Joyce answers viewers’ questions in a replay of her very first live webcast on the Battlefield of the Mind.
the following program is paid for by the
friends and partners of Joyce Meyer
ministries study the mind study every
scripture you can on the mind study what
the Bible says about thinking read books
on the mind listen to CDs and watch DVDs
about the money I mean when you go into
a fight with the devil you got to go in
and say I am NOT gonna come out of this
already I’m gonna win yeah
well for years I’ve taught that the mind
is the battlefield and I will continue
to teach it because our thought life
greatly affects every other area of our
lives
recently we gave people the opportunity
to ask me questions about the mind
through a live webcast online and today
I want to share it with our television
audience because I believe the areas
that we talked about are going to really
help you to
well George there’s a great start and
some wonderful thoughts about where to
begin with all this and we’re our to
getting great questions from all over
the world so let’s just jump right in
and okay good let’s start you clean it
let’s answer quite yes this first one
comes from South Africa and it is asking
the question when people are thinking
thoughts that are negative like you were
just talking about that stinking
thinking where does it usually come from
is it something that I’m just making it
myself is it coming from the devil where
do all these negative thoughts come at
us from well first of all a great
greeting to all of our friends in South
Africa we love you very much and let me
just say that we do have an enemy he’s
called the devil Satan Lucifer an evil
spirit that tries to put evil thoughts
in our mind the Bible actually says in
2nd Corinthians 10 that we have weapons
to fight this enemy that he tries to
build strongholds in our mind and a
stronghold is literally an area where an
enemy will try to embed himself in there
and hide so for example some of you may
have had wrong thinking all your life
but you don’t know it’s wrong I did I
was abused in my childhood and so for
example I always thought I would always
have an inferior life and so I actually
made plans for second best because I
just assumed that I would never have the
best because I thought my life was
already ruined and so until I started to
study the Word of God and really learned
the truth so I could combat those lies I
would have had exactly what I thought
and so the Bible teaches us that Satan
is a liar that he’s the father of lies
that the truth is not in him and unless
we know the truth of God’s Word we have
no way of knowing that we are being
deceived and being lied to
so I believe first of all that all bad
thoughts initially come from Satan but
then many times we get so good at
thinking bad thoughts that he doesn’t
even have to pickling us and we got him
right out we just do it all for him or
sometimes the enemy will even use
well-meaning people even people that
love
to say something to us that may create a
suspicion in our mind our different
things like that so I think the enemy
works in many many many different ways
but it all actually boils down to God is
a plan for our life but Satan also has a
plan for our life and whoever we agree
with that’s the plan we’re going to end
up with so we need to know the Word of
God and I tell people all the time get
into agreement with God Amos 3:3 says
how can two walk together unless they be
agreed if you want to have the life that
God wants you to have you have to learn
what God says about you and learn to get
into agreement with that
so without knowing what God’s Word says
you don’t know if those thoughts are
from him or from the double-o they’ve
been totally wrong a total bondage for
years and years and years I mean I was I
was in I was like 32 33 years old
and even though I went to church a lot
of those years I still he didn’t really
understand that this was the truth of
God’s Word and that this was what I had
to base my life on right I went to
church more as a religious duty but when
I really realized that this is the Word
of God and that I can use this to renew
my mind and learn how to think right
then it became a difference that’s what
changes your life all right here’s
another question from barber from
Houston barber wants to know why is it
that I’m so engulfed with what people
think about me and why does the fact
that people don’t accept me just get
stuck in my mind and drives me so crazy
well hello Barbara in Houston and the
reason for it is insecurity it’s always
interesting to me that one of the first
things that God gives us and wants to
talk to us about is righteousness our
right standing with him because most of
us all of our life have had what I call
wrongness we feel wrong about ourselves
we’ve been told that we do everything
wrong there’s all kinds of comments that
are made to people throughout their life
that make them feel like that there’s
just something wrong with them we have a
