Joyce Meyer - Change Your Mind - Part 1

Isn't it marvelous how God changes us? It is phenomenal how he changes us. I mean, I can honestly say that I am not even like the same person that I was 40 years ago when I first got, I was in church a long time and Dave and I have been married 56 years, so we were in church before that. But 45 years ago, God touched me, and I got real serious about studying the word. I started getting my mind renewed. And my mind was so messed up because of being sexually abused by my father. My mother knew what he was doing and let him do it. Then I married the first guy that came along because I thought nobody would ever want me and that was another five years of misery on top of that.

Not only did my dad abuse me, but my grandfather tried, my two of my uncles. I mean, there was just a spirit of incest in that family. And I won't get into all the details of that, but many of you know, by the time you go through something like that, you're pretty messed up. And so, my life was rooted in fear, and fear invaded all of my thinking. Although, I came across as bold, I had a lot of unusual fears in my life. And I had to have my mind renewed. I had to learn. See, you cannot have the life that God sent Jesus... He sent Jesus to die for you to have a wonderful life, not just to go to heaven someday, but to have a wonderful life. "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly". John 10:10 says, "The thief, the devil comes only to kill, to steal and destroy. But I came that you might have and enjoy your life".

Enjoy your life. I can tell you: I didn't know how to enjoy anything. You know, I never, I mean, when I was in my 20s, I couldn't remember ever really having fun or being relaxed. I was always afraid and tense and concerned about what was gonna happen next. And it was already given me health problems because you can't live under that kind of stress and not have health problems. Now, maybe, you weren't sexually abused, but many of you grew up in a dysfunctional family. There's very few people that grow up in the, "Leave it to beaver" kinda family, you know, where mom and dad are great and they, you know, I mean, some of you do. And I want to tell you, you have no idea what kind of a blessing it is to grow up like that. But most of us grow up with some kind of dysfunction and we learn, the devil starts lying to us from the time we're little.

And one of the things the devil had me convinced of is that because I had been abused, I could never have a really good life. It would always have to be second-rate. And so, what you believe is what you settle for. You know that? You're not ever gonna get beyond what you believe. No matter what Jesus died to do for you, you're not ever gonna get beyond what you believe. That's why we have to study this book. I don't even like to say read the Bible, anymore. Everybody says, "Read your Bible". I think you need to study your Bible. I don't, you know, we can quickly read something and not get very much out of it. But when you study it, when you go over, and over, and over it, "The measure", Mark 4, says, "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".

It's not all of my study and me preaching one sermon that's gonna change you. It's you taking what you hear this weekend and going home and meditating on it and thinking about it and seeing how does it supply to my life. You know, "Is there something you want me to change? Am I doing something in a way that you don't want me to do it"? One of the girls that travels with us said, after last night, she had to get on the phone and call her husband and apologize. So, you know, after being here this weekend, you may have to go do some things. Might have to undo some things that you've done the wrong way. But the renewal of the mind, Romans 12:2 says it, and says it very plainly, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed", which means entirely changed, "By the renewing of the mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will".

So, it's basically saying the only way you can prove out or live in this wonderful life that God has for you is to learn how to think the way God thinks. Amen? How many of you have a ways to go in learning how to think the way God thinks. So, we could just start by saying, I mean, I could just say, "Go home and learn how to be positive," and that would probably take you a long time. Do you know how it would change our life just to be positive instead of negative? How 'bout just believing the best of everybody like 1 Corinthians 13 says. What happens if you believe the best instead of believing the worst? Come on, stay with me today. Apply this to you. I'm not here just talking for my health.

Like I said, I turned 80 this year. You know, I don't have to be doing this. I'm doing this because I love you, and I believe that there's a wonderful life for all of us through Christ. But so many people are missing it because they want God to do all this stuff, but they're not doing their part. We pray for God to do everything, but are we doing what God's telling us to do? Make time in your schedule to study the word. Make time in your schedule. Spend some time with God every day. It doesn't even really matter what you do. You can listen to music, you can sit there and cry, you can pray, you can read a book by somebody. Joyce Meyer's got a lot of good books, I've heard. Listen to teachings, podcasts, whatever, but get the word in you. Every chance you have, get the word in you and keep renewing your mind.

