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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Set Priorities

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Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. —Psalm 139:16

Be determined to enjoy the abundant life that Jesus Christ desires for you to have. The devil will always try to set you up to get upset. The busy activities of today’s society can make life seem like a blur. Most people have a lot of stress, continuous pressure, and really too much to do.

Set priorities. Start your day with God. Be determined to follow His lead all day, and you will enjoy every day of your life—not just on weekends, vacations, or sunny days when the weather’s perfect. Walking with God will give you pleasure and relaxation even when things aren’t going your way.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Confrontation Can Be Loving

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If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. —Matthew 18:15 (AMP)

When Dave and I got married, I was a nightmare to get along with. I just wanted to stay in control because I thought that was the only way I could keep from being hurt. Plus I have a pretty aggressive personality to begin with, so that combined with a lot of dysfunction in my background did not make me a very nice woman.

Dave, on the other hand, is a real peace-lover and very easy to get along with. For a lot of years, he went about being happy and didn’t really say too much to me while I acted badly. I believe God gave him extra patience with me because He knew the hurt I had in my life. Sometimes God calls us to put up with some things for a while, while we are praying and waiting on Him. To be honest, if Dave had confronted me in the first month we were married I would have just left him because I didn’t know any better. So there was a purpose in God not asking him to confront me right away. But you need to confront when God tells you to.

After a few years, God showed Dave it was time to confront me. Dave explained to me, “God has dealt with me that I can no longer let you get by with talking to me the way you do and acting the way you do. You’re not going to get everything your way, and things must change.” And they did. It took time, but little by little, I changed.

I was very angry when Dave confronted me. But by then I was loved by Jesus enough and I knew enough of His Word to know that Dave was right—I knew that my behavior was wrong—but if he would have never confronted me, even though I knew that it was wrong, I don’t know if I would have ever changed. So sometimes you are not doing somebody else a favor by not confronting them. It was the right thing for Dave to do for me. And even though I didn’t like it and I got mad, Dave was right to listen to God. And we are doing the work we do today because of it.

Trust in Him: Confrontation is usually not easy for the one doing the confronting, or the one being confronted, but it is an important part of spiritual growth. Follow God’s lead and confront when He shows you it is time, and do it in love!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Things Unseen

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Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting. —2 Corinthians 4:18

As believers, we know the spiritual realm exists and that what happens there affects what happens on earth. We know that there is more to life than meets the eye, and as we grow spiritually, we come to value the things that are invisible more than the things we can see. When we understand that there are invisible, everlasting spiritual realities that affect our earthly lives, we begin to perceive that God is inviting us to interact with Him, to perceive things spiritually, and to partner with Him to accomplish them on earth—and that only happens through prayer.

As we partner with God through prayer, we bring things out of the spiritual realm into our lives. These gifts of God that come from heaven are already stored up for us, but we will never have them unless we pray and ask God for them. He is doing such wonderful things for us, and we receive and enjoy those things through the power and the privilege of prayer.

The Lord’s Prayer says, “Your will be done on earth even as it is in heaven.” When we pray that way we are partnering with God through prayer so that the purposes and plans He has in the spiritual realm will come to pass on earth—in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  Through prayer we have the privilege of bringing heaven to earth!

Loving God Today: Remember that the spiritual realm is real and that what happens there affects your life on earth.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Yes, Lord

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For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. —Hebrews 12:6

As we change and grow in God, we won’t always do everything perfectly. As a result, we need to know how to receive God’s loving correction. God corrects us and disciplines us because He loves us. In Revelation 3:19, Jesus speaks this same truth when He says: “Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults . . . . So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].”

As I’ve dealt with my children and with hundreds of employees over the years, I’ve discovered that in order for my correction to be effective, it’s essential that the people I correct know that I love and care about them.

The people who struggle most to receive correction are those who do not know they are loved. Instead of feeling corrected for their own good, they feel punished.

No one can receive God’s correction properly without a revelation of His great love. We may hear the correction and even agree with it, but it will only make us feel condemned or angry unless we know it comes from God’s heart of love and will ultimately bring about the changes needed in our lives.

Next time God corrects you, remember that He “dearly and tenderly” loves you and that He accepts you, cherishes you and welcomes you to His heart. Receive His correction as an act of love and respond by saying, “Yes, Lord.”