habit of feeling that we need to compare
ourselves with other people all the time
compete with other people all the time
even the pictures that we see of people
on magazines they look so perfect and
then it’s so easy for the enemy to tell
us that that’s
way we need to look and if we don’t look
that way then we’re not really what we
should be and so the Bible says that if
any man be in Christ he is a new
creature old things pass away including
old thinking and all things become brand
new it doesn’t just happen in one magic
moment we must renew our minds by
studying the Word of God but then second
Corinthians 5:21 says he that knew no
sin became sin that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Christ God
decides to see us as right with him
because we put our trust and confidence
in Jesus Christ but no confidence in the
flesh Philippians 3:3 says but only in
Christ Jesus well I know about all about
being insecure Barbara I can relate to
where you are and maybe you don’t even
really realize that that’s your problem
but anytime that we care too much about
what other people think
we’re going to end up being controlled
by the thoughts and opinions of other
people so if you ever really want to
live out your destiny and fulfill the
plan that God has for your life then you
have to learn who you are in Christ
that’s the only thing that I personally
know of that can free you from being
overly concerned about what people think
now me telling you this one time is not
going to solve the problem you have to
really meditate on scriptures and
confess them out loud I am the
righteousness of God in Christ he loves
me God’s got a good plan for my life I
don’t have to be overly concerned about
what people think there is a battle but
you can fight and win that battle if you
learn how to do warfare with the Word of
God that’s good all right Susan from
Springfield Missouri would like to know
I have to be around a negative person
every day how do I not let their
negativity affect my emotional state the
way that and the way that I react
towards them well Susan it’s not easy
I’m not going to tell you that it’s easy
if you are in a situation where you have
to be around somebody negative and I
would just like to say to all the people
watching if you’re choosing to be around
somebody negative then you’re just
really tormenting yourself if there’s
any way that you can surround yourself
with positive people you want to do it
but if you’re in a situation
were you around somebody negative you
can’t do anything about it a couple of
suggestions one as much as you can be be
around other people that are positive to
kind of combat that for example you
might have somebody that puts you down a
lot says negative things to you well
make sure you have several friends that
are going to build you up and edify you
and encourage you realize that the
person has a problem it’s always helpful
to me when people are trying to make me
feel bad if I can just even say to
myself sometimes you know they really
have a problem
I remember when Jesus said Father
forgive them for they know not what they
do and we have to remember that a lot of
people that come against us really don’t
know what they’re doing they’re just
acting out of their own pain the other
thing I want to tell you Susan and this
is a must you must spend good quality
time fellowshipping with God on a daily
basis because he is your strength there
are actually things that happened to me
in my life and I’ve been thinking about
these things recently where I just
almost feel like that God has got me
cushioned or hidden from them so I was
going through something really intense
lately and and somebody said to me how
can you do that how can you just go
through something like that and and
still just act like everything is okay
and I almost felt like that it seemed
worse to her than it actually was to me
because I do believe that like we have
shock absorbers on our car so when you
hit a really deep pothole it doesn’t
just you know jar you too bad I believe
that God puts shock absorbers on our
life when we really trust him to protect
us the Bible teaches us that God is the
God of all comfort and that he comforts
us in all of our affliction so if you’re
in that negative situation you really
need to spend good quality fellowship
time with God if you don’t do that it’s
going to be really really difficult but
if you go to God first thing every day
god you know the situation I’ve got I’m
sure if you’re in that situation with a
negative person you’re probably there
because you believe that’s where God
wants you to be for now then
I need you to strengthen me to be here I
really believe that anywhere that God
asks us to be that he will give us the
grace to be there with a good attitude
and I’m sure a lot of people right now
are praying for a bigger shock absorbers
now right so they feel like they need a
new set if I need a new set you know you
can’t wear your shock absorbers out you
have to go in and get new ones
