Joyce Meyer - Seven Ways to Resist the Devil - Part 2

Number seven... See, I got through all seven, Dave: pray right away, at the very first sign of any kind of trouble, pray. Spending personal time with God is one of the things that you can do that will just bring a protection on your life that Satan cannot break through. I'm not talking about spending time in church. I'm talking about you and him, have an appointment, give it first place in your life, if at all possible. I don't know how you have to run your life or what you like and don't like, but for me, I gotta get up in the morning and go first and spend time with God. Otherwise, you are not gonna like me that day. Coffee and Jesus. Wow. They are wonderful.

Tommy Barnett says, "Thank God we have caffeine 'til the anointing kicks in". And you know, it's really, so many people think they don't know what to do during that time. I don't think that it matters that much what you do. I really don't. I mean, I think the important thing is, is that you just, you put him first in your time. "I don't wanna start this day, God, without talking to you". And even if it can only be five minutes, be smart enough not to dare to go out the door without talking to God. Amen? Please don't just ignore God until you have a big problem and then run to him expecting him to solve your problem. Now, there's a lot of wonderful things that happen as you spend time with God.

One of the things Psalm 31 says is you're "Protected from the strife of tongues". In other words, "You're protected from all the people that gossip about you and talk about you". And I particularly love that one, because I know for a fact, that you cannot be in the public eye like I am and not have people talk about you. I don't care what you do, not everybody's gonna like it. Psalm 31:20 "In the secret place of your presence you hide them from the plots of men: you keep them secretly in your pavilion from the strife of tongues". How many of you want to have that assurance? "It doesn't matter if you talk about me. Doesn't matter at all because God's on my side and he'll take care of it". See?

In Exodus 33:13-15, Moses said, "If you're pleased with me, teach me your ways". I love that he didn't ask for a new car or a new camel, whatever was the going rate then. He said, "If you love me, teach me your ways". I mean, what a mature statement. "If you love me, teach me how to behave like you do". I think, sometimes, we just pray all wrong. We pray for all the wrong stuff. The Bible says, "Seek first the kingdom and everything else will be added". We don't have to seek a bunch of stuff. I mean, there's nothing wrong with asking God for something you want, but you don't have to camp on top of it the rest of your life. Get back to things that are really gonna make a difference. "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart". "'If you're pleased with me, teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people'. The Lord replied, 'my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest'".

And I love the next thing Moses says. He says, "'if your presence doesn't go with us, do not send us'". I have no interest in coming here tonight unless God's here. So, I did everything I know to do as a person to make sure he was all over me, before I showed up here. Amen? I always tell people, "I don't do anything fancy: I talk. So, I've got to have God's anointing". None of this is gonna work. I'm not an entertainer. None of this is gonna work if it's not God's anointing. And the only way you're gonna have that is by spending time with God. What you spend your time doing shows what's important to you. But I'm sure you know that Satan will stand on his head trying to distract you. It happens to me, too. And it aggravates me. It's like, "Ugh"! But God understands all those things, too. Jesus always took regular time for prayer.

Ephesians 6:10 says, "In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union]", which means oneness with him, "Draw your strength from him [that strength which is boundless might provides]". Jesus went off into the mountains to pray. He got up early in the morning and prayed. He prayed all night. And prayer's just talking to God. Don't get overly spiritual about it. You don't have to get a different voice when you pray. "Oh, holy God. I know that thouest lovest me Godeth". Just be yourself and talk to God and be honest with him. I did a devotional, I don't even know if it's out yet or not. Is the one on Psalms out? It's not out yet, is it? I don't think so. I did a devotional from Psalms that'll come out sometime, end of this year, maybe, I don't know. And the thing that really blessed me as I went through the Psalms was how honest David was with God about how he felt. You can tell God how you feel. It's ok.

You have feelings, tell him how you feel, but also tell him what you believe. And that's what you find in the Psalms. I mean, it sounds like David is just like, "I don't like this, and I don't like that, and when are you gonna deliver me? And I don't understand. But", he's always got that "But" there. "I will put my trust in you because you have been faithful to me". Come on. Can I tell you something? You have nothing better in your life to do than to give what I'm talking about here a great shot. Just, you know, if you've not received Christ as your Savior, please don't leave here tonight, without letting him, without surrendering your life to him. You are not doing a good job trying to run it yourself.

