This program is paid for by people like you, the partners of Joyce Meyer Ministries. You're never free until you no longer have a need to impress people. We don't need to live to impress one another. We need to learn how to be free to be ourselves. I'm Joyce Meyer. I've seen God's power transform my own life and He will do it for you. Is there anybody here who ever has any stress in your life? Some people put up both hands. Well, the world is not going to change. I want you to listen. The world is not going to change. I prayed for years for God to change my circumstances. And then I found out it was actually me he wanted to change. so would you be willing to change if your circumstances never changed because you see it's not really our circumstances that upset us it's the way we react to our circumstances that upset us I'm going to tell this half of the congregation because we we think well if I just didn't have this circumstance but see then you wouldn't be in the world because Jesus said in the world you will have tribulation cheer up I've overcome the world and so we really need to get it through our heads that just praying for our circumstances to go away is not the answer we need to pray that God will change us it's interesting Paul never prayed you can't find a place where Paul prayed for people's bad circumstance to go away which I find interesting because that's what we do all the time God changed this circumstance, changed this person but what Paul prayed for the people was that they would handle whatever came with good temper I've never had anybody come to the altar and ask me to pray for them to have a better attitude toward their circumstances. They always want their circumstance to go away. And I think it's important that I camp here for a minute and we get this because it is a big deception that we have in life that I just want my circumstance to change. Or I want my spouse to change. I want my kids to change. We always want everybody else to change, but God wants to change us. It's his goal for us. We are predestined. And predestined doesn't mean it's going to happen no matter what you do. It means that God has already predetermined his will. But how we respond is important. We're partners with God. And he has a part and we have a part. And no matter how much he does his part, if we don't do our part, we're not going to have what he wants for our lives. And so he has already predetermined that we are to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. That's his goal for us, that we all become like Jesus. and so really more than we need our circumstances to change we need to willing to be changed to be whatever God wants us to be and I like to teach on spiritual maturity I intend to teach quite a bit on that this year and I believe that spiritual maturity is coming to the place where you no longer are always telling God what you want but you start asking him what he wants. You know, if you have kids, you raise your kids and you take care of your kids and they reach a certain point where you really, you don't want to spend the whole rest of your life doing for them, you'd like them to do for you. Amen. My kids are all really good. I'm proud of them. You know, they, every one of our children would help us in any way that they possibly could. And they do a lot. And that means a lot to me. And they don't just come when they want something. They come because they love us. And God wants us to be that way. He doesn't want it. He wants us to seek his face, not just his hand. That's a big transition in your life when you reach that point. I remember when God taught me that what a big transition that was for me, that I didn't have to seek his hand all the time, not just what can you do for me, but to just seek him for who he is, because I love him. Amen. Matter of fact, when God was teaching me this, he challenged me. He said, I don't want you to ask me for another thing except me until I give you permission to. Wow. And I'd start to say, well, God, will you do? And it was life changing. So I want to say again, I like to teach on spiritual material. And I've been thinking a lot lately, like what's the simplest way I can explain what it is? and I think it's coming to the point where you no longer and it's not that you can't ask God for what you want but that that's not your main theme in life and we're all that way when we first come to Christ and to be honest he does a lot for us to establish relationship with us and to show us that he loves us but he wants us to come to the point where we're not just telling him what we want we need to ask God every day God what can I do for you today use me today Lord how can I make somebody else happy today what can I do for somebody else today what do I have that I can bless somebody else with today we need to be others minded not just self minded and self centered all the time I'll tell you a secret. You can't be selfish and happy. So in teaching on stress, I have to tell you first of all that you can't just pray all the time for your circumstances to change. You have to want God to change you. And I really wonder sometimes how many people want God to change them Because I going to tell you another little secret You really can change without some suffering Don worry I won stay there long But it true And you say well wait a minute, I thought Jesus did all the suffering. I'm not talking about getting on the cross like he did. But you know, anytime you tell your flesh, no, your flesh is going to suffer. I don't care if it's even just don't eat the piece of cake. Your flesh is not going to like it. So in order to grow up, to mature spiritually in Christ, which should be our number one goal. That should be everybody's number one goal is to grow up and mature. See, we are his ambassadors in the earth. and I love what 2 Corinthians 5.20 says and in the Amplified Bible I love it that we are Christ's personal representatives that he is making his appeal to the world through us wow do you know that for some people you're the only Jesus they'll see and part of our problem is just going to church, but then not leaving and acting like what we should be acting like. Christianity don't need to just stay in here. Come on, we got to get it out there where the people are. And you're all preachers, whether you know it or not. And you don't have to preach like I'm preaching, but you preach with your life. Most of the people that need Jesus are not going to come into church to find him. But they're where you work. They're where you go to school. They're where you grocery shop. They're everywhere. And