ya know that’s good advice all right
this is a question from Krista from
North Carolina and she says how do you
handle the battle in your mind when
you’re struggling with addiction well I
believe that you have to first of all
believe that nothing can control you
Krista except the Holy Spirit if you get
close enough to God I think one of the
things that Satan lies to us about is we
get this thinking I can’t stand this I
can’t stand it I can’t stand it it’s too
much for me I can’t do this I can’t do
this it’s too hard it’s too hard it’s
too hard and one of the things that I
want to encourage you to stop saying is
it’s too hard I can’t do this it’s too
much for me I wrote a book not too long
ago called power thoughts and it has 12
things in it that you can think on
purpose that will be life-changing for
you that help renew your mind and the
first thing I wrote on was I can do
whatever I need to do in life
through Christ who strengthens me so
when you wake up in the morning I’m sure
that very early in the morning sometimes
before your eyes are fully open the
enemy enemy the devil may try to put
thoughts in your mind
well this desire is going to come the
need for this addiction is going to come
and it’s just going to be too much for
you and so you may even before you ever
put your feet on the floor be afraid
that you’re already not going to be able
to do what you need to do that day I
want to encourage you early in the
morning first thing
god I need you to help me today I trust
you to help me today I don’t believe
anything is too much for me with you on
my side
learn scriptures like if God be for me
who can be against me if God is on my
side of whom shall I fear one scripture
that was just brought up fresh to me
about a month ago and I did some
teaching on this as first John 4:4 says
we have already defeated and overcome
them the agents of Antichrist that means
we’ve already defeated and overcome the
devil why because
greater is He that is in me than he that
is in the world you see the truth is
what you believe is going to become the
dominating thing in your life if you
believe the addiction is too much for
you then it will be but if you believe
that you can do whatever you need to do
and if you have to take it one second at
a time one minute at a time one hour at
a time don’t think about how am I going
to be able to stand this the rest of my
life think about I can do this for the
next five minutes I can resist this
temptation for an hour even things like
when I stopped smoking ginger which is
probably a minor thing compared to what
you know a lot of people are dealing
with but it was hard for me and I just
remember that every day that I made it
without smoking the next day was a tiny
bit easier I probably should say for
about the first week every day was hard
but then after that truly every day got
a little bit easier and I kind of felt
like if I can just make it 30 days and
you know sure enough when those 30 days
were over it really wasn’t that much of
a battle for anymore I would have times
went like maybe I’d get angry or get
upset about something or I’d have some
extra stress and just out of habit my
first thought would be oh you know I got
to get a cigarette but I don’t think
like that now after all these years of
not smoking that’s the last thing that I
would think of so you can change you can
be completely free Jesus has already set
you free you just need to believe that
wake up in the morning saying I’m free
from this the only thing I’m addicted to
is Jesus himself I’ve got to have him
but I don’t have to have anything else
and it’s important for us to realize
that every issue we have
every addiction every thought every fear
is is covered in God’s Word I mean there
is an answer for everything that we’re
looking for because sometimes people
will be listening to this and they’ll
say well that doesn’t really apply to
what I’m dealing with
but Jesus covered it all he’s in the Sun
is that free is free indeed
and every promise of God the Bible says
is available to whosoever will
and that’s not just whosoever will have
the promise we’d all like that but
whosoever will do the part that god asks
them to do and there’s even a scripture
in Deuteronomy that says stop saying
it’s too hard stop saying it’s too
difficult and so that’s one of the
things that you need to do right away if
you have a challenge in front of you
that’s hard stop saying it’s hard
because we believe more of what we say
and what anybody else says and if we can
begin to say the right thing get into
agreement with God that helps renew our
mind so the more we think right the more
we speak right the more we speak right
the more we think right and it just
becomes like the cycle of renewing your
mind too poor pretty soon it actually
hurts me now to think negatively for
very long like if I if I start thinking
negatively living is just not right I
can tell something’s just not right I
can tell losing my joy you know that and
