowing.’ “

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Cooperation Required

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For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord,thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.— Jeremiah 29:11

The most important thing is not how we start but how we finish. Some people get started with a bang, but they never finish. Others are slow starters, but they finish strong.

God has a plan for each of us. It is our destiny. But it is a possibility, not a “positively.” Even if someone prophesies over us wonderful things in the name of the Lord, what is being prophesied is the heart, the will, and the desire of God for us. It doesn’t mean it is positively going to happen, because if we don’t cooperate with God, it is not going to come to pass. We have a part to play in seeing that plan come true.

I challenge you to cooperate with God every single day of your life to develop your potential. Every day you should learn something new. Every day you should grow. Every day you should be a bit further along than you were the day before. We must each discover our God-given gifts and talents, what we are truly capable of, and then put ourselves to the task of developing those gifts, talents, and capabilities to their fullest extent.

Lord, I am thrilled that You have a plan for my life. That I have a destiny is amazing. I want to cooperate with You today and make that a reality. Amen.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon – Perfection in faith

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“For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

Suggested Further Reading: 2 Timothy 2:20-26

We could not have access to God unless on the footing of perfection; for God cannot walk and talk with imperfect creatures. But we are perfect; not in character, for we are still sinners; but we are perfected through the blood of Jesus Christ, so that God can allow us to have access to him as perfected creatures. We may come boldly, because being sprinkled with the blood, God does not look on us as unholy and unclean, otherwise he could not allow us to come to his mercy seat; but he looks upon us as being perfected forever through the one sacrifice of Christ. That is one thing. The other is this. We are the vessels of God’s temple; he has chosen us to be like the golden pots of his sanctuary; but God could not accept a worship which was offered to him in unholy vessels. Those vessels, therefore, were made perfect by being sprinkled with blood. God could not accept the praise which comes from your unholy heart; he could not accept the song which springs from your uncircumcised lips, nor the faith which arises from your doubting soul, unless he had taken the great precaution to sprinkle you with the blood of Christ; and now, whatever he uses you for, he uses you as a perfect instrument, regarding you as being perfect in Christ Jesus. That, again, is the meaning of the text, and the same meaning, only a different phase of it. And, the last meaning is, that the sacrifices of the Jews did not give believing Jews peace of conscience for any length of time; they had to come again, and again, and again, because they felt that those sacrifices did not present to them a perfect justification before God. But behold, beloved, you and I are complete in Jesus. We have no need of any other sacrifice. All others we disclaim. He hath perfected us forever. We may set our conscience at ease, because we are truly, really, and everlastingly accepted in him.

For meditation: Being accepted in Christ enables us to serve God acceptably.

Sermon no. 232

15 December (Preached 2 January 1859)

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Make It Personal

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You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do. —John 15:14

In today’s verse, Jesus tells us we are His friends if we obey Him. In the following verse, He says He no longer calls us His servants, but His friends. Clearly, He wants a personal relationship with us and He wants us to get personal with Him. He proves this by the fact that He lives in us. How much more personal can anyone get than to live inside another person?

If God had wanted a distant, businesslike, professional relationship with us, He would have lived far away. He might have visited occasionally, but He certainly would not have come to take up permanent residence in the same house with us. When Jesus died on the cross, He opened up a way for us to get personal with Almighty God. What an awesome thought!

Just think about it: God is our personal friend! If we know someone important, we love to have an opportunity to say, “Oh, yes, that person is a friend of mine. I go to his house all the time. We visit with one another often.” We can say the same about God if we do our part to fellowship with Him, listen to His voice and obey what He says, and stay in His presence every day.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – God’s Royal Seal

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In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.—Ephesians 1:13

What does the Bible mean when it says that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit? In the apostle Paul’s day, when goods were shipped from one place to another, they would be stamped with a wax seal, imprinted with the signet ring of the owner. This was a unique mark of ownership. People could look at the crate, see its wax seal, and know they had better not open it.

The same was true for a document from a king. It would be sealed in wax and imprinted with the royal seal. People knew that if they opened it and weren’t the intended recipient, they would be endangering their very lives.

