This Ramadan, the first plate isn't for you. It's passed across the table. And when the first bite is for someone else, what you cook with matters. VT Mega Basmati Extra Long Premium Rice. Chosen for its quality. Extra long grains. Soft texture in every dish. And chosen for moments that matter. VT Mega Basmati Extra Long Premium Rice. Made for sharing. 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, The Fiercem Four. When we feel discouraged, defeated, or overwhelmed by the pressures of life, chances are we're being hit by what Joyce calls the Fiercem Four. Fear, guilt, worry, and insecurity. The devil uses these obstacles to keep us from God's calling. But with Christ, we can defeat all of them and reach God's perfect plan for our life. Be empowered with today's teaching and learn to embrace God's fearless form. Peace, confidence, love, and courage. Now, here's Joyce with today's teaching. There were probably even people in here tonight that when it was offering time, you might have initially felt in your heart that you were to give a certain thing, and then you thought about it. And then you thought about what you're going to have to give up if you did. And then fear came. And so you went ahead and did something that was just comfortable. We all go through that. Everybody goes through that. I mean, there's still times in my life when God will ask me to give something or do something. And I mean, I've got enough experience now with God that I know pretty much when he's asking me to do something. But still, if he asks me to do something that I don't really want to do, if I think about it too long, then fear can begin to get in there about what kind of sacrifice I'm going to make and what I'm going to have to do without. If we can ever learn to not let fear rule our lives, we're going to be 250% better off. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I've got a message tonight that can keep you from ever feeling fear. I believe that there will be times in our lives when we will feel fear and I believe that that is the master spirit that Satan uses against people. I believe probably more than any other thing he uses fear because fear is the opposite of faith. God wants us to walk in faith. Satan wants us to walk in fear. You have to be very careful about saying things like, I'm just so afraid my kids are going to get in trouble. I'm just so afraid my kids are going to get in trouble. I'm so afraid my kids are going to get on drugs. I'm so afraid my kids, I'm afraid my kids, I'm afraid my kids. Don't say things like that. Job said in Job 3.25, what we greatly fear comes upon us. Now I don't think that every time you have a little fear that's presented to your mind that that means that that thing is going to happen in your life. But if you get a great fear in your life and it's something that you meditate on over and over and you begin to speak it, I think you are putting yourself in danger of opening a door to have that thing in your life, not just you but me. We need to be very careful about our thoughts and our words and we need to keep our minds set in the right direction. And the only acceptable attitude that a Christian can have toward fear, the only thought that we can think, the only words that we can say where fear is concerned is simply, I will not fear because God is with me. And if you have a problem with fear, with excessive timidity, with cowardness, even extreme shyness, I think there are some things that people just accept as their personality when really it's the devil just trying to take advantage of you. There are people that are more naturally bold and some that are more naturally shy than others. But if you are so shy that you can't participate in life and you can't participate in a conversation and you won't really speak your heart and speak your mind sometimes even when you know God is trying to get you to, you are afraid to try things new. You are kind of like on the outside of life looking in and it's time for you to come against that thing and say, no, that's not the real me. That's not the way that God wants me to be. That's not the way he created me to be. Because from cover to cover I can show you that God wants us to be bold and courageous and he wants us to be confrontational when we need to be confrontational. He wants us to take new ground. He doesn't want us to be afraid of the enemy. He wants us to exercise authority and he wants us to do great things in our life. Every single one of us. Every single one of us. Not just two others up here on the platform. Every single one of us. And you're never going to be happy if you don't fulfill your potential. So many people just feel frustrated because they know that they're not really doing what they're meant to do. I'm just waiting for God to show me what the call is on my life. Well, if you listen to me tonight, you don't have to wait one more day. You know why? Because you can start stepping out and finding out. It don't take very long at all when you start stepping out. You'll step out into a few things and say, whoop, that ain't it. Now, I'm not suggesting being foolish and stupid, but when I was a young Christian and I wanted to be used by God, I mean, any opportunity that came along at my church to do something, I'd step out and try it. And a lot of it didn't work. I mean, I tried doing some things and I just thought, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't like that. I even tried working in the nursery taking care of the babies. And me and the babies knew that wasn't right. That lasted about three weeks. I went out on the streets and tried to pass out tracks. I did it, but I didn't like it. It was very uncomfortable for me. And yet I know people that can do street evangelism and they just, they just love it. You know, God, you can't drive a parked car. Some of you need to get your life out of park. And you need to put God in the driver's seat and you need to stop being afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid, that if you take a step without three prophecies and two angel appearances, if you really want to be used by God, then ask yourself, what do I like? What do I enjoy? I love to talk. And it didn't take me very long when I started talking to find out this is it. