Charisma's Top 30 Favorite Teachings From Joyce Meyer

8/12/2019 Charisma's Top 30 Favorite Teachings From Joyce Meyer

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/charismas-top-30-favorite-teachings-from-joyce-meyer 1/20

CHARISMAL I F E I N T H E S P I R I T

THE ANSWER TO FEAR | SUPERNATURAL FAVOR | PASSING THE TRUST TEST

CELEBRATING

THIRTYYEARSWITH

JOYCEMEYERMINISTRIES

CHARISMA’S TOP 30FAVORITE TEACHINGSFROM JOYCE MEYER



GETTING RESULTSWhen I trusted God and began exercising (even though

I didn’t want to), I learned a life-changing principle

Until I turned 64, I’d never exercised in a seriousway. I had walked and done a few things to stay indecent shape, but I was not dedicated to exercise.

I had reached into my excuse bag many times over theyears and come up with all kinds of “reasons” I could notexercise. But, the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me tobegin a serious workout program so I could be strong forthe last third of my journey through life.

I already had good eating habits, but when it came to going tothe gym several times a week, I used the excuse that I simply couldnot do that because of my travel obligations. I truly couldn’t figureout how I could manage to put serious workout time into my alreadybusy schedule. I finally decided to do what I could do instead offocusing on what I couldn’t do.

The thought of getting started with a serious workout routine wasoverwhelming to my mind, so I had to put Philippians 4:13 to workin a very practical way and discipline myself to say: “I can do this. Ican do whatever I need to do in life, and God says I need to be on aserious workout program.”

I had to take the challenge one day at a time because if I lookedat my calendar for the year, it appeared as if I was attempting some-thing that was truly impossible. I strongly urge you to face your chal-lenges one day at a time. Looking too far down the road only tendsto overwhelm us. Trusting God requires that we believe He gives usour “daily bread”; that is, we receive what we need as we need it andusually not before.

As I started seeing the benefits of working out regularly I felt itwas important enough to me that I needed to eliminate a few otherthings I was doing that cluttered my schedule to make room forthe exercise. I quickly discovered that if we want to do somethingstrongly enough, then we find a way to do it.

I still continue to this day to have challenging times with theworkout program. I still get sore, and some days I have to go to thegym by sheer determination, but I refuse to give up. At one pointafter I had been working out for three or four months, my coach putme on circuit training. I didn’t even know what circuit training was,but I quickly found out that circuit training is doing five exercises in arow, as quickly as you can. It took me 35 minutes to do 75 lunges oneach leg, 100 bench presses, 75 dumbbell dead lifts, 75 abdominalcrunches and 75 exercises with a pulley. After that, I was so sore Ithought I might not survive.

When my coach had originally told me what he wanted me todo that week I quickly said, “That is going to be too much for me.” Ireminded him of my age and that working out was fairly new to me.He said: “Don’t let your mind get in your way; you can do whateveryou decide to do. Our motto here is: ‘No excuses, only results.’”

With that encouragement, I thought: OK, I’m going to get a goodmindset about this. I can do this. I had to tell myself over and overagain, “I can do this.” I got started and did OK, but by the fourthset, I began to get dizzy. I told my coach, “I’m getting dizzy,” and heresponded: “Then you don’t have to do all five sets. You can stop withfour.” Something rose up in me when he said that, and I answered:“I am not quitting with four sets. I’m going to do the fifth one.” Andwhen I did, I was so proud of myself!

The same principle that applied to me as I began working outalso applies to many other areas of life—getting out of debt, cleaningand organizing your house, solving marriage problems, discipliningyour children, being on time for work or completing a project. What-ever you need to do in life, you can do it. Remember, Philippians 4:13says you are ready for anything and equal to anything because Godgives you strength. Nothing is too much for you when He is on yourside.

WHEN WILL GODANSWER MY PRAYER?

If your prayers remain unanswered, maybe it’stime to ask yourself a few questions

Have you ever spent weeks—even years—prayingabout one specific thing and still found your-self wondering, When is God going to answer this

prayer? If so, I know exactly how you feel.When I pray, I really want my prayers to be answered. I

know faith, patience and timing all are in the mix, but sooneror later I need to hear from God.

The fact is, He gives us some pretty outrageous prom-ises in His Word about prayer. If you’re not seeing the fruitof those promises and if you’re still in the waiting period, Iencourage you to simply ask why.

At several times in my life I’ve had to gethonest with myself and say: “OK, God, I see whatthe Word says. Why isn’t it working for me?”

Each time, God has led me to ask myself threevery direct questions. I believe they can also helpyou to find the answers you’ve been seeking.

1. Am I really praying for God’s will? John15:7 (AMP) says: “If you live in Me [abide vitallyunited to Me] and My words remain in you andcontinue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and itshall be done for you.”

Well, I thought I knew that Scripture up and down. But itturned out there was a word in that verse I hadn’t paid muchattention to: abiding. It means “to live in, dwell in and remainin.” When you have that kind of close relationship with God,you get to know His heart and you have a greater sense ofthe things you should pray for, and what His will truly is.

We can never assume we’re praying the will of God. Weneed to test and approve our prayers by abiding in God’sWord and seeking the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

2. Am I self-sabotaging my prayers? For at least 25

years, I’ve been praying for God to move so that people willreceive miraculous healings at my conferences or whilewatching my TV program. I was standing on Psalm 107:20when God led me to another verse: Isaiah 58:9. Now, thatscripture shows a clear connection between answeredprayers and the words of our mouths. It says, “Take awayfrom your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find

them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed orthe godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust and wickedspeaking” (AMP).

So, God’s saying it’s just as important to glorify Himthrough the words you speak when you’re not praying as itis when you are praying. I encourage you to examine yourspeech regularly so that you can experience even more suc-cess in prayer.

3. Is my love walk lacking? I believe the mouth is sucha major part of the love walk. I don’t think we truly realizehow much we can do for people by building them up with

our words. And we need to be evenmore careful not to say things thattear them down.

The Bible says the heart isdeceitful above all else (see Jer.17:9). We want to believe we havea good heart, so to learn the truthabout ourselves we need to give ourtongues a real close examination.

Do you remember when you went to the doctor and wereasked to open your mouth and say, “ Ahh”? The reason youwere asked to do that is so the doctor could examine yourtongue. The tongue tells a physician a lot about physicalhealth. Likewise, the tongue tells us a lot about spiritualhealth.

The AntidoteLearning to abide in God—focusing on His heart and His

desires—will bring you to a higher level of spiritual maturityand help you discover the amazing authority you have inprayer.

Speaking in line with His Word can move mountains in theSpirit, and growing in your love walk opens powerful opportuni-ties to show others who God is.

I encourage you to search your heart in these three areas.As you do, I believe you will begin to experience a much moreeffective, fulfilling prayer life. In His perfect timing and way, Hewill always answer you.

We can neverassume we’re

praying the will of God.



AFRAID OF FEAR?Don’t be. God is with you.

There are many types of fear we could name orcount, but they all have the same source and thesame purpose. They all are from Satan and they all

are intended to steal the life Jesus died to give us.We often think fear is simply an emotion or feeling, but it also

affects us physically. In Who Switched Off My Brain? author Caro-line Leaf notes, “[Fear] triggers more than 1,400 known physicaland chemical responses, and activates more than 30 differenthormones and neurotransmitters.” Fear, she says, is at theroot of all stress. When fear causes a stress reaction, it actually“marinates” the body in toxic chemicals. This, of course, is ter-ribly unhealthy and threatening to our physical well-being.

There are many ways Satan uses fear to steal from us. Forexample, the fear that we will not be accepted as we are causesus to develop phony personalities that stifle our true selves andhide who God has made us to be. The fear of failure prevents usfrom ever trying new things or stretching ourselves to do morethan we feel comfortable doing. The fear of the future can causeus not to enjoy today. Even something like the fear of flying canprohibit our being able to discover and enjoy the beauty andexcitement of places we would like to visit.

Fear can absolutely paralyze us, and in its more advancedstages can drive us to do things that are completely irrational. Itcan even cause mental and emotional problems.

Time magazine printed a story in August 1989 that showshow utterly destructive and controlling fear can be. It reportedthat Charles Bodeck, a retiree who had received several tickbites during fur-trapping expeditions, grew fearful that he hadcontracted Lyme disease. He was also concerned he had trans-mitted it to his wife.

Despite many medical tests and repeated assurances fromdoctors that he was not infected and passing the disease to

his wife was impossible (because he didn’t have it), Bodeckremained terrified. His fear so completely controlled him that

he eventually killed his wife and himself with a shotgun. Whenpolice searched his mailbox after the incident, they found itcrammed with information on Lyme disease—and a note con-firming yet another doctor’s appointment for a test.

Fear can be a powerful influence in our lives. I fully believeit is the devil’s tool to keep us miserable and out of the will ofGod. It drains our courage, presents everything from a negativeviewpoint and prevents us from making progress. Destinies aredestroyed because of fear—fear of pain, fear of discomfort, fearof lack, fear of sacrifice, fear that life is going to be too hard,fear of losing friends, fear of being alone, fear of losing yourreputation, fear that no one will understand you, fear that you’remissing God, and on and on.

Fear is the enemy’s perversion of faith. He says to us:“Believe what I’m telling you. This is not going to work. Yourprayers aren’t any good. You don’t have right standing with God.You are a failure.”

Fear always tells you what you’re not, what you don’t have,what you can’t do and what you’ll never be. But Romans 8:15says: “For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not aspirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but youhave received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing son-ship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!” (AMP).

You do not have to live in bondage to fear or allow fear to con-trol your life. You can be bold, courageous and adventurous.

The word Abbawas a term little children used in addressingtheir fathers. It would be similar to our word Daddy . It is lessformal than Father and denotes a comfortable closenessbetween a child and his or her father.

Jesus said we could call God “Abba” because He had deliv-ered us from all fear. He will always take care of His beloved chil-dren, and we can approach Him without fear of rejection. When

we run to Him with any problem or pain, He’s waiting with openarms to comfort and encourage us.

GOD IS PRO-CHOICENo, not like that—His choice is for you to fulfill your destin

God chose me. He didn’t just get stuck with me, andHe didn’t settle for me because there was no oneelse He could choose. He deliberately chose me.

And the same is true for you too.I didn’t have a special talent when He chose me. The

thing I do best is talk, and He’s made me a mouth in the bodyof Christ. My voice is unusual and unique—not the kind ofvoice you would think He would choose to broadcast all overthe place. But God has given me the opportunity to speak tobillions of people around the world. And I don’t always usecorrect grammar or pronounce words just right, but we don’thave to be polished according to the world’s standards to beused mightily by God.

People listen to me because God has anointed me tospeak for Him—it’s part of His destiny for my life. And Godwill anoint whomever He chooses to work through. Thatincludes you.

So whom does God use? He uses common, ordinarypeople like you and me. First Corinthians 1:27-28 says: “Godselected (deliberately chose) what in the world is foolish toput the wise to shame, and what the world calls weak to putthe strong to shame. And God also selected (deliberatelychose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant andbranded and treated with contempt, even the things thatare nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing thethings that are” ( The Amplified Bible).

When I started to preach the gospel, some of my friendsrejected me—they didn’t think I should do that because I’m awoman. In fact, they told me I couldn’t do that.

I was doing it because God told me to do it, and I trustedthat if He told me I could do it then I could do it. If you too arewilling to have an uncommon goal, God can do something

great through you!

Every common person can be used mightily by God. You just have to believe God can use you and be daring enough toembrace the goals or vision He puts in your heart.

What He wants you to do probably won’t make sense toyou. But God isn’t expecting you to accomplish His goals inyour strength or by your own understanding. He wants to dothem through you. We simply need to cooperate with Him.

As I stepped out in faith to pursue God’s call on my life, Ifaced a lot of adversity. Here are several things I learned thathelped me to keep going:

» God’s Word is a border for my life. As long as I stay withinthe guidelines laid out in Scripture, I’ll have what I need—wisdom, understanding of God’s promises to me, righteous-ness, peace and joy—to do what I need to do. God is faithfuland true to His Word.

» I have to be willing to finish what I start. God uses com-mitted people who aren’t led by emotion. It’s easy to beexcited in the beginning when something is new, but theones who cross the finish line are the ones who hang in therewhen no one else is excited anymore.

» When no one is there to help me, I get to know Jesus verywell. The narrow road of living for God and not conformingto the ways of the world is often lonely (see Matt. 7:13-14).But the trade-off of gaining real intimacy with Christ is worthmore than anything you could ever get from the world.

» God’s plan is a possibility but not a “positively.” I canchoose to trust God and cooperate with Him, but if I don’t, Hisplan won’t just happen on its own.

You have a destiny. Ephesians 2:10 tells us God created us to dogood works that He planned for us in advance.

His plans are great—not average or mediocre. We just haveto be willing to do some things that are uncommon by the world’s

standards to achieve them.



START TO DO GOOD

Famed philosopher and orator Edmund Burke oncesaid, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil isfor good men to do nothing.” It’s true. Doing nothing

is easy, but it’s also dangerous. Where there is no opposi-tion to evil, evil will multiply.

We all fall into the trap of complaining about thethings that are wrong. But complaining does nothingexcept discourage us even more. It changes nothingbecause there is no positive power in it.

Imagine what a mess the world would be if all Goddid was complain about everything that has gone wrongsince He created it. But the Fatherdoesn’t complain. He continues to begood and work for justice. Evil is pow-erful, but good is more powerful.