In the same way, God has put His royal seal on us: “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). The seal is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives. Upon our conversion, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

Let’s say that a thief wanted to steal a briefcase. Then he notices a nametag on it, bearing the name of a famous boxer. Most likely, the thief wouldn’t steal that briefcase. Why? He would be afraid of what would happen. He doesn’t want to suffer bodily harm.

In a similar way, the Devil wants to come and destroy us as Christians. He wants to wreak havoc in our lives. But he sees our ID tag: “Owned by Jesus Christ. Sealed and insured by the Holy Spirit.” So he backs off because he fears the One to whom we belong.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Lord Is Our Refuge

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I love You fervently and devotedly, O Lord, my Strength.The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower. I will call upon the Lord,Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. —Psalm 18:1-3

A rock is a type of a sure foundation.When the waters of trial threaten to rise up and overwhelm us, we need to do as David did and climb up on the rock that is higher than we are. David also called the Lord his Fortress. A fortress is a castle, a fort, a defense, a place into which we go when we are being hunted or attacked. It is not a hiding place in which our enemy cannot find us. It is a place of protection in which we can see and be seen but cannot be reached because we are safe in God’s protection.

David also called the Lord his High Tower—another lofty and inaccessible place—and his Shield and Buckler—which are part of the protective armor that surrounds the believer (see Ephesians 6:10-17). God is not just above us and around us, He is even underneath us, because the psalmist tells us, The Lord upholds the [consistently] righteous (Psalm 37:17).

God is holding us up by His powerful right hand and is surrounding us as the mountains surround the holy city of Jerusalem. The devil is against us; but God is for us, and over us, and with us, and in us. Because He cares for us, He watches over us and keeps us so we can find rest and peace under the shadow of His wings as we cast all our care upon Him.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Mind-Binding Spirits

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He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction. —Psalm 107:20

I knew God had called me to a powerful, worldwide ministry. I didn’t brag about it and didn’t feel that I was special. I knew I was just a woman from Fenton, Missouri, whom no one had ever heard of. Yet I believed I would have a national ministry. I believed God would use me to heal the sick and to change, lives.

In fact, instead of being proud, I was humbled. Who was I that God would use me? The more I meditated on that idea, the more I rejoiced in the goodness and sovereignty of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, the apostle Paul pointed out that God’s choices often appear mysterious. He chooses the foolish to dumbfound the wise, the weak to shame the mighty. Paul concluded, Let him who boasts and proudly rejoices and glories, boast and proudly rejoice and glory in the Lord (v 31).

I felt no cause to boast. I believed God’s calling and promise to me. That’s what I want to stress. And then I waited for God to open the doors that no one could shut. When He was ready, it would happen.

Although I don’t know when the problem began, one day I heard myself ask, “I wonder if God really does want to use me?” Instead of holding on to the promises of God, I looked at myself and my lack of qualifications. I started to compare myself with other servants of God. When you compare yourself with others, that’s always a mistake, because you usually end up on the negative side.

Doubts began to creep in. Maybe I just made that up. Maybe I wanted something like that to happen, but it probably won’t. The longer the predicament went on, the more confused I became. I questioned God and the promise. I realized I no longer had the bright vision God had given me. I was filled with doubt and unbelief.

I began to pray and plead with God to help me. “If I just made up the things I have believed that You called me to do, then take the desire away. But if You’ve truly called me, help me. Restore the vision.”

When I paused, I heard God speak in my heart, Mind-¬binding spirits. “What’s a mind-binding spirit?” I asked. I had never heard the term, so I didn’t think anything more about it.

The next day when I prayed, I heard the same words. In fact, every time I prayed for the next two days, I heard, mind-¬binding spirits.

I had already done a lot of ministry and I had long realized how much trouble many believers had with their minds. At first, I thought the Holy Spirit might be leading me to pray for the Body of Jesus Christ to stand against a spirit called Mind Binding. I prayed and I rebuked that spiritand then I realized those words were for me. A mind-binding spirit had tried to steal my vision, destroy my joy, and take away my ministry. A tremendous deliverance came over me.

The oppressiveness was gone; the questions had vanished. I was free, and the vision of the national ministry God had given me was central in my thoughts again. I read Psalm107:20: He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction. That was it!

An evil spirit was attacking my mind and preventing me from believing the promise of God. I asked God to help me, and He set me free.

