3 Secrets to Increasing Happiness By Joyce Meyer

I believe everyone has a desire to be happy. In fact, much of what we do is motivated by that desire, yet there are so many people who are not happy with their lives because they are striving to get happiness in the wrong way.

Through studying God’s Word, I’ve discovered several principles we must live by to be happy or to increase our level of joy.

 

1. Make a Decision

The truth is, you’ll never be truly happy if you don’t make a decision to be happy, no matter what your circumstances may be. Because true godly joy is not based on what is happening around us.

One definition I’ve read describes happiness as the product of expecting something good to happen to you. I love this because it means that even if something good isn’t happening to me right now, I can have hope and expect that something good will happen. We don’t have to wait for our circumstances to dictate whether we should be happy or not.

I realize we can’t always control our circumstances or what happens to us, but we can choose our attitude. And no one can take our hope in Christ if we don’t let them. The key to this is believing what God’s Word says about us, especially about who we are as His creation and through the salvation we have in Jesus. (Psalm 139:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 and Ephesians 1 are just a few great scriptures to study about this topic.)

 

2. Live to Give

Another biblical principle that guarantees our happiness is found in Matthew 16:24 (AMPC): “Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].”

This scripture is saying that if you want to be happy, you have to learn to give your life away, or “live to give.” This is not easy in the beginning because we are naturally selfish people, accustomed to thinking about ourselves first. But in order to really live, you have to die to yourself first. I’m not talking about physical death, but being willing to give up what you want all the time to be a blessing to others.

I know what this is like because I used to think I was the center of my universe and I was miserable! But when I learned the truth about what Jesus meant when He said we must deny ourselves, lose sight of our interests, forget about ourselves and take up our cross to follow Him, it was life-changing.

To forget yourself doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself or that you never get to do anything you want to do; it just means you don’t have yourself on your mind all the time. And taking

up our cross to follow Jesus is all about losing sight of ourselves and our own interests so we can say, “Here I am, God. I give my life to You and I want You to use me in any way that You want to work in and through my life.”

 

3. Please God, Not People

We also have to understand that if we let other people run our lives, we won’t be happy. God created you as a unique individual with a special plan and purpose in this world. And you have to be who He created you to be — not what others may want you to be — to fulfill your destiny.

Being yourself is all about learning to follow your heart and the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your everyday life. But many times, we find ourselves doing what others say we’re supposed to do and worrying about what they think or what they will say.

The apostle Paul understood this. In Galatians 1:10 (AMPC), he said, “Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah).” He was saying here, “If I was living to please people instead of God, I would have lost the opportunity to be an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

Refuse to give up the destiny God has for you because of a fear of rejection. Remember that God loves you and He always has your best interest at heart, so whatever He shows you to do, it’s for your good. Sometimes being obedient to Him requires us to do things we don’t feel like doing or that are hard to do. But if we trust Him, we’ll find that doing things His way, by His grace, leads us to the happiest life we could ever have.

3 Secrets to Increasing Happiness By Joyce Meyer

5 Ways To have Peace With God, Yourself And Others - Joyce Meyer

We can have a lot of things in life, but if we don’t have peace, we’re never going to truly enjoy our lives the way God intended.

 

First Peter 3:11 (AMP) is one of my favorite scriptures. It says, “Let him search for peace…and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]”

“Pursue” is a strong word. It requires action and doing whatever it takes to maintain peace in our lives. It means not always getting “our way” or having the last word in an argument. It requires us to trust God even more with the people in our lives. But it’s all worth it. Are you ready to enjoy new levels of peace? If so, here are some ways you can cultivate peace with God, yourself and others…

 

 

1. Receive God’s forgiveness.

 

Peace with God is the foundation for peace in every other area of our lives. Jesus is the “Prince of Peace,” (Isaiah 9:6) and it’s only through a relationship with Him that we will ever experience true contentment. When we sin, the greatest thing we can do is repent, ask God to forgive us, and then make a decision to not live in guilt. Guilt is useless. Constantly feeling guilty actually weakens us and causes us to fall into more sin.

 

I encourage you to read and meditate on 1 John 1:9 (AMP): “If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just…and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness….”