then it’s just like I’ve been there done
that
no thank you I’m not going there again
yeah all right well a lot of this also
all the different questions comes down
to fear with an addiction there’s that
fear that we’re going to step back to
where we were and don’t want to go with
thoughts that come into our minds it’s
that that fear factor and so here’s a
question about that this comes from
Michele in Pennsylvania and she says I’m
feeling more powerful I’m dealing with
the attacks on the enemy but my mind
sometimes gets filled with doubt and
fear and sometimes it is very
frightening so any insight that you can
provide for combating fear would be
greatly appreciated okay well one of the
only real reason that the Bible gives
for not fearing is fear not for I am
with you so to try to fight fear on your
own is useless you have to know first of
all that God is with you
secondly I want you to realize that fear
is a spirit that creates a feeling the
Bible says God has not given us a spirit
of fear but of power and love and a
sound mind but when the Bible says fear
not it doesn’t really mean don’t you
dare feel fear I think we’re all going
to feel fear at different times
our life but it but fear not means don’t
give in to the fear the word fear
actually means to take flight or to run
away from so we can be subject to
worrisome thoughts fearful thoughts I
can’t sit here and say that my mind is
never attacked with worry because it is
and sometimes I just want to go get that
out of there but I just one of the
things that comes to my heart and maybe
because it’s in my heart maybe this is
really for you I find that I have a much
more difficult time with my mind when
I’m really really really tired like for
example after I go out and do a
conference on a weekend I give my whole
self to my teachings in my conferences
and I’ve traveled there I’ve traveled
back I’ve done that the conference’s
I’ve slept in a strange bed I’m tired
and I have discovered that if I’m not
careful it’s much easier for me on the
Sunday after my conferences to get mad
at Dave quicker to get my feelings hurt
easier if anybody does say something to
me that normally maybe I could just say
oh they didn’t mean anything by that
on that day it’s much easier for me to
get my feelings hurt so I’ve learned
that on Sundays after my conferences I
need to make sure that I don’t do
anything that’s going to be too intense
or anything that’s going to create more
stress I need to do something I enjoy I
need to be around people that I know
that I’m going to enjoy so you want to
make sure that you’re taking care of
yourself because if you’re tired all the
time and I actually believe right now
this is probably ministering to a lot of
people watching right now if you’re
tired all the time
you just try getting three or four hours
sleep if you’re a person who needs eight
and see how much more how much more
difficult it is for you to keep your
thinking right on those days when you
haven’t had good sleep another thing
that I think really affects us is we let
our lives get out of balance I really
love what first Peter five says it says
be well balanced for your adversary the
devil roams about like a lion roaring
and fierce hunger seeking someone whom
he may seize upon and devour so the
devil can’t just
anybody who wants to he looks for the
right person and one of the people that
he can devour is someone whose life is
out of balance now you know what I mean
by that Jin Jin I’m sure you can relate
to this I had many many many years in my
life where I was a workaholic I mean you
know in any no easy to get any day when
I go to bed now there would be something
else to do if I wanted to do it yeah but
I now have my life organized in such a
way where I mean five o’clock at night
I’m like done and then I’m having what I
now call lovingly my chair therapy I’ve
learned that if I don’t rest in the
evenings especially you know because
I’ve lived a few years now and the more
years you live the more you need to do
that I’ve got to have some downtime in
the evening and a couple hours to be
quiet
rest do something I like otherwise I’m
going to get burnt out and I think
especially in our society today there is
unbelievable pressure that is put on
people everybody’s got an expectation
everybody places a demand and sometimes
you just feel like it’s overwhelming and
so you end up just thinking you have to
just keep going going going going going
going going to try to meet all these
demands but sooner or later you’re going
to learn how to say no I need to rest I
need to get some sleep I need to have
some fun and if you’ll do that you will
find that it’s harder for the enemy to
control your thinking now still it all
comes down to knowing the word of God
and being quick to apply the word of God
the Bible says that the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but they’re
mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds we have weapons they’re
not carnal they’re spiritual weapons and
