Need some divine guidance in your life? On this episode of Enjoying Everyday Life, Joyce Meyer explains how God can help you get to where you want to go…and what it takes to get there.
this program has been made possible by
the friends and partners of joyce meyer
ministries
[Music]
all right i’m going to talk to you today
about divine guidance
are
hearing god’s voice
probably one of the major
it’s not it’s not the top prayer request
that we get the top one that we get is
for people’s children
and their loved ones
and uh
obviously we understand why people are
very concerned about
their kids that aren’t walking with god
but
the next one is guidance
so many people
need and want to know what to do
about specific situations how many of
you are in a situation right now where
you
really need to hear from god about a
decision that you need to make okay well
see that’s pretty much everybody
and
see the thing is is we need it all the
time
we don’t need to just hear from god
occasionally we need to be
led and guided by the holy spirit
every day of our life as long as we’re
alive
but before i start talking about how to
hear from god
i’m going to talk to you for a little
bit about obedience
because there’s no point in anybody
hearing from god
if you haven’t already made your mind up
that you’re going to do what god tells
you to do
[Applause]
whatever
he tells you to do
and that doesn’t mean that you’re always
going to like
what he tells you to do
so we have to be ready for
i’m going to use the word that nobody
likes a little bit of suffering in the
flesh
you know if we want more of god in our
life then there’s always a little more
flesh that has to go
you know john said i must decrease
and he must increase
we can’t expect to have an increase of
god in our life
if we’re going to just keep doing what
we want to do all the time and not make
our minds up to listen to god
maybe
we need more teaching on obedience
we should be hungry i mean hungry
to know
what god says and what he wants us to do
in our lives because here’s the fact
god is always right
and if we disagree with him then we are
always wrong
god’s the only one that can guide our
lives
in a right way and i want to say this
and i want you to get this
anything that god asks you to do or not
to do
anything he asks you to give up
is always and only for your benefit
if we really believe that god is good
and that he loves us
and he tells us
to give up something that we don’t want
to give
up first of all it’s wrong to disobey
god but secondly we’re only hurting
ourselves because everything that he
tells us to do is something that’s going
to give us the life that we say we want
to have
but we’re not doing the things that we
need to do
in order to get it i’ll never forget a
woman that attended a conference i tell
this story pretty often but it still
amazes me
we were having some kind of a banquet
type conference where
and it was all ladies and they were
sitting at these big round tables
together like about eight people at a
table and
this so they had plenty of fellowship
time during meals and stuff and so
i don’t know what i was teaching on but
at the end of the conference the lady
a lady came to me and she said well
i know now exactly what my problem is
and i said well what is your problem she
said well i was abused sexually like you
are and she said it just so happens
all these little things that we think
are coincidences and they’re really the
providence of god it just so happened
that all the ladies at the table with me
had a similar background
to mine
and she said as i listened to them talk
about their healing and what all god had
done in their life and how free they
were now she said i realized after
listening to them that god has told me
the same things that he told them
the only difference is they did it and i
didn’t
let that soak in just a little bit
if i were to ask right now and i won’t
make you raise your hands although i
probably should
if i were to ask right now how many of
you know right now without me saying
another word
that there’s something that god has told
you to do
or something that he has asked you to
stop doing
maybe quite a while ago
and you still
haven’t done it
see we got people brave people out there
for nothing
okay you know what
i’m not trying to be mean but you’ll
stay in the same mess you’re in it’ll
just get worse
until you do what god
tells you to do
faith without works is dead
it’s great to say i have faith in god
but if i’m not going to do what he tells
me to do
then i’m not gonna
get anywhere
and so
maybe some of you’ll squirm in your
seats a little bit this morning
i hope you do i don’t think we should
always just be all that comfortable
sitting in church
[Applause]
okay so
we’re going to talk just a little bit
about obedience
how many of you have heard the scripture
resist the devil and he will flee from
you
okay well that’s actually not what the
scripture says
that’s the part of it we quote
but it actually says submit yourself to
god
resist the devil
and he will flee from you
so there’s we have no power
over satan if we’re living in known
disobedience now i think that god’s a
little more gracious to us when we’re
living in ignorance the apostle paul
said that god gave him
grace because he had zeal without
knowledge he was
persecuting christians but he actually
really believed that he was doing the
