Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: joyce meyer ministries
Joyce Meyer - Sermon: Keeping God First. Do you aim to put God first in your life, but find it hard to keep Him first? Learn how to break free of distractions that get between you and God.
Joyce Meyer (February-05-2024) Daily Devotional: Intimacy with God.
Having a close, personal, intimate relationship with God is wonderful. It is obvious from the Psalms that David had this kind of relationship with the Lord, and we can have it too. David wrote that even during the night God spoke to and counseled him. Most of us wake up at some time during the night, and even then, God is with us, watching us, and He may well speak to us if we are listening.
David said his eyes were always on the Lord (Psalm 16:8 NIV), and we can form the habit of always having one ear turned toward the Lord no matter what we are doing. We can always be watching and waiting for God to speak to us. This kind of intimate relationship with God gives us great confidence that no matter what happens, we will stand firm and not be upset or disturbed.
Even in difficult times our hearts can rejoice and be glad, and we can rest secure in God’s love for us. You can be assured that God will not abandon you. He shows us the path of life, and in His presence, we are filled with joy (see Psalm 16:9–11). Always keep God first in your life, and He will take care of everything else you need.
Prayer of the Day: Father, I am grateful that I can have an intimate relationship with You. Draw me to You and help me always keep You in my mind and heart. You are more important to me than anything else.
The sermon "Victims of Suicide" by Joyce Meyer. Suicidal thoughts...Learn where they come from, and how victims and their families can experience healing through Jesus Christ.
In Sermon Victims of Suicide Joyce Meyer say: I want to talk specifically about depression because that's a deeper issue than just being a little bit sad, or having a bad day, or an unhappy day. And let me just start off by saying that there's a lot of different reasons for depression. And if you have trouble with depression, I know that sometimes it's not as simple as just, well, put a smile on your face, and forget your problems, and go on about your business. But I do believe that no matter what we're dealing with, even if doctors can't fix it, Jesus can. Jesus can, amen? I said Jesus can. Actually, Jesus can heal you anywhere you hurt. Healing is not just for the physical body, but it's for emotions, it's for finances, for our social life, for our mind. Every area of our being, Jesus wants to heal us, and he is our healer. I believe that all healing comes from God.
Full Sermon
Even if it comes through some kind of medical help, it still came from God because only he can give people the technology that we have available today to help us in some of these areas. Now, there are a lot of medical reasons why people can be depressed. Jesus can heal those. I believe that this weekend that people are going to have breakthroughs. And I don't want you just to get your little breakthrough, and go home and enjoy your breakthrough. I want you to let us know that God touched you because it's important for our faith to grow in these areas, and also important for you to share your testimony. People can be depressed because they eat too much sugar, and it's not agreeing with them. People can be depressed because they don't get enough sleep. People can be depressed because they get too much sleep. Do you know that laziness will depress you? If you just sit around and do nothing, the more you do nothing, the more you don't want to do anything, so nothing turns into more nothing. And the more active you are, the more active you can be.
The more inactive you are, the more inactive that you want to be. God didn't create us to sit around and do nothing. He wants us to bear fruit. And so, sometimes just boredom can depress you. There's a lot of different reasons. Problems, if we meditate on our problems too much, and we think about our problems, and we talk about our problems, if you look around at your problems all the time, you know, there's a danger in just staring at your problems, and talking about your problems, and talking about your problems, and talking about your problems, and talking about your problems. And God wants to help us in greater ways than what we can even imagine, but we do need to be willing to give him our problems and our situations.
So, if a person is making you sad, don't let somebody else who doesn't want to be happy steal your joy. And I think maybe I'm going to say that again. I said if another person is making you unhappy, don't let somebody who doesn't want to be happy steal your joy, amen? And to be honest, if they enemy is using them to make other people unhappy, the more unhappy you are, the more you feed their problem. I had a lot of discouragement, and depression, and bad moods in the early years of mine and david's marriage. I had a lot of problems. I'd been abused, and I had not learned how to think right yet. And my husband loved me, and he tried to help me, but I really wasn't at a point yet where I was ready to receive help. And I was unhappy a lot, but dave stayed happy, and his joy made me mad. Well, it's the truth. You know, when you're unhappy, somebody that's happy annoys the living daylights out of you. You don't it's like it's just like, "well, what are you so happy about?" And so and it was just it would almost aggravate me that he didn't seem to have any problems.
Well, it must be nice that life was so great for you, but you know, you didn't go through what I went through. And, but I can also tell you that in the long run, dave's joy was the salt that God used to make me thirsty to have what he had. So, you're not helping the person you're in a relationship with if you let them make you unhappy all the time. You're actually only feeding their problems. So, if you want to help them are you ready for this? If you want to help them, stay happy. I said if you want to help them, stay happy. And I'm not talking about being ridiculous, and going around and giggling all the time, and not but I'm just you know, joy is anything from extreme hilarity to a calm delight. And I think that we have those moments of extreme hilarity, but basically we live in a calm delight. It's God's desire that we just live in this calm delight, and that we can enjoy wherever we're at, whatever's going on. Not that we like everything that's going on, we don't. And one thing's for sure, now listen to what I'm going to say, you'll never be consistently happy if you don't make a decision that you're going to be. Okay, so about % of the crowd got that, so we're going to try again. I want you to you know, it's not even about the clapping so much as I just want you to get that. You're never going to really be consistently happy if you don't make a decision to be happy.
And I'll tell you something else that I think. I think that joy has to be a priority in our lives. I realized probably , years ago that because the devil stole my childhood, that I never really learned how to be a child. And you know, kids are pretty happy no matter what. You know, they get mad at somebody and be over it in seconds. They you know, you can punish them for something, and they'll find a way to make a game out of that. And it you know, you tell them no and act like it's the end of the world, but a few minutes later, everything is fine. And I never got a chance to be a kid, and so I didn't know how to be one. And I think every healthy adult also needs to have a good healthy child on the inside of them. And maybe some of you that your childhood was stolen. You've always been serious, you've always been sincere, you've always been deep. You know, I used to say, "well, I've just got a deeper personality." Well, I was so deep, I didn't know where I was at half of the time. And so, you know, maybe you're like that. Maybe you've kind of just lost yourself somewhere in your depth, in your deepness, and it's time to just lighten up a little bit and try to enjoy your life. You don't have to figure everything out. You can trust God and let him figure some things out, amen? And the reason why we call our tv program "enjoying everyday life" is because it became a real priority for me because I continually saw in the word of God that one of the reasons why Jesus died for us is so that we might have joy, and that we might enjoy our lives in abundance to the full, until it overflows. Paul said, "rejoice in the lord, and again I say rejoice." And he was in very bad circumstances when he wrote that, it's recorded in philippians.
And so, I started making enjoying my life a priority. And I didn't want to just enjoy parts of it, I wanted to enjoy all of it. Being sad about your problems is not going to make them go away. [audience applauding] Joyce Meyer: "but laughter does good like a medicine," the bible says. And I know, I can almost see it when I look around, I see a certain amount of people, it's like what I'm saying almost minorly aggravates you because it's kind of like, "it's nice for you to say. You just don't have my problems." No, you're right, I don't have your problems, but I've had plenty of my own. And I'm telling you what I've learned over the years. I wasted too much of my life being sad about things that I couldn't do anything about. You know, you can't do anything about your past, but you can do something about your future. Maybe you didn't have a good start, but you can still have a good finish, amen? This is the day the lord has made, and today I will rejoice and be glad. And you might think, "well, I can't help the way I feel." Well, depression does do a lot to your feelings.