the Word of God is the number one
spiritual weapon that we have Jesus and
it’s recorded in Luke 4 when he was
being attacked by the enemy Satan would
put something in his mind that wasn’t
true he knew the word he said it is
written and he’d refuted the lie after
about four rounds of that the Bible says
Satan went away to wait for a more
favorable an opportune time
you can run him off I’m not saying he’ll
never come back but he will have to
listen to the Word of God if you speak
the word and not just
you feel so knowing ourselves knowing
when our guard is down when we’re
weakest that’s right most susceptible to
these kind of things and then acting
quickly when that thought comes in using
the word of God
you know the Bible actually says resist
the devil it is onset yeah that’s also
in 1st Peter 5 and that was another
really big big big thing for me in my
life don’t let the devil play around in
your head for 15 minutes before you
decide to do anything about it as soon
as as soon as the Holy Spirit makes you
aware now get this as the minute that
the Holy Spirit makes you aware that
you’re thinking something you shouldn’t
be thinking that’s when you need to come
against it and it’s helpful sometimes
they even say no I am NOT going to think
like this yeah that’s good this is from
Dawn from Phoenix and she says my
husband died three years ago I found out
after he died that he had been having
relationships with other women and I
have forgiven him but it keeps coming
back to me every day how do I get these
thoughts out of my mind
well I think that the answer for you Don
is the same as some of the other things
that I’ve said only let’s apply it
specifically to your situation you see
the Word of God is so precious that you
can have ten different situations and
you can you can apply it specifically to
each one of those situations first of
all I always like to remember that
hurting people hurt people
so I’m sure you’re hurt by the fact that
you’ve now discovered that the person
you loved and was married to was
unfaithful to you
well in some way he was hurting the
first thing Satan wants you to think is
there something wrong with you
if you would have been better if you
would have done this if you would have
done that if you would have done
something else you have to know who you
are in Christ and say I may have not
been a perfect wife but that was no
reason for him to do what he did and I’m
not now I want you to get this I’m not
going to let it destroy the rest of my
life I feel like that’s a real strong
word for you right now you have to make
a decision today letting go of what lies
behind pressing on to the good things at
our head now as far as this the thought
coming back to you over and over and
over and over and over you probably need
to make some new friends
you need to do some new things one of
the things that I’ve found for me when
I’m being tormented with some kind of
thought and I just can’t seem to get it
off my mind
I’ve really found that it’s helpful just
to go do something go do something that
is different get out of the chair I’m
sitting in thinking about it you know
don’t be around people that are going to
drag me into conversations about it all
the time just get up and go do something
go help somebody else go find somebody
maybe that’s been hurt worse than you
have and try to cheer them up and help
them the bottom line is is these things
don’t always happen overnight when
you’ve been hurt deeply which I’m sure
you have there’s a wound in your soul
there’s a wound in your emotions and
only God can heal that wound so once
again like I told answered to another
one of the questions and I’m not just
trying to be overly spiritual this is
like really really really important you
have to spend time with God what do I
mean by spending time with God just go
to him every day God Here I am I can’t
do this on my own
I can’t make myself think right I can’t
make myself feel right but you’ve
promised that you would give me beauty
for Ashes the oil of joy for mourning
the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness actually there’s a promise for
you in Isaiah 61 7 that says that God
will give you a two-fold blessing for
your farmer trouble God will give you a
double blessing for your farmer trouble
I call it double for your trouble and if
you can hang on to those promises really
trusting God to heal those memories and
heal those emotions it will happen it
may not happen overnight but little by
little it will happen but one thing I
can tell you don’t give up because
you’re not going to stay this way
forever if you apply these principles
I’m teaching you you need to help
yourself
you need to get everything you can about
the mind study the mind study every
scripture you can on the mind study what
the Bible says about thinking read books
on the mind listen to CDs then watch
DVDs about the mind I mean when you go
into a fight with the devil you got to
go in and say I am NOT going to come out
of this video
I’m gonna win yeah