Joyce Meyer - 3030 Challenge Bible Study (08/17/2019)
Joyce Meyer demonstrates a simple, powerful Bible study method using only your Bible, notebook, pen, and the Holy Spirit as Teacher. Walking through Philippians 4 verse by verse, she shows how to extract practical instructions (stand firm, rejoice, pray without worry, think on good things, be content), apply them personally with self-examination, and mark areas needing deeper study. The goal: consistent 30-minute daily study for 30 days builds lasting spiritual growth, breakthroughs, and anointing.
Simple Bible Study Method
Well, we're about midway into our 30-30 challenge, which is studying the Bible for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. And I wanted to show you a very simple way that you can study the Bible without having any really extra tools, just your Bible, the Holy Spirit, whom hopefully you have prayed to help you learn, because he is the teacher.
I always say there are many teachers in the world, but the Holy Spirit is the teacher. And the only other thing that I have here today is a notebook and a ballpoint pen. So this is something that you can have just about anywhere. You can keep it in your car. You can do this at lunch. You can do it while you're waiting for a doctor's appointment.
It doesn't have to be a difficult thing. I think one of the mistakes that we've made is we have turned studying the Bible into this almost bigger thing in our minds than what it needs to be, and we think we need all these deep theological tools to do it.
But honestly, the main thing that we need is a heart to learn and the Holy Spirit who will always teach us.
Studying Philippians Chapter 4
And so I decided in the time that we have today to take Philippians chapter 4, a chapter in the Bible that I think is very, very rich and full of wonderful things, and just start to go through it with you and show you this method of study that I think is very beneficial.
So I start in chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, my beloved, whom I love and yearn to see, my delight and crown, my wreath of victory. Now I want you to notice how he builds them up and compliments them right from the very beginning.
And so perhaps we could learn a little bit more about when we see people or we greet people how much value there is and just maybe taking the time. And I think with people in the Western culture, a lot of times we don't take the time to just maybe say something nice.
Building Up Before Instruction
Because now he's getting ready to give them an instruction. Now he says, stand firm in the Lord. But it's interesting that he didn't just start out saying, you know, now you guys need to be firm in the Lord. He took the time to basically say the way we would say today, hey, you're awesome. It's great to see you. You know, it really makes me happy to see you. I'm just encouraging you now to stand firm in the Lord.
So the method that I'm using in studying this is, I put down number one, stand firm. Because I want to see when I study like this, how many things I can get out of one chapter that I can go back over later and just look at and say, wow, there is really a lot of lessons in there.
Personal Application First
The other thing that I am encouraging people to do is, when you see an instruction like that, stand firm in the Lord. Take a moment and apply that to yourself.
So then I would say to myself, are there areas in my life where maybe I am shaky? I'm not standing firm. You know, how do I behave when I have challenges? How do I behave when I have, you know, trials?
And so then if that's something that I need to discuss with God further, maybe I could put a little star by that or a check Mark, and then later you could do a whole Bible study just on being firm and being stable.
I think this will help us locate areas in our own life where maybe we need a little more help.
Euodia and Syntyche Harmony
So then the second thing he says is, I entreat and advise Euodia, and I entreat and advise Syntyche. I never know that I'm getting all those right, but that's my best effort. To agree and to work in Harmony in the Lord.
So obviously there's something going on with these two women or maybe they're having a little bit of friction between them. Paul would not have just said, encourage them to be in Harmony if they already were.
Then in verse 3 he says, And I exhort you too, my genuine yoke fellow, help these two women to keep on cooperating. For they have toiled along with me in the spreading of the good news, the gospel, as have Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
So he takes two verses now to not only say, encourage these two women to get along, but now he goes on and says, and help them get along.
Self-Examination on Strife
So then I would say to myself, do I have any strife in my heart? Is there anybody that I need to forgive? Is there anybody that maybe I'm, you know, avoiding or being cold toward? Because really there is a little something stuck in there and I'm just kind of not wanting to deal with it, so I'm just ignoring it.
And you know, of course then, if anger and holding grudges and being difficult to get along with would be a problem for any of you, or any of you, or me, or whoever, then that point could also get a star, and we could do a deeper study on that.
But today we're just wanting to see what we can get out of Philippians chapter 4.
Rejoice Always
And so then in verse 4, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice. Why? Because joy is a very powerful motivator and a very powerful tool.
I think a lot of times when the enemy comes against us, he's not after our goods, he's after our joy. He wants to take our joy because the joy of the Lord is our strength.
I don't know if you've ever experienced this or not, but I've had times when I didn't feel good. I remember one time in particular when I had a pretty bad headache, and I still remember where I was sitting. I was sitting at the kitchen table with three other people. We were eating dinner, and something funny happened, and it was one of those belly laugh funny things that you just laugh and laugh and laugh, and then the more you laugh, the more they laugh, and the more they laugh, the more you laugh, and it just got ridiculous.