believe me, people are desperate for somebody to love them. I mean, we live in a desperate world, and things are so crazy out there. People don't have anything to hang their hope on. and we need to start doing random acts of kindness. Be nice to people you don't even know for no reason except that's just how you are. Amen? Amen? And really listen to the Holy Spirit when you're out about what you might do for somebody else. I just feel led to tell you this story. I went to a coffee shop one day, and I wanted a pour over, and they didn't do pour overs there. And she said, let me make you a French press. And I said, I don't like French presses. They're usually too strong. She said, we've got a new press. And she said, I'll tell you, it is so good. Let me make it for you. And if you don't like it, you don't have to pay for it. I'll make you anything else you want. so sure enough she made it and it was just absolutely great and in the process of talking to her and let me just say she wasn't like me at all her hair was about four different colors and she had piercings and tattoos everywhere you know we we need to learn that we can be nice to in fellowship with people that aren't like us Amen Quit being so snooty religious Amen Sometimes the more radical people are It's just a signal sign that they're looking for love and she said yeah I really want to get one of these she said I'm saving up my money because the I've got one of them at home and they're just nice because all you really need is hot water so you put your coffee in them in the hot water and you press it through and you got a great cup of coffee wherever you're at so she said yeah I want to get one of these as soon as I get enough money saved. Well, I left and I got about yay far down the mall. And the Holy Spirit said, buy her one. And I'm thinking now, God, I don't know this girl. she is going to think I am stupid. Besides the way the world is today, I thought, I don't know. She might think I'm hitting on her or something. I don't know. Well, I'm just telling you the truth. What I thought, I thought I did. but anyway you know I don't always like it when God tells me to do things for people I don't know but he does it anyway and so I by now I know enough it's not gonna do any good to disobey him because I'll be miserable all day so I went back and I waited for her to hopefully be as alone as she could be. You know, if you're going to be a fool, you'd like to be in front of as few people as possible. So I called her over and I said, listen, I said, I want to buy you one of those coffee pots. I thought it was like $110 or something. Oh, no, no, no, you can't do that. I said, yeah, I want to do it for you. I just, I feel like it's something that I'm supposed to do. And so So I gave her the money to buy the coffee pot, and she was crying and just so blessed and so on and so forth. Well, God's not finished, so I go ahead, and I'm doing my shopping, and lo and behold, I go to the bathroom upstairs in another store. And I'm coming out of the bathroom, and she's coming in and hits me almost right in the face. and she says to me now listen she says why are you the kindest person in the whole world i said well i'll tell you what i said i'm a christian and god has been so good to me and if i can be good to anybody else i'll want to do it she said well she said tell you the truth i've been pretty mad at the man upstairs for a long time because my my mother died with cancer but after this I might have to rethink it See Now I not telling you that to brag on myself I just giving you an example of the effect that you can have on people if instead of just going to church and then spending the rest of the week asking God for everything you want, if you'll ask him what you can do for him. Go on, is anybody understanding me in here today? I'm a little off course from where I'm supposed to be going, but I feel like this is important. You know, I don't know how much time we have left. People always ask me, what do you think is going to happen in the world? I don't know i mean jesus has been coming back as long as i've been in the church so i don't i don't know when he's coming but one thing is for sure bible says it's going to be like it was the days of silent gomorrah and i think we passed that up a long time ago i mean the things going on in our world today are crazy and so i think we all better be ready for Jesus to come anytime. Amen. Because the Bible says all over the place that we should watch and pray and be ready and stay awake and be alert, not be sleepy Christians. I just want to say again, I think church is wonderful, but so many people think that church is all there is. Well, I go to church. Well, I can go sit in the garage all night and that won't make me a car. Amen. So just because you come here every Sunday or every Saturday and Sunday, my question is, what are you doing when you go out there? That's the big question. What are you doing when you go out there? Amen. And that's the big question for all of us. What are we doing when we go out there? So I'll just tell you your circumstances. Although some of your circumstances will change. You may get out of debt. You may get a raise. You may get some of the things you want. But, you know, I hope this isn't discouraging. But you're going to have very few times in life that you're not going to have some kind of an issue or a problem. Amen? It's not the refrigerator. It's the stove. It's not the stove. It's the furnace. If it's not the furnace, it's the kid. If it's not the kid, it's the husband. You know. Come on, you know what I mean. And so we have to learn how to react differently to things. And you can. You can learn how to react differently to things. I know because nobody could have been worse than me at having a bad reaction to uncomfortable circumstances. I mean, we just are addicted to comfort. Amen. When you go to India and you tell them how you got depressed because your air conditioner went out for two hours, they're not very impressed. Amen. So we're kind of spoiled. And we don't take any kind of discomfort too easy. And boy, the world we live in today, you better toughen up a little bit or you ain't going to make it. because it is stressful. Amen? So the first thing you got to do is be willing to change and trust me, God will change you if you really want to change. How can you have less stress in your life? Simplify, simplify, simplify. Let me just ask a question. How many of you are complicated people? I mean, I've learned, thank God, this has been many years ago, but I mean, I'll never forget when Dave and I went to