Love God Today: When You correct me, Lord, I will welcome it, receive it as an expression of Your love for me and say yes to You.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Like a Child

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And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].—Matthew 18:2–3

When Jesus said we should become like little children, I believe that one of the things He was telling us is to study the freedom that children enjoy. They are unpretentious and straightforward; they laugh a lot, and they’re forgiving and trusting. Children are definitely confident, at least until the world teaches them to be insecure and fearful.

I remember letting our five-year-old grandson Austin come on the platform at a partners conference once and sing a song he’d learned. The next day I was going to sign books and have pictures made with some of the partners. A large crowd was lining up, and his mother, our daughter Laura, found Austin hiding behind a curtain. When she asked him what he was doing, he said, “I am trying to get some rest from all these people.” She said, “Austin, why do you think these people are here?” He said, “Well, to take my picture of course!”

Because of his simple, childlike confidence, Austin automatically assumed all the people were there to see him.

Lord, I ask You to restore the wonderful qualities of a child to my life. Give me the freedom and confidence that comes from simply trusting You to be my Father. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God’s Righteous Friend

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For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]. —2 Corinthians 5:21

I cannot think of anything more awesome than being a friend of God. There is nothing I would rather hear God say than, “Joyce Meyer is My friend.” I do not want Him to say, “Joyce Meyer—knows all the prayer principles; she can quote dozens of Bible verses; she sounds very eloquent when she prays; but she really doesn’t know Me at all and we are not really friends.”

I want to know that God thinks of me as His friend, and I believe you long for Him to think of you that way, too. Through Jesus Christ, we have a right to be comfortable with God, to hear His voice, and to go boldly to the throne of grace to get the help we need in plenty of time to meet our needs and the needs of others (see Hebrews 4:16).

One of the best things you can ever do is to develop your friendship with God. Jesus has made you righteous through the blood He shed at the cross, so there is no reason you cannot approach God as boldly and as naturally as you would your best friend on Earth.

Remember, friendship with God takes an investment of time and energy to develop. But also remember that as your friendship deepens, your ability to hear God’s voice increases. A growing, vibrant, increasingly intimate friendship with God will naturally lead to increasingly effective communication with Him.

God’s word for you today: Make an effort to develop an increasingly intimate friendship with God today.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – God’s Perfect Timing

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But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. —James 1:4

“Due season” is God’s season, not ours. We are in a hurry, God isn’t. He takes time to do things right—He lays a solid foundation before He attempts to build a building. We are God’s building under construction. He is the Master Builder, and He knows what He is doing. We may not know what He is doing, but He does, and that will have to be good enough. We may not always know, but we can be satisfied to know the One Who knows.

God’s timing seems to be His own little secret. The Bible promises us that He will never be late, but I have also discovered that He is usually not early. It seems that He takes every available opportunity to develop the fruit of patience in us.

Vine’s dictionary of Greek words begins the definition of patience (in James 1:3), as “Patience, which grows only in trial.” Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that grows under trial. My own particular natural temperament is filled with impatience. I have become much more patient over the years, but all the waiting required to teach me patience was hard on me. I wanted everything now!

Patience is vital to the development of our full potential. Actually, our potential is only developed as our patience is developed. It is God’s way—there is no other, so why not settle down and enjoy the journey?

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Guarding Our Hearts

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Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. —Proverbs 4:23

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. And God’s peace . . .which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:6–7

I like to connect the verse from Proverbs with Paul’s words to the Philippians. We read that God tells us to guard our hearts—to watch over them carefully. But what does that really mean? It means to be alert or watchful about the ways of the enemy. It’s easy to become careless about guarding our hearts and being alert to Satan’s subtle tactics when things are going our way and God is pouring out His blessings on our lives.

All of us face struggles from time to time, but when we diligently stand guard over our hearts, we become more aware that God’s plan is for us to overcome.

Instead of using the word guard, I like to think of it this way: We need to post a sentinel around our hearts or, as it says above, “garrison and mount guard.” Think of what a guard or sentinel does—he’s on duty. He watches for the enemy to attack. He’s not just ready; he’s actively watchful and prepared to resist all attacks from the enemy.