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. It's not the nursery. It's not street evangelism. I'm going to tell everybody else what to do. And I like that too. I always have. And what you do is you're going to be able to do it. And what you do doesn't have to be like what somebody else is doing. Maybe you're great at baking. Maybe you're great at encouraging people. Maybe you're a great person in prayer. All you have to do is find what you're good at and you need to start doing it and you need to start doing without apology. We are going to have a good time this weekend. Amen. I hate fear. I absolutely hate what fear does to people. And I think that I can even go so far as to say that I believe if we let fear stay in our lives and we don't confront it, that it's sin. Because Romans 14, 23 says whatever is not a faith is sin. So worry is sin. Guilt is sin. You can't be guilty by faith. You don't worry by faith. You can't have fear by faith. And that helps me sometimes to get some things straightened out in my life. When I go back to Romans 14, 23 and see, hey, you know what, Joyce, this attitude you've got is not faith. And so it's not just a little oops, it's not a little problem. It's not your personality. It's offensive to God because without faith, we cannot please God. And those that come to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. We need to learn how to live from faith to faith. Not from faith to doubt and unbelief to doubt and unbelief and more doubt and unbelief and then a little more faith and then back to doubt and unbelief. How do you see yourself? Fearful and timid or courageous and bold, capable or incapable, able or unable, strong or weak, above or under, a conqueror or conquered, a victor or a victim. Some people have a victim mentality and they spend their whole life trying to get over what happened to them way back here somewhere. And that's all they ever talk about. And that's all their life ever is. And I know all about being a victim, but I also know that you can totally and completely recover and you can go on with your life because when you are in Christ, you are a new creature in him. All things pass away and all things become brand new. I think one of our biggest problems, and I really believe this, is we still battle with seeing ourselves properly. We have to learn how to see ourselves, not in ourselves, but in Christ. The number one need that we have is to know God. And the number two need that we have is to know who we are in Christ. Once you really begin to know who you are in Christ, everything begins to change. And I'm going to be talking to you about that quite a bit this weekend because I think that's a desperate need that we have until I began to know who I was in Christ. And what that really simply means is until I began to believe what the Bible said about me rather than the way I felt or how I thought or what other people said to me. See, if you just believe what other people say to you about you, it may not always be good. Matter of fact, I can pretty much promise you that it won't be. You can't just believe what you think about you, and you can't just believe how you feel. You have to realize that all of that is stuff in our soul that Satan uses to try and keep us from going forward. The Word of God is the only thing that divides soul and spirit. It's the only thing that brings that division. So I don't care what I think, if it doesn't line up with the Word of God, then I'm wrong. And I don't care what I feel if it doesn't line up with the Word of God, then what I feel is wrong. And we have to make a decision that we're going to see what God says about us. That's what we're talking about right now. He's got a lot to say about a lot of things, but right now we're talking about what does he say about us? And God says that you have gifts and talents and abilities and that you're capable and that anything he asks you to do that you can do it. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, that you're strong in the Lord and not weak. That you're forgiven and on and on and on and on and on. But it has to be more than somebody just preaching that to you. You have to meditate on that and study that and read it until you believe it. And when you can differentiate between who you are in the flesh and who you are in Christ, things start to get really, really, really, really, really, really good. If I see myself in myself, then I can't do anything but be afraid. Right? Because in myself, by myself, without Christ, I have got bushel loads full of problems. John 15 says, plainly, apart from me, you can do nothing. You better hope and pray that you don't just get me tonight. That's why I said earlier, if you came to see what I could do for you, we are all in trouble. But if I see myself in Christ and if I trust him that when I step out here, no matter how I feel, I don't always feel anointed. I don't always feel like it's going to be great and wonderful and good and everybody's going to be happy. Sometimes I don't feel any of that. But I can tell you this, that as long as I keep my faith in God, I have yet, after 35 years of preaching, I have never once failed to come out here and open my mouth and not have God fill it. Now, sometimes it's a little better than other times, but it's always doable. Amen? But you see, really, fear will try to keep you from taking that first step. Fear will fill your mind with so many negative things about what's going to happen. If you dare try to do that, it's sad to say the larger percentage of people never fulfills their destiny, which means they're never really fulfilled and feel complete inside because they live in fear. And I think a lot of times that we have a lot of subtle fears in our life, things that have been there for so long that we don't even really, really realize that they're there. You can't see yourself in yourself. You have to learn to see yourself in Christ. You don't go around saying, I'm just a mess. I'm just a big mess. I never do anything right. No, you say I'm redeemed and justified. God's living in me and He's working in me. I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm okay and I'm on my way. Now, let me give you just a little short mini lesson about this being in Christ thing and kind of what this means. First John 4.17 says, as He is, so are we in this world. Now, we need to meditate on that for about a week or two, I think. Thanks for listening. Despite the challenges we may face in life, when we put our trust in God, we receive an incredible promise from Him. 2 Timothy 1.17 says that we have not been given a spirit of fear, but a power of love and of a sound mind. This promise gives us the strength to look at our problems and know that God is on our side. He wants to give us His peace as we face whatever lies ahead. For more resources from Joyce, visit JoyceMire.org. We all go through hard times, and it's so easy in those moments to focus on the problem. But what if you were able to see the trials of your life the way God sees them and respond to them the way He teaches us in His Word? Joyce Meyer wants to show you how in her new book, Blessed in the Mess, even in the middle of life's difficulties, God's kindness shines through. Blessed in the Mess, order your copy today at JoyceMire.org. Thank you for listening to 15 Minutes in the Word with Joyce.