church, and this is actually before I was spirit-filled, and we went to church, and I loved God. I didn't know much, but I loved the Lord, and we were in the young couples group, and played volleyball and all the different things you do. I can remember on a Sunday after church saying to our little group of friends, hey, next Sunday, why don't you come on over to the house after church and we'll just throw some hot dogs on the grill and get some potato chips and potato salad and we'll just fellowship and play some games. Now, you know, that sounds doable, don't it? but you think I could leave it alone no the hot dogs had to become steaks that I couldn't afford and then we had to plant flowers so everything would look pretty had to paint the lawn chairs because we wanted them fixed of course we had to clean the whole house by the time the people got there I didn't even like them anymore. Probably didn't like most of them when I invited them. Come on. I was exhausted when everybody left. I'm getting ready to make a statement. You need to hear it. You're never free until you no longer have a need to impress people. Never free till you no longer have a need to impress people. We don't need to live to impress one another. We need to learn how to be free to be ourselves. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Things are so complicated. I remember the leper in India. when I was in the leper colony ministering to the lepers he wanted me to see his home and he took me to his home that he was so proud of and so excited about and it was a hole dug out of the side of a hill it was I don't know maybe 8 feet long I don know maybe as deep as from here to the edge of the stage And it was all dirt dirt walls dirt floor He had a hammock in there And over in the corner he had a few beat up dishes And he was so proud of his home Honestly and truly, I have found as I've traveled around the world that people who have less are happier than people who have more. And, you know, they're happy because they don't know what they're missing. we see what somebody else has and then no matter what we have we're not happy unless we can have what they have if what they have is a little more than what we have let's stop being so materialistic amen you got a nice car got 47,000 miles on it who cares if it's 7 years old Do you really need to go in debt That you can't afford to go into To buy another new car Just Now you might use some of that money To help somebody else Well bless God I'm not going to work all week And give all my money away Well then just go ahead and be miserable Seven ways to simplify your life number one clean out the clutter get yourself what I call a giveaway box I keep one going all the time and every time you run across something you're not using throw it in the box take it to the goodwill I take a bunch of stuff to my office because there's always somebody that wants it. You know, pruning is necessary for growth. We prune trees, but the word pruning only means to cut back. That's all it means, to trim away or to cut back. And we cannot grow as believers unless we allow God to prune us and you're not going to grow in peace unless you learn how to prune some of the stuff you've got way too much of. Clutter makes you miserable. The neater your surroundings are, the more peaceful you feel. What value do you put on peace? I want you to ask yourself, what value do you put on peace? When you decide you want peace bad enough, you'll have it. but you won't have it without making some changes stay in the word, stay in the word, stay in the word stay in the word, stay in the word, stay in the word, stay in the word well I'll say it again, we need to stay in the word we need to stay in the word there's nothing more important than studying God's word it's the foundation of life and the answer to everything we can never have too much of the word strengthen your relationship with Jesus through my battlefield of the Mind Bible, a beautiful amplified edition filled with my notes, highlighted scriptures to speak over your life and personal questions to help guide you on your journey with Christ. I think it'll really bless you. Get into God's word one verse at a time with the Battlefield of the Mind Bible. Arm yourself with more than 200 mind renewing scriptures targeted to crush that stinking thinking and transform your words. Simple to read and easy to understand. It includes Joyce's practical insights, prayers for victory, and proven strategies to conquer mental and emotional battles so you can maximize your study time and strengthen your personal connection with God. This is a time for us to say, I love this book. I love what's in it. It's full of life. It's full of health. It's full of healing. It's full of wholeness. Do you know that every answer to Every problem that you could possibly have is in the Word of God. There is not a problem that you have that you can't find an answer to in God's Word. Well, I believe you're really going to enjoy studying with my Battlefield of the Mind edition of the Bible. It's an amplified edition, and I think you're going to love it. And remember, when you purchase a Bible like this or you send in an offering, it allows you and I together to reach out to hurting people all over the world. The Bible has a lot to say about not ignoring the needs of the poor. And I hope that you will join me in reaching them and alleviating their suffering. The gospel is reaching more and more people all the time. But it takes people like us to work through to get it done. So join me and enjoy your new Bible. Experience God's word like never before and fight back with the Battlefield of the Mind Bible. Yours for a gift of $55 or more. Contact us at 1-800-331-8000. Go online to joycemeier.org or use the QR code on your screen. Boy, you know, in today's world, there are many stressors, so many things to deal with on a daily basis. How do we navigate all of life's pressures? Well, God's Word has much to say about it. So I thought we could all get together with some of my friends and talk about it. Join us for the Enjoying Everyday Life Conference, a weekend of practical messages and heartfelt worship with Joyce and her guests, Dr. Henry Cloud, Nona Jones, and Worship with Naomi Rain, April 10th and 11th in Hershey, Pennsylvania. You know, I have such a passion for teaching God's Word, and it's even better when we all get together under one roof. So I really hope to see you there. Register today. Go to JoyceMeyer.org. study in god's word strengthens us it brings us joy it brings us peace it teaches us who we are in Christ. Thank you.