And like I said, there's a lot of different reasons for that. I'm not just saying everybody can just, you know, all of a sudden feel better, but you can do something about how you act. And I believe that when we act on the word of God in faith, that our feelings catch up with it. So, for example, you could maybe instead of oh, let's just say if you're already depressed, you know, why do you want to sit around and watch sad movies that make you cry? Went and saw a good movie last week, the worst, craziest, most awful day that you've ever had in your whole life. That was pretty funny too. And dave didn't think it was as funny as I did, but I said, "do you know what? I guess I just needed a laugh." And when I really need a laugh, it don't take much to get me started, and I'm off and rolling. In other words, what am I saying? Laugh on purpose. Don't spend all your time hanging out with people that are in a worse mood than you are. Get around some people that have got a sense of humor. Amen? [audience applauding] Joyce Meyer: we have a couple that travel with us on the road, and he's our staff pastor. You'll meet mike throughout the weekend and his wife penny. And mike is just funny. And I just love to have him around because he's just funny. He just does and says some of the funniest things, and yet he's very deeply spiritual, and can be very serious, and can handle anything that you want him to handle. But we all need to have a sense of humor. And you know what? Some of you, it might just change your life if you would make a decision to take every opportunity that you possibly can to just have a good laugh. And yes, I'm also talking to the people watching at home by tv.
And I want you to cheer up. The two best things you can do is calm down and cheer up. "in the world, you will have tribulation," Jesus said, "but cheer up, i Have overcome the world." Two scriptures. Psalm , verse , "why are you cast down, o my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him, my help and my God." David was having a talk with himself. And you know, sometimes when my mood starts to sink, I have to have a talk with myself. Sometimes, you've got to take yourself somewhere and have a little meeting with yourself, you know what I'm saying? I mean, I actually have to say to myself sometimes, "okay, Joyce Meyer, knock it off." Especially if I'm getting cranky because I didn't get something I wanted, or I'm having a tough day, or you know, somebody aggravated me a little bit. I mean, my goodness, we have got so many blessings in our life. I said we have got so many blessings in our life. You know, if you make enough noise, you can scare off the spirit of depression. And psalm :, I think it's interesting because he said the exact same thing twice in this one chapter. And the whole chapter is only verses. "why are you cast down, o my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him who is the help of my countenance," that's the look on our face. God will help my face. That's exactly what that means. "who is the help of my countenance." Your countenance is the look on your face. That means that God will help us have bright eyes and a smile, amen? Let me tell you, if you smile a lot in your younger years, you won't have as many wrinkles when you get older. Learn to laugh at yourself, don't be so deeply serious. "why so downcast, o my soul? Put your hope in God. Don't moan over me and be disquieted within me. Hope in God and wait expectantly for him, for I shall yet praise him who is the help of my countenance, and he is my God."
So, I'm going to pray for you. Father, I thank you for just reminding us that you want us to be happy. And I know that the anointing destroys the yoke of bondage. And I believe that you've given us a word for this conference in particular that you are going to break depression off of people as they sit in the worship, and as they hear the word. But I pray that every person here will make a decision tonight, a firm decision that they are going to be happy, and they are going to enjoy the life that you've given them, even while they're waiting on the things that they would like to have, that they're going to enjoy where they're at right now. So, in the name of Jesus, through the power of the holy spirit, I take authority over the spirit of depression, sadness, moaning, and groaning, and regret, and dread. And I thank you, lord, that the joy that's in us is greater than any of those things that come against us. And so, I pray that your joy would rise up and fill people, and just press off of us all those other things that try to hold us down. And I thank you, lord, for healing people that have medical depression. Straighten out their hormones, straighten out their chemical imbalances. I thank you, lord, for helping people that have been hurt, and wounded, and abused in their past. I thank you, lord, for pouring in your healing oil into their wounded souls. This is a brand new day, a turnaround evening.
And I thank you, father, that you're going to do what man and even medical science cannot do in Jesus' name, amen, amen. Come on, let's get happy. Joyce Meyer: well, enjoying everyday life is something that Jesus wants us to do. He has called us to live life abundantly. There's a trend today with young people getting caught up in taking their own life, and they see it even as romantic. Chad daniel's with us today to help us understand who the actual victims of suicide are. Well, chad, I'm kind of interested to hear what you have to say too. Suicide is romantic? Chad: yeah, if you look at the whole romeo and juliet, and that's one of the things that people always seem to reference, it's like, "oh, you know, it'll be better when I'm gone. I'll be in my coffin, and they'll think about " you know, everybody remembering all the good things about them. But it's not that. The stark reality is you're gone forever, you can't rewind it, you can't start over again. And it's not as beautiful as everybody would like to think it is in the way hollywood promotes it, it's like, "oh great, you know, you're just going to die." It's not like that. It's a very cold, harsh reality when you begin to even consider taking your life, much less then do the act. And the problem with that is people say, "well, it'll be over." It's not over. When you take your life, we're left. I'm the victim. When my father killed himself, it was me and my two sisters who were left to pick up the pieces.
The victims of suicide are the survivors. And that's where I always talk about the selfish aspect of suicide because people are thinking about, "well, it's just all about me. What about me? I need help." You're right, you need help, but don't just end it, and then throw the problem on the rest of us. Because it doesn't just end with you, we're then left to deal with all of it. It's tough. Joyce Meyer: my brother also committed suicide. I don't know if you remember that. Chad: of course. Joyce Meyer: we tried everything to help him. He had every opportunity that he could possibly have, but he just could never take hold of being responsible for himself. And he just let himself get in a very desperate situation, and finally just gave up. And so, I know what you mean. It's like we're dealing with two issues here today. We want to minister to people who may be thinking about suicide, but we also want to minister to people who have had a loved one that did commit suicide, and now they're trying to deal with that aspect. It says here that every seconds, someone in the world dies by suicide.
And every seconds, someone is left to make sense out of it. Chad: that's about right. Joyce Meyer: and what did you tell me about veterans? Chad: one of the leading articles that I read recently said that over veterans a day take their life, . These are veterans take their lives. The suicide is rampant, but no one talks about it. I know that there's a lot of political things that go on with that, but it's unfortunate because these are people who gave a lot for their country, and they're now at a place, for whatever reason, they feel like they have no hope, and that should not be. Joyce Meyer: well, and to be honest, it's tragic the way that they're not taken care of when they come back. I think we all know chad: there needs to be more done to help our veterans Joyce Meyer: there needs to be more done. And so, even as ministries, you know, we need to step up to the plate, which we're doing as much as we know how to do in several different areas. Chad: as much as we're allowed to do as well. Joyce Meyer: yeah, and so, it really is a serious problem. Now, what about forgiveness?
How does this play into this? Did you need to forgive your father for doing what he did? Chad: yeah, I think I did. In fact, I know I did. In fact, that's one of the main things that come up as I minister to young people around the world concerning suicide is there is usually an issue of forgiveness unforgiveness that is there that they need to forgive. Because that unforgiveness is a root that everything else kind of spreads out from. You know, they're bitter because they won't forgive. They're angry because they won't forgive. It just you have to deal with it. I had to forgive my dad because I felt like he kind of abandoned us, of course. I also had to then, you know, forgive myself realizing that of course we all had mistakes that we should have we should have done things differently.