We need to stop and realize thatGod has chosen to work on this earththrough His children—you and me.

It’s humbling to realize that Hecould do so much more if we would becommitted to love and do good at alltimes. We need to remember Jesus’instruction in Matthew 5:16, “‘ Letyour light so shine before men, thatthey may see your good works and glorify your Fatherin heaven’” (NKJV).

The more we respond to evil with evil, the more itincreases. I am reminded of a movie titled El Cid , thestory of the man who united Spain and became a greathero using the principle I’m talking about.

For centuries the Christians had fought the Moors.They hated and killed each other. In battle, El Cid

captured five Moors but refused to kill them becausehe realized that killing had never done any good. Hebelieved that showing mercy to his enemies wouldchange their hearts, and then both groups could live inpeace.

Although he was initially labeled a traitor for hisactions, they eventually proved to work, and he washonored as a hero.

One of the Moors he captured said, “Anyone can kill,but only a true king can show mercy to his enemies.”

Because of El Cid’s one act of kindness, his enemiesoffered themselves to him as friends and allies fromthat point on.

Jesus is a true king, and He is good, kind andmerciful to all. Can we do any less than follow Hisexample?

Right now, can you think of anyone to whom youcould show mercy? Is there someone who has treatedyou wrongly that you can be good to? Being mercifuland good, especially to your enemies, may be one ofthe most powerful things you have ever done.

Imagine how different the worldwould be if each one of us who claimsto know Christ would do one kind thingfor someone else every day. The resultswould be astonishing. The world wouldchange rapidly because we really couldovercome evil with good if we all made acommitment to live the way Jesus tellsus to live.

I have three friends with whom Isometimes go to lunch or have coffee.We often talk about things God has puton our hearts to do for others, or cre-

ative ideas for fresh ways to be a blessing. I believeconversations like this are very pleasing to God.

I would like to challenge you to take a lead role in the “loverevolution.” Enlist people you know and invite them to a plan-ning session on practical ways to meet needs. Find someonewho needs help and make a group effort to help them.

The idea of encouraging others to be aggressive indoing good works is not new. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And

let us consider one another in order to stir up love andgood works.”We should actually study and think about how we

can stir others to do good works and loving, helpfuldeeds. And remember, doing the right thing willrequire forming new habits and developing aggressiveacts of love. The results will be wonderful!

It’s humblingto realize thatGod could domore if we

would do goodat all times.

A GREATER LOVE

One of the most beautiful things the Bible says isthat while we were still sinners, Christ died for us(see Rom. 5:8). He did not wait for us to deserve His

love. He loves us unconditionally. To be honest, that’s hardfor many of us to comprehend because we are so accus-tomed to having to earn everything in life.

Because of His great, wonderful and intense love for us,God poured His life out for us freely (see Eph. 2:4). That isrevolutionary love! Real, revolutionary love must give itselfbecause it can never be satisfied doing anything less.

Just as it is God’s unconditional love that draws us toHim, so it is our unconditional love towardothers in His name that draws others toHim. He wants us to love people the sameway He would if He were here in bodilyform.

It’s impossible for human love to beunconditional, like God’s love. But asbelievers in Jesus Christ we have thelove of God in us. We can let that love flowfreely, without conditions. Our love fails,but God’s does not. Our love comes to anend, but God’s does not.

Sometimes I find that although I can’tlove a person in my own strength I am able to with God’s love.I was hurt repeatedly for years by someone. Recently, thisperson asked me how I felt—if I loved them. I was honestlyable to say that although I didn’t have the fond feelings forthem I could have had if things had been different, I did lovethem as a child of God and would help them in their need.

The true love of God doesn’t depend on feelings—it’sbased on decision. I will help those who need help, unless

helping them would ultimately hurt them. They don’t haveto deserve help. In fact, sometimes the less they deserve itthe more beautiful the act of extending love is. It is absolutelyfreeing to be able to love people without stopping to ask ifthey deserve it.

Human love depends on feelings. We love people because

they have been good to us or they loved us first. They makeus feel good about ourselves, or they make our life easier,so we say we love them. Or we love them because we wantthem to love us.

But that type of love is based on what they do, and if theystop doing it, we will probably stop loving them. That kind oflove comes and goes. Many marriages and other personalrelationships are based on that kind of love. We love icecream because it tastes good, and we love people becausethey give us nice Christmas gifts.

God’s love is totally different. It isn’t based on anythingexcept God Himself. And when we receiveChrist as our Savior the love of God is pouredinto our hearts by the Holy Spirit (see Rom.5:5).

When we become partners with God,He expects us to be His representativesand equips us with the love we need todo the job He asks us to do. When humanlove ends, which is often, God’s love is stillavailable to finish what needs to be done.

I heard about a teenager who wasdrinking and caused an accident that killeda man’s wife and child. The man knew God

wanted him to forgive the young man who caused the acci-dent, and through much prayer he was able to let the love ofGod flow through him. That man was a love revolutionary!

We should learn also to look at what people have doneto themselves instead of looking just at what they have doneto us. Usually, when a person hurts someone else, he prob-ably has hurt himself at least as much and is suffering somefallout as a result. That’s why Jesus said, “‘ Father, forgive

them, for they know not what they do’” (Luke 23:34, NKJV).The love of God can’t be grasped with the mind—itis a matter of the heart. There is no reason for Him tolove us while we are sinning, but He does. God’s love isunconditional.

When humanlove ends, God’slove is stillavailable to

nish what needsto be done.



BE AN ENCOURAGER

One of the easiest ways to fuel a “love revolution”is to decide to make others feel valuable. MotherTeresa said: “Being unwanted, unloved, uncared

for, forgotten by everybody: I think that is a much greaterhunger, a much greater poverty than the person who hasnothing to eat.”

I have discovered that most people we meet or comeinto contact with in our everyday lives don’t have a senseof their infinite value as children of God. I think the devilworks very hard to make people feel devalued and worth-less, but we can neutralize the effect of his lies and insin-uations by building up, encouraging andedifying people.

One way to do this is with a sincerecompliment, which is one of the mostvaluable gifts in this world. Offering a sin-cere compliment may seem like a smallthing, but it gives tremendous strength.

I believe in having goals, and asI was working with God to developgood habits in the area of encouragingothers, I challenged myself to compli-ment at least three people each day.I recommend that you do somethingsimilar to help you become an aggressive encourager.

God speaks frequently in the Bible of our responsi-bility to the oppressed, widows, orphans, fatherless andforeigners. He mentions those who are lonely, neglected,forgotten and devalued.

He cares deeply for the oppressed and the hungry. Peop lecan be hungry in many ways. They may have plenty offood to eat but be starving to feel valuable.

God lifts up those who are bowed down with sorrow;He protects the stranger and upholds the fatherless andthe widow (see Ps. 146:7-9). How does He do this? Heworks through people. He needs committed, submitted,dedicated people who live to make others feel valuable.

Mother Teresa dedicated her life to making the out-casts feel loved and valuable. The things she did weresimple, yet great. She said: “Do not think that love, in

order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What weneed is to love without getting tired.”

A verse that has encouraged me is Psalm 27:10:“Although my father and my mother have forsaken me,yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child]” ( The Amplified Bible).

My mother was deeply afraid of my father, so shewas unable to rescue me from the abuse he perpetratedagainst me. I felt very alone, forgotten and abandoned. Idecided that nobody was going to help me, so I “survived”my circumstances until I could escape them.

I have come to understand that manypeople we encounter daily are just tryingto survive until someone rescues them—and that someone could be you or me.

The Bible says that God in His love“chose us [actually picked us out for Him-self as His own] in Christ before the foun-dation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). He plannedin love for us to be adopted as His ownchildren.

God adopts the forsaken and lonely,and He lifts them up and gives them value.He works through His Word, through the

Holy Spirit and through Spirit-led people who live to helpothers.

Mother Teresa felt that each person she met wasJesus “in disguise.” Just try to imagine how much differ-ently we would treat people if we really looked at themthe way she did.

Jesus said that if we do good or bad to even “the least”of people, we do it to Him (see Matt. 25:45). In other

words, He takes our treatment of others personally.If someone insulted, slighted, ignored or devalued oneof my children, I would take it personally. So why is it sohard to understand that God feels the same way?

Let us all strive to build people up, make everyone weencounter feel better and add value to their lives. Let’sreally live a love revolution.

God needscommitted,

submitted,dedicated

people who liveto make others

feel valuable.

NEVER GIVE UP

To be successful in accomplishing God’s will for ourlives, we must have determination. One definition of“determine” is “to settle a dispute by an authorita-

tive decision or a pronouncement.” This definition encour-ages me because I make “pronouncements,” often as away of building my determination in certain areas.

Sometimes the best way to overcome the temptationto give up is to say to yourself: “Oh, no you don’t! Stop yourwhining and straighten up right this minute!” Over the years,when I have felt like giving up and had no one to encourageme, I’ve said to myself: “Joyce, you can make it! It may behard, but you can make it and don’t youdare think you can’t!”

At one point in my life, I wentthrough a 10-year period of sufferingfrom various physical problems. Ten years! I had lots of symptoms, someof which involved low blood sugar,but most of which were rooted instress caused from working too hard.I was also going through the “changeof life”—hormone changes causedmigraine headaches, and at one pointin 1989, I even had breast cancer andneeded surgery.

I can’t count the number of times during those 10years I walked onto a platform to preach thinking, Iwonder if I can stand here long enough to preach my mes-sage. I prayed fervently for God to heal me. He did nottake away my problems completely, but He did give mestrength to do what I needed to do in spite of them—every single time.

But I didn’t want the strength to press through; Iwanted the problems gone. Trying to keep myself goingthrough those years was really hard, but I was deter-mined not to be defeated and not to give up. I realizenow that my faith became strong during those yearsand I gained a genuine compassion for the sick.

I thank God for giving me a solution to my problemsafter 10 years. Now I’m doing great, and it’s wonderful

to do what I do and feel good. But many times I had tosay, “I would rather do my job and feel good, but hearthis devil: I will do it, whether I feel good or not.”

While I was suffering, I had to speak words of deter-mination out loud: “Doing this is hard, but I am going tofulfill God’s call on my life no matter how I feel. I’ll doeverything God wants me to do and be all He wants meto be.” Each time I made a decision like this, the devilwas losing and God was winning.

The primary reason I was so determined to obeyGod’s will whether I felt good or not was because I

love God. I also knew I would be miser-able if I tried to do anything less thaneverything He called me to do. You maynot always want to make the effort to bedetermined, but I guarantee that you donot want to risk being outside God’s willsimply because you will not commit todoing everything required to obey it.

Remember, the definition of “deter-mine” carries the idea of settling a dis-pute. This is important because if youare going to commit to anything, you willhave to settle the never-ending dispute

between your flesh and your spirit.Galatians 5:17 says, “For the desires of the flesh

are opposed to the [Holy] Spirit and the [desires of the]Spirit are opposed to the flesh (godless human nature);for these are antagonistic to each other [continuallywithstanding and in conflict with each other]” ( The Amplified Bible). This verse is basically telling us theflesh and spirit never get along; they’re always fighting.

I’m convinced we miss many blessings in our livesbecause we try to understand so much instead ofsimply allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us. But we mustbe determined to settle the dispute between the fleshand the spirit and obey God. And no matter what, wemust never give up!

Trying to keepmyself going

was reallyhard, but I wasdetermined notto be defeated.



THE ANSWER TO FEAR

Many of us struggle with fear. Yet those of us whoare believers in Jesus Christ have no need to fear.Why? Because He is always with us. Because He

loves us with a perfect love. And as 1 John 4:18 states:“There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors andexpels every trace of terror!” ( Amplified Bible).

God knows that fear is the first emotion to typically hit usthe moment He calls us to do something that will move us toa new level in life. Whether it’s low-level nervousness or full-blown panic, the degree of fear varies, but most of us experi-ence some form of it.

We might be changing careers, gettingmarried, having children, leaving all that’sfamiliar for the mission field, going backto work after 20 years as a homemaker,becoming serious about diet and exercise,and so on. Our minds fill with excitement,yet we think: What if? What if? What if?

Any time we step out to do some-thing new, especially for God, we almostalways—and almost immediately—facea negative circumstance that tries to dis-courage us or convince us we cannot dowhat God asks of us. Something will come up to tell us it istoo hard, does not make sense, or will not work; or that weare not qualified to do it. The enemy uses such words andthoughts to discourage us, hoping fervently we will neveraccomplish what we set out to do.

Revelation 12:4 gives insight on how the devil tries toplant fear in us before we even get started: “And the dragonstationed himself in front of the woman who was about to be

delivered [give birth], so that he might devour her child assoon as she brought it forth.”The dragon (who represents Satan) had stationed himself

in front of her so he could devour her newborn child. Thisscene represents a dynamic that often happens in our livesas believers. Every time God puts a fresh new idea in our

hearts or gives us a dream, vision or new challenge for ourlives, the enemy will be there to oppose us. I am not referringsimply to the times we want to do “big” things for God; theenemy is not selective.

When we receive Jesus as our Savior, that’s a new level.When we begin to move into a deeper walk with God or beginto pray bolder prayers, those are new levels. When we beginto give time, money and energy to God’s kingdom, we aremoving to a new level.

God constantly calls us to new levels. Some seem bigand important; others seem relatively small or insignificant.

