Joyce Meyer - Ways to Increase Your Peace - Part 1

TOPICS: Peace

Thank you for joining me today on, "Enjoying Everyday Life". I really am glad that you've decided to spend this time with me studying God's word. I believe it always helps us every single time we hear it. And I think you're gonna have a better day because you're starting it with God's word. Today, I wanna talk about "Some ways that you can increase your peace".

Now, I spent the larger part of the first maybe 45 to 50 years of my life finding something to be upset about most of the time. And I finally got hungry enough for peace that I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to have it. My husband, Dave, was very peaceful, and I finally realized if he could have that kind of peace, then I could have that kind of peace. I grew up in an atmosphere of turmoil, which maybe many of you did too. Very dysfunctional home, a lot of arguing, a lot of strife all the time. And I had such a lack of peace in my life that I actually thought that that kind of dysfunctional atmosphere was normal.

And so I just put up with it for a long time before I realized that it was something that Jesus had actually bequeathed to us before he died and left the earth. And I needed to access that in my life. And I just wonder how many of you watching today are upset about something? You're worried about something. Something is stealing your peace. You know, I have finally, after having peace, I have come to the point where I don't think that life is worth much if you don't have peace. I mean, what do we really want in life other than to have peace and joy and enjoy our days? You know, there's something to worry about every single day if you want to. And sometimes, many things.

We have, I always say, "Every storm is not in the forecast". And so, we get up some days thinking it's going to be a great day and it turns out not to be. And maybe you're having a day like that. But you know what? The Word of God and a decision on your part can calm you down. Peace is possible. Peace has been defined as "A quiet heart". I've been hearing that a lot lately, and I really like that. "A quiet heart". 1 Peter 3:3-4: "Let not yours be the [mere] External adorning with [elaborate] Interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of Jewelry, or the changes of clothes".

So, he's saying, "Don't be so concerned about what you look like and what you're wearing and how your hair is fixed". "But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and a peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] Is very precious in the sight of God". So a quiet heart, a gentle and a peaceful spirit is very precious in the sight of God. Well, one thing I've found that's been helping me, and the Bible talks about it. I just never really paid too much attention to it, or put it to practice, but the Bible says, "To be ever filled with the spirit, speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and making melody in your heart unto the Lord".

And so I've discovered that I'm not a great singer, but I can hum. And so, one of the things that I've been doing is just keeping a little melody in my heart throughout the day and humming and maybe singing a few words every now and then when nobody's listening. And you know what? As long as you're doing that, you won't be able to put your mind on things to worry about. And I have really found it helping me a lot. And so, if you can't sing, you might wanna hum. And if you can sing, then go ahead and sing. But let's keep a song in our heart so the devil can't fill our minds full of things to worry about.

Philippians 4:6-7, one of my favorite scriptures. And when I do start to worry about something, this is the first scripture I go to. I'll get my Bible out, and I'll actually read it, or I'll meditate on it, or confess it out loud. "Don't fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, (definite requests), with thanksgiving", you know, a person who is really thankful doesn't tend to be upset as much or have as much anxiety. "Continue to make your wants known to God. And God's peace [shall be yours.]"

So, let me suggest that the moment you start to worry about something, anything, your kids, your marriage, your job, your finances, the weather, the future, whatever it is, don't wait too long because the longer you wait, the more deeply rooted something gets on the inside of you and the harder it is to get rid of. But form a habit of the moment the Holy Spirit makes you aware that you're worrying, go to that scripture, "Be anxious for nothing but in all things", what are you going through right now? It's part of all things. It's part of everything. It says, "Instead of worrying about it, pray about it," very specifically pray about it, "With thanksgiving" means even though you have a problem, what are all the other things that you can be thankful for?

You know, I believe every single one of us have more things in our life that we can be thankful for than we do to worry about. We just have to put our mind on the right things. Psalm 37:1 says, "Fret not yourself because of evildoers". Well, the world is certainly full of evildoers today, isn't it? And the Bible tells us, we're not to fret over that. "Neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness". Now, why would we be envious against somebody who works unrighteousness? Because sometimes it seems like the unrighteous are actually more blessed than those who are trying to do things that are right. And you know what I have found out? The devil actually can bless people if they're willing to serve him.

You say, "Well, what makes you think that"? Well, when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by the enemy during the 40 days and 40 nights, this is listed in Luke chapter 4, the devil said to Jesus, "If you will bow down and worship me just once, I'll give you all this". And he showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all the things in it. He said, "Because it's been turned over to me and I can give it to whomever I will". Well, who gave it to the devil? Well, Adam did when he sinned because he was the one that had the authority and everything good that God had made belonged to him. But through his sin, he gave it to the devil.