But I had to allow the forgiveness to not just be a superficial thing, but I had to really let God get it into me, and go in and dig that root of unforgiveness out of me because I realize is that whoever's sin you forgive, you know, you don't want to hold that. I didn't want to hold that in. I've seen it with other friends of mine who've lost family members, they've become so bitter and so angry, at the end, they find themselves considering, "well, maybe I should just kill myself too." I'm like, "wait, wait, wait, it doesn't have to be this way." And unforgiveness releases a lot of the spiritual bondage that goes along with dealing with that whole event. Joyce Meyer: so, it sounds to me like we're talking about the need for forgiveness in three different areas. And so, I want to clarify so people can get ministered to on whatever level they need. Many people who are tempted to commit suicide are having issues with unforgiveness and bitterness. They've got something sick and poisonous stuck on the inside of them. And if they will forgive, then that temptation to want to end their life may well also go with that. You know, who doesn't have unforgiveness when you've been mistreated? But we cannot bring the justice that's needed, only God can. And there's no doubt if you've been mistreated, then you are due something, you're owed something. But instead of getting a chip on your shoulder, "well, the world owes me," let God pay you back. And God will deal with your enemies once you stop trying to do that and forgive them. So, then you have the issue of people who do commit suicide, and the people that are left then needing to forgive them for and a lot of people are angry. It's like, "i can't believe you left me."
Or you know, a wife might say, "i can't believe that you left me," thinking about a husband with all these bills, with all these kids. You know, "you just took the easy way out and you've left me " chad: exactly what they say. Joyce Meyer: with all the problems. And then the people that are left also need to deal with forgiving themselves for maybe feeling that they should have noticed, they should have done something. Chad: the guilt that comes in. Joyce Meyer: the guilt, why weren't you aware? So, talk to us some more about this situation. What are some of the other things that people deal with, and how can we help them today? Chad: well, let's look at a family who has lost. Let's look at some of these parents that we've spoken to who've lost children. It really can disrupt a family.
You can just imagine the strife, the guilt, the anger that goes on in this. And once again, I think it goes back to allowing family members to talk, for there to be some real dialogue, but to also have some support structure with some community, whether it be a church, whether it be a therapist, somebody who can help the family unit, which is now in turmoil, come back to a place where they can restructure and kind of rebuild. The communication thing to me is huge because most of us want to just do the stiff upper lip thing. "well, you know, so and so had his issues." And a lot of times when people do end their lives, they say, "well, there's relief," if there was some real problems in this. But at the end of the day, when the sun goes down, everybody's still sitting there just kind of looking at each other going, "what did we do wrong?" Joyce Meyer: I'm sure it's extremely hard on everybody, but it must be ramped up another level when maybe the person who ended their life seemed quite normal, and when you look back, there were symptoms that you perhaps feel like you should have recognized, or could have recognized, and you just didn't. That's when I would think that the guilt and the shame would just almost overwhelm you. What does a healthy and there is a healthy grieving process because to ignore it is not good. So, in a healthy grieving process, what can people expect to go through?
Chad: they're of course going to go through the guilt, and there's the anger. There's always going to be anger. Joyce Meyer: I think anger's first. Chad: anger always comes first. Then there's the guilt, trying to figure out what did I do, what did I do. Then they begin to process. Let's say there was a note or some other things left. They begin to see there was some revelation that there was some other things going on they weren't aware of. That can compile with more guilt, "i should have confronted my son. I should have been more aggressive. I shouldn't have been afraid." It comes to a place where they ultimately have to accept what's going on, that they're now gone. But that still doesn't solve it. I think there's a much deeper process that goes on to where they have to begin to like with my dad, I can't dwell on that single act alone, and define who my father was by that. I've recently begun to go back, I found a bunch of old pictures and baby pictures and little things, and I was like, "ah, I remember this. This was great, I remember this." And I thought, "you know what?"
I went back and remembered, wait a minute, this wasn't my fault. My dad did love me, and I was rebuilding a foundation to where I could go back, and have some healthy ideas and aspects about that. And as I do that, the healing just it gets better. Joyce Meyer: and of course, one of the greatest things is that with God, you can always see the bad thing work out for good. Chad: always. Joyce Meyer: always. So, whether it's somebody watching today who is tempted to commit suicide, somebody who's had a loved one commit suicide, and you're dealing with the aftermath of all that. I love what you've done. You've taken what happened, and you've actually turned it into a ministry. Now, everybody here may not want to turn it into a full ministry, but what an opportunity to receive healing yourself, and then be available to help other people that are going through similar things. And of course, we've got your website address up, and you're going to get inundated with messages and people reaching out for help. And you have resources available, is that correct? Chad: we do.
Joyce Meyer: that you can help people with. And so, we appreciate you being on the program today. And I'm sure you've just kind of opened up a can of worms. Chad: it's a good can to open. Joyce Meyer: now, we're going to believe that people are going to get a lot of help. I want to tell you, and please believe this, God loves you, and he has a great plan for your life. And whether you've been thinking about suicide, or you're trying to recover from somebody you loved who did commit suicide, God loves you, and he wants to bring healing to your life. And you know, we always offer you the word of God, always, always, always. Because to be honest, that's the only thing I know that can really help you. And when we say, "well, God wants to help you," he works through his word. And so, I've written a book that's actually, it's years old, but it's my number-one book, it's called "battlefield of the mind." And it talks about how you can learn to do your own thinking. You don't have to think just whatever falls in your head. You can learn to do your own thinking. So, you might be thinking about committing suicide, but you don't have to think that way. You can change that thought if you want to. And then also, an emotional healing dvd because many people who want to end their life, they're hurting from something that's happened to them in the past, and they need to be healed. And of course, those of you that have lost a loved one to suicide, you definitely need to receive emotional healing. So, we appreciate you being with us today, and we want to give you the help that you need in this area, as well as many other areas. So, please contact us, or get on chad's website, and let us continue to help you if there's a need in your life in this area. Thank you for joining us today.
Joyce Meyer - Sermon: ThankFul For What. Why am I here? Who am I? What will happen when I die? These questions have intrigued people throughout the ages. And the answers can be discovered by understanding God's plan of salvation.
Joyce Meyer - Sermon: Book of James Bible Study - Part 1 - Enjoying Everyday Life
Study the book of James with Joyce! Learn how to increase your faith and patience, trusting God to guide you and strengthen you.
They have a lot to do with other people. Joyce Meyer: God's word is seed. How many of you've seen that in the Bible that the sower sows the seed? And seed has power to produce after its own kind. If a tomato seed can be planted in the right kind of ground and produce a bunch of tomatoes, then what can the word of God do if it's planted in the right kind of ground, which is our hearts? And what kind of a harvest can you have in your life from spending this time here with us tonight or however many sessions you get to come to? I think that the harvest from what you're spending your time doing right now can be phenomenal, but part of it depends on how you receive it. There's different kinds of ground. And so, I wanna really encourage you to receive the word with meekness.
Joyce Meyer Full textual Bible Study - Book of James - Part 1 - Enjoying Everyday Life
You're gonna see that that's what james said, that the word has the power to save our souls if we receive it with meekness and that means that every single thing you hear, you have the attitude, "man, I need this. I need this." I always tell people, I don't care how many times you've got it underlined in your Bible, until you're doing it on a regular basis, you don't know it. If you're like me, I like to underline, and color code, and star, and checkmark and, you know, sometimes if you're not careful, you can feel real proud of yourself if you open your Bible and you've got a bunch of it underlined. But what we have to look at is, am I doing this? And no matter how many times we hear the same thing over and over, we still need it. So, here's a little bit of historical background on james.