Whatever the case, when we reach a newlevel with God we face a new level of opposi-tion from our enemy, the devil.

Along with opposition, however, comesopportunity (see 1 Cor. 16:9)—but God isalways with us, and we have no need tofear. Some things may seem too great forus, but nothing is impossible with God. Heis not surprised or frightened by anything.

If you are determined never to give up onyour dream, then you have to take chances;you have to be courageous. When you facesituations that threaten or intimidate you,

you do not need to pray as much for the fear to go away as forboldness and courage so you can move ahead in spite of thefear. I can promise you, fear will not go away. It is not some-thing you can get rid of, so you must learn to overcome it.

The spirit of fear will always try to keep you from goingforward. The enemy has used fear for centuries to try to stoppeople, and he is not going to change his strategy now. Butyou can defeat fear; you are more than a conqueror through

Him who loves us (see Rom. 8:37).Courage is not the absence of fear; it is pressing forwardwhile the feeling of fear is present. I want to encourage you tobe determined to face fear when it comes against you. Standfirm, trusting God and knowing He is always with you.

I can promise you, fear willnot go away. So

you must learnto overcome it.

FIGHT FOR HOPE

When you think about the future, are you hopeful?Or do you struggle with a sense of dread?

People who have seen God’s faithfulness in thepast tend to be very hopeful about the future. They know abad situation can turn into a wonderful testimony in a matterof minutes. They know how to hold on to hope and theyrefuse to give up.

On the other hand, people who have lost all hope view lifefrom the perspective of dread. A close cousin to fear, dreadsteals the ability to enjoy ordinary life and makes people anx-ious about the future.

It keeps them from looking forwardto the next day, month or decade. Theirthoughts about the present are negativeand their outlook on the future is filledwith fear, pessimism, doubt and worry.

Hope is the opposite of dread—and aclose relative of faith. Hebrews 11:1 tellsus faith is “the assurance (the confirma-tion, the title deed) of the things [we] hopefor” (The Amplified Bible). When we havehope, our outlook on life and the future ispositive. We can have hope because wetrust in God’s love, His power to providefor us, and His ability to lead us in every situation.

Hope allows us to leave our unanswered questionsin God’s hands; it empowers us to remain at peace;and it enables us to believe the best about the days tocome. Generally, people who have hope are happy, opti-mistic, and full of inner strength and courage.

Because hope is such a powerful force, the devil goesafter it with a vengeance. If he can steal your hope, he can set

you on the path to total despair and depression—and that’shis intention. He will work hard to plant thoughts like these inyour mind:

“You have always been this way. You will never change.”“No one will ever want to marry you.” “You might as well buysome larger clothes—you’ll never lose weight.”

“Your children will never amount to anything.” “You willnot have enough money for retirement.” “No one in yourfamily has lived more than 70 years, so you cannot expect along life.” “You will never get out of debt.”

If you read t hese statements carefully, you will notice theyhave a common thread running through them: self-pity. Thedevil puts thoughts in our minds to make us feel sorry forourselves and resent the people who have what we are con-vinced we can never have.

Self-pity is a destructive and negative emotion. Itblinds us to our blessings and the possibilities before

us—which means it steals our hope forboth today and t omorrow. People whopity themselves think: Why should I try todo anything? I’ll just fail.

I used to love to sit and drink my coffee,feeling sorry for myself and thinking abouthow mistreated I was. But I finally real-ized that my self-pity is actually idolatrybecause it is self-focus carried to theextreme. When I allow myself to fall intoself-pity, I am essentially rejecting God’slove and His ability to change things forme.

I encourage you to be determined not to waste one moreday of your life in self-pity. When you lose hope and begin tofeel sorry for yourself, stop right that minute and say:

“I refuse to feel sorry for myself. I may be in a dif-ficult season of life right now, but I will not stop hopingfor better things!”

The enemy wants you to be consumed with hopelessnessand will tell you all sorts of lies about yourself, your life, other

people, and even about God. But you must remember thatthe devil is a liar. You must not believe anything he says.God has thoughts and plans for your good, to give you

hope for your future (see Jer. 29:11). If you will hold on toyour hope and fight for it when the enemy tries to take itaway, you will see amazing things take place in your life.

Self-pity is adestructive,negative emotionthat blinds us tothe possibilitiesbefore us.



OVERCOMING TRIALS

We often think of trusting God for things we needor want, such as financial provision, physicalhealing, restoration of a relationship, a promo-

tion at work, a place to live, an opportunity or a big win insome kind of competition.

A true relationship of trust in God extends beyondtrusting Him for something. We need to learn to trust Himthrough the process of attaining those things we desire.

There was a time in my life when I focused intenselyon trusting God for things, saying, “I want this, God,” and“I need such-and-such, God.” He began to show me thatgetting all those things was not themost important issue in my life.

He wanted to teach me how to trustHim enough to walk through situationswith stability and with a good attitudeon a consistent basis. He needed me tolearn that He may not always rescue uswhen we want out of circumstances, butHe is always with us as we walk through them.

God does not always deliver us fromeverything when we think He should.Throughout His Word, we read aboutpeople who had to go through things.

One familiar passage to many people is Psalm 23:4,“Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley ofthe shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for Youare with me” ( The Amplified Bible). Psalm 66:12 says, “Youcaused men to ride over our heads [when we were pros-trate]; we went through fire and through water, but Youbrought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance

and refreshment and the open air].”And the prophet Isaiah, speaking for God, says: “Whenyou pass through the waters, I will be with you, andthrough the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When youwalk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched,nor will the flame kindle upon you” (Is. 43:2, emphasisadded).

One of the most amazing stories of trusting Godthrough trouble is the account of the three courageous

young men named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.The Old Testament king Nebuchadnezzar threatened to

throw them into a blazing furnace where they were sureto be burned alive if they did not worship his idols. Theyresponded to him:

“If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us fromthe burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of yourhand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, thatwe will not serve your gods or worship the golden imagewhich you have set up!” (Dan. 3:17-18). The angry kingthrew the three men into the furnace—after ordering that

the furnace be turned up to seven timesits usual heat. The flames were so hot theyincinerated the king’s men as they threwthe three young men into it.

When Nebuchadnezzar looked into thefurnace, he said in astonishment, “Behold,I see four men loose, walking in the midstof the fire, and they are not hurt!” (Dan.3:25). The king called the three men out ofthe furnace, and when they emerged, notone hair on their heads had been singed,their clothes were not scorched, and theydidn’t even smell of smoke.

This testimony of going through difficulty with absolutetrust in God has inspired generations of people. Todaywe can draw much encouragement from the fact thatShadrach, Meshach and Abednego faced a terrifying situa-tion, one we can assume they wanted to be delivered from.Many think it was the pre-incarnate Jesus who was thefourth man in the fiery furnace with them.

As we follow their example, we can go through trials

with stable, positive attitudes, trusting God completely,even against seemingly impossible odds.Your attitude, whether good or bad, is yours to com-

mand in every situation. But I encourage you to maintainan attitude of faith, praise, thanksgiving and positiveexpectation, and you will definitely come through your situ-ation victoriously.

Going throughdifculty withabsolute trust inGod has inspired

generationsof people.

CHOOSE WELL

All of us have to make choices on a regular basis.They may be significant choices such as whatcareer to pursue or whom to marry, or seemingly

minor decisions such as what to wear to work and what toeat for lunch. Any time we have a choice, we have to makea decision.

I realize that sounds simple, but my point is thatwhen we have a choice to make we can commit to onlyone of two options. Sometimes we can choose betweengood and bad; other times we have to choose betweena good option or a better option. But we need the skillsto make good choices because ourchoices chart the courses of our lives.

Deuteronomy 30:19 is one of themost powerful Scriptures in the Wordof God. It says, “I call heaven andearth to witness this day against youthat I have set before you life anddeath, the blessings and the curses;therefore choose life, that you andyour descendants may live” ( The Amplified Bible).

I like this verse because in it Godtells us what our options are andthen He tells us which to choose. He says, basically,“These are your choices: life and blessings or deathand curses,” and then He clearly instructs us to chooselife. This is like taking a test in school and having theteacher write the answers on the blackboard! Godwants to make it easy for us to experience the lifeand blessings He wants to give to us, but we mustchoose these things over things that bring death and

destruction.Unfortunately, some people decide not to choose life.They make decisions that lead to strife instead of peace,to bondage instead of freedom and to misery insteadof joy. I believe the primary result of wrong choices isregret, which means: “to feel sorry, disappointed, ordistressed about something; to feel sorrow or griefover.”

The world is filled with people who live with regret.

Most of the time you can identify these people becausethey seem to have a sense of heaviness, sadness orgrief about them for no apparent reason and for a longperiod of time. These are people who are sorry abouteverything. They are sorry they didn’t finish their educa-tions, sorry they are in debt, sorry they messed up theirmarriages, sorry they did not spend more time withtheir children, and more.

Wrong choices cause regret, and when we experi-ence regret we need to deal with it and let it teach ushow to make better choices in the future.

I understand firsthand that wrongchoices lead to regret. I looked at myselfa while back and regretted never havingbeen serious about exercise. I saw amarked difference between my husband,Dave, and me because he has exercisedall his life and is healthy, strong and ingood physical shape.

When Dave and I return home fromoverseas travel, I struggle with jet lagfor several days, but he can take one napand be fine! That used to upset me, butI now realize he recovers more quickly

than I do because he’s stronger than I am.Initially, I merely regretted that I wasn’t as strong

as Dave, but then I realized I could do something aboutit. It is never too late to make good choices and startreaping good results. I now exercise regularly and havebeen amazed by how quickly my body has responded bylosing fat, building muscle and producing more energy.

If you find yourself regretting some of the unwise

choices you have made in life, don’t be deceived intothinking it is too late to do anything about it. You can getout of debt and do anything else you want to do. All youneed is to begin and then stick with it.

We have the awesome privilege and responsibilityof choosing to cooperate with God’s plan. Start makinggood choices so you can live a life in which you enjoyGod’s blessings every day.

We need the skills to make good choicesbecause ourchoices chartthe courses ofour lives.



LIVE PURPOSEFULLY

Ephesians 5:15 has always been one of my favoriteScriptures. It says: “Look carefully then how youwalk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately,

not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intel-ligent people)” (The Amplified Bible).

I have never had a problem with being purposeful. Mypurpose was not always what it should have been, but I gotup every day with the intent of making my life count. It isfrustrating to see wasted potential because waste leads toregret.

I believe the first quarter of 2008 is a good time to take aserious inventory of what you are doingwith your life, talents, energy, finances,time and everything in between. If youfind that you are not doing your best, thenmake a decision to change. Have a planfor each day and work your plan.

Don’t be legalistic and unwilling tobend if you need to alter your day, butdon’t start out with nothing. Successfulpeople are always disciplined, and undis-ciplined people are always unsuccessful.

Are you easily swayed by what otherswant to do, or do you have a plan and stickto it? Are you doing what you love or just doing things to keepbusy? Mark Twain said the secret of success was to be ableto make your vocation your vacation.

I like that thought. I have experienced that feeling with mywork. I love what I am doing so much that even when I am ona so-called vacation, I have trouble not pursuing my vocation.It is not hard to be dedicated to what you love.

Too many people never get around to fulfilling

God’s purposes for their lives because they’re so busykeeping everyone else happy. The world is filled withpeople who think they know what you should be doingwith your life. But the bottom line is it is your life, andwhen you stand before God, He will not ask anyoneabout your life except you.

You will give an account to God of how you’ve lived,and if you’re not already doing so, start living in a waythat will enable you to stand before Him without shame.Are you daring enough to follow your heart rather thanthe crowd? Are you focused even when many voices t ryto draw you away from your purpose?

An interesting phenomenon occurs when someone hasno purpose. They get very irritated with people who do. I amfrequently told that I am too intense, and perhaps that is true.But I would rather be too intense about what I am trying toaccomplish than to be so easygoing that I miss God’s best for

my life.The term “whatever” seems to be espe-

cially popular these days. That response toa direct question tells me that this personreally doesn’t care at all. Indifference is per-haps the greatest of all tragedies.

I’ve also noticed that the word “whatever”comes out when they don’t agree with me.Instead of standing up for what they believeis right, they often cave in. That’s not a goodattitude. I don’t like to see people beingrebellious, but neither do I want to see themnot care about what they believe is right.

We need to be intentional. We need to live life on purpose.We must not just wait around to see what everyone else isgoing to do and then follow the crowd. We must take a standand set a standard that others will reach to achieve.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those whowait for something to happen and those who make thingshappen. Don’t say, “I wish theywould do something aboutthis problem.” You are they —you do something!

Stir yourself up, make a decision, get going in a direction,and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are our bestteachers. Dedicate yourself to excellence and don’t let yourfeelings run your life. Remember, you will always have them,but they don’t have to have you.

It is frustratingto see wasted

potential because waste leadsto regret.

BE THANKFUL!

Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the cir-cumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks],for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ

Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will]” (1 Thess.5:18, The Amplified Bible).

When our minds flow with thanksgiving and praise, wedevelop immunity to the enemy’s infectious ways. But themore we complain, the more defeated we feel.

A wise pastor once told me: “Praise fills the heavens andthe earth with God’s presence and drives away the darkness.So if you want to live in the sunshine, praise the Lord.”