And when I was finished, my head had completely quit hurting. And I really think that there's health benefits in being happier.
Rejoice and Laugh More
So, I suggest that you write down, laugh a lot today. Rejoice, and again, I say, rejoice. And then, verse 5, let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness, your considerateness, your forbearing spirit, which if you don't know what a forbearing spirit is, that means that you're long-suffering and you can put up with stuff a long time without changing.
Your forbearing spirit, why? Because the Lord is near.
Now, we need to really pay attention to this because what he's basically saying, and if you know some other scripture, it's very easy to put this together. The Bible says that God is, that Christ is in us, making his appeal to the world through us.
Now, that just is really an awesome responsibility. Christ in you, the hope of glory, the Bible says, but it's not only the hope of us ever having glory, it's the hope of him being glorified in the earth.
He has invested himself in us and wants us to simply go out in the world and show Christian fruit, just getting out in the world and being unselfish, just being considerate, using good manners, saying please and thank you.
So, don't be selfish. So, I need to ask myself, am I selfish? Well, how can I tell if I'm selfish or not, Joyce? Well, the best way that I know is to ask myself, how do I act when I don't get my way?
Self-Examination on Selfishness
So, aren't you glad that we don't have time to talk about that a lot today? We're on a mission here. We've got to stick to it.
I feel with all my heart, if you will take this 30 minutes every day, and probably what's going to happen is you're going to need more than 30 minutes once you get started, but even if you take that 30 minutes, if that's all you ever did, and you did it consistently, I mean, let's just say you even got to do it 80% of the year, and say 20% of the year you did have things come up that you couldn't control, and you're never able to do it, can you imagine how much you would learn?
And I mean you would learn it. It wouldn't just be head knowledge, but you would learn it. It would get down on the inside of you.
And, you know, I don't mean to overstate this, but I really believe that this is something that God strongly put in my heart, that if His people around the world will really begin to study, they are going to see breakthroughs in their life.
They're going to see an increase of God's anointing on their life. They're going to see an increase of God's power on their life, Because we love Jesus, but He is the Word who came and was made flesh to dwell among us.
And we need to realize how precious and valuable His Word to us is.
Do Not Worry, Pray Everything
Now, and I love verse 6. Boy, I go to this one often. Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, which are definite requests, with Thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
Wow. Do not worry about anything. Anything. I can't imagine too many people who would read that and not be able to apply it to their life somewhere that day immediately.
How about any of you? Was there something that you can think of right now you could say, yeah, I just need to not fret about that. I just don't need to worry about that.
And I love the whole analogy of this. But in every circumstance and in everything, first response, pray. Pray about everything, worry about nothing. Pray about everything, fear nothing.
You know, even when something comes to you that annoys you about another person, the best thing to do is don't get into some kind of judgment or getting upset because they keep doing this thing that bothers you.
Right away, pray for God to help them in that area. God can do in a moment what we cannot do in a lifetime.
So, and I, oh, I love this part. With Thanksgiving. With Thanksgiving.
I recall one time when I was praying for something and God said, well, you're already complaining about what you've got. Why should I give you something else to complain about?
So, this being thankful means that we need to be thankful. We need to be a thankful person.
When you go to God in prayer, but you're already a thankful person for what you have and what He's already done for you, then that just gives you double power to go to Him.
And it shows that you're mature enough now to maybe have this next level of blessing that you're asking God for because it shows that you're doing a good job of managing and taking care of what you have.
Thanksgiving and Peace
And of course then, man, I love to do Bible studies on Thanksgiving. I'm reading a book right now on the power of generosity and generosity starts from being a thankful person.
The more thankful you are, the more you want to do for other people because you realize how blessed you are.
And verse 7, and God's peace will be yours. So that's why I love to just pray about things and not worry and be thankful, tell God what I need, because then I can have peace.
And God's peace will be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is.
And boy, that's a whole big thing, isn't it, about being content where you're at. You know, it's just another way of saying enjoying where you're at on the way to where you're going.
Being content doesn't mean that you never want anything else, but it means that you're, you can be happy where you're at while you're trusting God to work those other things out.
And that peace, which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Think on These Things
And now we get a whole verse about how we ought to think. Wow, anybody could use this. And for the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence, honorable, seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, lovable, kind, winsome, gracious, if there's any virtue and excellence, if there's anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things.
Fix your minds on them. So, I don't know if anybody saw the movie, A Beautiful Mind, but I like to kind of steal that title and say we need to have beautiful minds.