The devil is real. He is working very hard to destroy you. And he is a genius, but only at evil. The devil is a genius at evil. And I think we forget how real he is and how he's always around. "The devil roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger seeking whom he may devour". All the time, he's just roaming around. And you know where he's always at? Where something good is happening. The moment you decide you're gonna get up and start praying every morning, I mean, literally, all hell will break loose. Your phone will ring, your kids will cry, the doorbell will ring. You'll itch, you'll have to go to the bathroom. You get, it's like, come on. You'll get sleepy. You know what I'm talking about.

And so, if you want, how many of you really want to have a life Jesus died to give you? Okay, then, I'm gonna tell you, you're going to have to fight for it. You've gotta fight the good fight of faith, and you can't be wimpy. You can't give up easy. When you make a decision to do something good and the devil comes against you, just say, "Do your best. I'm not giving up. I don't care how many times you knock me down, I'm gonna get up and I'm gonna do it again, and I'm gonna do it again, and I'm gonna do it again, and I'm gonna do it again, until I have the victory". I did not get from where I was to where I am today by just waiting for God to do everything for me. Amen?

I have put thousands and thousands of hours into studying the word. "Don't be conformed to this world, but have your mind renewed according to the Word of God". We don't even know how messed up our thinking is until we start learning the word. The Bible says that "The word is like a mirror". You look into it, and you see how Jesus is and you see how far you have to go. You know, it's like, you can have dirt all over your face and not even know it until you look in a mirror. I didn't know how messed up I was until I started studying the word. I thought all my problems was somebody else's fault. And I used the excuse of my abuse, "Well, I was abused. I was abused. I was abused". Well, yeah, I was. But God was willing to heal me. You can't use the things that people have done to you, or your unfair whatever, in your life as an excuse to have bad behavior the rest of your life.

You've gotta let go of that stuff, draw the line in the sand and say, "That is what happened". But you know what you can do? You can use all that as good education to help somebody else. That's really what I'm doing. I'm using everything that happened to me to help you. And to tell you, you can overcome anything the devil has done to you, and God has always had a good plan for you, and he has not changed his mind. He still has a good plan for you. And you should be full of hope and believe that good things are gonna happen in your life.

You say, "Well, Joyce, you don't know what a mess I've got in my life". It doesn't really matter. God is able. You know, it may take some time to undo it, but you don't have anything better to do. Well, I mean, what do you have to do that's any better than spending the rest of your life getting yourself straightened out? You don't have anything better to do. I used to hate myself and now I just, I like myself. And that may sound strange, but you know how important it is to like yourself? I mean, you don't ever get away from yourself. You can't even go to the bathroom without you. You know how miserable it is to even spend an afternoon with a relative you don't like? Well, I mean, you're with you all the time, and if you don't like yourself, man, you are in for trouble. You gotta like yourself.

Quit thinking about everything that's wrong with you and just think about the awesome wonder of what God has created when he created you. I mean, just what it takes for our body to function for one day is mind-blowing. It's just amazing. I watch some of these health programs and I just, I think, "My gosh, what God has done". I mean, when you think of the universe, all the different solar systems, the stars, the sun, how the earth rotates, it's just, it's like God upholds everything. Wow. All right, if you want your behavior to change, which I think we all do, you probably wouldn't be here today if you didn't. Maybe a few of you came just to see what I look like in person, but... You know, if you were here last night and you came back today, then you wanna grow. People don't go out to things like this unless they wanna grow. And less and less people are coming out to things like this.

And so, there's a problem. I mean, more and more Christians are falling into the ways of the world and it's scary. And we have to make sure that we don't get sucked into that, but rather that we can be a witness to other people and an encouragement to them to stand up and be the person that God made them to be. Amen? There's so much compromise in the world. And you know what compromise means? It means to go just a little bit below what you know is right. Just a little bit. And you know what we say when we compromise? "Well, everybody else does it". You are not everybody else.

I told God that one time, well, I know all kinds of pastors that, I mean, there was like certain kinds of movies that God just won't let me go to. I knew other pastors that went. He said this to me. He said, "Listen, you've asked me for a lot. Do you want it or not"? So, what do you want God to do for you? You may have to live, you may have to walk a more narrow path than some of the other people. This is between you and God. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing. This is between you and God. What do you want God to do for you in your life? You can have everything the Bible says you can have, but you're not gonna get it without doing what God tells you to do. "It's so hard to live the Christian life". No, it's not hard. It's impossible. You cannot do it without God.