When good things happen to us, weturn to praise. It’s easy to lift our handsand our voices when God answers prayerand delivers us from problems. It isn’talways easy when things go wrong. Whatdo we do when we’re sick, when we loseour jobs, or when people talk againstus? How do we fill our minds with joyfulthanksgiving in those situations?

If we read the verse above and addto it Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lordalways [delight, gladden yourselves inHim]; again I say, Rejoice!” then we seethat we have options.

The negative option is the attitude of Job’s wife, who wasso distraught at the loss of her children and possessions thatshe cried out to Job: “Do you still hold fast your blamelessuprightness? Renounce God and die!” (Job 2:9).

Job answered with great wisdom: “You speak as one ofthe impious and foolish women would speak. What? Shallwe accept [only] good at the hand of God and shall we not

accept [also] misfortune and what is of a bad nature?” (v. 10).Job understood that a righteous life doesn’t mean every-thing runs smoothly and that only blessings fall on top ofblessings.

We have two positive options available to us in this newyear, and most of us can practice the first, but not all of uscan accept the second. The first is to praise God in spite of what’s going on in our lives. Or another way to say that is, in

the midst of our troubles and hardships we can rejoice overthe things that are not wrong in our lives.

It may take effort, but if we can turn our eyes way fromthe immediate problems, we can see that not everythingin life is bad. We also can rejoice because God has faith-fully taken us through the turmoil of the past, and we canrejoice and know He will do the same thing again.

The second option is to ask: “God, what can I learnfrom this? What do You want to teach me through thisso that I may be closer to You and rejoice more fully inyour goodness?” Those are not easy questions, and the

answers are often hard.Sometimes we grasp the important les-

sons in our lives only when we encounterdifficulty. The psalmist says, “Before I wasafflicted I went astray, but now Your word do Ikeep [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeyingit]” (Ps. 119:67). God loves us enough to giveus the opportunity to change our ways and tofollow Him.

Through the years, I’ve heard manystories from people who had wonderful jobs or great ministries or made a greatdeal of money—and then their lives fell

apart. One man—someone who had once been a mil-lionaire—came to our meetings after he had spent threeyears in prison.

The first words that came out of his mouth were: “I’mglad I was convicted and sent to prison. I had run fromGod for a long time. The Lord finally got my attentionwhen someone gave me a copy of your book Healing theBrokenhearted .”

Not everyone can rejoice and give thanks for their suf-fering, but we all can give thanks in the midst of it. Let’s praythis prayer together and start this new year right:

“God, I’m thankful for Your love and Your presence.Forgive me for grumbling when things go wrong, andremind me of how many things go right in my life. Enableme to rejoice in You always. Amen.”

In the midst ofour hardships,

we can rejoiceover the thingsthat are not

wrong inour lives.

“



LIVE AMAZED!

Are you excited about being a Christian? Do youenjoy being with and worshiping with otherbelievers, and talking about what God is doing in

your life and in the lives of others? Or have you becomeaccustomed to the idea that you will live eternally and Godis watching over you?

God once spoke to my heart that I should always liveamazed and not get blasé about things that once thrilledme. I remember how excited I was when God revealedHis love to me. Wow! God loves me—and just because Hewants to.

His love is unconditional and ever-lasting. I was so excited and enthusi-astic I felt I was going to burst. But aftera while, I got used to the fact that Godloves me, and I didn’t feel the samepassion.

Are you experiencing the samething? If so, I believe there is some-thing you can do about it.

Paul told Timothy to stir himselfup, to fan the flame and rekindle theembers of the fire he once had (see2 Tim. 1:6). Paul was talking aboutTimothy’s faith, which had been passed on to him by hisgrandmother and mother. Timothy let himself becomeafraid, and the message from Paul was “Stir yourselfup.” Apparently it was Timothy’s responsibility, notsomeone else’s.

What can we do to keep ourselves passionate aboutGod’s purposes for our lives? We can be careful abouthow we live and think and with whom we spend our time.

All these things affect our attitudes and emotions. Ifwe think about something in the right way, it will fill uswith enthusiasm. Likewise, if we think the wrong way, wecan dread doing what we should be excited about.

Stop thinking this way: I’m so tired of doing the sameold thing all the time. I go to church, but nobody appreci-ates the effort I make. I have v olunteered in the nursery forthree years, and nobody has even thanked me. That kind ofthinking will depress you and make you feel resentful.

If you are serving to be thanked, then your motivesare wrong. God is not impressed with what we do or howmuch we do. He is impressed only with why we have doneit, and it must be for a good, godly reason.

Doing things to impress people and to be admired arenot good motives. Serve God, not man, and your rewardwill come from Him.

Instead, think like this: I am looking forward to goingto church today. I remember when I was miserable anddidn’t even know if I would go to heaven when I died. I am so glad to have an opportunity to serve God by working in the

nursery. God sees everything I do, and noneof my labors go unrewarded by Him.

If we spend a lot of time with peoplewho have no vision for their lives, nopurpose, no passion and no enthusiasm,we will probably start to be like them.The Bible says unholiness is infectious,but holiness is not (see Hag. 2:12-13).For example, we can catch a cold fromsomeone else, but we cannot catch goodhealth—that must be chosen.

When we have our whole hearts com-mitted to something about which we’re

passionate, we don’t just drift along and go with what-ever comes along. We pray, think things over and makepurposeful choices.

Stay focused. It is easy in society today to get side-tracked and begin drifting in a direction that will bedetrimental to your future. Be determined to serve Godwholeheartedly.

I imagine some of you may be thinking, Joyce, I wish I

felt that passion you’re talking about, but I just don’t.Let me remind you: Passion is a decision about how wewill approach life before it becomes a feeling. Those whopurposefully pursue their passions are people who will glo-rify God and be long remembered.

As Christians, let us wake up every morning excitedabout the relationship we have with our Creator and whatHe’s going to show us and teach us today!

Doing thingsto impress

people and to beadmired are not

good motives for serving God.

TRUE WORSHIP

The worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture,”according to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary ofOld and New Testament Words. I believe the reason

for this is because worship cannot be defined.Worship comes from such a deep place within us. It

is such a powerful outpouring of our hearts toward theLord, and it represents such love, gratitude and devotionthat we cannot put it into words.

In fact, worship is so personal and intimate thatmaybe we should not even attempt to define it.

Vine’s does say that worship “is not confined to praise;broadly, it may be regarded as thedirect acknowledgement to God, of Hisnature, attributes, ways and claims”and that it can mean “to serve,” or to“do service to.” Some sources also saythat to worship means “to kiss,” whichconnotes great affection and intimacy.

Although we cannot find a defini-tion of worship in the Word of God, theScriptures are clear in their instruc-tions and observations about it. Forexample:

» “Give to the Lord the glory dueHis name. ... Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holi-ness!” (1 Chr.16:29, NKJV).

» “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneelbefore the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and sup-plication]” (Ps. 95:6, The Amplified Bible).

» “Extol the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill,for the Lord our God is holy!” (Ps. 99:9).

» “I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise

Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth andfaithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your nameand Your word and You have magnified Your word above allYour name!” (Ps.138:2).

Worship is so much more than just singing songs. Itis a condition of the heart and a state of mind. We can beworshiping passionately without singing a single note.It is born in our hearts, it fills our thoughts, and it is

expressed through our mouths and through our bodies.For example, we can worship God by dancing, clapping,

lifting our hands, playing an instrument, giving tithes andofferings, marching around, or sitting perfectly still, butour actions or our positions are simply reflections of whatis in our hearts.

One posture often used in worship and prayer iskneeling. Kneeling is a posture of humility, but it is alsoa position of incredible power. As an act of humility,kneeling affects us in a positive way because it allows usphysically to express our total dependence upon the Lord.

To kneel is to say to Him: “I need You,God. I want to follow You and obey You. Iam desperate for You!”

The world often thinks of worship as“religion,” which could not be furtherfrom the biblical concept of worship. It’sabout a personal relationship, spiritualintimacy and passionate expressions ofdevotion from people who love God withall their hearts. This is true worship.

John 4:23 says God is looking for thiskind of worshiper and this type of wor-ship: “A time will come, however, indeed

it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshiperswill worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); forthe Father is seeking just such people as these as Hisworshipers.”

I have always been a bit saddened by the fact that God hasto seek true worshipers. There should be an abundance ofthem who are dedicated to Him.

I find it interesting that He does not want just anybody

to worship Him. He wants true and genuine people. Hedoes not want to be worshiped out of fear, obligation orreligion.

True worship is a result of intimacy with God. That iswhy worship is so important to our prayer lives.

Our hearts have to be connected, and we have to befocused on Him. We cannot give God lip service. We mustexpress the worship that abides in us.

We can danceand lift ourhands, but ouractions are areection of whatis in our hearts.

“



CHANGE YOUR MIND

Life is no fun when it is controlled by feelings becausefeelings change from day to day, hour to hour, evenmoment to moment. They cannot be trusted, not

only because they change so often, but also because theylie.

Our feelings influence us because we are “soulish”creatures. Too often we allow ourselves to be guided by oursoul—our mind, will and emotions—rather than by the HolySpirit. Although we cannot keep negative thoughts com-pletely off our minds, we don’t have to dwell on them.

We have a will, and we can choose not to give in to ourthoughts. As Christ followers, we mustlive by truth and wisdom, not by ouremotions.

There was a time when I did not resistnegative feelings and, as a result, I had anunstable, miserable life. Now when thosefeelings rise up to cause me fear andmisery, I stop and say to myself: “JoyceMeyer, knock it off! You know that is nottrue!”

So even though I may occasionally feelbombarded by less-than-lovely thoughts,I do not allow my feelings to dictate to meand spoil my life. That is part of being emotionally mature.

Let me give you some examples. Perhaps you have foundyourself in a crowd of people and felt as though everyone wastalking about you. That doesn’t mean they were.

Maybe you feel that nobody understands you, but thatdoesn’t mean they don’t. You may feel misunderstood, unap-preciated or even mistreated, but that doesn’t mean you are.

These are only feelings. We need to be mature, disciplined,

Holy Spirit-controlled people, determined to walk in theSpirit. It takes a constant act of the will to choose to do thingsGod’s way rather than our way.

My husband, Dave, is a portrait of emotional stability. Heoften reminds me of a rock, which is one of the names ofJesus. The Bible tells us the disciples “drank from a spiritualRock which followed them [produced by the sole power of

God Himself without natural instrumentality], and the Rockwas Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4, The Amplified Bible).

One way of explaining the nature of Jesus would be tosay that He has emotional maturity. The writer of the bookof Hebrews tells us “Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is [always]the same, yesterday, today, [yes] and forever (to the ages)”(Heb. 13:8).

Do you really believe Jesus allowed Himself to be ledaround by His emotions, as we so often do? Of course not.We know that He was led by the Spirit, not by feelings, thoughwe have seen that He was subject to all the same feelings

you and I experience in our daily lives.I used to get aggravated with Dave

because he never got excited or upset aboutanything. It was just part of his personalitynot to show much emotion.

On the other hand, I constantly went fromone extreme to the other. I was up one day,laughing and feeling good, then down thenext, weeping, whining and feeling sorry formyself. I would bounce back the next day,only to turn around and fall right back intomisery.

This emotional roller coaster finally lev-eled off when I made a determined decision that with thehelp of the Holy Spirit I was not going to live that way any-more. I needed emotional stability. Dave provided an excel-lent example of what that was.

The Bible tells us that the Lord our God who resideswithin each of us is mighty (see Zeph. 3:17)—mighty to helpus overcome our emotions and be led by His unchangeableWord and Spirit.

Our God is able. Why not trust Him to help you develop thesame kind of emotional maturity and stability that markedthe life of His own Son, Jesus Christ? You can learn to takecontrol of your emotions and avoid the mood swings that willkeep you from enjoying the continual calm delight that Godhas planned for you. Why not start today?

I feel bombardedat times byless-than-lovelythoughts, but Idon’t let themdictate my life.

NO MORE MASKS

So many times we struggle to be real. We act oneway on the outside, but we’re actually different onthe inside. Because we have weaknesses, faults and

fears—things that we think make us less likable or desir-able—we’d rather hide them from other people.

Over time, we devise masks to effectively hide our blem-ishes and give others a different perception of who we reallyare. In fact, we’ve become so comfortable with our masksthat we forget we’re wearing them.

But pride, shame or fear keeps us from taking off thedisguises and revealing our true identities to others—eventhose we love. The thought of sheddingthe layers of deception and defenses andstanding exposed to the world is morethan many of us can bear.

The desire to be accepted and likedis so strong in us that we will do almostanything to feel validated.

When we were children, if we felt thatwe were not being loved or acceptedfor who we were, we would change. Wewould completely reinvent ourselves. Likea chameleon, we would change our outerappearances and attitudes so we could fitin better with our surroundings. But inside that chameleonstays the same—it can’t change what it is.

The same is true of each of us. We can change the out-side, but we can’t revise who we really are deep down inside.

The danger of wearing a mask, of course, is that it mis-represents us. What other people see is a lie. It’s not who weare or who we were born to be.

By the time we reach adulthood, we’ve had years of

experience in role-playing and covering up. Our maskshave become as comfortable as an old pair of slippers—and we’ve lost touch with who we really are. We havespent so many years hiding that we’ve forgotten thosethings about ourselves that make us different and special.

What a waste! A loving Father who rejoices in our individ-uality uniquely created each of us. In fact, it’s the distinctive

things about us, not our “sameness,” that make us special toHim.