And some people think, well, if they become a Christian, then they're never gonna have any fun again. Oh, Lord, help us. I mean, is a hangover fun? I'll have a conference hangover Sunday morning. I always do. But I'd rather have a headache, a hangover from doing something like this. I'd rather be tired from doing this than be tired from doing anything else. Amen? The Bible says if we spend time in his presence, we'll have fullness of joy. There's refreshing in the presence of the Lord. Our strength is renewed, as we spend time with God. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength". Jesus said, "If you're weary and overburdened, come unto me". First thing you do, when you're weary and overburdened, go to him.

Psalm 91 verse 1, Amplified: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High", dwell means to live and remain, not to visit once in a while, "He dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no foe can come against]". Whew. Personal victory over personal problems comes from spending personal time with God. I like that. I've never said that before. Personal time with God is what you need to solve personal problems. And it's great that you go to church. I'm glad you watch my TV program. All those things are good. But I will tell you the truth, as much as I want people to watch my program, if you have a choice between watching me for 30 minutes or spending 30 minutes with God, I'd rather you go spend time with him. Amen?

Now, you can make me part of your whole deal. Maybe you could set aside an hour and you could watch my program and then you and God could have a nice Bible study and a talk about what I talked about. "The measure of thought and study that you give to the truth that you hear is the measure of virtue and knowledge that will come back to you again". Stop sitting on a church pew expecting somebody else to do everything for you. If you really wanna get something out of this, write down some of this, or order the teachings from this series. And look, all these scriptures up in the Bible, look at them and read them. You know, it's great to just put out a little effort. Boy, here comes a good scripture. Then, we're goin' to number three. Psalm 53:2: "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, who sought (inquired after and desperately required) God". My, my. "Who's down there that is desperate for me"?

A long time ago, God told me, "If you just realize, Joyce, you're desperate all the time". Because so many people just run to God when they think they have a desperate problem. But honestly, we are desperate, pathitical... pathetical... Something pitiful! Pitiful and pathetic! There it is. It's a new word: pathetical. We'll, add that to the dictionary. We are just such a mess without God. I mean, we can't make it through a day and behave right if we don't have God's presence and we're not talking to him, and asking, "Help! God, help me, help me, help me. Help me. I can't do this without you". I bet he loves to hear that. "God, I need you". Twenty times a day, just whisper to God, "I love you". "I love you, Lord".

Number three, defeat Satan with words. I don't have to say much about this. You know. How many of you know there's power in words? I think we know it, but we still don't know it as deep as we need to know it. Otherwise, we would not say some of the stupid things we say. But before you get around to words, you gotta do something about your thoughts. Because thoughts turn into words, and all that turns into actions. So, the mind has to be renewed. If we're ever gonna be what God wants us to be and have what he wants us to have, we have to learn to think like God thinks. Everybody needs messages all the time on the mouth and the mind, the mouth and the mind.

2 Corinthians 10:4 and 5, "For 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, [inasmuch as much as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God", and listen to this, "And we lead every thought and purpose away captive unto the obedience of Jesus Christ". So, any thought that we have, the minute the Holy Spirit makes us aware of it...Sometimes, we're thinking nonsense and we're not even aware of it. But the Holy Spirit will make us aware of things if we ask him to. The minute he makes you aware of it, if it doesn't agree with the word, then stop thinking it. And some people think they can't control their thoughts.

I thought that for years. "Well, you just think whatever falls in your head". But I found out, if I don't wanna think something stupid, I can think something good. "The power of life and death is in the tongue". The power of life and death. Just think about it. I have the power to make you happy or to make you sad. I have the power to build you up or to tear you down. Just with words. Just words. And boy, today, we got words floating around all over the place, all the social media, and it's just, don't waste your time listening to gossip on social media. "Well, did you hear? Did you read"? "No". Not the least bit interested. I don't send pictures to people of me eating my meal. I don't know why we think everybody wants a picture of everything we do. I'm mean, it's like, we're living in a different world, it's like, now, of course, a lot of this really seems strange to us, cuz we've been around a while, but, how many of you agree that it's become one of the biggest time wasters in the world?