 

 

2. Make a decision to like yourself.

 

This may sound funny to ask, but what kind of relationship do you have with yourself? The truth is you can’t get along with anyone else until you get along with you.

 

For years, I dealt with self-hatred because of the sexual abuse I endured growing up. Because I didn’t like myself, it was almost impossible for me to enjoy peace with my husband or other people. However, as I spent time in God’s Word and asked Him to change me, I eventually began to see myself the way He sees me; I began to like myself! I encourage you to find out what God says about you in His Word. Ask Him to help you change your self-image. Because enjoying life and enjoying other people all begins with knowing who God says you are and truly liking yourself.

 

 

3. Don’t compare yourself to others.

 

Comparing and competing with other people is one of the fastest ways to lose your peace and joy. There is such freedom in learning to be happy with who you are without being jealous of someone else’s skills or achievements.

For example, I have a friend who likes to memorize parts of the Bible. There was a day when I would have been threatened by that, feeling like I should do the same thing. I know a lot of Scripture, and I have even memorized several verses, but memorization has never been my strength…and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean I am less spiritual or somehow not as good as my friend. It just means I am being myself!

 

 

4. Accept other people just the way they are.

 

I almost wore myself out trying to change people until I realized they’re not all supposed to be like me. We are all born with different God-given personalities and were never meant to be the same. For example, my husband Dave is easy-going and has the ability to enjoy just about anything he does. I’ll never forget our grocery trips as a young married couple.

I had my list and was serious about accomplishing our mission. Dave, on the other hand, was pushing the kids around in the cart, laughing and having a great time. It made me so mad! Dave has always been a very wise and responsible man, but I wanted him to be “serious” like me.

 

When I finally stopped trying to change him, it brought tremendous peace. Now, I truly enjoy and value Dave’s personality. In fact, over the years the Lord has helped me to enjoy my life and be even more like him! Sure, we all have areas where we truly need to change, but only God can change us. The best thing we can do for others is to pray for them…and accept them right where they are.

 

 

5. Let God have control of your life.

 

Proverbs 16:9 (AMP) says, “A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.” I used to have a plan for everything – including my husband, my kids and my ministry – and would sometimes get frustrated if things didn’t go accordingly.

In other words, I wanted the Lord to do things my way! However, God is smarter than we are, and He wants us to place our trust in His great plan for our lives. I often say that trust requires unanswered questions. In the moment, we may not always understand “why,” but like the psalmist David we can say, “My times are in Your hands” (Psalm 31:15). Later on, we’ll look back and discover the Lord had our best in mind all along.

 

I encourage you to continue trusting God even when things don’t make sense. It’s one sure way to enjoy your life…and experience more peace than ever before.

 

 

 

 

5 Ways To have Peace With God, Yourself And Others - Joyce Meyer

How to Use Your Time Wisely By Joyce Meyer

God wants us to continually make good choices for our lives. So He’s given us the Bible — His Word — as an instruction book to live by. The thing is, once we know what it says, we’re responsible to do what it says. Because there’s never a time when it’s all right to do the wrong thing.

 

Wouldn’t you love it if your children always did what you tell them to do just based on your word? I bet it would really make your day. But there are times when we need to tangibly touch their circumstances to help them get back on track.

And there are times when God has to do the same with us — not because He’s mad at us, but because He loves us. We need to understand that if we follow His instructions, then we’re going to have a life that’s full of peace, joy, and emotional stability.

God cares about every area of our lives and He wants to be involved in everything we do. He wants to help us make good choices in how we dress, what we eat, who we hang out with, how we spend our money … about everything in our life.

Even if you have a lot of areas where you need to change and grow, you don’t have to feel discouraged. As you become more deeply rooted in God’s love, it gets easier to do what He asks because you know He has your best interests at heart.

The question is: Do you value His opinion? Will you allow Him to continually work in your life?

When you really love Jesus, you’re committed to righteousness. You want to do the right thing because it’s right, not just to try and earn a reward from God.

This means we get beyond the mindset that if we do all the right things, then God owes us a reward. The Bible teaches that we’re only doing what we should be doing when we do the right thing.

Luke 17:10 (NIV) says, “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty."”