We need to think lovely thoughts about people. And, you know, we can always find something to think about somebody that's not so nice, but we can also choose to have good thoughts.
And, you know, if you need more help on that, that can get another star. Some of you may be thinking, I got a star by everything we've said so far, but, you know, that's okay too.
I mean, I remember when that was me. I mean, I felt like, can anybody be as big a mess as me? Because everything I read convicted me that I needed to change in that area.
But that's okay. Because there were times in my life when I was so blind to my behavior, I couldn't even see it.
And so, at least when we start to see what's in here and have enough confidence in our relationship with God that we're not afraid to apply it to ourselves.
You see, reading things like this doesn't need to condemn you if you know who you are in Christ. If you know how much He loves you, then you're actually glad for God to remind you, you know, you're a little selfish this week or, well, you know, you weren't very polite in that situation.
And I love it, really, when God shows me those things because it lets me know that He's involved with me and He cares about me and we're doing life together and we're partnering and, boy, do I need Him to remind me of these things on an ongoing basis.
But you just, you actually just hurt yourself when every time you see something that does convict you, if you get, let that conviction turn to condemnation, then you have a real problem.
Model Your Life After Paul
Verse 9, practice what you've learned and received and heard and seen in me. Model your way of living on it and the God of peace of untroubled, undisturbed well-being will be with you.
So, I wrote down here something that I wonder how many of us would dare to write down. Can I say with Paul, do what you see me do? That's what Paul's telling these people. Model your living according to what you see me do.
Can we as parents even say that to our children? Watch me and do what I do and you're going to be okay. I mean, that took some... I don't know what kind of confidence that took from Paul to say that, but I don't think I've ever said that to anybody yet.
I mean, I hope that there are things about my behavior that people do feel like that they can model, but I don't have the nerve to say to somebody, well, hey, just watch me and whatever you see me do, if you do that, you're going to be okay.
But that should be our goal. So, see, I write this down and I want to be able to say that with all confidence. Boy, you... whatever you see me do, however you see me act, however I talk, how I treat people, you just do that, you're going to be okay.
Content in All Circumstances
Verse 10, I was made very happy in the Lord that now you have revived your interest in my welfare after so long a time. You were indeed thinking of me, but you had no opportunity to show it.
Not that I'm implying that I was in any personal want, for I have learned how to be content, satisfied to the point where I'm not disturbed or disquieted in whatever state I am in.
Paul is saying here, look, I'm so glad that you guys, because they actually were sending him an offering, which you'll see a little bit later. So, an offering for his ministry.
And he said, I'm really glad that you've revived your interest in me after so long a time. You know, you guys have been pretty quiet for a while. Haven't heard from you. Hey, I'm still here. It's really encouraging me now that you are sending me some help.
And he says, I'm glad that you're sending this to me, but I do want to let you know that I wasn't upset that you didn't, because I've learned how to be content no matter what is going on in my life.
And I love this amplified explanation of content. Satisfied to the point where I'm not disturbed or disquieted no matter what state that I'm in.
So this doesn't mean we have to like all of our circumstances. You know, I mean, we've had people write in and say, well, you know, I've got this going on and that going on. How can you expect me to be content?
Or, you know, I've lost a loved one. How can I possibly be content? And we're certainly not saying to be happy about all your circumstances, but we are saying that there seems to be a place in Christ that we can find, that we can trust Him so much that we can say, even though I don't like this, I'm going to believe that whatever's going on in my life right now is going to eventually work out for good and that even if this is not a very pleasant thing, I want to get something out of this.
I want to be a better person when I come out of this than I was when I went into it.
So for that reason, we can believe that every moment that we have in our life has something from God in it for us, whether it feels good or it doesn't.
Strength for Anything
And so then in verse 12, He says, I know how to be abased and live humbly and straight in circumstances. I know how to enjoy plenty and live in abundance.
And I want to stop there just a moment and say that, you know, we talk a lot of times about how people act during trials. You know, there's another whole test that we need to pass and that's how we act when everything's going our way.
Because sometimes when everything's going our way, we can become insensitive to people that are struggling and having a hard time.
Oh, and we love 13, I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I'm ready for anything equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me. I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency.
And boy, that's about a whole six-part series that we could do there. But it's so wonderful to be able to get up every day and believe whatever life is going to bring today, I can handle it through Christ who strengthens me.
And that's one of the confessions that we've taught people, one of the power thoughts in our Power Thoughts book in learning how to think and how to speak is to actually aggressively believe before you ever even have a disappointment or a problem whatever happens today.
I hope things turn out my way but if they don't, it's okay because I can handle it. Instead of having this attitude, oh man, not another problem, I can't put up with this, you know, this is just going to put me over the edge.