Be careful, you don't get addicted to all that stuff. Isaiah 50 says, "The sovereign Lord has given me", it's verse 4, "Has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that will sustain weary. He wakens me morning by morning, he wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed". Boy, if we could just slow down long enough to get more sensitive to what people are going through. God wants to use you. And the ministry of encouragement as a powerful ministry. So many people are discouraged and confused and have had bad things happen. And they just need to know that somebody cares. They need somebody to listen. They need a complement. You have the ability to make people feel better. You know, people may not always remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

You know that? I love that. They may not remember what you said to 'em, but they will remember how you made them feel. Treat every person like they're the most important person on the face of the earth. Remember, Jesus was no respecter of persons. Know the word and speak the word. Speak the word and know the word. The Israelites complained and they opened the door for Satan. 1 Corinthians 10:9 and 10: "We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes". Twenty-three thousand of them to be exact. And they opened a door, they could've locked it tight and not let the enemy in, just because of their persistent complaining. God got so tired of listening to them complain. I'm gonna say it with a big smile, he's tired of listening to you complain. And me.

That was one of the things that amazed me about this woman at our office that just passed away with cancer. And everybody said this. Out of everything she went through, not one of us ever, have heard one word of complaint out of her mouth. Not one. And I'll have to say, I was impressed. Complaining, complaining, complaining. I have another book for you out on the resource table, "The power of thank you". Be thankful. There's things, oh, my gosh, there's so many things to thank God for. And the more thankful we are, the less we'll complain. Because it'll open our eyes to how blessed we are and what God's done for us. Yes, we have problems. You have problems. But I can tell you, every person in here has more blessings than they do problems.

Every one of us, we have more blessings than we do problems. And if we focus on the blessings, I thank God all the time for what he's letting me do. And it's hard work, but my gosh, I'm putting my life into something that means something. I can leave a legacy. Put your life into something that means something. If you're gonna be a Christian, be a real one. I'll share one more scripture, and then I'll have to quit for tonight. But we'll be here all day tomorrow.

Have you ever noticed the scripture in Isaiah that says, "Like a lamb led to the slaughter, he opened not his mouth". That used to just... Go right over my head. And then, I saw in John chapter 14:30, it was getting close to time for him to go to Jerusalem and go through his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the trials, and the beatings, and all the things that he went through, and the cross, and he said a very interesting thing to his disciples. He said, "From now on, I'm not going to be talking much with you. The devil has no part in me. And I'm not gonna give him one".

Think about that. He was in a battle for the redemption of all humanity. And what did he say? "I'm gonna keep quiet". You know why? Because when you're hurting and you're under pressure, that's when you're more likely to say dumb stuff. "Well, God, don't you love me"? Don't ever say that. God never stops loving you for one moment. And he will never love you any more than he does at this moment, right now. We're not earning God's love by good behavior. We wanna behave good because he loves us. Let's do something for God. Let's put a smile on our face and be happy. Let's stop complaining. Let's stop acting like if he doesn't do five special things for us every day, we're gonna quit on him. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.

Father, I pray in Jesus' name that you would teach us how to be stable, in difficulty, how to be constant. And yes, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt if we're going through hard times. And especially, if you decide to keep your mouth shut about it, that'll really hurt. Seems like it relieves some of the pressure to go complain to somebody, but it doesn't do any good. Father, help us represent you the way you deserve to be represented. And I'll just say, for all of us, we're gonna love you if you never do anything for us. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Did you learn anything at all, tonight? Well, I've got about five more points left out of the first lesson. You wanna know what the others are? Because I won't get, I'll have to start something else tomorrow.

Personal obedience was number four. I know you would have loved to hear me talk about obedience.

Number five was win the war with love. My favorite thing to teach on: loving people. And let me just say that love is not how you feel about somebody, it's how you treat 'em. I can not like you and still treat you good. I can not like you and still pray for you. And I can not like you and still help you when you have a need. Amen? Believe the best of people. Forgive people when they hurt your feelings or when they offend you. Even if they don't deserve your forgiveness, you deserve peace.

Number six: know who you are in Christ. Wear that breastplate of righteousness.

Number seven... See, I got through all seven, Dave. Pray right away, at the very first sign of any kind of trouble, pray. Amen?