So, the devil is now telling Jesus, "It's mine and I can give it to you". Don't compromise with the enemy because as soon as he's got you, what you think is a blessing is gonna turn into a nightmare for your life. And I am fully convinced that nobody, I mean nobody, no matter how famous you are, no matter how much money you have, no matter what you own, I don't think anybody can be truly happy with just things if you don't have God in your life, if you do not have Jesus in your life, because he is the source of true happiness.

Now, you may enjoy the things, but when our happiness is based on things and what we own, the flesh is interesting. You know, it doesn't take very long for it to get tired of something and it needs something else. So, you're constantly needing a new thing. It's almost like somebody on drugs needing a new fix all the time.

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass". You know what? There's a lot of things that go on that we can say, "Well, that's just not fair". And I think that maybe a good way to say it is, "God may not be fair, but he is just". And that means that he will eventually make all wrong things right. So, you may go through a period of time where it seems to you that life is just not fair and you're doing everything right, but right things aren't happening to you. And you know people that are doing 'em all wrong, they seem to be the ones that are blessed. But remember, in the end, in the end, the meek shall inherit the earth. And this earth is gonna come to an end.

And of course, we say this in every generation, but with many of the things going on in our world today, a large number of people believe that Jesus will be coming back for his church pretty soon. And we need to put our lives into what's really important. And peace is really important. "Trust (lean on, and be confident) in the Lord, and do good". I love that. What do you do when you're having a problem? "Trust God and do good". Trust God and be a blessing to somebody else. Verse 4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart".

One of my favorite scriptures. I confess that scripture every day. Delight myself in the Lord, and he will give me the desires of my heart. We don't have to chase after things that we want. We can ask God for them and then keep our attention on him and trust him to give us what's right for us at the right time. My mother-in-law, when I married Dave, which has now been 57 years ago, gave me a little white King James Bible. She wrote this scripture, Psalm 37:5, in the front of the Bible. "Commit your way unto the Lord, [roll each care of your load on him] And he will bring it to pass".

Well, of course, I had no idea at that time what that meant. But we all have our own way of doing things. But, you know, our ways don't work unless we've gotten those ways from God. And so, worrying about your problems is one thing that just doesn't work because no matter how much you worry, it's not gonna change your situation. So, it says, "Commit your way unto the Lord". "God, your will be done and not mine". "And he will bring it to pass".

You know, strife is a very dangerous thing, and strife is: bickering, arguing, heated disagreement, or an angry undercurrent. And I think most of us can say that the world is full of that today. But there's strife everywhere. I mean, people are so angry today. And I think they're angry because they know that something is wrong, but if they don't know the Lord, they don't know what to do about it. But we don't have to live like that. The Bible tells us that "The servant of the Lord must not strive".

We have to work to keep strife out of our lives. And James 4:2 tells us why we have this strife. He said, "You're jealous and you covet, or you want [what other people have] And your desires go unfulfilled: [so] You become a murderer. Because [to hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and you're not able to get the things that you want. You can't get [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and you war".

You get into strife. "You have not because you ask not". I love that. You know, I don't know how many years ago it's been, but it's been a good number of years ago. And that scripture actually was one of the scriptures that was very pivotal for me, because there were so many things in my life that I was trying to make happen. And what this scripture is telling me is, "You're not getting what you want because you're not asking. You're trying to make it happen yourself".

What are you trying to make happen that only God can make happen? Think it over. Maybe spend a little time thinking about it when the program is over. What is actually frustrating you? Is it the problem you have, or is it the fact that you're not trusting God to solve the problem? You know, the minute we trust God, peace fills our heart. Another thing that will steal your peace or a way you can increase your peace is to stay away from reasoning. You know, God is full of mystery, and I'm learning that more and more the longer I walk with God. There's a lot of things that God does that we don't understand, and it's not our place to understand. It's our place to trust.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13 "That right now we know in part, but the day will come when we will know even as we are known". Someday we're gonna know everything. Won't that be wonderful? But for now, we need to get content with not knowing. Now, I don't know about you, but I was one of those people that, man, I had to know. And I would reason and figure and think and reason and figure and worry until I came up with something that I thought sounded reasonable. And so many times I turned out to be wrong anyway. Reasoning is us trying to figure out why something happened or what we can do about it.