The good news is we never have to worry about earning God’s love. He’ll always love us. And we don’t have to wonder, Am I doing enough?

Here’s the thing you need to understand: You are not responsible for the results. God is responsible for that. Your responsibility is to keep doing the right thing all the time, no matter what.

It isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it. There are going to be times when we’d rather do the wrong thing. But we’ll just regret it later. We need to decide that no matter what our circumstances look like or how hard doing the right thing might be, we’re going to hold on to our joy because our joy is in Jesus.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (AMP) says, “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord ….”

Let’s make this more practical: Though I lose my job and the car breaks down and my child comes home with a bad report from school and I’ve gained five pounds and nothing seems to be working out in my life … even then, I will rejoice in the Lord. Even then, I will do what is right before the Lord.

We don’t have to settle for letting our circumstances determine the level of our joy and peace. We can decide today: I’m going to continue doing right whether it’s easy or not, and I’m going to trust God to give me the grace to do it.

When you’re in the middle of hard times and you really don’t like your circumstances, the first place to run is God’s Word because it has the power to calm you down.

When you feel like giving up and doing wrong, find scriptures about the strength we have in Christ, and then just rest in God’s presence and receive His strength. Whatever you need, just go to God’s Word.

I’ve seen God do amazing things in me and through me because I’ve let Him continually work in my life — and you can have that kind of relationship, too.

Philippians 1:6 (AMP) says, “He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].”

I encourage you to pray like this: “God, today I’m giving You permission to keep working in my life until You are finished doing all that You need to do. So when I start begging You to back off, please don’t. The truth is, I want to do whatever You are calling me to do.”

Your relationship with God can be an amazing journey that brings you peace, joy and contentment in every area of life, if you will simply choose to follow Him.

How to Use Your Time Wisely By Joyce Meyer

You Can Face Your Giants By Joyce Meyer

We all have giants — problems in life that we have to overcome. I don’t like them any more than anybody else does, but I’ve discovered that we learn more about how to trust God when we go through difficulties than we do in other seasons of our lives. The truth is when we don’t have anyone but God to get us through something, He can use it to make us stronger in Him, and then He can use us to do greater things than we ever imagined we could do.

God doesn’t want us to live weak, wimpy, helpless, pathetic, barely-get-by lives. That’s why He sent the Holy Spirit to be our “Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby).”

Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.”

The Holy Spirit is with you all the time, and His power gives you “ability, efficiency, and might” to be a witness for Christ. This means that in Christ, you have the power to be the kind of person in this world who represents Him as a light in a dark place … who has peace in the midst of the storm … who has the power not to worry when you have a huge problem and hope even when it looks like there is no hope at all.

I want to encourage you to take time to get to know God for yourself. Spend time with Him in prayer and through studying His Word. Wait on the Lord and receive the strength He has for you today (Isaiah 40:31). Put your focus on Him and pray, “God, I trust You. Please strengthen me today to do whatever I need to do, through Christ. I give you my will and want to know what Your will is for me. I need Your strength, wisdom and guidance in every area of my life. I believe You will work out all things for my good (Romans 8:28). You are my strength and I won’t give up!”

You Can Face Your Giants By Joyce Meyer

The Holy Spirit, Our Strengthener By Joyce Meyer

If you’ve ever heard me share my testimony of how I was abused by my father throughout my childhood, you know I’ve gone through some really difficult times. In fact, there were some things that were so painful, I wondered if I would survive them. But I did, and now one of my greatest desires is to help others know how to trust God and lean on Him so they can overcome their struggles too.

There’s a huge difference between a Christian who just tries to make it on their own and one who really relies on the Holy Spirit to enable them to do whatever they need to do. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to take His place here in the earth. He can be everywhere, all the time, and because He lives in us as born-again believers, Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.

In John 15:26 (AMPC), Jesus told His disciples, “When the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes … the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.”

It’s so amazing to realize that the Holy Spirit is always with us and He’s the Strengthener we need to get through every problem we have to face.

Victors or Grasshoppers?

In Numbers 13, the Israelites were facing a big problem. They were just outside the land of Canaan, which is the Promised Land God led them to after they wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. Moses sent 12 spies to scout out the land, and when they returned, 10 of them had a bad report, and two had a good report.