right thing however as soon as god
showed him otherwise he was ready and
quick to make a change
so if you really don’t
know
that what you’re doing is wrong
then god will give you more grace a
space of time but every time you come to
hear the word of god whether it’s
watching a tv program or listening to a
message or reading the bible or coming
to church you know what you get not just
a good message you get more
responsibility
because now you know something
that you didn’t know before
and so if you keep doing the same dumb
stuff you did
before you knew the right thing to do
now
you’re going to experience
the other side
of it
i thought god’s merciful he is merciful
but sometimes the most merciful thing
you can do is not let somebody keep
getting away
with something that’s hurting them
submit yourself to god
resist the devil
and he will flee now we’re always all
going to have trouble with the devil
because he hates us
and really you should be more concerned
if he’s not giving you any trouble than
if he is
because if you’re if he’s not giving you
any trouble then you’re probably not
giving him any
however
the best way in the world
to give the devil no power over you is
to the best of your ability
quickly and promptly do whatever god
asks you to do
quickly and promptly do
whatever god asks you
to do
isaiah 1 19 says if you’re willing and
obedient you shall eat the good of the
land
well we’re all willing
but that’s not all the scripture says he
says if you’re willing and obedient
you shall eat the good of the lamb i you
know i’m really excited about what’s
going to happen in this area in the next
week or so because after me preaching
this boy you’re all going to perk up and
you’re going to be on your best behavior
for a few days and then somebody will
have to come back around
and give you a fresh dose
okay in haggai chapter 1 verses 2
through 9 i find an extremely
interesting story
it says thus says the lord of hosts
these people say
the time has not come that the lord’s
house our temple should be rebuilt so
the people were saying no it’s not time
to rebuild the temple now in the classic
original version of the amplified bible
it says in that one although cyrus had
ordered it done 18 years prior
so the people are still saying
nope this is not the right time
but god had already told them to a
prophet 18 years previously
that that was what they needed to do so
they had been being disobedient
for 18 years and you know one of the
main reasons why we’re disobedient why
we can be
really
i mean people who love god and you got a
good heart because we make excuses
anything that’s going to be a little
uncomfortable
we can quickly find an excuse why it’s
not time and procrastination is so
dangerous it’s so deceptive because when
we procrastinate we don’t see it as
being disobedient because we’re going to
do it
come on we plan to do it
we intend to do it
but unless god has told you to wait till
another time to obey him
then
you haven’t obeyed until you’ve done
what god asked you
to do
hallelujah
then the word of the lord came by haggai
the prophet saying
is it time for you yourselves to live in
your expensive paneled houses while this
house of the lord lies in ruins
so god is saying
to them i told you to rebuild my house
but instead
you’re building your own house
you know what we need to be much busier
building the kingdom of god
than we are trying to
increase the size of our portfolio
now therefore
thus says the lord of hosts consider
your ways and thoughtfully reflect on
your conduct
you have planted much
but you have very little harvest you eat
but you don’t have enough
you drink but you don’t have enough to
be intoxicated i’m still kind of
wrestling with that i’m not sure
but it’s there it’s the bible so
i do want to say i don’t think that
means you should all go out and get
drunk but
anyway
the mysteries
you clothe yourself but nobody’s warm
enough and he who earns wages earns them
just to put them in a bag that has holes
in it
because god has withheld his blessings
have you ever felt like that in your
life
no matter what i do
it never seems to
work out
i remember telling dave years ago it
seems like no matter
we get we get a little bit of money
saved and something always happens to
take it
well these people are saying you know
we’re working but we never have enough
we’re doing this but it’s never enough
it’s it’s never enough it’s never enough
and
god’s answer to them was consider your
ways
consider your ways you know it never
hurts to have a little meeting with
yourself once in a while
you ever take time to have a meeting
with yourself
and just sit down maybe and think about
your life and
think about what you’re doing with your
time and
even just to think about how how many
things are you doing
just
to please somebody else
when really you don’t feel in your heart
at all it’s what you’re supposed to be
doing
but to keep them from getting upset
you waste your time on stuff that you
feel no anointing on there’s no grace on
you to do it
you don’t even like doing it
and even that kind of stuff is
disobedience to god god has a destiny
for each and every one of you and i can
safely say that if you want to fulfill
that destiny there’s a pretty good
chance you’re going to have to make a
few people mad
amen
oh wouldn’t we love it if everybody
loved us
and everybody agreed with us
