transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:00] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.
Speaker 2:
[00:22] Welcome to 15 minutes in the word with New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer. On today's program, Joyce will be teaching from her series, Never Give Up. Did you know the only way we can lose in life is if we quit? The hard part is learning to keep going and trusting God, even when we're in the midst of difficulties. When we're determined to never give up, there is no limit to what God can do in our lives. Now, here's Joyce with today's teaching.
Speaker 3:
[00:50] Verse 20. No unbelief or distrust. It did come against him. Doubt and unbelief came against him, warred against his mind just like it does yours when you're attempting to believe God for something. No unbelief or distrust made him waver and doubtingly question concerning the promise of God. Why? But he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he did what? Gave praise and glory to God. As he gave praise and glory to God. Now, praise is much more than just singing a song that you look at on the overhead. Praise, actually, if you study the word, means a narrative or a tale. It's telling a story or remembering something that reminds you of the power of God and the goodness of God in your life. So, every situation that you're in when doubt is coming against you, one of the things that you have to do if you're going to defeat the doubt, is you have to not just think about the problem you have, but you have to remember other victories that you've had in the past. Now, is there anybody here that can think of anything at all that God has ever done for you? All right. Well, when you're having problems, what you need to do is not talk about your problem, you need to talk about the other victories that you've had in your life. Dave and I, for some reason, have just spent a fair amount of time this week, just talking about and remembering the early days of the ministry and just the miracles that God did. We started this ministry in the basement of our home, in the basement of our home. Matter of fact, we started down there when it was concrete floors and concrete walls. And I can remember Dave had a little wooden workout bench down there where he did bench presses. And I remember marching around that bench with three or four of my lady friends and praying and laying the foundation in the spirit for what God is doing right now. And then God provided some volunteers who had construction gifts to help finish the basement out. So we had some finished space. And we made two or three little offices down there. And that's where we started. And when we got to the point where we had so many people working in our house that neighbors were starting to complain, then we realized we needed to get some office space. And we remembered the first van that we had. And the little bubble trailer that we pulled behind that van and we would drive. That's when we used to come to Des Moines because we could drive here. And we went to places that we could drive to. And we'd go to Chicago and Kansas City and little places in Missouri. And we would occasionally come up here in this area. And now we pulled in here this weekend with seven semis full of all this stuff and all that stuff. But it's good to remember the things that God has done in the past. I remember one time when I found out that I had to have some surgery and it was going to take me out of commission for a while. And back then our income was totally dependent on me going out and preaching. I mean, there was no mail coming in. I went out and preached and people would give an offering. And that was how we survived. That's how the ministry was supported and how we stayed alive. And so for me not to be able to preach for four or six weeks was, man, that was scary. What are we going to do? What in the world are we going to do? I didn't see any answer anywhere. Have you ever been in that situation where you did not see any answer anywhere? And probably a lot of you are right now. Well, you know what? You don't have to see the answer. All you have to believe is that God has got one. And you know, how many of you as parents like to surprise your kids? Well, you know what? God likes to surprise us too. And he's got some surprises in store for you. And some of you need to dust off your expectors, and you need to start believing in God to give you double blessings for your farmer trouble. Amen? What the devil takes, God will restore many times over. Amen? I love what Dave does. Last week, a truck drove by us and threw a rock up and broke the windshield on his car. And first thing he said was, OK, devil, you threw your best shot, now take this. And he started praying for God to bring another million souls into the kingdom. I watched Dave in two days get two million more souls just because of stuff the devil tried to do just to aggravate him. Well, you know, the windshield was already broken and having a fit about it's not going to fix it. Come on now, why don't you stop trying to do something about something you can't do anything about and start doing what you can do, which is letting the devil know where you stand and that he is not going to steal your peace and he is not going to steal your joy and that you are not going to give up. No matter what you do, devil, I am not going to give up. You know, while I'm here, in this life, I may never get every single thing that I want, but one thing I am gonna do, I'm gonna keep standing, and I'm gonna keep pressing forward. And I may not get all the victory, but I'm sure gonna get all of it that I can, as long as I'm breathing. I will not quit. If it was nobody but me and God, I could still do what he wants me to do. Because with God on your side, you can do anything. Amen. And so I remember those days when all these things would happen, and I needed to have that surgery, and we were like, gonna be, I couldn't preach. They told me for four to six weeks, which I ended up going back in two weeks because I've just got this bulldog determination that, I mean, I went and preached and had body drains under my clothes, you know, and I just, I was like. And I was sitting in a chair one night before the surgery was going to take place, I think the next day or the day after that, and trying to fight off this fear that was coming against me and the doorbell rang. Dave answered the door, it was somebody we didn't know. And he said that he was a pastor of a local church there in St. Louis and