Blog Archives
Mood Control
There’s a time to pray and a time to act. And even though it’s not easy, confrontation is often necessary. If you need to confront someone or something in your life, make sure you do it. If someone has treated you badly, you don’t have to let them continue to disrespect you, de-value you or mistreat you. Obviously it won’t help you, and it won’t help that person either. Confront them about it.
Maybe what you need to confront isn’t a person. Maybe it’s something you’ve let creep into your life uninvited, like negative thoughts, a bad attitude or habitual sin. The good news is that you don’t have to let it control you either—if you’ll confront it.
Confront Your Bad Mood
Many people let unstable moods and out-of-control emotions control their lives. They think that nothing good can happen in their life. If this is you, then begin new today and start saying every day: “I’m going to do something great with my life!” Get rid of small thinking and begin thinking according to what God’s Word says.
When Your Mood Sinks—Resist
When you first feel your mood sinking, that’s when you need to get a hold of yourself. As the Bible says, “Resist the devil at his onset. (See James 4:7). Even if someone’s done you wrong, forgive them in the first 5-10 minutes or you’ll sink deeper into that bad mood, and it will be harder to deal with and let go of. You don’t have to feel like doing the right thing to do it. Just make the choice to do it.
Stability Releases Ability
Stability is defined as the ability to quickly return to a calm, stable state when disturbed, disappointed or upset; the strength to stand or endure any situation and remain calm. One of the most wonderful gifts we can give others or ourselves is stability, or dependability. It’s a sign of choosing to trust God. Once we’re stable, we will have the ability to do what we’re called to do.
Rely on Him
Trusting in God is the key to moving forward into the things God has for us. The reason some of you aren’t getting anywhere with the call on your life is because you haven’t gotten some things straight in your personal life. You never know what’s going to happen when you get up in the morning for that day, but God wants us to rely on Him and look to Him.
A dozen opportunities may arise to get you offended or to say stupid and negative things, but no matter what you feel like inside—even if you feel like you’re going to blow up—you have a choice. Are you going to throw a fit, or are you going to go to God and ask Him to help you to change your mood?
When you immediately go to Him, suddenly something will change inside you. Once you get into the habit of this, you will start to see those moods and bad attitudes leave a little sooner. That “uninvited guest” may try to come back, but you will have already decided to not let him in!
This article is taken from the 2010 Love Life Women’s Convention five-part series.
Crowned With Favor
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 24, 2012
In this Scripture, honor and favor have the same meaning. According to this promise you can have favor with God and with other people. But just because something is available to you does not mean you will partake of it. The Lord offers many gifts that you never receive and enjoy because you don’t activate your faith in that area.
For example, if you go to a job interview confessing fear and failure, you will be almost certain not to get the job. On the other hand, even if you apply for a job you aren’t fully qualified for, you can still go in confidence, knowing God will give you favor in every situation that is His will.
From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2004 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Get Over It
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 23, 2012
Hiding your true feelings, like resentment or unforgiveness, keeps you in bondage to them. It is impossible to get your day started right if you keep waking up with pain from yesterday’s wounds. If you carry around this kind of “emotional baggage,” it will poison your day.
Sometimes you have to confront things to make them better. But use wisdom. While it is good to talk about things, don’t dump all your thoughts and emotions on every person who comes along today.
Talk to God about your situation before you meet anyone. He may lead you to speak with someone you trust. But if He doesn’t, learn to trust it completely to Him, and let it go.
From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2003 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
The Road of Relationship
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 17, 2012
Sometimes it seems that religion is killing people. There are many who are seeking a relationship with God, but the religious community tells them what they need to “do” in order to be acceptable to Him. This religious spirit was alive in Jesus’ day, and even though He died to put an end to it and bring people into close personal relationship with Himself, the Holy Spirit, and the Father, that same spirit still torments people to this day—if they don’t know the truth.
Religion says, “You must find a way, no matter how impossible it may seem. You had better follow the rules or suffer punishment.” But relationship says, “Do your best because you love Me. I know your heart. Admit your faults, repent of your mistakes, and just keep loving Me.”