but surely we can understand that the
devil is not going to let that happen
because approval from people is one of
the things that we crave way too much
he’s always going to make sure that
there’s somebody that disapproves hoping
that in order to gain their approval we
will do what they want instead of doing
what god wants
somebody in this building needed to hear
that
today amen
i’ll tell you very shortly when god
called me to start teaching
the group of people that i was around
women didn’t do that
the group of people i was around nobody
talked about people hearing from god and
so
when i’m telling them i heard from god
and he called me to
preach the gospel to the world i mean
just to make it
short i got asked to leave my church
i lost every friend that i had except
maybe one or two
a lot of our families
turned against us
and so let me just say plainly that
if you want to do what god wants you to
do if you want to have how many of you
want to have the best life that god’s
got for you
okay
i mean do you really
okay well then there there is going to
be
some
sacrifice and some hard things and some
hard decisions
that you’re gonna have to make
we need a little more backbone and not
so much
[Applause]
wishbone i want to see people be strong
and believe that they can do whatever
god wants them to do and be people that
make a decision i am not going to give
up devil you might as well forget me
given up because i am not going to give
up
if anybody can have the promises of god
then i can have the promises of god
verse 7 thus says the lord of hosts
consider your ways and thoughtfully
reflect on your conduct
verse eight go up to the hill country
bring lumber and rebuild my house
that i might be pleased with it and be
glorified
accepting it is done for my glory verse
nine you look for much harvest but it
comes to little and even when you bring
that home i blow it away why says the
lord of hosts because of my house which
lies in ruins while each of you runs to
his own house eager to enjoy it
amen
let me just go ahead and
irritate somebody by saying
that
you need to be a generous giver
i mean a generous giver
if you’re going to be part of a church
be part of one that’s doing a lot of
outreach
i don’t i don’t think a church is even a
real church it’s not helping the poor in
the needy if
i mean if all we’re gonna do is have a
little social club
and all get together and try to build
our own little kingdom then we’ve missed
the whole thing
i mean
the way that the world is gonna change
is by us getting out in the middle of it
and loving
really loving people because that’s one
thing that they just don’t know what to
do with especially especially if you
learn how to love your enemies
[Applause]
now see right away that’s already given
somebody some pain
if you listen really good
you’ll hear god tell you to
help that person that’s been mean to you
at the office that now has a need
see look at you your life
[Applause]
see that’s how you prove your
christianity
that goes beyond your bumper sticker and
the cross you hang around your neck
that says now you’re going to put some
action
to what you say
that you are you know if we get out
there and live right we wouldn’t have to
do much preaching at all people to come
and ask us for the answers
hebrews 5 8
although he was a son talking about
jesus
who had never been disobedient to the
father he learned
active special obedience through what he
suffered
now i find that to be very interesting
jesus was never disobedient
but he learned
what it really meant to be obedient
by doing the hard things that god asked
him to do
and so see
you can’t really learn
what it means
to really be obedient
if you’re only going to do the things
that
you don’t mind doing or
you like doing or you kind of enjoy
doing
don’t think that god won’t test you
let me tell you something there’s so
many people watching right now you are
in the middle of a big fat test and i’m
telling you you might as well go ahead
and pass it because if you don’t you
will get to retake it
in the school of the holy spirit you
never flunk out you just get to keep
taking the same test over and over and
over until you pass it
amen
everybody right now needs to hear from
god it’s one of the number one prayer
requests that we get and if we want to
hear from god and be led by the holy
spirit the first step we need to take is
choosing to obey god’s word the bible
but if you’re like me and i’ll just be
honest and say i don’t always get this
right this first step every single time
sometimes i choose to do my own thing
and it does not go the way that it
should but there’s good news you see god
doesn’t give up on us just because we
are not immediately obedient we find
that there is so much good about that
but his grace and mercy they cover us
every day as we continue to dig in and
we just become more and more determined
to obey his word you see i’ve learned a
lot along the way and i’ve learned that
it’s better to obey so if you really
want to hear from god then find out what
his word says to you and do your best to
do it we have a couple books a couple
resources to help you do that right now
from joyce first of all we have her book
called how to hear from god it has been
around for a while because it’s making
such an impact and it’s really practical
and helpful when you want to hear god’s