The little girl with freckles, the young man with dimplesand the beloved gray-haired grandparents with the sweetsmiles—they all stand out because they are special. And youare special too!

We all have fears and weaknesses. We’re all less thanperfect and wish we were better. But we need to realize thatGod loves us just the way we are right now, and His love forus will never diminish.

And there’s more good news. Second Corinthians3:18 says that “all of us, as with unveiledface, [because we] continued to behold[in the Word of God] as in a mirror theglory of the Lord, are constantly beingtransfigured into His very own image inever increasing splendor and from onedegree of glory to another” ( AmplifiedBible).

This means that when we believeand cooperate with God’s good plan forour lives, He will help us to let down thedefenses we’ve had up for so long. Godknows how badly we want to fit in, but His

love is powerful enough to reach beyond our willingnessto hide our faults in our effort to gain acceptance.

Trust Him enough to take off your mask and look into themirror of His Word. You will find as I have that you are beingchanged, little by little, into the very image of your Lord.

Eventually, all the good things that God has done inus will begin to show on the outside and cause othersto become hungry for what we have. As we continue to

follow Jesus as our example, people will want to follow us.This is the higher standard that we are called to live by asChristians.

God wants us to honor Him with our lives and our lovetoward others. As genuine worshipers of the Lord, let usresist the temptation to “play the imposter” and endeavor tobe real.

We can changethe outside,but we can’trevise who wereally are deepdown inside.



SPEAK THE WORD

As believers, we need to be trained to understandthe soul, which is made up of the intellect, willand emotions. Since it is full of “self” and does not

want to submit to the Holy Spirit, it must be purified (see 2Tim. 2:2).

Because we are free moral agents our own minds tellus what we think, but our thoughts are not necessarilyGod’s thoughts. Our wills dictate what we want, despitewhat He desires for us. And our emotions govern ourfeelings, but our hearts should instead be subject to Him.

As the soul is purified it is trained to carry God’sthoughts, desires and feelings, and thenwe become mouthpieces for Him. I donot believe we can live in victory unlesswe realize there is power in what wesay.

We usually talk about the “moun-tains” in our lives, but God’s Wordinstructs us to talk to them, as Jesusdid in Mark 11:22-23. In saying that weare to speak to the mountain, com-manding it to be lifted up and throwninto the sea, Jesus was making aradical statement that merits furtherstudy. It is obvious that we are not to hurl our wills at thechallenges in our lives; we must respond to them with theWord of God.

In Luke 4, when Satan was trying to tempt Jesus in thewilderness, the Lord responded to every trial by speakingScripture. He repeatedly said to Satan, “It is written,” andquoted verses that met the lies and deceptions of the devilhead-on.

We have a tendency to try this for a while, but when wedo not see quick results we stop speaking the Word to ourproblems and begin once again to speak our feelings. Per-sistence is a vital link to obtaining victory. We must knowwhat we believe and be determined to stick with it to theend.

To make sure we maintain balance in this teaching,let me say that speaking the Word is powerful and abso-lutely necessary in overcoming any p roblem or negative

situation. However, it is not the onlydoctrine in God’sWord.

For example, obedience is extremely important. Ifa person thinks he can live in disobedience but speakto his mountains, he will be sadly mistaken, as Jesusclearly stated in Mark 11:22-26:

“And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God[constantly]. Truly I tell you, whoever says to this moun-tain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does notdoubt at all in his heart but believes that what he sayswill take place, it will be done for him.

“For this reason I am telling you,whatever you ask for in prayer, believe(trust and be confident) that it is grantedto you, and you will [get it].

“And whenever you stand praying, ifyou have anything against anyone, for-give him and let it drop (leave it, let itgo), in order that your Father Who is inheaven may also forgive you your [own]failings and shortcomings and let themdrop.

“But if you do not forgive, neither willyour Father in heaven forgive your fail-

ings and shortcomings” ( Amplified Bible).Multitudes of people who have accepted Christ as

their personal Savior fall into the deception of tryingto operate in one of God’s principles while completelyignoring another.

We must take the time to learn the Word of God andknow the Father’s heart. Although many t hings areclearly defined in Scripture, other spiritual matters

require that we make decisions about them even whenthey are not spelled out in black and white.It takes time to know God as well as our own hearts.

Learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and see God’swill accomplished in your life.

Remember, words are containers of power and theybind us. Our hearts must be right before the Lord, forit is out of the of the heart that the mouth speaks—forgood or evil.

I do not believe we can live in victory unless we realize thereis power in

what we say.

YOU ARE UNIQUE

As we begin a new year, I want to remind you ofsomething I consider to be important to your well-being: You are no surprise to God. He knew what

He was getting when He chose you, just as He knew whatHe was getting when He chose me.

The Bible says, “He chose us [actually picked us outfor Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundationof the world” (Eph. 1:4, The Amplified Bible).

God already knew our weaknesses, every flaw wewould have, every time we would fail, and He still said,“I want you.” Ephesians 1:5 declares He foreordainedus to be adopted as His own children.God is our daddy! With Him on ourside things are bound to work out allright in the end.

We need to refrain from comparingourselves to anyone else, becauseGod doesn’t want us to be frustratedand feel unworthy of the blessings Heso desires to give us.

Comparing our lives with otherpeople’s lives is unfair—to themand to us. We can look at others andwonder why we don’t look as theylook, know what they know, own what they own or dowhat they do. But it’s interesting to note that Satannever points out what they don’t have, only what theydo have that we don’t have.

God, on the other hand, never reminds us how farwe have to go. He always reminds us how far we havecome, how well we are doing, how precious we are inHis sight and how much He loves us.

I spent many unhappy days comparing myself withother people. Why couldn’t I just cast my care on Godlike my husband, Dave? Why couldn’t I be sweet, mer-ciful and submissive like my pastor’s wife?

Why couldn’t I sew like my neighbor? Why couldn’t Ihave a faster-working metabolism so I could eat moreand not gain weight? Why? Why? Why?

God never answered me except with the same answerHe gave Peter when he compared himself with John.Jesus had told Peter that he was going to enter a time ofsuffering. Jesus was speaking of the kind of death Peterwould die and thereby glorify God (see John 21:18-22).

Peter’s initial response was to ask what was goingto happen to John. Jesus promptly said: “If I want himto stay (survive, live) until I come, what is that to you?[What concern is it of yours?] You follow Me!” (v. 22).It sounds to me as though Jesus was politely tellingPeter to mind his own business and not to worry about

John.The Lord has an individual plan for

each of us, and often we can’t under-stand what He is doing or why He isdoing it. We look at others as the stan-dard for what should happen to us, butGod has a unique standard for eachperson. That we all have a different setof fingerprints is proof enough we arenot to compete with one another.

It isn’t fair to compare ourselves withothers. It says to God, “I want to limitYou to this and nothing else.” What if

God ends up giving you something far greater thananyone you know? Galatians 6:4 says to do “somethingcommendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to]boastful comparison” with our neighbors. In otherwords our goal should be to be the very best we can be.

When your value as an individual is firmly rooted inChrist, you are free from the agony of comparisons andcompetition. That kind of freedom releases joy, and joy

is the result of being thankful for every single thingthat you have, counting yourself blessed just to be aliveand to know Jesus as your Lord.

God wants you to know that His hand is upon you,that His angels are watching over you, that His HolySpirit is in you and with you to help you in everythingyou do.

When your valueis rmly rootedin Christ, youare free fromthe agony ofcomparisons.



THE POWER OFCONVICTION

I often wonder how any human being can get through asingle day without God. If I feel that I am missing God’sintimate presence, I can hardly stand it. I’m like a little

kid who has lost his mother in a store. I’m frantic! All I canthink about is trying to find my parent.

I never want to be out of fellowship with the Lord. I musthave Him to get through every single day of my life.

That’s why I’m so grateful for the conviction of theHoly Spirit. He lets me know if I’m doing somethingthat grieves God or interferes with our fellowship. Heis faithful to show me if I’ve done something wrong andhelps me get back to the place I needto be. He convicts and convinces me,but He never, ever condemns me.

The Bible says: “For God so greatlyloved and dearly prized the world thatHe [even] gave up His only begotten(unique) Son, so that whoever believesin (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Himshall not perish (come to destruction,be lost) but have eternal (everlasting)life. For God did not send the Son intothe world in order to judge (to reject,to condemn, to pass sentence on) theworld, but that the world might find salvation and be madesafe and sound through Him” (John 3:16-17, The AmplifiedBible).

God loves us even more than we love our own children,and in His love He disciplines us. I remember how I hated totake privileges away from my children. But I knew they werebound for trouble if they didn’t learn to listen to me.

God has the same concern for us, but He is patient.

He tells us again and again what we ought to do. He maytell us 15 different ways, trying to get our attention.His message of convicting love is everywhere. He wants

us to listen to Him because He loves us. If we persist inour ways, He withholds privileges and blessings from us.But He does so only becaus e He wants us to mature.

If God freely gave us His Son, Jesus, surely He won’t

hold back anything else we need. He wants to bless usradically and outrageously.

Every single day of our lives we need forgiveness. TheHoly Spirit sets off the alarm in our spirits to recognizesin, and He gives us the power of the blood of Jesus tocontinuously cleanse u s from sin and keep us in rightstanding with Him.

But if we are overcome with condemnation, we can becertain it is not from God. He sent Jesus to die for us—topay the price for our sins. Jesus bore our sin and condemna-tion on the cross (see Is. 53). When God breaks the yoke of

sin from us, He removes the guilt too. He isfaithful and just to forgive all our sins and tocontinually cleanse us from all unrighteous-ness (see 1 John 1:9).

The devil knows that condemnationand shame keep us from approachingGod in prayer so our needs can be metand we can enjoy intimate fellowshipwith Him. Feeling bad about ourselvesor believing that God is angry with usonly separates us from His presence. Hedoesn’t leave us, but often in fear andshame we withdraw from Him.

That’s why it is so important to know the differencebetween conviction and condemnation. Remember, if youheed conviction, it lifts you up and out of sin and leads youback to the heart of God. Condemnation only makes youfeel bad about yourself.

Ask God to convict you of your sin, realizing that convic-tion is a special blessing, not a problem. If only perfectpeople could pray and receive answers, nobody would be

praying. We don’t need to be perfect, but we do need to becleansed of sin.Conviction is vitally necessary if we are to walk with God

properly. This precious gift is one of the important ways wehear from God. Don’t make the mistake of allowing condem-nation to take hold of your life. Instead, let conviction lift youto a new level in God. Don’t resist it; receive it!

If you heedconviction, itlifts you out of

sin and leads you back to theheart of God.

FEAR NOT!

H ave you ever thought how great life would be ifwe didn’t have to deal with fear? Of course, thereare healthy fears that alert us to danger—and

these are good because they protect us. There is also fearof God, which means to have a holy, reverential awe andrespect for Him.

But there is a debilitating fear that Satan tries to put on usevery day. I call itFalse Evidence Appearing Real. It is intendedto keep us from having the power, love and sound mind Godwants us to have.

If you struggle with anxiety, you know about the worry,stress and feeling of heavinessthat come with it. Many peoplestruggle with fear that has noobvious cause or source. Theywonder why they are alwaysafraid and can’t change nomatter how hard they try. Othersspend every minute worryingabout what might happen.

“What if …” is their favoritephrase. “What if I can’t pay thebills?” “What if my child gets hurt?” “What if my husbandloses his job?” The endless list of possible tragedies keepsthese unfortunate people bound up and miserable every dayof their lives.

There are many serious things going on in the world, andwe need to be aware of them and prepare for them. But wealso need to learn to resist fear when it rises up against us.The Word tells us, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity (ofcowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [Hehas given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and

well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control” (2 Tim.1:7, The Amplified Bible).Sometimes we think of fear as an emotion, but it is

actually a spirit. In fact, fear is one of Satan’s favorite tools,and he particularly loves to harass Christians with it. Atevery possible opportunity he will whisper in your ear,telling you God has forgotten you and there is no hope. Itmakes sense that Satan would try to intimidate us withfear.

But Jesus said, “All things can be (are possible) to him

who believes!” (Mark 9:23). There is nothing worse for theenemy than an on-fire, Bible-believing Christian who isfearless!

God didn’t promise us that everything would be easy.The truth is, we all will face problems and challenges inthis life. But the outcome depends on whether we trustGod—or give in to fear.

Psalm 23:4 says, “Yes, though I walk through the [deep,sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dreadno evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Yourstaff [to guide], they comfort me.” The psalmist David said

he walked through the valley of the shadow ofdeath.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were castinto the fiery furnace, but God brought them safelythrough the fire (see Dan. 3).

God’s Word says He will provide that same pro-tection and deliverance to all who put their faithand trust in Him. But the more we focus our eyesand our mouths on the problem, the more fearfulwe become. Instead, we should focus on God, whois able to handle anything we will ever have to

face.No matter what problem or difficulty may occur in our

lives, we must allow God to guide us through it. He hasgiven us the power to confront fear and break its hold overus. When the devil says, “You’re trapped,” boldly say tohim: “Wrong! I’m just passing through!”

It has been said that fear is the opposite of faith, and thatis true. We can’t live in faith and fear at the same time. Fearparalyzes us and keeps us from receiving God’s promises. Itkeeps us from stepping out and obeying what God has called

us to do. It neutralizes our effectiveness for the kingdom ofGod.Fear is a spirit that must be confronted head-on—it will

not leave on its own. We must proclaim the Word of God andcommand fear to leave. The Bible assures us that “there isno fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (com-plete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels everytrace of terror” (1 John 4:18).