First of all, there are 2 disciples among the 12 named james. This epistle is not written by either one of them, but it was written by james, the brother of Jesus. James occupied a prominent place in the church in jerusalem and is mentioned in the book of acts. The theme of this book in the Bible is how to have a living faith, a faith that actually works and produces good things in our lives and in the lives of other people. It's evidenced by righteous living and Godly behavior.
True faith manifests righteous living and Godly behavior. Let me just throw in here that if everybody who calls themselves a Christian had a living faith and was walking in right behavior and Godly behavior, people would have a totally different attitude worldwide toward Christianity and Christians and they would be flocking into the churches to try to get some of what you have. Joyce Meyer: your position in history right now is so important. I mean, it is very important that you're alive right now and that you get to be part of seeing this generation come to a saving knowledge of Christ but that will not happen if we don't walk the walk and do something other than just go to church on sunday morning and think that because we do that, we've got a ticket into heaven.
Chapter 1 is about a victorious faith. Chapter 2, having our faith manifested. Chapter 3, a faith that controls our behavior. Chapter 4, a faith that causes us to be submissive to the will of God. And chapter 5, a patient and an expectant faith. Although Jesusalthough james was the brother of Jesus, he recognized him as the resurrected lord for he refers to himself as a servant of God and of the lord Jesus Christ. Now, james chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. I'm sure these are like your very favorite scriptures in the Bible. You're already groaning and I haven't even opened it up yet. Joyce Meyer: see, I heard a, "ugh." How many of you already know what james 1, verse 1 says? "be holy joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations." How many of you have made it to that point and you don't need this message tonight? You're Joyce Meyer: you know, it's almost not even hardly fair for God to ask a preacher to preach this message because somebody asked me what I was gonna preach on this weekend?
I said, well, I get the extreme thrill of trying to get people excited about their trials. Joyce Meyer: which is not easy. And the only way that we can actually consider them joyful, and that's about our thinking process, we don't necessarily have to be clapping and cheering about the discomfort we're going through, but if we understand what the Bible says about the value of trialsand this is a message that's under preached. Yes, God wants to bless us and he wants to bless us more than we know how to handle. He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that we cannot contain it. We don't even know how to take it in. But I know from the word of God and from experience that God cannot bless us in the natural beyond where we're at spiritually.
I wanna say it again. You're not gonna give your baby that's 3 years old the keys to the car. Amen? And you don't because you love him. And every one of us should stop praying for God to give us all the stuff that we think we have to have to make us happy and we should pray a new prayer and this is the prayer that we should pray. I pray this on a regular basis. I invite you to join me. "god, please don't give me anything that I can't handle and still keep you first in my life." Joyce Meyer: amen? And something we don't hear enough of in prayer anymore I don't think is, "your will be done. Your will be done." We've gotten really good about telling God everything that we want him to give us, but he says that difficulty, and trials, and tribulations, and things that test our faith, that we should consider them joyful because, not 'cause they feel good right now, but because of what they have the ability to do in us if we won't run away from them. And, you know, there are some things you can't get away from, but there are a lot of things that you can get away from. Amen?
I had a job in ministrywell, I'll start somewhere else. I was in a church at one point and they really didn't want me teaching home Bible study. They were a little bit controlling and manipulative. And so, I wasn't really being treated all that great. And man, my first impulse is I'm out of here. Who needs this? I'm out of here. And I really felt that God told me that I needed to stay. Well, it was uncomfortable to stay. Every week when I went in the church, it was uncomfortable to stay. There was all these home Bibles studies that different people had and ours at one point was listed, then all of a sudden, ours came off the list. And things like that can hurt you, you know? When you don't get picked, when you're rejected, things like that can hurt you.
And, but God really dealt with me that I couldn't leave there with an attitude in my heart because, you see, if you leave someplace with a bad attitude, you're gonna enter the next place you go with that same bad attitude. And so, God doesn't want us to go when we wanna go. He wants us to go when he says to go. Joyce Meyer: and then I came to a situation where I was in a church that I'd worked at for 5 years and God was really dealing with me about steppin' out and starting to do what I'm doing now. And I didn't wanna go. And I stayed there for another year, maybe two after God started dealing with me and I'm telling you what, things were just not getting good. And so, you can go when God wants you to stay and you can stay when God wants you to go.
You see, we like to be comfy and I don't want to give up my friends. I was concerned about what people would think, that I was ungrateful, that I was full of myself, thought I was gonna go out and have this big ministry now and blah, blah, blah, blah. But if I wouldn't have listened to God, then we wouldn't be here tonight. And I just wonder how many of you, maybe God has told you to do or not to do somethingwhen I say told you, I mean either through his word, which is a word from God this is the main way that God is gonna speak to us and deal with us. And anything else that you think you hear better line up with that or you're in trouble. So, we need to get about the business of spiritual maturity. And listen, I don't like it any better than you do.
I had a situation happen a few days ago. I told you I got angry and I had a trial that was not of my making. I was having a great day and somebody else did something that then caused me to not have a great day. How many of you love it when you're going around doing good, and you're just clicking along with Jesus, and everything's great, and you're enjoying your day and now somebody else does something? Joyce Meyer: well, to be honest, probably 70%, 80% of our problems are people problems for a lot of different reasons. That doesn't always mean it's all them, you know? So, we better say that just to get it out there. But in this particular situation, then it took my time. I had to deal with something I didn't wanna deal with. Then I had to, you know, do some other stuff. And so, I'm getting ready to preach this message on being joyful about these things, and so I just thought, "okay God, just now tell me how this is gonna be good for me? I want ya to tell me how this is gonna be good for me? And what am I gonna learn out of this? How is this gonna help me?"
And actually God put something interesting on my heart. He said, "this wasn't so much for you as it is for the other person," because the way I dealt with it, I had to bring a correction. And so, if they then received that, that can help them build their character and do more of what they're supposed to do. So, I might as well just tell you this and put it out there so you don't have to find out on your own later, but I'll just tell ya that the more mature you become in Christ, the more he's liable To let you go through a few things that really don't have anything to do with you. They have a lot to do with other people. Joyce Meyer: come on, now. I mean, a very good case in point would be my relationship with dave. I mean, I had serious issues when we got married. And they were all internal so they didn't start comin' out until after the wedding. Joyce Meyer: how many of you feel me on that one? You know, it's like they didn't start comin' out until after the wedding. Everybody's on their good behavior during the courtship. And I didn't even know dave played golf when I married him.
Did not know what a golf ball was because I was the only thing that mattered in hisyou know, his life during those five dates that we had before we got married. Joyce Meyer: but, you know, dave went through a lot those first few years, and if he would have left because he felt like leaving, we wouldn't be here tonight. And so, whatever this means to different people here tonight or those watching by tv, you better think twice before you just think, "well, I'm out of here." Maybe you need to say, "is it your will? What do you want me to do in this situation?" And I don't see nearly as many smiles as I'd like to see. Joyce Meyer: and I know, I know it's all painful. There's nothing that we hurtthat we hate worse than having to go through things. But it's here and we can't ignore it. We have to learn to understand it. He says, "consider it wholly joyful when you're enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort of fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and the proving of your faith bring out endurance, steadfastness, and patience." Now, we'll talk in a few minutes about some other things that they bring out too, but eventuallyeventually we'll get down to that if we let God work with us long enough. You know why? At the moment of your new birth when you receive Christ, the nature of God was planted on the inside of your spirit. Little seeds of everything that God is, his character, all the fruit of the spirit, it's all in you.