That mind-binding spirit attacks many today. They know what God wants and are eager to serve. Sometimes they even announce God’s plans to their friends. When nothing happens immediately, the mind-binding spirit sneaks in. It is as if a band of iron snaps around their minds and they find it hard to believe that their dreams can come to pass. Satan whispers, “Did God really say that? Or did you just make it up?”

Hold fast. If God has spoken, God will perform it. Remember that Abraham waited twenty-five years for God to give him Isaac!

True and faithful God, forgive me when I allow doubts and confusion to creep into my thinking. Those are not Your tools. Through the powerful name of Jesus, enable me to break the power of every mind-binding spirit. Amen.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Letting the Holy Spirit Work

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When He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. —John 16:8

Why has the Spirit come into this world? What does God’s Holy Spirit want to do in the life of the unbeliever? The Holy Spirit is very involved in the actual work of conversion. You see, before we were Christians, it was the Holy Spirit who convicted us of our sin (see John 16:8). Another way to translate the word convict in John 16:8 is “convince.” Notice this verse doesn’t say that He will convict the unbeliever of a specific sin. Rather, He wants to convince him or her of sin in general, the root cause of all sins.

Now, we can try to produce in someone a sense of guilt and wrongdoing. In an effort to help the conversion process along, we want to make them feel really bad or guilty about something. (Mothers seem to have an unusual ability in this area.) But only the Holy Spirit can effectively produce a guilt that will bring a person to their senses.

Sometimes we get in the way of someone’s conversion. We get impatient, or we try to assist the Spirit. We can be telling someone about the Lord, maybe a friend or a coworker or a family member, and as they become interested and start asking questions, we start trying to convert that person in our own strength. We try to complete the transaction while the Spirit is still working.

The best thing we can do after we have shared the Word of God with someone is to simply pray that it takes root. We should just do our part and leave it in the hands of God. We don’t need to force the issue. He will do the convincing. Let God’s Spirit do His work.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Enter His Rest

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And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus.  —Ephesians 2:6

There are many places in the Bible where Jesus, after the Resurrection, is described as being seated. We might think standing would be more powerful. But being seated has special significance.

Under the Law, when a priest entered the Holy of Holies to make sacrifices for the people’s sins, he could not sit. He had to keep moving and working the entire time. If the bells on his robe stopped ringing, that meant that he had done something wrong and had fallen over dead.

That is why it is so awesome that Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down as our high priest. He entered the rest of God. As joint heirs with Christ, we can sit too. We no longer have to work and strive to atone for our sins. Choose to rest in His presence tonight.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Start Something

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[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good. Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another. Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. —Romans 12:9–11

If all of us started having a godly attitude, it would catch hold and spread like a virus. Wouldn’t it be great if we could spread a good virus?

Imagine the whispers: “Have you heard? There’s something wonderful going around. Have you caught it? It is running rampant all over the place. Everywhere you look, people have a new attitude!”

Let’s start something today! Let’s decide to think like Christ. Let’s decide to love everyone we meet today, and pass the word so that everybody catches on to it.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Key to Your Future Is Hope

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The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word]. —Lamentations 3:25

Do you realize how important hope is to your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health? People without hope in their lives are destined to be miserable and depressed, feeling as if they are locked in the prison of their past. To get out of that prison and be free to move ahead into a more promising future, they need a key—and that key is hope.

Many years ago, I had an extremely negative attitude about my life because of the devastating abuse that had taken place in my past.The result was that I expected people to hurt me . . . and so they did. I expected people to be dishonest . . . and so they were.

I was afraid to believe anything good might happen in my life. I had given up hope. I actually thought I was protecting myself from being hurt by not expecting anything good to happen.

When I really began to study the Bible and trust God to restore me, I realized my negative attitudes had to go. I needed to let go of my past and move into the future with hope, faith, and trust in God. I had to get rid of the heaviness of despair and discouragement.

And I did. Once I dug into the truth of what the Bible says about me and about my attitudes toward life, I began to turn my negative thoughts and words into positive ones!

We can practice being positive in every situation that arises. Even if what is taking place in our lives at the moment seems negative, expect God to bring good out of it, just as He has promised in His Word. You must understand that before your life can change, your attitude must change.