That’s how we need to live—with a trustworthy sentinel. It doesn’t mean we live in fear or constantly have to check to see if the devil is sneaking around. Think of it more as posting a sentinel to do that for us.

What kind of sentinel do we need? I think of the two most obvious ones: prayer and the Word of God. If we pray for God’s Holy Spirit to guard our hearts, He will honor that request. When the enemy creeps up, the sentinel calls out, “Thus saith the Lord,” and the enemy flees. (The devil really is a coward and won’t openly fight us.)

Read Paul’s words again. If we push away our anxieties (which we do by prayer and supplication) and fill our heart with thanksgiving, God’s peace stands guard over us. God helps us resist any charge of the enemy.

We also must not minimize thanksgiving. That’s such a simple way to keep ourselves alert to Satan’s devices. As we give thanks to God through our words and our songs, we are guarding our hearts. As the old hymn says: “Count your blessings—­name them one by one; count your many blessings—see what God has done.”

It’s more than just singing a few words, however—it is actually pausing on purpose to remember all the good things that God has done in our lives. As we rejoice over past blessings, we open ourselves to more blessings in the future.

Another ally we sometimes overlook is other believers. When we’re aware of our weaknesses, we can agree in prayer with other believers. We can ask them to pray specifically that we won’t be misled or attacked by the enemy when we’re not as alert as we should be. Other believers can intercede for us—just as we can for them. What better guards can we post than those who cry out to God on behalf of others? The devil doesn’t like hearing such prayers.

Holy Spirit, I ask You to help me be alert against any attack of the enemy by posting the sentinels of prayer and Your Word at the door of my heart. I praise You for showing me how to guard my heart, and pray that I will have a continuously thankful heart. Amen.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Enjoy the Journey

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Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing! —Psalm 100:1-2

So many Christians are headed somewhere, but not many of us are enjoying the trip. It would be such a tragedy to arrive at the end of your journey only to realize you had not enjoyed life to its fullest. Often, you think you must do something great, and you forget the simple things that bless the Lord. Serving the Lord with gladness is a worthy goal. He rejoices when your heart is filled with joy and your mouth is filled with praise.

You should be determined to finish your course. But like Paul, you should strive to run the race with joy. Whatever your present station in life, whatever you are called to do, wherever you are called to go, enjoy the journey. Don’t waste one day of the precious life God has given you. Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice!

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Waiting on His Goodness

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I will make all My goodness pass before you. . . . Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand upon the rock, and while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen. —Exodus 33:19,21-23

In times of trouble God hides you in Christ. Safe in the cleft of the Rock, there is provision for your needs. It may not be everything you want, but He gives you what you need to get through the situation.

Perhaps you are facing difficulty and have been waiting and waiting to see God’s glory. God desires to pour out His goodness upon you. He has covered you with His hand and is continually moving toward you with the answer. You may not see Him coming, but you will certainly know when He has been there!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Waiting on His Goodness

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The wicked flee when no man pursues them, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous are bold as a lion.

– Proverbs 28:1

One of the main reasons people do not pray and that they are reluctant to ask God for what they need and want is that they do not feel worthy. They do not feel good about themselves; they do not feel that they are spiritual enough, so they don’t believe God would listen to them anyway. We all make mistakes and when we do we should receive God’s forgiveness and mercy, which allows His blessings to flow even when we have made mistakes.

When we talk to God and make requests of Him, we must understand our position as sons and daughters of God who are made righteous through the blood of Jesus. Otherwise, we may not hear His voice clearly or perceive His answers accurately. You see, we so often think our righteousness is based on doing things “right”—saying the “right” words, behaving the “right” ways, or having the “right” attitude. The truth is that we cannot make ourselves righteous. We can make ourselves religious, but we cannot make ourselves righteous. True biblical righteousness is not based on what we do right, but it is based on what Jesus did for us. His righteousness becomes ours by faith, and once we believe that, then we progressively display more and more right behavior. But, we must always remember that God answers our prayers because He is good, not because we are. We can approach Him boldly in prayer and expect to hear from Him daily.

God’s word for you today: God will turn your mistakes into miracles if you trust Him and pray boldly.

 

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Waiting on His Goodness

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I will make all My goodness pass before you. . . . Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand upon the rock, and while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away My hand and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.  —Exodus 33:19,21-23

In times of trouble God hides you in Christ. Safe in the cleft of the Rock, there is provision for your needs. It may not be everything you want, but He gives you what you need to get through the situation.