The spies told Moses, “We came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey …. But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of great stature and courage]” (vv. 27-28 AMPC).

But Caleb said, “Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it” (v. 30). In verses 32 and 33, the 10 spies “brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out, saying, The land … is a land that devours its inhabitants …. There we saw the Nephilim [or giants], the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

For the Israelites to possess their Promised Land, they were going to have to dispossess the current occupants — the giants. God had not cleared out all of the problems because He wanted to teach them how to trust Him, to lean on Him for the strength they needed to overcome their enemies.

Caleb acted in faith because he had his eyes on God, but the spies who brought the “evil report” couldn’t see themselves as anything but grasshoppers facing giants because they weren’t trusting God.

The Holy Spirit, Our Strengthener By Joyce Meyer

Discover God"s Battle Plan For You Pt 2 by Joyce Meyer

One word from God can give you the courage to confront anything that comes against you. If you don’t know how to hear from God, ask Him to help you. Pray for Him to speak to you and guide you. Make a determined decision to trust Him and believe His Word more than you believe what you feel or what the circumstances look like. When you seek God, He will meet you where you are, and you will instinctively know what to do, when you need to do it. You will be led by the Holy Spirit.

After Jehoshaphat took time to seek God,  2Chronicles 20 verse 17 says that the Lord told him, “You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you …. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you” (AMPC). Verse 18 says that “Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah … fell down before the Lord, worshiping Him.”

If you read the whole chapter, you’ll see that Jehoshaphat took time to worship God and tell Him how great He was before he made his request for help. Then he basically said, “Lord, You are so great and mighty, there’s nothing You cannot do. And when we have a problem, here’s what we’ll do: we’ll cry out to You and know You will take care of us.”

I just love the fact that he didn’t run to God and start by telling Him what he needed. Our position in spiritual warfare is first of all one of worshiping God, putting Him first. We must humble ourselves before God and admit that we need Him and we can’t manage life all by ourselves.

The truth is we don’t need to know everything all the time. We know the One who knows everything, can do anything and is with us all the time! And when God is ready and the time is right, He will always show us what to do.

If you’re facing a challenge today and battling fear, I want to encourage you to put your eyes on God, seek Him, worship Him and tell Him how much you need Him. The best thing you can do is resist anxious feelings to figure it all out and instead wait on God. Don’t waste your time trying to come up with a back-up plan just in case He doesn’t come through for you. That approach will only make your situation worse and hinder your ability to hear from God.

Remember 2 Timothy 1:7, which says, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control” (AMPC).

Take your battle position of worshiping God and trust that He is working on your behalf. Follow God’s great battle plan and thank Him for certain victory!

Discover God"s Battle Plan For You Pt 2 by Joyce Meyer

Discover God"s Battle Plan for You! Pt 1 BY JOYCE MEYER

We all face challenges in life, and sometimes they can be hard to handle. But did you know that God has a battle plan we can follow that will guarantee victory every time?

The key is finding out what our battle position is so we can see what God will do for us when we fight the way He wants us to fight.

In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, there is a powerful example of how God can fight our battles. There were three enemies coming against Jehoshaphat and the people of Israel: the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites. Verse 3 tells us that when Jehoshaphat heard about this trouble, his immediate response was fear. This is understandable because our first natural response to any bad news is usually a feeling of fear. And what we choose to do at that point is very important.

If we keep reading in verse 3, we can see how Jehoshaphat chose to respond.
He “set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah” (AMPC).

The minute he received bad news, Jehoshaphat felt fear but he immediately began to seek the Lord. This is absolutely the best decision we can ever make when we are facing a situation that makes us afraid.

I wonder how different the world would be if every time we had a problem we went to God immediately so we could hear directly from Him and know what we should do.

 

If you’re thinking, “Joyce, I’m not sure I can hear directly from God,” then I want to encourage you to believe that you can!

God’s Word says that He will give us wisdom and guide us when we put our trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 119:105).