No matter how hopeless your situation seems to be or how long it has been that way, I know that you can change—because I did. It took time and a strong commitment to maintaining a healthy, positive attitude, but it was worth it. And it will be worth it to you, too.

Trust in Him Are you waiting hopefully and expectantly for all God has in store for your life? Whatever happens, trust in the Lord. He wants to be good to you!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Believe in Prayer

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Joyce meyer

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. —Philippians 4:6 NLT

How many problems have you solved by worrying? How much time have you spent worrying about things that didn’t end up happening? Has anything ever gotten better as a result of your worrying about it? Of course not!

The instant you begin to worry or feel anxious, give your concern to God in prayer. Release the weight of it and totally trust Him to either show you what to do or take care of it Himself.

Prayer is the blueprint for a successful life. During His time on Earth, Jesus prayed. He entrusted everything to God—even His reputation and life. We can do the same. Don’t complicate your communication with God. Believe in Him and ask Him for what you need through simple, confident prayers.

Power Thought: Worry accomplishes nothing. I trust in the Lord.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Thoughts Minister Death or Life

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For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace —Romans 8:6 NKJV

Our thoughts are very powerful and they make a huge difference in the quality of our life. Because this is true, we should “think about what we are thinking about,” and make sure we are helping ourselves and others, not bringing harm.

Today’s scripture tells us that the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life. Negative, ugly thoughts minister death to us and also to others, whereas positive, loving thoughts minister life.

Here is an example of how much our thoughts affect the people around us. I was shopping with my younger daughter one day when she was a teenager. On that particular day, her hair was very messy and her face was broken out. She had on too much makeup, and it did not look good.

Every time I looked at her I thought, You really don’t look very good today. After some time went by, I noticed she was looking depressed, and I asked her what was wrong.

“I feel really ugly today,” she replied.

When she said that, God whispered in my heart, See what your thoughts have done to her?

I was immediately convicted that my thoughts were very displeas¬ing to the Lord, and they brought pain to my daughter when what she needed was acceptance and encouragement.

Often, we think things about people that we would never say to them, but even our thoughts can affect others. Remember that God knows all our thoughts, so let’s think on things that will please Him.

Love Others Today: “Lord, help me to minister life to others and to myself with my thoughts.”

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Let God Be God

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Why, when I came, was there no man? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, at My rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert. —Isaiah 50:2

We can worry about hundreds of different things—from what people think of us to what will happen to us as we age. How long will we be able to work? Who will take care of us when we get old if we are not able to care for ourselves? What happens if the stock market crashes? What if gas prices go up? What if I lose my job? Quite often, worry does not even have a basis or a nugget of truth to it. There is no known reason to even think about the things that worry and then frighten us. Worry can even become a bad habit. It is just what we do! Some people fret over something all the time. If they don’t have problems of their own, they worry about other people and their problems.

The only answer is to “stop worrying and place your trust in God.” He has the future all planned, and He knows the answer to everything. His Word promises us that He will take care of us if we trust in Him.

Lord, my future is in Your hands. In reality, I can’t truly control anything. I humble myself before You and cast my cares into Your hands. Thank You for Your care. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – He Wants to Be Involved in Everything

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For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. —Romans 8:14

Being led by the Holy Spirit means allowing Him to be involved in every decision we make, both major and minor. He leads us by peace and by wisdom, as well as by the Word of God. He speaks in a still, small voice in our hearts, or what we often call “the inward witness.” Those of us who desire to be led by the Holy Spirit must learn to follow the inward witness and respond quickly.

For example, if we are engaged in a conversation, and we begin to feel uncomfortable inside, it may be the Holy Spirit signaling us that we need to turn the conversation in another direction or be quiet. If we are about to purchase something, as we feel uncomfortable inside, we should wait and discern why we are uncomfortable. Perhaps we don’t need the item, or we may find it on sale somewhere else, or it may be the wrong time to buy it. We don’t always have to know why; we simply need to obey.

I remember being in a shoe store one time. I had chosen several pairs of shoes to try on when I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. This discomfort increased until I finally heard the Holy Spirit say, “Get out of this store.” I told Dave we had to go, and out we went. I never knew why, and I do not need to know. Maybe God saved me from some harm that was coming my way, or perhaps the people in the store were involved in something unethical. Maybe it was just a test of obedience. As I have said, we don’t always have to know why God leads us in certain ways. Our part is simply to obey His voice.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – All Things Work for Good

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Joyce meyer

We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.—Romans 8:28

After John 3:16, Romans 8:28 is probably the most quoted Bible verse among Christians. Paul’s words bring comfort and peace to many of us in our difficulties and hardships. They give us hope that no matter what hurts and disappointments come in our lives, everything will eventually work out for our good.