And God expects us to think, but the mind of the flesh is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit. It's not that God never wants you to put your mind to anything and think about it, but we need to do it with the Holy Spirit. Matter of fact, there's a scripture in Isaiah that says, "Come and let us reason together". It's all right if you ponder things with the Lord and bounce some things back and forth off of him, but I always say, "I know I've gone too far when I start to get confused". You know, if you feel confused right now about something in your life and you keep saying, "God, I just don't understand. I don't understand why, God, why"? It's because you're trying to figure something out that only God has the answer to and he's not telling you yet, and he may not ever tell you. You cannot get confused if you put your trust in God.

James 1:22 says, "Be doers of the word [obey the message]". So, I'm preaching the word to you today, and it's not gonna do you any good just to listen to it if you're not gonna put it to work in your life. "If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you will know the truth and it will make you free". I wish that the writers of that scripture would have said, "And you will know the truth, and if applied to your life, it will make you free".

See, it's not just reading it or knowing it or being able to quote it or having it underlined in your Bible or having a plaque on the wall with the scripture on it that's gonna set you free. It's putting it to work in your life. Think about how much peace do you have? How much peace are you lacking? What are you willing to change in your life in order to have "The peace that passes understanding"? And that means that you can have a big problem and still be totally at peace. Doesn't make any sense, but you have the peace of God because you put your trust in him. "Be a doer of the word [obey the message], and not just a listener to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning, which is contrary to the truth]".

So, when we get into reasoning, we can easily get ourselves deceived and think we've got something figured out when really we don't have a clue what's going on. And Romans 8:6 says, "Now the mind of the flesh [is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit...]" I love that. "And it's death, [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin]. But the mind of the [holy] Spirit, the mind of the spirit is life and [soul] Peace, [both now and forever]". And boy, we love this scripture, Proverbs 3:5-8: "Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and lean not to your own understanding".

You know, it's so wonderful to not feel that you have to figure everything out. I suffered with that for so long. And if you're a reasoner and one of those people that has to, you know, you're just mental. You just put your mind on everything and just rotate around and around and around it, trying to figure it out. Why did this happen? What can I do to change it? I spent so much time in my life saying, "Why God, why"? And "When God, when"? And God doesn't want to hear that. What he wants to hear is, "I don't understand this, but I trust you. I know that you're good and I know that you're just. And even though what's happening right now seems unfair, I believe that you will make it right".

Joseph said to his brothers, "What you meant for harm, God intended for good". I love that. They had treated him so bad, and yet he wasn't upset about it. Maybe somebody has treated you badly. Maybe they've lied about you or betrayed you or rejected you or cheated on you. And you know what? Trust God with it. Forgive them, pray for them, and turn the whole situation over to God and let him be your vindicator in this situation and every other situation. "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path".

Usually every morning when I wake up, one of the first things I say is, "God, I ask you to help me with everything I'm gonna do today". But a couple days ago, I woke up and I was still really about half asleep. And I heard myself say, "Lord, I am going to help you with everything you do today". Well, he obviously doesn't need my help, but I guess I was ready to help him run the world. We need his help. Jesus said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing". "Be not wise in your own eyes".

I love that because to me that means, "Don't even think you're smart enough to figure out your own problems". If we ever want peace, we have to learn to trust God. Reasoning brings confusion. Acknowledge God in all of your plans. And it can be as simple as saying each day, "If I have any plans, God, that you don't agree with, I'm willing to change".

It's not that we don't make plans. I make plans every day. I have a plan for when I'm done here in the studio today, what I'm gonna do this afternoon. But if God's not happy with those plans, I'm more than happy to change 'em because after walking with God for 48 years, I've learned that to be out of God's will is the worst place in the world that you can be. And then lastly, I wanna say today, "Search for peace". Find out what your peace stealers are. And we'll talk more about that tomorrow, but find out what your peace stealers are and start eliminating them from your life. Because there are certain things that the enemy uses in every one of our lives to steal our peace.

There's a great scripture in 1 Peter 3:10-11, it says, "That we are to seek peace, pursue it eagerly, peace with God, peace with ourselves, and peace with our fellow man". I pray for you in Jesus' name that the peace of God will fill your heart and fill your life, and you will be so hungry for that peace that you will be willing to do whatever you need to do to have it. God bless you. We care about you. We love you. If you have a prayer request, something you need us to pray about, you can send it in and put it online. Give us a call. And thank you for being with us today, and I hope you can join us again tomorrow. God bless you.