Articles by Joyce Meyer

For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.
– Psalm 18:29

Throughout the Bible, we find the commands of God always come with the promise of reward. God is not a taker; He is a giver. He never tells us to do anything unless it is for our ultimate benefit. I assure you: Everything God ever asks you to do, even if it is difficult, He asks because He has something great in mind for you—but in order to experience it, you will need to press through the hard place.

Don’t think or say, “This is just too hard” when you know you need to do something. Be grateful that God never requires you to handle more than you can bear. With every difficulty, He always provides a way to overcome. You never have to say, “There is no way,” because He is the way (see John 14:6) and He makes a way for you. You can do whatever God calls you to do in life! You have what it takes!

Prayer of Thanks: I am grateful, Father, that You won’t ask me to handle more than I can bear. Today, as I press through the difficult areas in my life, I thank You that I am not pressing through alone—You are with me!

Do you hold unforgiveness toward anyone for any reason? If so, it needs to be eliminated from your heart and mind right away because it’s keeping you in bondage. You may be thinking, Well, Joyce, that’s easy for you to say. You haven’t been hurt like I have. That is true, but I have been hurt in life to a very deep degree. I was abused, abandoned, rejected, blamed, lied about, misunderstood, and betrayed by family and friends, and I allowed the enemy to fill my heart with hatred for those who hurt me. But when I began to learn about love, I moved from hatred to bitterness to mild resentment and finally to freedom, which only comes through forgiveness. The Lord graciously brought restitution into my life.

God promises to bring justice into our lives and to give us a double reward for our former shame, pain, and unfair treatment (see Isaiah 61:7). When we try to bring justice ourselves through vengeful acts, we only prevent God from working on our behalf.

The absolute key to unlocking the recompense of God for past hurts, however, is to do things His way and not our own. We are to love our enemies, pray for them, and bless them. If you have been hurt, God knows all about it, and He has a plan for your vindication. He, and He alone, is the vindicator (Hebrews 10:30).

Love Others Today: Do you need to extend forgiveness to someone? Make the choice to do so right now. It will be a gift to that person and a gift to you.

Today’s Goal: Choose Wisely

All of our choices are important and they either have a positive or a negative impact on our life. Are we putting our time into what will help us be the person we truly want to be? Or will we end up someday disappointed and bitter because “life” didn’t turn out the way we hoped it would?

Life doesn’t just turn out to be one way or another without any input from us. Although we certainly cannot control all of our circumstances and the things that happen to us, we can control a lot of them by making a commitment to know God’s will for us and then make decisions accordingly.

The world is filled with people who are resentful and angry because their life isn’t what they want it to be, but if we could closely examine the choices they have made during the course of their life, we would usually find that their poor choices are behind their dissatisfaction. The problem is that unless they realize that, take responsibility for it and make positive changes, they are stuck in a situation that will not change.

I wasted several years of my life being angry, resentful, discouraged and depressed, but thankfully I finally decided to do something good with the time I had left. If you want to start today using the time you have left on this earth, then it begins with a decision to seize the day every day and be an individual who lives life “on-purpose, for a purpose.”

God has given us free choice and His wisdom is available to help us make choices that will produce a life we can be proud of and enjoy.

Pray: Lord, I ask for Your grace and wisdom to make good choices for my life and be an “on-purpose” person. Help me not to focus on the mistakes of the past, but take responsibility and concentrate on the great future You have in store for me. Amen.

It has been statistically proven that 10 percent of people will never like you, so stop trying to have a perfect record with everyone and start celebrating who you are. A person who knows how to live independently does not allow the moods of other people to alter hers.

A story is told of a Quaker man who knew how to live independently as the valued person God had created Him to be. One night as he was walking down the street with a friend, he stopped at a newsstand to purchase an evening paper. The storekeeper was very sour, rude, and unfriendly. The Quaker man treated him with respect and was quite kind in his dealing with him. He paid for his paper, and he and his friend continued to walk down the street. The friend said to the Quaker, “How could you be so cordial to him with the terrible way he was treating you?” The Quaker man replied, “Oh, he is always that way. Why should I let him determine how I am going to act?”

Lord, help me to not allow others to steal my joy and peace by the things they say and do. I want to be kind and cordial, but I won’t let my mood to be controlled. Amen.