Perhaps you are facing difficulty and have been waiting and waiting to see God’s glory. God desires to pour out His goodness upon you. He has covered you with His hand and is continually moving toward you with the answer. You may not see Him coming, but you will certainly know when He has been there!

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Don’t Be Afraid to Stop

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The thoughts and purposes of the [consistently] righteous are honest and reliable, but the counsels and designs of the wicked are treacherous. —Proverbs 12:5

Don’t be ashamed to back off if you get out in the middle of something and find that God is not in it. Just be secure enough to simply say, “I thought this was God, but it’s not, so I am not going to do it anymore.”

You can apologize to others if you caused them any trouble or confusion. But there is no shame in quickly admitting that you were wrong. It is more important not to perpetuate a mistake than it is to keep people from thinking you were wrong. Don’t be afraid to say, “I didn’t hear from God.” Honesty will keep your day going right, all day long.

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – The Gift of God’s Favor

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And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy and loving kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.

And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it. The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph’s] charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper. —Genesis 39:20-23

Although Joseph was being punished unfairly because he was jailed for something he didn’t do, the Lord was still with him and took care of him. A person is really not in too bad of shape, even if he ends up in prison, if God gives him favor and places him in charge of everything that goes on there.

God wants to give you favor, just as He gave favor to Joseph, but in order to receive that favor, you must do what Joseph did and believe for it. Joseph maintained a good attitude in a bad situation. He had a “faith attitude,” and God gave him favor. When God’s favor is upon you, people like you for no particular reason, and they want to bless you.

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Joyce Meyer – Follow the Law of Love

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You, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another. —Galatians 5:13

Sometimes as we go through life, we hurt people without even knowing we are doing it. I am a very straightforward individual and that is a good quality, but I have also had to learn to be sensitive to what others are going through as I approach them in conversation. What we say at one time may be totally inappropriate at another time. We are indeed set free by Christ and have the right to be ourselves, but the law of love demands that our freedoms not be used as an excuse to be selfish.

Just because we feel like saying or doing a thing does not mean it is the best thing for the situation we are in. If you were talking to a person who had been sick for quite a long time, that would not be the best time to tell them how good you always feel. Or, if you were talking to a person who just lost their job, that would not be the best time to tell them about the pay raise and promotion you just received. Jesus died so we might enjoy freedom, yet He also makes it clear in His Word that we should serve one another through love.

God’s word for you today: If you make others happy, you will be happier yourself.

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Joyce Meyer – What’s the Rush

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To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven. —Ecclesiastes 3:1

Much of the world is in a hurry, always rushing, yet very few people even know where they are going in life. If we want to be at peace with ourselves and enjoy life, we must stop rushing all the time. People rush to get to yet another event that has no real meaning for them or that they really don’t even want to attend. Hurry is the pace of the twenty-first century. Rushing has become a disease of epidemic proportions.We hurry so much, we finally come to the place where we cannot slow down.

I can remember the days when I worked so hard and hurried so much that even if I took a vacation, it was almost over by the time I geared down enough to rest. Hurry was definitely one of the “peace stealers” in my life and still can be, if I do not stay alert to its pressure. Life is too precious to rush through it. I find at times that a day has gone by in a blur. At the conclusion of it, I know I was very busy all day, yet I cannot really remem¬ber enjoying much, if any, of it. I have committed to learn to do things in God’s rhythm, not the world’s pace.

Jesus was never in a hurry when He was here on earth, and God is absolutely not in a hurry now. Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven.” We should let each thing in our lives have its season and realize we can enjoy that season without rushing into the next one.

 

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Joyce Meyer – Quality Is Better Than Quantity

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I call to remembrance my song in the night; with my heart I meditate and my spirit searches diligently. —Psalm 77:6

God cares more about the quality of what you learn than the quantity of teaching to which you are exposed. He would rather you read one scripture verse and get revelation out of it than to read two whole books in the Bible and not have a clue about what you read.

Listen for key messages that the Lord is specifically speaking to you when you hear good teaching through television, radio, sermon tapes, a church service, or weekly Bible study. Ask God to show you how to apply what you hear to your own life. Meditate on His Word each day and look for ways to use what you have learned. Then you will know that you are engaging in and enjoying true quality time with Him.