So the next time fear knocks on your door, send faith toanswer!

Fear is oneof Satan’s

favorite tools for harassingChristians.



THE FLESH IS WEAK

The night before Jesus was crucified, He gatheredthe disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane andmade just one request: “All of you must keep awake

(give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watchand pray, that you may not come into temptation. Thespirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41,The Amplified Bible). It seemed like such a simple thing—all the disciples had to do was stay awake and pray.

Jesus told the disciples to pray with Him because Hewanted to prepare them for the trial that was coming. Butthey kept falling asleep.

Jesus, on the other hand, did pray, andas He did, an angel strengthened Him inspirit, enabling Him to endure the cross.The disciples didn’t pray—they slept—andproved that the flesh truly is weak.

This is why prayer is so important.As Christians, many of us have the ideathat everything in our lives will be per-fect simply because we are Christians.But Jesus clearly warned us, “In theworld you have tribulation and trialsand distress and frustration; but be ofgood cheer [take courage; be confident,certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I havedeprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it foryou]” (John 16:33).

That’s not to say we should be negative. But we need tobe realistic and understand that very few things in life areperfect. Jesus said we would have to deal with temptation,tribulation, trials, distress and frustration. These thingsare part of life on this earth—for the believer as well as the

unbeliever.When temptation comes, our spirit is willing to do whatis right, but our flesh will not help us. Our flesh will pull usunder if we don’t pray and ask God to strengthen us in spiritand to circumcise our hearts to resist temptation.

Crucifying the flesh is never a particularly enjoyableexperience, but as followers of Christ, we are called to sufferas He suffered. First Peter 4:1 tells us, “So, since Christ

suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm yourselves with thesame thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than failto please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [havingthe mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stoppedpleasing himself and the world, and pleases God].”

It is important to understand the difference between suf-fering in the flesh and suffering demonic affliction. Givingup the selfish appetites of our flesh does not mean we areto suffer from sickness, disease and poverty. Jesus died todeliver us from the curse of sin. But unless we are willing tosuffer in the flesh, we will never walk in the will of God.

The apostle Paul wrote, “But [like aboxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly,discipline it by hardships] and subdue it,for fear that after proclaiming to others theGospel and things pertaining to it, I myselfshould become unfit [not stand the test, beunapproved and rejected as a counterfeit]” (1Cor. 9:27).

Paul is speaking here about self-disci-pline. Self-discipline is keeping ourselvesgoing in the right direction without beingpressured by someone else.

The problem is that somehow we havegotten the wrong idea that everything in life is supposed to beeasy. We need to be people who are self-motivated and self-disciplined. We must do what is right because it is right, notbecause someone is forcing us to comply.

When we get up in the morning, we should set ourthoughts on walking in God’s will all day long. We might evensay to ourselves, “Even if I need to suffer in order to do God’swill today, I purpose in my mind and heart to be obedient.”

Remember—even in the face of our suffering, thereis hope, for Christ has overcome the world! Paul wrote,“Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suf-fering and tribulation; be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12).Decide ahead of time that you will face each day with thedetermination to please God, whether your flesh is willing ornot.

When temptationcomes, our spiritis willing to doright, but our

esh is not

DON’T LETFEELINGS FOOL YOU

Following God is easier when we areled by His Spirit rather than BY our emotions.

It is God’s greatest desire that, as believers, you and Iprogressively learn how to be led by His Spirit. How-ever, there is a powerful enemy that stands in the way:

our emotions. Satan is the most powerful enemy we faceexternally, but internally, it’s our emotions that give ussome of the biggest problems.

Emotions are strong, complex internal responses that resultin bodily changes. They are sometimes helpful and at other timeshurtful. They come in positives and negatives. They are not evil, butthey also are not holy.

Emotions can make you laugh one hour and cry the next.Not wanting them doesn’t stop them fromcoming, and wanting them doesn’t makethem come. They are apt to quit on us when we need them most and flare up when we wish they would go away.

The truth is, we are always going t ohave emotions, and it’s not a sin to havethem. It’s when we follow them that weoften get into trouble.

But I believe through the power of theHoly Spirit, you and I can learn how to rec-ognize our feelings and realize where they aretrying to take us. Then by His grace, we canlearn how to manage our emotions instead of letting them manageus.

Understanding Our EmotionsEmotions, or feeling s, are part of our soulish realm. We

are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Our soul isthe intangible area between our spirit—the place where Godlives—and our physical body. It is made up of our mind, will

and emotions—it tells us what we think, what we want andhow we feel. Of these three areas of the soul, it’s our feelingsthat get stirred up the fastest and can lead us into temptationthe quickest.

Once our emotions get stirred up, they can quicklydeceive our mind. After this happens, the voice of ourconscience, which operates out of our spirit, is deniedits normal standard of judgment. In other words, ourGod-given inner voice of insight and understandingbecomes drowned out by the cries of our emotions.

In this unstable state, we don’t know God’s will for ourlives. We become confused about what we should and

shouldn’t do. As a result, we commit to things that Goddoesn’t want us to commit to, we quit doing things that Godwants us to remain a part of, and we say things that damageour relationships.

When we follow our feelings instead of following God’sSpirit, we are living the life of the flesh, and it keeps us outof God’s will. Romans 8:8 says that “those who are livingthe life of the flesh [catering to the appetites and impulsesof their carnal nature] cannot please or satisfy God, orbe acceptable to Him” ( The Amplified Bible). This doesn’tmean that God doesn’t love us. What it does mean is that

He is not satisfied with nor will He acceptfleshly behavior.

It is imperative that we learn howto walk in the Spirit. When we “walkand live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit[responsive to and controlled and guidedby the Spirit]; then [we] will certainly notgratify the cravings and desires of theflesh (of human nature without God)” (Gal. 5:16).

How do we learn to walk in the Spirit?I believe one of the best ways is to under-stand the differences between the natural

man, the carnal man and the spiritual man.

The Natural Man and the Carnal ManIn 1 Corinthians 2 and 3, the apostle Paul talks

about two types of people that are led by their fleshlydesires—the natural man and the carnal man. Thenatural man is the person who is not saved—his spiritis dead and totally devoid of God’s Spirit. He “does not

accept or welcome or admit into his heart the giftsand teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God,for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; andhe is incapable of knowing them (of progressivelyrecognizing, understanding, and becoming betteracquainted with them) because they are spirituallydiscerned and estimated and appreciated” (1 Cor. 2:14).

Since God is a Spirit and the things about Him are spiritu-ally discerned, the natural man cannot understand anythingabout God. Why? Because his spirit is dead in sin (see Eph.2:1).

The carnal man, on the other hand, has experienced

It’s not a sin tohave emotions.

It’s when we follow themthat we getinto trouble.



new birth in Christ. But although his spirit has beenmade alive through his faith in Jesus, his life is domi-nated by the desires of the flesh—the combined crav-ings of his body and soul. He does what he wants and isaimlessly led around by his feelings.

The carnal man is a people-pleaser who cares moreabout what people think than about obeying God. This wasthe case with many of the Corinthians. It is also the waymany Christians are living today.

Look at what Paul says: “For you are still [unspiritual,having the nature] of the flesh [under the control of ordi-nary impulses]. For as long as [there are] envying and jealousy and wrangling and factions among you, are younot unspiritual and of the flesh, behaving yourselves aftera human standard and like mere (unchanged) men?” (1Cor. 3:3). In other words, Paul is saying that these carnalChristians were immature and operating out of their emo-tions—whatever they felt like saying and whatever they felt like doing, they did.

Carnal Christians are easy to identify. They are usuallyin strife, discontent, easily offended and lacking peace.

For many years of my early walk with God I had verylittle peace with myself or others, even though I was aSpirit-filled Christian. If I didn’t get my way, I would argue,pout, throw a fit, have a pity party or not talk to people forweeks at a time. Basically, I acted like a child.

At the time, I had no idea my behavior was wrong orthat I was being led by my fleshly desires. I went to churchregularly and heard Bible doctrine, but I wasn’t hearingany practical teaching on how to get along with others andexercise self-control over my emotions.

When I finally got fed up with not having peace in mylife, I made a decision to do whatever I needed to do toget it. I went to God and asked Him what was wrong, andHe responded, “Joyce, you’re shallow. You need to beginliving on a deeper level.”

Over time, God made it clear to me that the deeperlevel I needed to live on was the level of the Spirit. In

order for us to truly enjoy the abundant life Jesus diedto give us, we need to stop living b y what we want, think,and feel and start following the promptings of His Spirit.This is the level that the spiritual man lives on.

The Spiritual ManThe spiritual man is the mature Christian who follows dili-

gently after the desires of the Spirit. He is not someone who just prays the sinner’s prayer and then never feeds his spiritwith the Word. Nor is he someone who keeps God in a “box”and lets Him out only on Sunday mornings.

The spiritual man has a full-time commitment to follow

Christ, and he lets the Lord into every area of his life. Hewalks in integrity, humility and peace. He knows how to getalong with others. His life displays the fruit of the Spirit,and he enjoys the favor of God.

First Corinthians 2:15 says, “But the spiritual mantries all things [he examines, investigates, inquiresinto, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himselfto be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read themeaning of everything, but no one can properly discernor appraise or get an insight into him].” What Paul issaying here is that the spiritual man doesn’t live his lifeon a whim—impulsively following his fleshly desiresfor what he wants, thinks and feels. Instead he lives bydiscernment.

What is the difference between feelings and d iscern-ment? Feelings are of the flesh—they are shallow and con-stantly subject to change. Discernment, on the other hand,is a knowing in the spirit—something that comes from deepinside and is given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus lived His life by discernment. Isaiah 11:2-3 says,“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him...and shallmake Him of quick understanding, and His delight shallbe in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. AndHe shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decideby the hearing of His ears.” So Jesus’ discernment wasnot based on the superficial senses of His flesh—it wasthe result of a knowing deep within His spirit. And thissame gift of discernment is available to you and me.

How does it work? Before the spiritual man does any-thing, he quickly checks with his spirit to see if the thinghe is about to do is OK. If he has peace, he proceeds. Butif he is uncomfortable, confused or frustrated, he remainsstill. For instance, there have been times when I had astrong desire to give a word of correction to one of ouremployees. But before I opened my mouth, I checked withmy spirit to confirm that it was what God wanted. If I felt apeace and a release to do it, I did it.

There have also been situations when I’ve been at the

mall getting ready to purchase something, but before Icould get to the checkout counter, I sensed an irritation,frustration and pressure in my spirit. In this case, myspirit was not bearing witness with the Holy Spirit that whatI wanted to do was of God. So I didn’t buy anything.

You see, every time you and I choose to listen to andfollow the Holy Spirit’s promptings, our spirits growstronger, and a little bit more of our flesh dies. As a result,more and more of God’s power is released in our lives tooperate in the fruit of the Spirit. By yielding to the Holy Spiritrather than being controlled by our emotions, we honor Godand put ourselves in a position to be radically blessed.

Developing discernment and being led by the Spirit isnot something that happens overnight—it is a learningprocess that takes time. Little by little, one experienceafter another, God tries, or tests, our hearts, emotionsand thinking (see Ps. 7:9, The Amplified Bible).

How does He do it? He allows us to go through dif-ficult situations that stir up our emotions. In this way,you and I are able to see for ourselves how emotionallyunstable we can become and how desperately we needHis help.

Psalm 94:12-13 says, “Blessed (happy, fortunate, tobe envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct,O Lord, and teach out of Your law, that You may give himpower to keep himself calm in the days of adversity.” ThisScripture lets us know that God allows things in our lives toaffect us emotionally so that we can learn how not to be ledby our feelings. His ultimate goal is to get us to the pointthat, no matter what is going on, we remain calm.

Who’s going to keep us calm? We are going to keep our-selves calm. How? By the power of the Holy Spirit at workin us.

All God wants us to do is to get in the habit of run-ning to Him for grace (supernatural inner strength) to

exercise self-control over our emotions. Hebrews 4:16says, “Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldlydraw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’sunmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receivemercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in goodtime for every need [appropriate help and well-timedhelp, coming just when we need it].”

I encourage you to stop bowing down to your feelings—stop depending on and placing more value on how you feelthan on the Word of God. Exalt the Word over your feel-ings—believe what the Bible says.

Instead of saying, “I don’t feel as if God loves me,” “Idon’t feel as if I’m forgiven,” or “I don’tfeel as if I have afuture,” say, “God does love me, and nothing can sepa-rate me from His love. He has heard my confession ofsin, and He has forgiven me and cleansed me. And Godhas a positive plan for my future because His Word saysso” (see Jer. 29:11; Rom. 8:38-39; 1 John 1:9).

Every time feelings come up to try and steal your righ-teousness, peace, and joy, find out what the Word of Godsays, and then open your mouth and speak the Word. Even-tually the truth will override and change your feelings.



ARE YOU RELIGIOUS?

Some people say, “God never talks to me.” But Ibelieve it’s more likely that they don’t listen, arenot aware of the ways God speaks or have become

desensitized to God’s voice. Religious activity is one thingthat can keep us from hearing God.

In the early days of my walk with the Lord I was veryenthusiastic and eager to serve Him, so I signed up foreverything that seemed even remotely interesting to me.One result was that I quickly discovered what I was not anointed to do.