Believe it or not, you are patient, but it's just like a little teeny, teeny, tiny seed buried somewhere under all your flesh. And listen to this, patience, the greek dictionary says, is a fruit of the spirit that grows only under trial. And it comes from a root word called h-u-p-o-n-e in the greek and it means to remain under. So, patience has nothing to do with running away from. It has everything to do with being steadfast, being disciplined, being committed, sticking with things, going all the way through with things. And I think we all know that the first thing our flesh wants to do when anything gets hard is quit and run away. Amen? But before we run in the future, we need to say, "god, what do you want me to do in this situation?" Patience is like a muscle. Faith is like a muscle. The less you use it, the more it atrophies and the weaker it gets. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the more you can do. You see, God, not only does he want to do things for us. You know, to be honest, sometimes I just get tired of having to tell people that 500 times to get them to keep listening.
We are just not very good at laying our lives down and saying, "god, what can I do for you? Just for one day, could I forget about myself and say, God, what can I do for you today? You've been so good to me. You don't have to do one more thing for me the rest of my life if you don't want to. How can I serve you? What can I do for you?" Joyce Meyer: but oh, I tell you what, it's very challenging to preach on sacrifice, and suffering, and being somewhere where you don't wanna be, and waiting on things. But you know what? When we let God work with us in our lives and we do go from glory to glory to glory, I tell ya what, you give yourself a few years with the lord of really listening to him and you'll go through some stuff, but you come to a place where the stuff that used to bother you doesn't even phase you anymore. It's likesee, we don't need less problems. We need more strength. We don't need less opposition. We need more character. We need more faith, more spiritual muscle on the inside of us. And we need to be able to say with paul, "i can do all things through Christ who is my strength.
Whether I'm abased or abounding, I can do all things through Christ." Now, I know in saying this, probably some of you, this is the last thing in the world you wanted to hear out of me this weekend, and thankfully, we will get to go on to other things, like your mouth and Joyce Meyer: and other more exciting things as we go on here. But I just think it'sif you can believe when you're going through something and if you can open your mouth and say, "i hate this but I believe it's gonna work out good. God, I'mma tell you right now, this don't feel good, I don't like it, but I trust your word that you will work something good in me as result of this. And so therefore, I'm gonna do it by faith, God, but I'm gonna put a smile on my face and I'm not gonna murmur and I'm not gonna complain. And I am just gonna say now, 'you do what you want to do in my life.'" Joyce Meyer: amen? Now, if you'll go home and start to do these kinds of things, I'm not gonna tell you that boy, are things gonna come up roses in 2 days. They won't. But the day will come when you'll think, "i am so glad that I finally stopped running away from everything that was hard and I've learned how to go through with God and come out victorious on the other side." We all wanna be a conqueror, but we don't want anything to conquer. We wanna be victorious, but we don't want anything to have to have victory over. And we're just so down about going through. "i'm just going through."
Well, the good news is is you're going through, and you've got Jesus with you, and you're gonna come out on the other side. Joyce Meyer: and honey, when you come out on the furnace, you won't even smell like smoke. Who would ever guess by looking at my life now or many of your lives what you went through in the earlier years of your life? Who could possibly imagine some of the things that you've gone through and where you're at now? You came out and you don't even smell like smoke. Joyce Meyer: so, you know, we can think of a woman who's pregnant and we are pregnant, so to speak, with so many good things, so many good things on the inside of us. And a woman who is pregnant, actually while she's in labor, she has pain and joy at the same time. Her joy of bringing a child into the world overcomes the pain because she will actually go do it again. Joyce Meyer: figure that out. And I had three during the time when they knocked you out when you had babies and then I bravely decided to have the last one all natural. Joyce Meyer: and he lacked 1 ounce weighin' 10 pounds. Man.
Matter of fact, women will pray for their labor to start. Joyce Meyer: are any of you praying for your spiritual labor to start? Would anybody just go home and say, "okay God, I am tired of being a namby-bamby baby, whiny, up and down, happy when things go my way, sad when they don't. I'm tired of getting my feelings hurt all the time and being jealous and getting mad all the time. I want you to do something in me, let my labor start." Joyce Meyer: oh, it sounds a lot more exciting here than it will be when you get home by yourself. Joyce Meyer: I mean, I'm just sayin'. I mean, we got the lights, the music. We got the crowd. Whoo! Lord, have mercy. Trials bring out a lot of stuff before they get around to bringin' out the good stuff that's in there. Joyce Meyer: well, I said it today, but it's worth repeating.
Our trials are not necessarily evidence of God's displeasure or anger, but they develop us and they train us to use our faith. So, count it all joy when you encounter various trials. Now, if you missed any part of today's teaching or if this is really interesting to you and you wanna know about the rest of the book of james, today our offer is an entire package about james, a Bible study of james. It's an action plan. This includes personal study guide, the book of james booklet, and four teachings on cd and dvd. You can also download the study guide. Now, this is something that I've been doing, just teaching on different books of the Bible and people have really enjoyed it. I've enjoyed doing it and people have really enjoyed getting this because it's so good to hear other people, but it's really good when you study the Bible for yourself.
This is a way that you can do a group Bible study or even your own study on your own. So, please get these resources, I think they will really help you. Now remember, God has got a good plan for your life. It may be taking longer than you'd like it too. God's not usually in a hurry, but he will show up at just the right time.
Watch Joyce Meyer Sunday Service (November 19 2023) Live Stream
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Joyce Meyer - Learning Bible: Psalm 23, Part 1
We all need guidance and protection in our lives. Jesus refers to Himself as our “Good Shepherd” –the One who nurtures us and shields us from harm. Just like sheep, we require a great deal of care and attention: we are very stubborn, we wander off a lot, we are often timid and fearful, and we are not naturally prone to doing the right thing. But thanks to the Good Shepherd, we don’t have to live that way.
In this four-part series, Joyce reveals insights from Psalm 23:
Why you should let God lead you
How God “shepherds” and protects you from harm
Why the easiest, most tempting choices are not always good for you, and
How to trust God regardless of your circumstances
The safety and care you need to thrive each day is available through your relationship with God. Release yourself from the burden of being in control, and instead, let God be your Shepherd. As you do, you’ll experience His love more than you ever thought possible.
full textual sermon "Psalm 23", Part 1 - Joyce Meyer
Announcer: this program has been made possible by the friends and partners of Joyce Meyer ministries.
Joyce Meyer: if you got problems in your life right now, you feel like you're being attacked, it's for one of two reasons. Either you've opened the door by doing something stupid and you let the enemy in, or you're doing something right, and the enemy's mad about it, and he's trying to come against you to get you to stop it. And you don't need to try to figure out which one it is, you just pray and ask God to show you if you're wrong, keep showing you if you're right, and either way I'm going to keep on keeping on, and I'm going to come out with the victory on the other side.