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Joyce Meyer – Our Greatest Privilege

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Prayer is so simple that even the feeblest child can pray, yet it is at the same time the highest and holiest work to which man can rise. It is fellowship with the Unseen and Most Holy One. —Andrew Murray

I believe prayer is the greatest privilege of our lives. It’s not something we have to do; it’s something we get to do. It’s an important and intimate aspect of our love relationship with God because it’s the way we communicate with Him.

Prayer is also the way we partner with God to see His plans and purposes come to pass in our lives and in the lives of those we love. It’s the means by which we human beings on earth can actually enter into God’s awesome presence. It allows us to share our hearts with Him, listen for His voice, and know how to discover and enjoy all the great things He has for us.

Communicating with God is indeed the greatest privilege I can imagine, but this high and holy work is also the simplest privilege I know.

I do not think prayer was ever meant to be complicated and that, from the very beginning, God intended it to be an easy, natural way of life by which we stay connected with Him all day, every day.

Madame Jeanne Guyon wrote in Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ that “…God demands nothing extraordinary. On the contrary, He is very pleased by a simple childlike conduct. I would even put it this way: The highest spiritual attainments are really the ones that are the most easily reached. The things that are most important are the things that are the least difficult!”

When you pray today, realize what a privilege it is and use the opportunity to tell God how much you love Him.

Love God Today: Make a priority of exercising the greatest privilege of your life: prayer.

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Joyce Meyer – The Source of Your Strength

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The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. —Exodus 15:2

We need to be like Moses and the Israelites, whom we read about in the verse for today. I want to point out that God not only gave them strength (we see that throughout the Old Testament), but He Himself was their Strength. First Samuel 15:29 refers to God as “the Strength of Israel.” You see, there was a time when Israel knew God was their Strength, but then they forgot. When they forgot this vitally important truth, they always began to falter and fail as a nation, and their lives began to be destroyed. When they turned back to God as their Strength, things turned around for them.

Even if you know that God is your Strength, you still must receive it by faith. I begin every day by telling God that I cannot do anything apart from Him and that I lean entirely on Him to enable and strengthen me. He will strengthen us by speaking a word that encourages us or gives us direction when we need it. He will strengthen us by speaking words of wisdom and insight. He also strengthens us physically by giving us supernatural energy when we are tired or weary, and He gives us strength to endure difficult people and situations.

Trust God to be your Strength rather than trying to do things yourself. You may have a lot of people leaning on you and you can only help them as you lean and rely on God. Receive Him today by faith as the Strength of your life and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish with ease.

God’s word for you today: Let God be your Strength.

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Joyce Meyer – Taking Responsibility for Yourself

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But they will have to give an account to Him Who is ready to judge and pass sentence on the living and the dead. —1 Peter 4:5

I once had an employer who took advantage of me. He required me to work so many hours that it kept me from spending proper time with my family. I was worn out and never had time for myself. He never showed appreciation and no matter what I did he always expected something more. If I even mildly indicated that I might not be able to comply with one of his requests, his anger would start to surface, and I would cave in and agree to do what he had asked of me.

As I was praying about the situation one day and moaning to God about how unfair it was, He said, “What your boss is doing is wrong, but you not confronting him is just as wrong.” This was hard for me to hear. Like most people I wanted to blame someone else for my lack of courage. Had I not been a people-pleaser and had I not been afraid, I would have saved myself about five years of being so stressed that it eventually made me very sick. My boss wasn’t my problem; I was my problem.

It is important to realize that God has given you authority first and foremost over your own life. If you don’t accept and exercise that authority, you may spend your life blaming others for things you should be doing something about. You should make your own decisions according to what you believe God’s will is for you.

On Judgment Day God will not ask anyone else to give an account of your life; He will ask only you (See Matthew 12:36 and 1 Peter 4:5)! What if Jesus asks you on Judgment Day why you never got around to fulfilling His call on your life? Are you going to tell Him people took advantage of you and you just couldn’t do anything about it? Are you going to tell Him you were so busy pleasing people you just never got around to pleasing Him? If you do offer those types of excuses, do you really believe they will be acceptable?