Because of my busy life, I didn’t take time to tune in toGod’s voice. As a result, I often spent frustratingtime on works of the flesh. “Works of the flesh”are things we do without God’s power flowingthrough us. They are difficult, they d rain us,and they produce no joy or fulfillment. They areoften goodthings but not God things.

People can literally burn out on religiousactivity as they struggle to serve God under thelaw. Religious people frequently follow formulasand do good works to earn God’s favor but don’thave a relationship with Him. Jesus did not dieso we could have religion—He died so we couldbe one with God through Him, so we could have a deep per-sonal relationship with the Triune God: Father, Son and HolySpirit.

Jesus became very upset with the religious people ofHis day. He said: “‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pre-tenders (hypocrites)! For you are like tombs that have beenwhitewashed, which look beautiful on the outside but insideare full of dead men’s bones and everything impure. Just so,you also outwardly seem to people to be just and upright but

inside you are full of pretense and lawlessness and iniquity’”(Matt. 23:27-28, The Amplified Bible).The scribes and Pharisees were the most religious

people of their day, yet they were not pleasing to God. Theyfollowed all the rules and made laws for others to follow,but they did not attend to more important matters—suchas helping people—out of right motives. God has alwaysbeen more interested in the condition of people’s heartsthan the works of their hands.

The Bible says we must be born again (see John 3:1-8)—it doesn’t say we must be religious. People can go to churchfor years and do religious things all their lives without everknowing Jesus as Lord. It is frightening to realize that thereare probably thousands of people sitting in churches everyweek who won’t go to heaven.

As I often say, “Sitting in a church won’t make a persona Christian any more than sitting in a garage will make hima car.” We must let Jesus come into our lives and sit on thethrone of our hearts to rule and reign over every step wetake.

Jesus said: “‘Come to Me, allyou who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest. Take Myyoke upon you and learn fromMe, for I am gentle and humblein heart, and you will find rest foryour souls. For My yoke is easyand My burden is light’” (Matt.11:28-30, NIV).

Religious rules and regulationscan be harsh, hard and pressing.You can easily become overbur-

dened if you don’t do everything you believe is expected ofyou. But here Jesus is saying: “My system is not that way.It isn’t harsh, hard and pressing. It is comfortable, graciousand pleasant.”

If someone asks us, “What religion are you?” we shouldtalk about our personal relationship with Jesus instead ofwhat church we attend. I like to answer that question bysaying: “Thank you for asking. I don’t have any religion,but I do have Jesus.”

We need to start asking people: “Do you know Jesus?Is He your friend? Do you have a personal relationshipwith Him?”

Before you become busy doing good works, take time toseek God about what He is leading you to do, rather than just doing things in an effort to please Him. Jesus leads usto a place that is comfortable, gracious and pleasant. It iseasy to serve God—if we learn to hear from Him beforewe struggle to do things He never asked us to do.

Religiousactivity is onething that cankeep us fromhearing God.

SUPERNATURALFAVOR

When I first began my ministry, I was scared. Inthose days, women were not as widely acceptedin the pulpit as they are today. Afraid of being

rejected, I bent over backward to behave in the way Ithought would please people. The only problem was that Iwas trying to earn approval, and it didn’t work.

At the time, I knew nothing about supernatural favor.I didn’t realize that favor is a part of grace. In fact, in theNew Testament the words grace and favor both are trans-lated from the Greek word charis .

The grace of God is the favor of God. And the grace ofGod causes good things to happen inour lives through the channel of faith.It is not by human power or might butthrough God’s Spirit of grace that we findfavor with God and man.

There is a distinction betweennatural favor and supernatural favor.Natural favor must be earned, butsupernatural favor is a gift. Naturalfavor says, If you work hard enough andlong enough, some people will like yousome of the time.

But that acceptance must bemaintained, and having to say and do all the right thingsbecomes a form of bondage. God doesn’t expect us to runaround trying to earn favor with Him or with others. Hewants us only to do His will—whether it is popular or not.Just do your best and leave the results to God.

From childhood, Jesus walked in the supernaturalfavor of God and men. In fact, He was so popular He couldhardly find time alone to pray and fellowship with His

heavenly Father. Even those who did not believe in Himrecognized that He enjoyed the favor of God.The guards sent by the Pharisees to arrest Jesus

returned saying, “Never has a man talked as this Mantalks!” (John 7:46, The Amplified Bible). Right up to the endof His life, even onthe cross, that special favor was recognized (see Luke23:47-48).

Psalm 8:5-6 says: “You have made him but a littlelower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have

crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to havedominion over the works of Your hands; You have put allthings under his feet.” In these verses, honor and favor havethe same meaning. We might say that God has crownedman with glory and favor, giving him dominion over theworks of His hands and placing all things under his feet.

We must never forget that no matter what hap-pens, we can have favor with God and with other people(see Luke 2:52). But like so many good things in life, justbecause something is available to us does not mean thatwe will partake of it. The Lord makes many things avail-

able that we never receive and enjoybecause we don’t activate our faith in thatarea.

For example, if we go to a job interviewconfessing fear and failure, we can bealmost certain we won’t get the job. On theother hand, even if we apply for a job wearen’t fully qualified for, we can still go inconfidence, knowing that God will give usfavor in every situation that is His will.

First Samuel 2:7 says, “The Lord makespoor and makes rich; He brings low and Helifts up.” A perfect example of this is found

in the life of Esther. God raised her up out of obscurity tobecome the queen of the entire land. He gave her favor witheveryone she met, including the king.

Esther drew upon that favor to save herself and herpeople from being murdered by the evil Haman. She mayhave been afraid to go to the king and ask him to inter-vene, but Esther knew she had favor with God and pressedon with complete confidence in Him.

We don’t have nearly as much fun with the Lord as weshould. We should have more freedom and liberty and lessfear and legalism. Regardless of the circumstances thatcome into your life, believe God for supernatural favor.

Despite how hopeless things may seem, God can liftyou up. If your life is in His hands, the light of the Lordshines upon you. It is time we believe the words of ourFather: “You are the apple of My eye. You are My favoritechild” (see Deut. 32:10, NKJV).

God has crownedman with gloryand favor, givinghim dominionover the worksof His hands.



PASSING THETRUST TEST

Have you found yourself wondering lately if the con-dition of this world can get any worse? Perhapsyou pray as David did in Psalm 7:9, “Oh, let the

wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establishthe [uncompromisingly] righteous [those upright and inharmony with You]; for You, Who try the hearts and emo-tions and thinking powers, are a righteous God” ( The Amplified Bible).

Life is filled with challenges that test our determinationand our faith in God. Whether faced with the impendingthreat of evil or with everyday hassles, the quality of ourcharacter is sure to be tested on aregular basis.

It would be a great mistake to over-look the fact that God tests our hearts,our emotions and our minds. Whatdoes it mean to test something? Itmeans to put pressure on it to see if itwill do what it says it will do. Will it holdup under stress? Can it perform at thelevel its maker says it can? Is it genuinewhen measured against a true standardof quality? God does the same with us.

One of the tests we can expect toencounter in our journey with God is the trust test. Howmany times do we say to God: “What is going on in mylife? What are You doing? What is happening? I don’tunderstand.”

If you are in a place right now where nothing in yourlife makes sense, trust God anyway. One lesson I’velearned through the years is this: There is no such thingas trusting God without unanswered questions. There are

always going to be things we just don’t understand.Psalm 62:8 says: “Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have

confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out yourhearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress anda high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!”Notice we are not to have faith and trust in God once in awhile or from time to time, but at all times.

We must learn to live from faith to faith, trus ting the

Lord when things are good and when things are bad.It is easy to trust God when things are good, but whenthings are not going well and we determine to trust Him,anyway—that is when we develop character.

I have a feeling that in these last days we will need tobe reminded of Paul’s encouraging words to Timothy aboutbeing willing to sacrifice and suffer to fulfill the call ofGod:

“I am calling up memories of your sincere andunqualified faith (the leaning of your entire personalityon God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His

power, wisdom and goodness), [a faith]that first lived permanently in [the heartof] your grandmother Lois and yourmother Eunice and now, I am [fully] per-suaded, [dwells] in you also.

“That is why I would remind you to stirup (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of,and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God,[the inner fire] that is in you by means ofthe laying on of my hands [with those of theelders at your ordination].

“For God did not give us a spirit oftimidity (of cowardice, of craven and

cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] ofpower and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind anddiscipline and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:5-7).

Paul was saying: “Timothy, you may feel like giving up,but you have everything you need to succeed. Don’t forgetthat the Holy Spirit gives you peace and the power to faceall life’s trials and tribulations. Press on without fear!”

Regardless of whether we understand what is going

on in the world around us or we feel overwhelmed by thetests we face every day, we must trust God through it all.We can pray and ask God for answers, but I have learnedthat when heaven is silent, I need to stay busy doingwhat God has told me to do and just keep trusting Him.

God will make all the pieces work together for His pur-pose, even when we don’t see tomorrow clearly. Tomor-row’s answers usually don’t come until tomorrow!

There is no suchthing as trustingGod withoutunansweredquestions.

WHO ARE WE TOPASS JUDGMENT?

Being unduly critical of others is a behavior pattern that not only destroys our relationships

but also blinds us to our own weaknesses

Much torment comes to people’s lives because of judgmental attitudes, criticism and suspicion.Multitudes of relationships are destroyed by these

enemies.In the area of judgment, the mind is the battlefield.

Thoughts—just “I think”—can be the tool the devil usesto keep a person lonely. People do not enjoy being aroundsomeone who needs to voice an opinion about everything.

Being judgmental, opinionated and critical are threesure ways to see relationships dissolve. Satan, ofcourse, wants you and me to be lonely and rejected, sohe attacks our minds in these areas.

Judging DefinedAccording to Vine’s Expository Dic-

tionary of New Testament Words, one ofthe Greek words translated “judge” ispartially defined as “to form an opinion”and is cross-referenced to the word “sen-tence.” God is the only One who has theright to condemn or sentence; therefore,when we pass judgment on another, weare, in a certain sense, setting ourselvesup as God in his life. That puts a little“godly fear” in me. I have a lot of nerve, but I am not inter-ested in trying to be God!

These areas were once a major problem in my person-ality. I was critical because I always seemed to see what waswrong instead of what was right.

Some personalities are more given to this fault thanothers. Some of the more jovial personality types do not wantto see anything but the “happy” or “fun” things in life, so they

really don’t pay much attention to the things that could spoiltheir enjoyment.

The more melancholy personality or the controlling per-sonality often sees what is wrong first; generally, people withthis type of personality are generous in sharing their negativeopinions and outlook with others.

Thousands of things we encounter every day are neitherright nor wrong b ut are simply personal choices—choicesthat people have a right to make on their own without outsideinterference.

My husband and I are extremely different in our approachto many things. How to decorate a house would be one of

those things.If we go out to shop for household things together, it

seems Dave always likes one thing, and I like somethingelse. His opinion is just as good as mine, and mine is justas good as his; they are simply different.

It took me years to understand that there wasn’t some-thing wrong with Dave just because he did not agree withme. Of course, I usually let him know that I thought therewas something wrong with him. Obviously, my attitudecaused much friction between us and hurt our relationship.

The Problem Is PrideJudgment and criticism are actually

the fruit of a deeper problem—pride. TheBible repeatedly warns us about being high-minded (see Rom.12:3).

Whenever we excel in an area, it is onlybecause God has given us a gift of grace forit. If we have an exaggerated opinion of our-selves, it causes us to look down on othersand value them as “less than” we are.

This type of attitude or thinking is detest-able to the Lord, and it opens many doors forthe enemy in our lives. We must have a holy

fear of pride and be very careful of judging others or of beingcritical of them (see Gal. 6:1-3).

Each of us belongs to God, and even if we have weak-nesses, He is able to make us stand and to justify us. Weanswer to God, not to each other; therefore, we are not to judge one another in a critical way (see Rom. 14:4).

The devil stays very busy assigning demons to place judgmental, critical thoughts in people’s minds. I can

remember when it was entertaining for me to sit in thepark or the shopping mall and simply watch all the peoplego by as I formed a mental opinion of each of them—theirclothing, hairstyles, companions and so on.

We cannot always prevent ourselves from having opin-ions, but we do not have to express them. I believe we caneven grow to the point where we do not have so many opin-ions, and those we do have are not of a critical nature.

I frequently tell myself, “Joyce, it’s none of yourbusiness.” A major problem is brewing in your mindwhen you ponder your opinion until it becomes a judgment.

When we pass judgment onanother, we are,in a certain

sense, settingourselves up asGod in his life.



The problem grows bigger the more you think aboutit until you begin to express it to others or even to theone you’re judging. It has then become explosive andhas the ability to do a great deal of harm in the realmof relationship as well as in the spiritual realm. Youmay be able to save yourself future problems bysimply learning to say, “This is none of my business.”

Judgment and criticism were rampant in my family, soI “grew up with them,” so to speak. I wanted to do thingsGod’s way, but I couldn’t. It took many years of misery beforeI learned about the strongholds in my mind that had to bedealt with before my behavior could change.

Matthew 7:1-5 are some of the classic Scriptures onthe subject of judgment and criticism. When you are havingtrouble with your mind in this area, use these Scriptures andothers as weapons against the devil who is attempting tobuild a stronghold in your mind. He may be operating out of astronghold that has already been there for many years.