Joyce Meyer: as I've been saying, this is probably like the go-to psalm in the bible. When people are hurting, they go to psalm 23. "the Lord is my shepherd." Made a point last night that he's my shepherd. When you look at it, you need to think, "he is my shepherd," not just a shepherd, but the Lord is your shepherd. He wants a personal, intimate relationship with you. "I shall not lack." That doesn't mean that you're going to have everything you want the moment that you want it all the time, but it means that even while you're waiting for the things you want God to do, you can be content. Contentment is great. "he makes me lie down in fresh, tender, green pastures." If you won't do it on your own, he'll be happy to make you. "he leads me beside the still and the restful waters." That's talking about entering the rest of God, it's just absolutely the most wonderful place to be in. "he refreshes and restores my life, myself, or my soul." And we talked about the soul being our mind, our will, and our emotions, and how God has to work in those areas, and how he changes us and loves us into wholeness, but how that also requires us receiving correction from God, and how we respond to that correction a lot of times in not such a great way. Now, I'm making a lot of analogies about sheep, Jesus being the shepherd and us being the sheep. And there are some sheep facts that are kind of interesting. Number one, they don't instinctively take care of themselves like many other animals do, so they constantly need a caretaker. They're wanderers, they wander out of the place where they're going to be the safest if they don't have a good shepherd to keep bringing them back. They're actually not very intelligent. They're considered to be kind of dumb and they sometimes get-- they get cast down, and we see that word in the psalms. David said, "why so cast down, o my soul?" And when a sheep is cast down, it has gotten rolled over on its back and can't get up without some help. And then sometimes, they get too much wool and they have to be sheared. And so, that's kind of where we're at when we stopped this morning. Now tonight, I have one thing that I want to get across to you. And if it takes me the whole hour that I'll teach to do that, so be it, but I want you to leave here with one thing tonight. I was going to go in some other areas, but I'm saving all the rest of it for tomorrow. "he leads me in the paths of righteousness (uprightness and right standing with him, not because I've earned it but) for his namesake." Now, let me just say a word about righteousness and right standing with God. Most of us spend most of our life feeling bad about ourselves, feeling guilty and condemned, ashamed, and like there's something wrong with us. You ever have that record playing in your head, "what's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?" What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?" Anybody ever hear that? "what's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?" And the devil wants to give us wrongness, he wants us to feel that we're wrong, that everything we do is wrong, that we're just not what we should be. And Jesus wants to give us righteousness or rightness, and you can't produce something that you don't have in you. An apple tree can only make apples because God has made it an apple tree. And so, it's foolish to teach people to behave right if they've not first received the righteousness of God through Christ. That's why just what I refer to as religion, and I don't mean to be rude by that, but when I talk about religion, I'm talking about just following rules and regulations, and going through formulas that really have no life and no power in them. Just keeping laws that you think are going to please God, when really Jesus didn't die so we could all have our own little brand of religion, he died so we could have an intimate, personal relationship with God through him. When Jesus died on the cross, the thick--3 feet thick curtain that separated-- that was in the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place was ripped from the top to the bottom at the moment that Jesus died. Why not from the bottom up? There was a point being made, it was too tall for man to reach it. It being ripped from the top to the bottom was clear indication that God was opening up the way now for the common, ordinary, everyday person to enter into the holy presence of God and have fellowship with him. So, you've been invited into intimacy with God. That's what it means to be born again. If you've never received Christ as your savior, at the close of this message tonight, we're going to give you an opportunity to do that. He's--we're not inviting you to be part of a certain religion, we would advise that you get involved in a good local home church for accountability, for teaching, for fellowship, for worship, lots of-- the local church is great, but we don't just need religion. And so, religion sometimes just gives you a bunch of things to do, but never teaches you who you are in Christ.
Now, I went to a church for many, many, many years, and although I learned some very good things, they had a good message about grace and I learned about being saved through grace, and I learned a lot about doctrinal things, the virgin birth, and lots of really, really, really good things, but nobody ever taught me who I was in Christ. I never felt any better about myself at all because I had a relationship with God, I still just thought that I was this terrible mess that just could never do anything other than just mess up every single day of my life. And so, in 2 corinthians 5:21, one of my favorite scriptures, it says that, "he that knew no sin became sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ." Now, it's just important for me to take a minute and let you know that if you're a born again Christian, then God views you as being in right standing with him irregardless of what you do. And I know that's really hard for us to wrap our heads around. You think, "well, won't that just give people a license to sin?" No, because here's the thing. Once you know really who you are in Christ and the beauty of what he's done for you, sin is the last thing that you're going to want to do. You're going to do everything that you can to please God not to be right with him, but because you've been made right with him. Amen?
So, no condemnation to those that are in Christ. So, it's important to me to let you know that you have a right standing with God, and you're in the process now of walking that out in your life. There's several ways I can say it, but I can say we're always in the process of becoming what we already are. So, we're spirit, so spiritually we've been made right with God. But now in our experience, we're learning how to walk that out with God. I'm made the righteousness of God when I am born again, but then I get on the path of righteousness, and the bible says that he makes our path brighter and brighter every day. Let's look at proverbs 4:18. That's why serving God is just so much fun. Proverbs 4:18, we're going to go back to psalm 23. I just realized I didn't finish it, I want to do that. "but the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more, brighter and brighter until it reaches its full strength in the perfect day." And so, here's the thing. We're always going to be growing spiritually. As long as we're here on this earth, we're going to be growing. We're going toward a point of perfection, but we will not finally be perfected in our experience until Jesus shows up and he finishes whatever's lacking in us. And God is not mad at anybody if they haven't arrived, but he is disappointed for our sakes if we don't keep pressing on. And so, therefore, I am very proud of you and want to complement you that you took a friday night out of your life, and you have traveled, and many of you paid for hotel bills, it's cost you something to come here just to worship God and to hear his word. And that means that you are a serious believer. [audience applauding]
Joyce Meyer: and I want to tell you something, God is proud of you that you care enough about him to do what you need to do to grow spiritually. Anybody who watches me for very long, you know that I don't serve up much dessert. Most of what I put out is meat, and vegetables, and spinach, and stuff you could do without, but boy, if you stick with it, it'll sure help you grow. I mean, the devil's alive and well on planet earth, and things are pretty tough out there, and we need to be pretty determined that we're going to stick with God and be all that God wants us to be if we're going to do that. So, we're in a process of change, we're in a process of growth. I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm okay and I'm on my way.
Joyce Meyer: so, everybody say, "I'm not mad at myself. I'm on my way." Now, let's just go back to psalm 23 here. "he leads me in the paths of righteousness, not because I've earned it, but for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Now, we're going to stop there and all the rest of that I'll read it, but the rest of this we're going to save for tomorrow morning. We're going to have some real fun tomorrow. "for you are with me. Your rod protects me, your staff guides me. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely only goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Now, you lead me in the paths of righteousness. Yea, though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Now, here's the message that I want to get across to you, and I'm going to tell you upfront what it is, and then I'm going to spend the rest of the time re-reminding you and convincing you that what I'm saying is scriptural. Even though you're doing the right thing, and you're on the right path, and you're growing in God, you're pressing on in righteousness, your path is becoming brighter and brighter every day, that does not necessarily mean that you won't pass through what the bible calls "the shadow of the valley of death," which basically just means hard times.
Joyce Meyer: so, we got rid of---got to get rid of any kind of thinking, "well, you know, I'm doing all this stuff, and I'm trying to do what's right, and the right thing's not happening to me, and I'm just tired of this, so I'm just going to quit and give up." We need to leave the timing of our results in God's hands. Our job is not results, our job is obedience. We do what we do not even to just get a result, but because that's what we believe God wants us to do. And we know that if we do what is right, we will have peace. And listen to me, there is no way that we can ever fail and not be delivered if we're doing what's right. Amen.
Joyce Meyer: "yea, though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me." I'm pretty busy these days trying to get people prepared for whatever may be ahead in our lives. Hey, listen, I hope we just have nothing but prosperous, wonderful, amazing things happen in our world until Jesus comes back, but I'm not so sure that that's going to be the case. And I want us to be prepared and ready. If it stays great, amen. But if it doesn't, I want to be just as strong in that hard place as I am on the pulpit in the good places, amen?