From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2004 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Be Of Good Cheer!
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 16, 2012
—Joshua 1:6
In John 16:33, Jesus said, “Be of good in this verse is, “to be of good courage.” When the Lord was giving Joshua direction, He repeatedly told him to be of good courage. Without the cheerful attitude that God encouraged Joshua to walk in, he would have given up when the enemy repeatedly came against him, and the children of Israel would never have reached the promised land.
The same is true of you in your daily walk. Joy and cheer give you the strength to carry on toward the goal the Lord has set before you. Lack of joy is why many times you give up when you should endure. The presence of courage and a cheerful attitude gives you the endurance to outlast the devil, overcome your negative circumstances, and “inherit the land.”
From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2004 by Joyce Meyer. Published by Warner Faith. All rights reserved.
One Life To Give
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 15, 2012
God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and to deliver us from them. He came to undo what Adam did. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He comes to live in our sprit and if we allow that renewed part of us to rule our decisions, we can overcome the selfish, sin nature of our flesh. It won’t go away, but the greater One who lives in us helps us overcome it daily (see Gal. 5:16). That does not mean we never sin, but we can improve and make progress throughout our lives.
Paul wrote our verse for today: “I die daily.” In other words, even this well-known apostle struggled with putting others first; he found that doing so was a daily battle and required daily decisions. Each of us must decide how we will live and what we will live for; and there is no better time to do so than right now. You and I have one life to live and one life to give, so the question is: How are you going to spend your life?
Love God Today: Remember that whatever you do for others, you are doing for God.
From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Suspicious of Suspicion
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 11, 2012
These words about love are familiar to most of us, but I can honestly say that living them has not always been easy for me. As a child, I was not exposed to this kind of love—in fact, I was taught to be suspicious of everyone. I was told that the motives of other people were not to be trusted.
As I got older, I encountered people whose actions confirmed in my mind that my suspicions were justified. Even as a young Christian, I experienced disappointment because of the obvious motives of some people in the church. While it is wise to be aware of people’s motives, we must be careful that we don’t allow our suspicious nature to negatively affect our feelings about everyone.
An overly suspicious nature can poison your mind and affect your ability to love and accept other people. Consider this example.
Suppose a friend approaches you after a church service, and says, “Do you know what Doris thinks about you?” Then this friend tells you every detail of the things Doris said. The first problem is that a true friend wouldn’t share such information. And the second problem is that with an already suspicious mind, you now believe secondhand information.
Once your mind has been poisoned against someone, suspicion grows. That’s when Satan gains a stronghold in your mind. Every time Doris says something to you, you are automatically suspicious, thinking, What does she really mean? Or if she’s nice to you, you think, I wonder what she wants from me.
That’s how Satan works. If he can make you suspicious of others, it isn’t long before you don’t trust anything they say. And if you’ve been hurt like this several times, the devil can poison your thinking to the point that you start wondering who else may be talking about you behind your back.
Let’s continue the example. Suppose that one day in church, Doris is sitting just a few rows in front of you, clapping her hands and praising the Lord. Immediately you think, She’s such a hypocrite.
Then the Holy Spirit directs your thoughts to your own condition, and the fact that you were clapping and praising the Lord while harboring bad feelings toward Doris. Didn’t Jesus tell us to make peace with others before we present our gifts to Him? (see Matthew 5:24).
Convicted by these words of Jesus, suppose you step forward and apologize to Doris for the bad feelings you have toward her . . . and she stares at you in absolute shock. Then you realize your mistake. You misinterpreted the information your friend had shared with you about Doris, allowing the devil to turn you against a wonderful, godly woman.
This is a good example of how suspicion can cripple relationships and destroy our joy while it leads us astray. This is why learning to develop a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love is so important.
It took me a while to overcome a lifetime of suspicions, but I finally learned that when we love God’s way, we have no place for suspicion of others.
Lord, I thank You for showing me how to overcome my suspicious nature by teaching me how to love others with Your kind of love. Thank You, Jesus, for being patient with me and for being my great example. Amen.