that, that he was actually getting out of the ministry and they had sold their building. And when you sell church property, that money has to go back into other ministries. You can't just take it and do whatever you want to with it. It has to go back into other ministries. And so he had sold his building and was praying about where he should plant the money. And he felt like God told him to come and give us $10,000. Well, for us back then, I mean, that paid the bills for six weeks. And we were just like, wow! I remember how excited I was. Dear Lord, I was excited. Whoa, God is so awesome. Boy, you... I mean, I don't even know how this guy knew where our house was. I still don't know how he even found out where our house was. God. Yeah. But you know what? We talk about that from time to time when, you know, just because, you know, yeah, we need bigger amounts of money now, but God is still God, and that $10,000 was just as hard back then as whatever we need today would be. So one of the ways that you can really conquer doubt and unbelief is when you have a new problem, remember the victories that you have had in the past. Don't talk about your problems all the time, but get with somebody and say, let me tell you what God has done in the past. That's what praise is. It's not just singing songs, but it's remembering the great things that God has done. You know, really, that's what David did even when he was fighting depression in Psalm 42 and 43. He said, why so downcast, oh my soul? Put your hope in God. Then he purposely would remember some of the great things that God had done in the past. How many of you know that we're very tempted to sit and talk about our problems? Go to lunch with a sister and talk about the problems. Go to Starbucks, get a coffee, talk about the problems. I don't know why we get such a kick out of talking about our problems. We say, well, you know, I just need a release, I just need to vent. Well, I agree sometimes we do need somebody to talk to, but you know, say what you need to say and then zip your lip and then go on talking about the good things of God. No unbelief, Romans 420, no unbelief or distrust made him waver, doubtingly questioned concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God. Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep his word and to do what he had promised. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 10. Your mind is the battlefield. Doubtful thoughts, unbelieving thoughts come to our mind, you don't have to think everything that falls in your brain. I was just preaching about that on TV this week. I watched myself a couple of days this week. You thought, good stuff, Sister Joyce, preach on. How many of you heard me preaching on the mind this week? Verse four, 2 Corinthians 10, four. The weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and the destruction of strongholds. Now, let's talk about our weapons. Says they're not physical weapons, so they must be spiritual weapons. Praise is a spiritual weapon. You know that? Praise is a spiritual weapon. Another thing that you can do when you're being attacked by the devil that is so powerful in the spiritual realm is to go be a blessing to somebody else. Because the first thing that we feel like doing when we've got a trouble is withdrawing and nursing our wounds. But the most powerful thing you can do is not lose your focus and keep being a blessing to other people while you're trusting God to solve your problem. Because if you're out being a blessing to somebody else, then you're sowing a seed that will allow God to bring a harvest in your own life. Don't just sit home and nurse your wounds. Get busy, be in a blessing to somebody else. So we have weapons, but they are not physical weapons. They are spiritual weapons. The word of God is a weapon. You need to understand that, that everything in here is a weapon. And if there's anything that the devil's afraid of, it's this. If all you have to do to understand this principle is read Luke chapter four, where Jesus was taken by the Holy Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted to the devil 40 days and 49th before he started his public ministry. Let me tell you something, before you get promoted, you're going to have to pass some tests. Amen? And so the devil lied to him and said different things to him. On four different occasions, the Bible says the devil said to Jesus, and Jesus said to the devil, it is written, and he would quote him a scripture. You're learning the word of God, so you can not only just believe the word of God, but so you can use the word of God when the devil is coming against you. Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully, the Bible says. Ask yourself, how much time do you actually spend speaking the word of God out loud out of your own mouth? Now, there are some of you who do, but I would venture to say that more people in here do not than those who do. And many times you just sit around by yourself and the devil literally just fills you full of nonsense and junk that are totally against the word of God. And you have a weapon that you can use, but nobody can make you use it. You have to do it.
Speaker 2:
[13:26] Thanks for listening to today's message. Jesus reminds us that we will have challenges in our lives, but He also promises He will never leave us and to remember He has already won our victory. We need to trust Him and keep moving forward. Regardless of whatever may be going on right now, God's plan is unfolding. We need to be full of hope, believing, expecting, and anticipating great things from Him. Romans 12 12 tells us to rejoice in our confident hope, be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. So next time you feel weary, remember that God is with you and that He is the strength you need to make it through to the finish.
Speaker 4:
[14:09] Get your daily dose of encouragement with the Joyce Meyer Ministries App. Catch up on seven days of enjoying everyday life episodes. Grow deeper in God's word with the daily devotional and question of the day. And enjoy all your favorite teachings from Joyce in your digital library. Find all this and more with the Joyce Meyer Ministries App. Search Joyce Meyer in your app store and download it today.
Speaker 2:
[14:39] Thank you for listening to 15 Minutes in the Word with Joyce.
Speaker 1:
[14:52] This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the Name Your Price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it at progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.