Okay, Ephesians 4:22-24, I really love these scriptures. And verse 22 says, "Put off the old nature". And verse 24 says, "Put on the new nature". So, in essence, it's saying, stop acting like you used to, like you're not saved, and start acting like the Christian that you are. Okay, how do I do that? Well, verse 23 is the bridge scripture, and it says, "And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]". So, how do I get from putting off the old man to putting on the new man? I renew my mind and I renew my attitude. When I couldn't walk for those three months, I really asked God every day for the grace to have a good attitude, to keep a good attitude.

How many of you could use an attitude adjustment today? You know what? Your attitude belongs to you and nobody can make you have a bad one if you don't want to. Come on. You can have a good attitude in the midst of any kind of turmoil if you're willing to do it. And boy, if you want to make the devil mad, just have a big problem, and keep a good attitude. Wow, that tears him up. I'm having fun today. I know what God has done for me and I know that he will do it for you. Stop complaining and be thankful. I mean, there's not a person here that doesn't have a lot to be thankful for. I'm thankful I have a home, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, a handful of decent friends, amen? I'm thankful that I have nice clothes. Where I am so thankful that God called me to preach the word. I love what God has called me to do. I am so thankful for what I know.

How many of you are thankful for what you know? Lord have mercy. I said last night, I mean, when I watch television, I always tell you, I'm so thankful for what I know, because I can just, I know, "Well, that's not right". I mean, I can immediately throw out the stuff that's wrong. But think about people that are being educated by Hollywood, and they don't know anything else. I mean, everybody today thinks, you know, it's fine to just live together, you don't need to get married, and they're not ashamed of it they don't mind telling you, "Well, you know, it's like, that's the next step". You know, you date, and then you live together for a while to see if it's gonna work, before you get married. I mean, it's just, it's like... Is anybody reading the Bible? And you know, there may be somebody here today that's in that situation.

And I'm not trying to condemn you. I'm just saying that that's not what God wants you to do. And if you wanna have a good life, you've gotta do it God's way. I heard about one church, one pastor, he knew he had a lot of couples in the church that were living together, and he said, "I know there's a lot of you that are just living together and some of you do it because of, you know, you don't have the money to do this, you don't have the money to do that, but you know, whatever". And he said, "I'm gonna teach five weeks on marriage, and then we're gonna have a mass wedding ceremony, and the church is gonna pay for you to have a wonderful wedding reception". Eighty-three couples got married. You know, sometimes all we need to do, and this is the thing that makes me mad, I can't just pat you on the head and say, "Whatever you wanna do is fine". I'm gonna have to answer to God. And as ministers of the gospel, we have to tell you what's wrong. That doesn't mean we don't love you, but if it's wrong according to the word, then it's wrong. And we wanna help you get it straightened out. Amen?

You know, come on, we gotta stand up. And you know, this doesn't mean you don't love people. Man, I love people. I love people. I love sinners. I love everybody. But, you know, the church doesn't function the way that it did in the Bible. I mean, in the Bible, they didn't put up with that in the church. They confronted people in love. I mean, if somebody doesn't care enough about you to make a real commitment to you, then you know, respect yourself enough. Okay, moving on. You know, if you have changes going on in your life, then change your mind about the change. Well, we can't change by just merely trying. We have to ask God to help us because "Apart from him we can do nothing". Proverbs 23-7, "As a man thinks in his heart so is he".

I always, I like to say it like this, "Where the mind goes, the man follows". You think about ice cream long enough, you'll go get some. How many of you know I'm telling the truth. I mean, you will get out of your pajamas, put on your clothes, get in the car, and go to the store and get some. Because I'm telling you, what you put your mind on, you think about it long enough, the desire becomes so strong. Well, so what happens if we put our mind on God? If we put our mind on loving people? I wanna be somebody who's known to love people. And so, I have to think about it every day, every day. I have to think about loving people. "Who am I gonna be with today? What can I do to build them up? Can I give them a compliment? Can I encourage them? Is there something they need that I can do for them"? Come on, I love you. Get your mind off yourself, you sweet little thing, you. Get your mind off yourself and think about what you can do for somebody else. How can you help expand the kingdom?