Joyce Meyer: and we're making a mistake if we don't ask ourselves, "am I ready for that?" We need to ask ourselves if we're ready, if we need to, to go through difficulty and stay firm. Now, what sense does it make if you're doing the right thing but you're just having trouble because of it? Well, it's just kind of part of the thing. And the whole thing is is if you got problems in your life right now, you feel like you're being attacked, it's for one of two reasons. Either you've opened the door by doing something stupid and you let the enemy in, or you're doing something right, and the enemy's mad about it, and he's trying to come against you to get you to stop it. And you don't need to try to figure out which one it is, you just pray and ask God to show you if you're wrong, keep showing you if you're right, and either way I'm going to keep on keeping on, and I'm going to come out with the victory on the other side.
Joyce Meyer: you know, I can tell you the devil's on a rampage. I mean, he's just absolutely having an all-out fit, and I think it's because he knows his time is short. I mean, the devil is trying everything he can to get as many people as he can to no longer believe in God. He's trying to get God out of our schools, God out of our government, God out of our society. He's trying to frighten Christians and make them think that they need to be quiet about what they believe. And it's not just going on here, it's going on worldwide. But we've had a lot of freedom here that we haven't appreciated and maybe protected, and we need to step up our game a little bit and start saying, "I'm not going to be quiet, and God's not going to go away."
Joyce Meyer: listen, I know lots of good people, I mean great people that are going through some really, really, really difficult things right now. I mean really difficult things. I mean, you talk about yea, though I go through the valley of the shadow of death. And I'm so proud of different ones of them because they love God just as much in the valley as they did on the mountaintop. They love God just as much when things are hard as they did when things were good. And I'll tell you what, we can say, "well, I believe this, and "I believe that, and I trust God," but we don't have a clue what we believe until our beliefs get tested.
Joyce Meyer: and I want to make sure that for my part as a teacher in the body of Christ that I do what God would have me do to help get you prepared not for just every bad thing that comes along, but to stand firm in difficult times. Yea, though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. So, that's kind of going to be the thread of where we go because when you're doing what's right and you're not getting a right result, sometimes it can be confusing. It's like, "well, I did what you asked me to do, and things are no better than they were before." Or how about this? "I did what you asked me to do and my circumstances are worse." I got a good laugh from over there, somebody understands that. [audience laughing] I mean, I can talk about when God called me into ministry and, you know, I was just trying to obey God. I mean, I really felt like God was calling me to teach, and I didn't know it was going to make everybody mad. I thought they'd all think it was cool that I was going to obey God, but I didn't know hardly anybody that thought it was a good thing. They thought I was crazy, and a lunatic, and a rebel, and told me I shouldn't do it because of this and I shouldn't do it because of that, and who did I think I was? And I'm just like, "I just was trying to obey God." So, here I step out and I obey God, and I lose all my friends. Well, that was kind of disappointing. And you know, as somebody who really didn't have a whole lot of the word in them yet, it still is a marvel to me that I hung on and went on with God. So, I think sometimes even when we would give up, God won't let us give up. And he hangs onto us and helps us go on to the next place because he sees our heart. And so, then I taught home bible studies for 5 years, one in my home and one in somebody else's. And then at the end of that 5 years, I felt like God told me to lay those down. "behold, I do a new thing." That was a great word of God that I got, and so for a year I did nothing. Well, that didn't seem to work. What happens when you really believe that God's leading you, and you step out and do what you really believe he told you to do, and it just doesn't seem like it's working? Well, you can get confused, you can get all down in the dumps, you can go start act in emotion and make a bunch of weird mistakes. Or you can just hang on and say, "well, God, I believe you're still going to come through. And if I did make a mistake, then you can take even my worst mistake and you could still work it out for my good because my heart was right when I did what I did." I could tell you story after story after story of right decisions that I've made that didn't seem to get right results right away. And the bible says in galatians 6:9, "be not weary in well doing, for in due season," whatever that is, and who knows what that is. That just you know, I know God knows I love him and this won't offend him, but sometimes that scripture annoys me. It's like, "be not weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not." You know, and especially it annoys me when I'm going through something and somebody comes and gives me that as a word from God. 'cause here's the thing, why does it annoy you? Because nobody knows what due season is. Only God does, and it sounds good, but you still don't know any more than you did before. It could be another 20 years, or another 5 years, or it could be in the next 5 minutes. And so, really the message there that God is giving us is just keep on keeping on until I show up.
Joyce Meyer: just keep on keeping on until I show up. Listen, if you feel like you haven't heard anything new from God in the last 5 years, then just keep doing the last thing you heard, and that's what it means to be faithful, amen? I haven't gotten any big news from God in a long time. I'm just doing what I do. I mean, people ask me all the time, and this is another thing that could annoy me sometimes, but since I'm practicing trying to be sweet, I won't let it.
Joyce Meyer: "but what's God saying to you these days, Joyce?" He loves me, keep doing it. You know, keep trying to help people. "well, what's your vision now? What do you want to do that you haven't done yet?" You know what? I just want to help people. Well, a lot of times that don't suit people, they want some real fancy thing. You know what? I just--just get up and love God, and serve the Lord with gladness, and go about your business, and be--if you're a mother, be a good mother. If you're a wife, be a good wife. If you're a husband, be a good husband. Love people, help people, help the poor, help the needy, do what you know to do to represent God right and be happy about it. Come on, there's not something wrong with you because you're not floating around on a cloud getting angelic prophecies every day.
Joyce Meyer: whoo! Now we think, you know, something exciting has got to be going on all the time. You know what? I remember when I was excited just to know I wasn't going to hell. How about if we just stay excited about that? Amen? Hey, we're going to live forever in the right place. We're not going to be in the hot place, we're going to be in the cool place. All right now.
Joyce Meyer: [laughing] to be led in the paths of righteousness and to grow, we have to do new things. We have to be willing to change. And here's a little sheep fact, they will stay in the same pasture forever if the shepherd doesn't move them. Matter of fact, they will wear out the pasture, they will destroy the pasture, and it and them will get infected with parasites. They need to be moved regularly in order to be healthy. Deuteronomy 1:6, "thus says the Lord, 'you have dwelt long enough on this mountain.'" [audience applauding] come on, some of you have been dancing around the same stinking problem, you've had the same bad attitude for the last 20 years. You've been mad at the same person for the last 5 years. You've had the same chip on your shoulder since you were 20 years old. And it's time to move on. It's time--yes, you, you're made right with God through your faith in Christ, but now it's time to shine a little brighter. The path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter.
Joyce Meyer: can I tell you something? Jesus is the hope of the world, but people are not going to see Jesus if they don't see him through his people. Wherever God has got you, whatever neighborhood, whatever job, whatever school, whatever church, you are strategically placed by God for a purpose. And your purpose is to shine. Come on. "well, I just don't know what God wants me to do. I don't know what my call is." Shine. Go to work and smile. And when people ask you why you're so happy all the time, tell them, "because I know Jesus. I've always got hope. My circumstances may not always be what I want them to be, but he's my helper."