Sowing and ReapingThe Scriptures plainly tell us that we will reap what we

sow (see Matt. 7:1-2; Gal. 6:7). This also applies to the mentalrealm.

We can sow and reap an attitude as well as a crop or aninvestment. Many times we are reaping in our lives what wehave previously sown into the life of another.

The devil loves to keep us busy, mentally judging thefaults of others. That way, we never see or deal with whatis wrong with us!

We cannot change others; only God can. We cannotchange ourselves either, but we can cooperate with the HolySpirit and allow Him to do the work.

When we have our thoughts and conversation onwhat is wrong with everyone else, we are u suall y b eingdeceived about our own conduct. Therefore, Jesus com-manded that we not concern ourselves with what iswrong with others when we have so much wrong withourselves (see Matt. 7:3-5). Allow God to deal with you

first, and then you will learn the scriptural way of helpingyour brother grow in his Christian walk.

Besides reaping judgment ourselves when we criti-cize others, the Scriptures tell us that we ourselves dothe same things for which we criticize others (see Rom.2:1). The Lord gave me a good example once to help meunderstand this principle.

I was pondering why we would do something our-selves and think it was perfectly all right but judgesomeone else who does it. The Lord said, “Joyce, youlook at yourself through rose-colored glasses, but youlook at everyone else through a magnifying glass.”

We make excuses for our own behavior, but whensomeone else does the same thing we do, we are often mer-ciless. Doing unto others as we want them to do to us (seeMatt. 7:12) is a good life principle that will prevent a lot of judgment and criticism, if followed.

A judgmental mind is an offshoot of a negative mind—thinking about what is wrong with an individual instead ofwhat is right. Being positive and not negative will benefitothers, but you will benefit more than anyone.

Be Suspicious of SuspicionFirst Corinthians 13:7 reads: “Love bears up under any-

thing and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe thebest of every person” ( The Amplified Bible).

I can honestly say that obedience to this Scripture hasalways been a challenge for me. I was brought up to be sus-picious and to distrust everyone. In addition, I had severalvery disappointing experiences with people, not only before Ibecame an active Christian but afterward as well. Meditatingon the components of love and realizing that love alwaysbelieves the best has helped me greatly to develop a newmind-set.

When your mind has been poisoned or when Satanhas gained strongholds in your mind, it has to be renewedaccording to God’s Word. You renew it by learning the Wordand meditating on it—pondering, muttering to yourself andthinking on it (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Hebrew andChaldee Dictionary ).

We have the wonderful Holy Spirit in us to remind uswhen our thoughts are going in the wrong direction. Goddoes this for me when I am having suspicious thoughtsinstead of loving thoughts.

The natural man thinks, “If I trust people, I’ll be takenadvantage of.” Perhaps, but the benefits will far outweigh anynegative experiences.

Trust and faith bring joy to life and help relationships growto their maximum potential. Suspicion cripples a relationshipand usually destroys it.

God condemns judgment, criticism and suspicion, andso should we. Love what God loves, and hate what He hates.Allow what He allows, and disallow what He disallows.

A balanced attitude is always the best policy. Thatdoesn’t mean we are not to use wisdom and discernmentin our dealings with others. We don’t have to throw openour lives to everyone we meet, giving every person weencounter a chance to crush us. On the other hand, wedon’t have to look at everyone with a negative, suspiciouseye, always expecting to be taken advantage of by others.

One time after I had been involved in a disap-pointing church situation, God brought John 2:23-25 to

my attention. It speaks of Jesus’ relationship with Hisdisciples.

It plainly says that Jesus did not trust Himself to them.It does not say that He was suspicious of them or that Hehad no trust in them; it explains that because He under-stood human nature, He did not trust Himself to them in anunbalanced way.

I had been hurt badly in the situation at church becauseI had become too involved with a group of ladies and hadgotten out of balance. I had been leaning on the ladies in thisgroup and placing in them a trust that belongs only to God.

We can go only so far in any human relationship. If we gobeyond wisdom, trouble will brew, and we will be hurt.

Some people think they have discernment when actu-ally they are just suspicious. Suspicion comes out of theunrenewed mind; discernment comes out of the renewedspirit.

True spiritual discernment will provoke prayer, not gossip.If a genuine problem is being discerned by a genuine gift, it

will follow the scriptural pattern for dealing with it, not fleshlyways that only spread and compound the problem.

Pleasant Words Are Sweet“The mind of the wise instructs his mouth, and adds

learning and persuasiveness to his lips. Pleasant words areas a honeycomb, sweet to the mind and healing to the body”(Prov. 16:23-24).

Words and thoughts are like bone and marrow—so close,it is hard to divide them (see Heb. 4:12).

Our thoughts are silent words that only we and the L ordhear, but those words affect our inner man, our health, our joy and our attitude. The things we think on often come out ofour mouths and sometimes make us look foolish.

Judgment, criticism and suspicion never bring joy. Jesussaid that He came in order that we might have and enjoy life(see John 10:10). Begin to operate in the mind of Christ, andyou will step into a whole new realm of living.



STOP DOINGEVERYTHING ON

YOUR OWNDo you enjoy running your own life—without help from God? He wants

to free you from the subtle power of an independent spirit.

This is what Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailerwho asked them, “What must I do to be saved?” This

is what salvation really means—giving ourselvesup to God, taking ourselves out of our own keeping andentrusting ourselves into His keeping.

God wants to take care of us. He can do a much better jobof that if we will avoid a problem calledindependence, which is really self-care.

The desire to take care of ourselvesis based on fear. Basically, it stems fromthe idea that if we do it, we can be sure itwill be done right. We are afraid of whatmight happen if we entrust ourselvestotally to God and He doesn’t “comethrough” for us.

The root problem of independenceis trusting ourselves more than we trustGod. We love to have a back-up plan. Wemay pray and ask God to get involved inour lives, but if He is the least bit slowin responding (at least, to our way ofthinking), we are quick to take controlback into our own hands. What we fail torealize is, God has a plan for us too—andHis plan is much better than ours (seeJer. 29:11).

Overcoming a Spirit of IndependenceGod puts wisdom into us in the form of His Holy Spirit for

us to walk by that wisdom step-by-step. But the Lord wantsus to know, recognize and acknowledge Him. He wants usto be aware of His Spirit and to walk in quiet confidence, trustand obedience to Him (see Prov. 3:5-7).

It is insulting to God when we go through life plan-ning everything without consulting Him or caring what Hethinks, yet expecting Him to make everything work work forGod—become more important to us than God Himself.To keep that from happening, from time to time God callsupon us to lay it all on the altar as proof of our love and

commitment. He tests us by asking us to lay down ourmost treasured blessing.

In my case, the Lord brought me to the point whereI had to say, “Yes, Lord, I’ll do it. If that’s what Youwant, I’ll go down to the riverfront and minister to 50people for the rest of my life. I love You enough to do

that.”I was weeping when I said it, but I meant

it. I fell to my knees and cried out in tears,“Lord, I have nothing to give You but myself,my will and my love. Your will be done, notmine.”

When we get to the place where we canhonestly make that kind of commitment, Godwill begin to honor us and work out His planfor our lives.

Trust God to ProvideGod may not always do everything

exactly as we would like it done. Butwhatever He does will be right, the thingthat is best for each situation.

One time I was invited to preach in acertain church and was assured I wouldreceive a love offering at the end of myseries of meetings. Later, just before themeetings were to begin, the church sud-

denly called and informed me I would receive an hono-rarium, but no love offering.

Although I didn’t say anything to the church, I got upsetand began to mouth off to my secretary: “If those peoplethink for one moment they’re going to pull that kind of thingon me, they’ve got another think coming! I won’t go! You can just call them back and tell them that!”

In just a few moments the Lord spoke to me and said,“Yes, you will go, and you will not say anything about thismatter. You will not be concerned about the money. You willgo and minister as you promised, and you will do it sweetlyand kindly. You will trust Me to take care of you.”

I thought the offering would be larger ifall the people got the opportunity to give. ButGod wanted me to trust Him with the entirematter and believe that He was able to get tome whatever He wanted me to have no matterhow He did it.

As a minister of the gospel, my job is

not to spend time trying to figure out howto get money to pay bills and erect build-ings. My job is to teach and preach, to prayand bless people.

It is God’s job to bring my provision to me.My part is to share the Word with people con-cerning giving, let them know our needs, trustGod to work in their hearts and believe He will

get to us enough to meet every needwe have.

If we become concerned withlooking out for ourselves, we will failto do what we are called to do, whichis to minister to the needsof others.Whatever happens to us, however we

may be treated or mistreated, wemust continue to do the work God hasset before us. We must give ourselvesto Him totally and completely, trustingHim to justify us and vindicate us, toprotect and provide for us, to help usand keep us.

Doing untoothers as we

want them to doto us is a goodlife principle that

will prevent alot of judgmentand criticism,if followed.

It is insultingto God when

we go throughlife planningeverything

withoutconsulting Him,

yet expecting Him to makeeverything

work out.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keepingand entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved”(Acts 16:31, The Amplified Bible).



THE CURE FOR ASTRESSED-OUT LIFE

Until I learned how to rest in God, I was constantlyunhappy and hard to get along with

How would you like to live every day like you were onvacation, as if it were a day away from work? Youcan, if you’ll learn how to really enter God’s rest.

My life used to be one big struggle. I was unhappy aboutalmost everything and difficult to get along with because ofthe abuse I endured during my childhood.

In the early years of my marriage, I wanted Dave to bemiserable because I was miserable. And it just about droveme crazy when he stayed happy while I was unhappy. Herefused to join my pity parties and accept my negative per-spective of life, and it made me mad.

But eventually, his example becamea great witness to me, and I began tohunger for the peace, joy and stability helived with. I wanted to enter God’s rest.

What is God’s rest? It is not actually aresting, or ceasing, from physical work;it’s the ability to trust God and rest in Himno matter what you’re doing or what’s goingon in your life. When we enter His rest, wecan remain stable in every circumstance.

We need this rest because we live ina stress-filled world. And the bottom lineis, life is not worth living if you’re goingto be upset, frustrated and worn out from stress. This kindof stress causes health problems—headaches, high bloodpressure, heart issues, anxiety, fear—and it steals our peace, joy and stability.

But we have to learn how to rest in God, and the first stepis sitting down. It’s kind of like watching babies grow anddevelop. They don’t just jump out of the crib and start run-ning. First they learn how to sit; then stand, walk and run.

Ephesians 2:6 says that when we accept Christ as ourSavior, God makes us “sit together in the heavenly places inChrist Jesus.” Now, physically, we’re still on the earth; butspiritually, we’re seated in Him.

This means our position is withand in Christ—what He’sdone for us and has for us is accessible to us and belongs to

us. We don’t have to worry, struggle or be frustrated abouttrying to change things we can’t change, such as ourselves,other people or circumstances. We can give it all to God andtrust Him to do what we can’t do.

Face it, there’s only so much we can do, and we need toknow when we’re finished. We need to do what we can, thenback off and let God work, because trying to do somethingabout something you can’t do anything about is one of themost stressful things you can do!

How to Get ThereBefore I knew what I know now, I was

stressed-out trying to do what God wasleading me to do. For several years duringthe beginning of my ministry, I led a small,weekly Bible study in my home for about25 people. And it stressed me out! I didn’tlike how they acted and wanted to changethem. They messed up my house! Theyused up my toilet paper and never offered tobuy any! Until I understood that the root ofthe problem was in me and only God couldchange me, it was hard.

But I have changed. Now I’m leading aworldwide ministry with offices in multiple countries and apotential audience of two-thirds of the globe—and I enjoy it!

Two key things happened that led to my freedom from astressed-out life: (1) I learned God loves me unconditionally ;and (2) I learned to love myself.

See, we can’t give someone else what we don’t have. Sowe have to believe God loves us and that there’s nothing wecan do to make Him stop.

It’s the love of God that heals our wounded souls, makesus secure, gives us confidence and enables us to live withoutfear. And when we are loved and love ourselves, we can reallylove others, trusting God to do what we can’t do for them. Wecan live in His rest!

Are you tryingto do somethingabout something

you can’t doanythingabout? Thenlet God work.

CHARISMA

WOULD LIKE TOCONGRATULATE

JOYCE MEYER MINISTRIESFOR 30 YEARS OF

MINISTRY EXCELLENCE!For more free teachings and newsletters, please visit

www.resources.charismamag.com



J O YC E M E Y E R M I N I S T R I E S

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 - 2 2 , 2 0 1 2E D WA R D J O N E S D O M ES T. L O U I S , M I S S O U R I

Spanish Translation AvailableLadies, this weekend is just for you, so leaveth d hild t h d j f

Learn more and

R E G I S T E R T O D AY !

Be part of a life-changingexperience. Volunteer forupcoming trips at

joycemeyer.org/ medicalmissions

Throughout the year our medical anddental volunteers travel to some ofthe poorest areas of the world toprovide much needed care. And wehope you’ll join us!

Jesus said to [him] “I will go and heal him ”

For up-to- date travel dates and moredetails call us at (800) 707-7877ext 3218 or visit joycemeyer.org/medicalmissions .Schedule is subject to change.

Excitement is in the air! September

20-22, 2012, join thousands of ladies

from around the world to worship

God and grow.

CELEBRATETHE POWER OF HOPE

Documents

Charisma's Top 30 Favorite Teachings From Joyce Meyer