voice and separate out all those other
voices that are in your head then we
also have a devotional that is a great
way for you to begin hearing from god
each morning you’ll be seeing what his
word says about how you can hear more
from him and how you can learn to take
that first step right away of being
obedient
well did you know that helping others
has health benefits
it does find out how these two work
together coming up
the joyce meyer conference is back if
you will start crying out to god on a
regular basis i need more of you in my
life you better put on your seat belt
and get ready for the ride of your life
coming to austin texas august 19th and
20th with worship by pat barrett
in hershey pennsylvania november 4th and
5th with worship by matt brock
for more information and a complete
conference schedule visit joycemeyer.org
or call
1-866-c joyce
a celebration 40 years in the making
register now at joycemeyer.org for the
love life women’s conference september
22nd through 24th in st louis missouri
register now at joycemeyer.org
[Music]
did you know that helping others is
psychologically good for you you see god
created us in such a unique and
beautiful way that when we help others
it actually does something good for us
personally i love that we talked with a
neurosurgeon who shares exactly how this
all works
i’m a neurosurgeon so i’m a brain
surgeon
and i’ve been in practice now for 20
years
and i think oftentimes we separate our
heavenly father from science but yet
he’s the creator of science
and there really isn’t a separation
[Music]
so what’s interesting is is that god has
created us in a unique way that when we
give when we tithe and we give there is
a physiologic response that god has
created that helps our minds and helps
our bodies literally
and it turns out there are pleasure
centers in the frontal lobe in the front
of our brain our reasoning centers
and when you give
those pleasure centers light up on
functional mri so that just looks at
blood flow in certain parts of your
brain when you’re using certain parts
and so now
you connect
god
as a loving heavenly father and how he’s
created our brains
and you connect the joy of giving it
changes everything
while you’re hurting god will use you to
help somebody else if you’ll let him
and that’s one of the quickest ways to
receive your own healing
while you’re hurting you can be in a
very difficult situation and you can be
there with a smile on your face and a
good attitude and while you’re waiting
for your breakthrough you can and should
be a blessing to other people somebody
say amen
so
i am excited
to be a partner and i’m excited to see
all the things that god’s doing through
joyce meyer ministry and he’s doing in
me physiologically and in in all of us
because as we are givers and as we
support the ministry there is a
physiologic response that god has
created that helps our minds and helps
our bodies literally it affects all 50
trillion cells of our body when we give
and i would encourage anyone
that again it’s not just about i’m
giving my time or my money
but this is a supernatural
physiologic occurrence that dave and
joyce have created for us
to be able to help heal others but also
to heal ourselves
[Music]
i am always and sincerely in awe of how
god created us so detailed how he gave
us all of these healing mechanisms in
our body he made things work in such an
intricate way that we could have never
imagined he had it all in mind and you
just think of the creativity involved
and he has made it so that we can
activate these wonderful things through
loving one another when you hear what dr
jackson is saying it’s amazing to see
the good that god had in mind for all of
us all along and the plan that he had so
that we can help one person and they’ll
help another and it also helps us along
the way it’s just a beautiful cycle of
the things that god wants for us he has
good for you so if you would like to
have good for someone else and also
see some of those things happening in
your body that dr jackson was just
talking about i’ve got an idea for you
you could join joyce meyer ministries in
partnership now you ask what is
partnership partnership says that you
are going to make a commitment to stand
with us as a financial partner giving
and and praying and just being a part of
everything that we do here on a regular
basis it is saying that you want to be a
part of making a difference in other
people’s lives every single day people
who are watching this program that
you’re watching right now people who are
drinking fresh clean water all over the
world people who are receiving medical
help when they need it there are so many
ways that you can help others now it’s
not all about what you get for yourself
that’s not what god had in mind at all
but it is beautiful that when we know in
our heart that we’re doing what god
wants us to when we’re helping someone
else
something good happens inside of here
too so we hope that you’ll join us today
go to the website joycemeyer.org give us
a call and join us in partnership and
let’s see the benefits together
we hope you have enjoyed today’s program
please contact us or visit
joycemeyer.org to share your prayer
requests or partner with us in sharing
christ and loving people all across the
globe
this program has been made possible by
the friends and partners of joyce meyer
ministries