Joyce Meyer: well, you know, we all go through difficult times in our life, and we tend to call them valleys. But we don't have to be afraid because God has promised to be with us every step of the way. And not only that, to lead us into victory. And today, we're offering you something that I think lots of people are going to really enjoy. It's actually four teachings taken from psalm 23. You know, a large majority of people can quote psalm 23. And if you're anything like me, sometimes when you're just hurting or you just need a lift, you'll even quote psalm 23 to yourself. And there's wonderful teaching in that psalm, 4 teachings, over 4 hours of teaching. And we're offering it to you today for your gift to the ministry of any amount. That's how much we want you to have this. We trust that you're going to send in the very best offering that you can and that you're going to really enjoy these teachings. And remember, God will never leave you nor forsake you. He's with you right now, so have a great day. Announcer: the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still and restful waters. Spend time in God's presence, and experience his love and care when you order today's offer, "the Lord is my shepherd." In 4 hours of teaching, Joyce walks you through psalm 23. She explains who Christ is as our good shepherd, and how he guides, protects, and nurtures us in everyday life. This resource is available on cd or digital download for your gift of any amount. Call us... Or visit us at joycemeyer.org.
Announcer: pack your bags, we're taking the love life women's conference to tampa, florida and you're invited. Hear powerful messages by Joyce Meyer.
Joyce Meyer: see, when you believe that God loves you, then you can love you, and boy is the devil going to get mad about that. Announcer: priscilla shirer. Priscilla: we're his masterpiece, his workmanship. His finest work is you. Announcer: lisa harper. Lisa: perfection is not a prerequisite for relationship with God. Nowhere in here does he say, "It's all up to you," nowhere. Announcer: sarah jakes roberts. Sarah: and your miracle is going to be resurrected. Your mouth is going to have to speak life when everything else seems dead. Announcer: dave meyer, elevation worship, and natalie grant. Experience a true refreshing of your heart, soul, and senses. Space is limited, this one will sell out fast. Early bird pricing ends may 31. Register today. naomi: they look sad and get downhearted, and then they look at you, you make eye contact, and you smile, and they read that smile and then they start smiling. And then the kids all run to you and they smile. When you really experience that, you just--you would-- you're hooked.
Joyce Meyer: you know, I believe that we all need to learn to enjoy the journey in life and not just be so focused on our destination that we miss everything else. I want to encourage you to take the time to celebrate your victories all along the way. announcer: we hope you have enjoyed today's program. Please contact us or visit joycemeyer.org to share your prayer requests, see the conference schedule, or partner with us in sharing Christ and loving people all across the globe. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of Joyce Meyer ministries.
Joyce Meyer (August-03-2020) Watch Sermon: How to Love People That Are Hard to Love - Part 1. God can help you get along with everyone! Learn how to bring God into the center of your relationships on this episode of Enjoying Everyday Life.
I don’t believe anyone gets up in the morning and thinks, I just can’t wait to see how many people I can make miserable today. I often say that hurting people hurt people.
Most of the pain and anguish we receive from other people is a result of their own pain. When someone is miserable, it inevitably comes out somewhere—and it usually comes out on somebody. The truth is, we’re never going to be able to prevent people from saying or doing things that hurt our feelings. We will always have opportunities to get offended. But if we do things God’s way, we can choose to save ourselves a lot of misery and hardship. This doesn’t mean we allow people to abuse us. No, there is a time for confronting people and dealing with situations. However, the Bible commands us to love our enemies and forgive those who have wronged us. You may consider some of the people in your life and think, Joyce, that’s impossible! Believe me, I’ve been in your shoes and I know how you feel. But everything the Lord asks us to do in the Bible is ultimately for our good. In fact, when we choose to love our enemies and forgive those who have hurt us, we are actually helping ourselves more than anyone else. So, how do you love the people in your life who are hard to love? Well, I believe a good place to begin is to stop thinking, “I can’t!” Because whatever the Lord commands us to do, He is going to give us the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish it—and that includes loving and being good to difficult people! I personally believe that showing loving to someone who doesn’t deserve or expect it is absolutely one of the most powerful things we can do. Because in that moment they see God...and He’s the one Who can truly change their hearts. First Corinthians 13:7 says that ...love is ever ready to believe the best of every person.... When someone hurts our feelings or offends us, we have a choice. We can think, You did this on purpose just to upset me! Or we can choose to believe the best and think: Well, they must be having a difficult day and probably didn’t even realize they were being rude to me. Maybe something difficult is going on in their life. It most likely has nothing to do with me. I know that I desire for others to show me a lot of grace of mercy and give me the benefit of the doubt when I’m having a bad day or hurt their feelings without realizing it. No one is perfect, and we can all use a little room to be human. I don’t know how many years I prayed for God to change my husband Dave. In my mind, he was always the problem. Thank heaven, I finally learned the importance of adopting a humble attitude. Now I pray more like this: “God, I would like for you to change Dave. But Lord, I may not even see this right—I may be the problem. God, first deal with me if I need to change.” As we humble ourselves and ask the Lord to change us, it’s amazing how it will transform our relationships and our attitude toward others. Pray for Others We should pray that God will help people to be all He wants them to be and do all He wants them to do. Pray the Lord will help them get to the root of their problems and realize when they’re hurting other people. I truly believe that we can use kindness as a weapon to overcome the meanness in people. Because God’s love flowing through us is strong enough to melt even the hardest hearts. Let Them Out of the Dog HouseBelieve the Best
Pray for Yourself
It’s easy to give someone an ultimatum like, “If you don’t change your ways, I’m leaving you!” They may change for a while, but their bad behavior will eventually come back because their heart hasn’t changed.
Is there someone in your life who is difficult to love? If so, take a few moments to pray for yourself and them right now. Then choose to begin putting the following principles into practice.
Joyce Meyer - Sermon: Unshakeable Trust, Part 1 - Enjoying Everyday Life. God can bless our lives in amazing ways, but we must also trust Him through trials. Today, Joyce shares life-changing insights from her book Unshakeable Trust.
The fragment "Let's Talk About Eating" by Joyce Meyer. If you are struggling to create healthy eating habits…Joyce has some advice for you above!
full text "Let's Talk About Eating" by Joyce Meyer
Can I have a permission to talk to you for a few minutes about eating? You set boundaries on your eating. You say, "okay, I'm gonna eat dessert one time a week." Can I tell you something? Now, I know that most you don't think that this would be possible but is it possible for you to come to hershey, pennsylvania and not eat one bite of chocolate the whole time you're here. That is totally and completely possible. And see, here's where a lot of people go off. Well, it's like, "well, it's Christmas. Well, it's thanksgiving." Well, why does every holiday have to be an excuse to get so full that you're miserable? Oh, boy. you make your own plan. I'm just telling you that you gotta have some boundaries.
Okay, if you love soda pop, then don't eat, don't drink three a day, have three a week. Eat pasta once a week. Now, here's a great one. When you first feel full, when you first feel the feeling of full, quit eating. You know, what I do with my plate, I make them come get it, take it. Here's another good one. Don't keep things in your house you don't want to eat, that's a boundary. Just don't take it home. Don't take the chocolate home from hershey that you're all gonna want to take home unless you want to eat it. Now, if you want to eat it, have at it. There's nothing wrong with eating it. I'm just talking to people that either want to lose some weight, you want to feel better. And I don't even do this kind of stuff. I mean, yes, I do it partially because I want to keep my weight at a certain place, but mainly, I have to feel good to do what I'm doing. And there are so many people in the body of Christ that are sick and tired and you get sick and tired of listening to all the people that are sick and tired. We should be full of energy, and zeal, and enthusiasm, and we're not gonna get it just by praying. We're gonna have to make some changes.