We can prepare ourself by having right thinking.
Partnership and Contentment
And then he goes on and now he's going to take a little section here and talk about they sent him an offering and he's going into a little thing now about partnership and saying, look, it was right for you to help me and to share my difficulties with me.
And verse 15, you Philippians well know that in the early days of my ministry, no church entered into partnership with me except you only.
So, Paul had a fondness in his heart for these people because although he was ministering to people all over the world, these were the ones who had taken an interest in him and actually begun to partner with him.
For even in Thessalonica you sent me contributions for my needs not only once but a second time. not that I seek or am eager for your gift but I do seek and am eager for the fruit which increases to your credit.
So, Paul had a really good heart about the whole thing. He knew that God was going to provide for him and he said, it's not just that I'm all excited to get your money. He said, I do appreciate it. I do need it. I'm glad you're partnering with me.
It's right for you to give back because I'm ministering to you. Open up a debit and a credit account but he said, I'm not nearly as excited about getting your money as I am about knowing what's happening in your own life through your giving because now that you've sown you've opened your life up for a tremendous blessing from God.
And of course these are some of the kind of things that we try to share with people and encouraging them to partner with us.
God Supplies Every Need
And then he goes on verse 18 says, but I have your full payment and more I have everything I need and I'm amply supplied now that I've received from Epaphroditus the gifts that you sent me. They are the fragrant odor of an offering and a sacrifice which God welcomes and in which he delights.
And verse 19 a verse that we love to pull out and use without looking at anything around it and my God will liberally supply fill to the full your every need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
It's really not good to just yank one scripture out that you like and use that one without seeing that he was talking to specific people here.
And I really want to do these last four verses because I learned something here. 20, 21, 22, and 23 are all given to greetings being sent to different people.
And to be honest I've never really paid that much attention to them. It's like yeah hi this one, hi that one, be blessed, have a good day, na na na na na na.
And so when I looked at these we're going to read them and I'll tell you what I thought. To God, to our God and Father be glory forever and ever through the endless eternity of the eternities. He's praising God, that's wonderful.
Remember me to every Saint, to every born again believer in Christ Jesus, the brethren, my associates who are with me to greet you. Tell everybody I said hello.
All the saints, God's consecrated ones here, wish to be remembered to you, especially those of Caesar's house. So hey, I got a lot of people here with me too that say they hope that you remember them and they're sending greetings.
The grace, the spiritual favor and the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, the anointed one, be with your spirit.
So he praises God. In the last verse, he blesses them, which is important. But in the meantime, he takes time just to send a greeting and to say, please remember us too.
Value of Greetings
So when I was thinking about that, I thought, now, you know, God doesn't waste his time. He doesn't waste words. And the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write these things.
So why would the Holy Spirit use this precious time and want us to study somebody just saying hi to somebody? Hey, say hi to everybody over there. And oh, you guys remember us over here.
I'll tell you why. Because in our Western culture, we have totally, sometimes, maybe not everybody, but almost totally lost sight of the value of just taking the time to greet people to say, I notice you.
I know sometimes maybe a minister will call me and he's going to be having church service the next day. And I'll say, hey, tell your congregation I said hi. And they're like, oh man, they will love that.
So maybe they go and, hey, I was talking to Joyce yesterday and she said to tell you hi. Well, see, those kind of things really do mean a lot to people.
And so, when somebody says, tell so-and-so I said hi, you need to try to do that if you can because taking the time to greet people is actually really important.
And we have found that when we go out of the country and into other cultures, it is amazing how much time other cultures spend on relationship building compared to what we do in our Western culture.
Here, we're so intent on getting the job done and moving on to the next thing that we have to do, especially certain personalities, that to be honest, we don't even always take the time to be friendly.
So, wow. Twelve things that we have learned in here today. I just feel so wonderful because now I've been through it twice. So, I'm starting to really get it.
Stand firm. Get along with people. Help other people get along. Laugh a lot today. Let people see your Christianity. Don't worry. Pray about everything. Be peaceful. Think about good things.
Hopefully someday get to the point where you can say with Paul, do what I do and you're going to be in cool with God. Learn how to be content in all things. Realize you have strength for anything no matter what comes your way.
When we give and partner with those who help us, God will meet all of our needs according to His riches and glory. Take the time to be friendly and greet people.
Come on, let's give God a praise.
Keep the Habit Going
Well, you know, I know that I threw a lot at you today but I did it on purpose just to show you what you can do in 30 minutes.
So I hope today's teaching will spur you to develop a habit of studying God's Word. And for those that are interested in joining our 30-30 challenge, it's not too late. You can still sign up online.
And for those that have been participating, I want to encourage you to keep motivated. Your efforts will be richly rewarded.