The two verses preceding Romans 8:28 talk about prayer. They say that when we don’t know how to pray as we ought to, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and prays through us. It is through these Holy Spirit-filled prayers that all things work together for good, no matter what they are. Not all things that happen to us are good in and of themselves, but God is good and He can cause them to work toward our good if we trust Him.

Continuing to trust God is the key to victory in painful and seemingly unjust situations. Faith and prayer move the hand of God. If we continue believing, He promises to continue moving in our behalf to work everything out for good. God makes this promise to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We must love God with all of our hearts, and we must want His will. We must be willing to submit to His plan at all times.

The plan that God has for us eventually changes us into His image. We are destined to be molded into His image. That may sound spiritual, but in reality, it usually hurts. I often think of clay being pressed into a mold, and wonder how the clay would feel if it had feelings. Being changed into an entirely different shape would probably be painful. If we take a lump of clay and press it into a mold, there is always too much clay to fit, and some pieces must be discarded. I found that there was more of me than would fit into the mold of Jesus Christ, so many of my thoughts, words, and actions had to be discarded.

We must go through things that are difficult and learn how to respond to them the way Jesus would. We must not give way to the fearful thoughts and feelings that attack us. We must learn to remain steadfast, knowing that no matter how things appear now, God will work them out for our good, ¬and in the process, He will use them to make us better people.

God’s purpose in everything that happens is to make us more like Jesus Christ. Jesus was the totally obedient one. Although He was a Son, He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

We also learn through what we suffer. We learn from God’s Word and life’s experiences. Because of our sinful nature, we tend to fight God at every point, but this only makes the process longer and more painful. Learn to surrender quickly, and save yourself a lot of agony. I’ve learned that God gets His way in the end, so why prolong the process?

Where the mind goes the man follows. Keep your mind going in the right direction, and your life will catch up with it. A person who has their faith firmly planted in God cannot be defeated. The Bible says that Joseph’s brothers hated him, but God was with him. God gave him favor and promoted him, so we see that his faith in God lifted him above his circumstances.

Some terrible things happened to Joseph. His brothers sold him to slave traders and told his father a wild animal had killed him. He was betrayed by those whom he served and tried to help, but God was watching him all the time. God had a good plan for Joseph, and it came to pass. He ultimately said that although the things that happened to him were originally meant for harm, God intended it for good.

This same thing is true for all of us. Satan cannot defeat us if we keep believing that God is working for our good, and that we are being continually transformed into His image.

All wise and loving God, make me more like Jesus. I don’t like to suffer, and I hate to fail, but through Jesus Christ, I ask You to teach me and enable me to understand that, because of You, everything truly works together for my good. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – An Inheritance of Peace

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Joyce meyer

Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.—John 14:27

The word bequeath in this verse is a term used in the execution of wills. In preparation for death, people usually bequeath their possessions, especially those things of value, as a blessing to those they love who are left behind.

Jesus knew He was about to pass from this world and He wanted to leave us something. He could have left any number of good things, like His power and His name, and He did. But He also left us His peace.

You don’t leave junk for people you love—you leave them the best you have. Jesus had a special kind of peace that surpassed anything mankind had ever known. He knew it was one of the most precious things He could give. Ask for and receive your inheritance tonight!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Wait for God’s Justice

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Joyce meyer

Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah). —Colossians 3:24

God has brought a great reward in my life in recompense for the abuse that I suf-fered in my earlier days. Now I have a wonderful life. God blesses me. He does things for me. He opens doors of opportunity for me. He makes me happy. He gives me joy.

When you really trust God, He will bring justice into your life. In Isaiah 61:7 the Lord says, “For your former shame I will give you a double reward” (par¬aphrased). If someone has mistreated you, rejected you, abused you, or abandoned you, hold on to that promise. You have many blessings ahead of you. Trust God with your future, and enjoy your day as you wait for God’s justice.