From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Break Your Box
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 08, 2012
I believe that breaking (saying no to) the flesh is what today’s scripture is about. The woman broke that box so the expensive perfume could be poured out. In the same way, we have to “break” our flesh.
We all have sweet perfume in us. But our alabaster box (our flesh) has to be broken so the perfume (the good things of God) can flow out of us. We are “pregnant” with the good things of God. We each have the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance. But many times our alabaster box (our flesh) keeps them from being poured out.
Oh, but we love our alabaster box. We don’t want to break it because, after all, it is such a pretty box. We spend so much time taking care of it; we don’t want it to be broken. But we must love God more than we love anything else. We need to circumcise our flesh and be willing to let go of the things of the flesh, so God’s blessings can flow to us and through us.
Love God Today: “Lord, I choose to break my alabaster box in order to express my love for You and receive everything You have for me.”
From the book Love Out Loud by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2011 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Real Problems
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 04, 2012
I recently heard an interesting story about the difference between real and imagined problems—something that all of us have probably faced at one time or another. This story involved a man who was in his second year of Bible college. He was faced with financial challenges and couldn’t figure out how to pay his bills, support his family, and remain in school. He and his wife were expecting their second child, and because of health problems, she required total bed rest. He finally made an appointment with the financial aid office.
He nervously walked in and sat down. Then the man across the desk asked him an interesting question, “Do you need money, or do you have real problems?”
That question changed his life. Why? Because he had seen money as his biggest and most-difficult-to-solve problem. His bills and financial needs were constantly on his mind. It was as if his need for money had become the most important thing in his life.
Before this young student could say anything more, the financial counselor smiled and said, “Most of the students come in because they need money. Money becomes the center of their lives, and it steals their victory and peace.”
The student felt as if this man had been reading his mail. Until that moment, he had been one of those students the man had described. In his quest to figure out how to make ends meet, victory and peace had completely eluded him.
The wise financial counselor made some very interesting observations that day. He said, “The problem isn’t money, son, the problem is trust. We have a few financial loans we can make, but that won’t solve your problem. You see, your problem is inside your head and your heart. If you can get those things in the right order, money will no longer be the focus of your life.”
No one had ever spoken to him like that before. “Not only did the loan counselor force me to rethink my life and my priorities,” the student said, “but he pointed me in the right direction.”
The loan counselor pulled out his Bible, and asked the student to read three verses that had been underlined in red and highlighted in yellow. “The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step]. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him. I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:23–25).
“So look at yourself, son,” the man said. “Are you a good man? Are you a righteous person? If you are, what does that say about you and your relationship with God?”
The student read those verses aloud twice, and recognized that those words were a picture of himself. He had fallen—he had allowed himself to become discouraged—and he had been ready to give up. But he knew he was in Bible college because that’s where God wanted him to be.
As he left the financial aid office, he had received no money and no offer for aid, but he left with a lighter heart and an assurance that he would not have to leave school. He was a little slow in paying some of his bills—and a few times, he had to get an extension on paying his tuition—but he was able to stay and complete his education. Today he is in full-time pastoral ministry.
God takes great care of His own, and He will take care of you. Hebrews 13:5 offers you assurance that you don’t have to set your mind on money, wondering and worrying how you can take care of yourself. God has promised to take care of you, so what more is there to say?
God of all precious promises, I’m ashamed that I’ve allowed money or other problems to become so important that I’ve lost my perspective. My problem isn’t money; my problem is my lack of trust in You. As I meditate on Your promises, help me to truly believe that You will perform Your Word in my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
From the book Battlefield of the Mind Devotional by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Fight Doubt and Unbelief
by Joyce Meyer – posted October 03, 2012
God had promised Abraham an heir from his own body. Despite his advanced years Abraham was still standing in faith, believing what God had said would come to pass. He kept praising and giving glory to God. As he did so, he grew strong in faith.
It would be ridiculous for God to expect you to do something and not give you the ability to do it. Satan knows how dangerous you are with a heart full of faith, so he attacks you with doubt and unbelief.
Keep praising God and give Him glory. Faith will rise in your heart and you will overcome.
From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2004 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
I Am Lady Fab 