I remember being overwhelmed at times with fear when I was diagnosed with breast cancer many years ago. It was a fast-growing type of cancer and I had to have surgery right away. I would pray and speak the Word to overcome the fear, but it would come back again. Then one night I heard God speak so clearly to my heart: “I will take care of you.” That was when my faith rose up and it changed everything.

 

Discover God"s Battle Plan for You! Pt 1 BY JOYCE MEYER 

A Practical How-To Guide to Resist the Devil BY JOYCE MEYER

With the dawn of a new year, there is the need to make new resolutions. The new year is a time to start afresh, to begin again on a clean slate. “Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.”

For many, this may mean standing firm and resisting all attempts and temptations of the enemy (devil). This is why this article has been shared to begin the new year. Arm yourself with the Word.

HAPPY NEW YEAR: Editor’s note

 

God loves you and has a good plan for your life. But if you want to live in His plan, you have to renew your mind and change your whole way of thinking, according to the Word of God. Romans 12:2 (AMPC) says, “Do not be conformed to this world (this age)…but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God….”

I can tell you from personal experience that this is true, because after I got serious about my relationship with God and started to study the Word, my life changed in amazing ways. I was basically a miserable person with a lot of negativity, bitterness and anger, but as my mind was renewed, I became a joyful, peaceful, pleasant, hopeful person.

The Bible also tells us we’re in a war. Ephesians 6:12 (NLT) says, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” The devil and his demons are real, and their first line of attack is our mind.

But although the enemy “comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy,” Jesus came so we can “have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” (John 10:10 AMPC). And Luke 10:19 (AMPC) says He has given us “authority and power…over all the power that the enemy [possesses]….”

The enemy has power, but through Christ, we have authority and power over him. The truth is he only has authority to use his power against us when we give it to him.

 

Know the Word

The number one way to defeat the devil is to know the Word of God well enough that you recognize the lies of the enemy, so you can cast down those thoughts. Second Corinthians 10:5 tells us that “we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (NIV).

The key is knowing Scripture so you can quickly recognize the lies of the devil and come right back at him with the Truth. Ephesians 6:17 says we have the helmet of salvation, which means we can think like someone who is born again as we renew our mind with God’s Word.

 

Have a Peaceful Approach to Life

Another way to overcome the attack of the enemy is to stay in peace at all times. Peace is power, and when the devil throws his best attack at you and you stay peaceful, he doesn’t know what to do!

When you’re struggling with a difficult situation, if you will trust that God is working, no matter what it looks like or how you feel, then you can stay peaceful. We all face challenges that can steal our peace, and we have a choice to make. We can go through life being frantic when trouble comes, or we can cast our care on God and enjoy the journey! (See 1 Peter 5:7.)
Live in His Presence

Spending time in God’s presence is another way we resist the devil. It’s true that we spend our time and money on things that are really important to us. And making God our top priority—working our schedules around our time with Him, rather than working Him into our busy schedules—is how we live when He is the most important thing in our life.

When we hang out with Jesus, people know there is something different about us. We’re peaceful, and they can tell by the way we act that we are Christians. And did you know that when you pray and study the Bible, you’re doing spiritual warfare?

Psalm 31:20 (AMPC) says, “In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.” I love how this scripture shows that I’m protected as I spend time in God’s presence. I’m aware that He is an ever-present reality, and I have victory when His presence is all around me.

 

Win the War with Love

John 3:16 demonstrates how walking in love is spiritual warfare. It says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV). This verse shows us two ways love is expressed: it gives and it forgives.

God gave Jesus so we can have eternal life. And through Christ, He forgives us and meets our needs. The same way He loves us is how He wants us to love others.

Romans 12:21 says we overcome evil with good. When we have problems, those are the times we need to love someone by being good to them, doing something that helps to make their life better.

Remember that love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling or a theory; it’s a decision about how you will treat people. We can’t love if we do it only when we feel like it. We have to make a decision to be committed to live a life of love, and this is possible when we put our trust in God and rely on Him to give us the grace to do it.

I want to encourage you to study God’s Word, spend time in His presence every day, stay peaceful in every situation, and love others the way God loves you. It’s the way you can defeat the attack of the enemy and enjoy the abundant life Jesus died to give you.

 

 

A Practical How-To Guide to Resist the Devil BY JOYCE MEYER