Joyce Meyer - I Feel Like I Am Losing My Mind Can You Help Me? (08/18/2019)
This sermon tackles mental strongholds, explaining that feeling like you’re 'losing your mind' often means surrendering control of your thoughts to the enemy’s lies. Using 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, it emphasizes that believers must capture every thought, take responsibility for their mindset, and trust that God can work all things for good, shifting from blame to proactive partnership with God.
The Battle for Your Mind
Do you ever feel like that you’re losing your mind? Well, perhaps you are. Perhaps you’ve lost or given up the control of your thoughts. So really when we say, «I feel like I’m losing my mind,» it’s because we’re letting the enemy do our thinking for us. And he’s filling our minds with worry and fear and anxiety and threats and every kind of torment. You say, well, I just don’t know what to do. What can I do? Well, think something else. Think something good. Good always overcomes evil. Well, I can’t help it. You know, I just, I’m just a worrier. Well, the first thing you might do is stop saying that. Don’t ever say again, «I’m a worrier.» Don’t say that. Perhaps you’ve never even known that you could control your thoughts.
Destroying Mental Strongholds
First scripture we’re going to look at. We’re going to look at lots of scripture this weekend. Second Corinthians 10:4 and 5. «For the weapons of our warfare,» everybody say, «I’m in a war.» «Are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and the destruction of strongholds.» Now, a stronghold is a place where an enemy will barricade himself in and, from that vantage point, control what’s going on. So, the devil tries to build strongholds in our minds that are lies and deceptions, but they’re things that, over a period of time, he convinces us to believe. And as long as we believe it, it’s our reality. Even if it’s not true, it still becomes our reality because we believe it.
«Inasmuch as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings,» now those are all processes of the thought life. So, he must be talking about strongholds that are built in the mind. «And every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God.» So, everything that doesn’t agree with the truth that we find in the Bible is a lie. Everything that doesn’t agree with the truth that we find in the Bible is a lie. Everything that we believe that does not agree with the Word of God… I don’t care if it’s the 21st century or the 27th century or the 30th century… God does not change. He is the same.
Taking Every Thought Captive
«Everything that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God… we lead every thought…» somebody say «every thought»… «we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ the Messiah.» It’s possible to have a negative mindset and a negative attitude that is destroying your life while you spend your life blaming others instead of taking responsibility for making a change. I’m gonna read it again. It is possible for me, for you, for anybody watching my TV—yes we know you’re out there—to have a negative mindset and a negative attitude that is destroying your life while you spend your time blaming everything that’s wrong in your life on somebody else and never taking responsibility.
Well, now somebody’s thinking right away, well, it’s not my fault. No, it’s the devil’s fault. It’s not Charlie’s fault or Sam’s fault or Joe’s fault or Mary’s fault or Maude’s fault. It’s the devil’s fault. We war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and wickedness in high places. Our war is with the enemy. He finds different people to work through, but our real war is with him. And you may not have been the fault at all of the situation that you’re in right now, but I will tell you this. Only you and God working together can fix it. Only you and God working together can fix it because the person you’re mad at is never going to come back around and fix your problem.
The Choice to Enjoy Life
No matter how long you stay mad at them or how long you hate them or how bitter you become, they’re just going to be out somewhere having a good time while you’re miserable. So you might as well just give that up and just say, okay, God, I am ready now to agree with you. I will take responsibility for where I’m at right now. You show me what needs to be done and give me the strength to do what you want me to do. And I’m never going to look back again. I’m going straight forward from this day on. Enjoying life begins with a choice. The first choice is to believe that all things that have happened to us can work out for good.
No matter what they are, all things that have happened to us, all bad things, unpleasant things, unjust things, unfair things, can work out for good to those who, number one, love God, and number two, are called according to His purpose. And let me just simplify that. Who love God and who are willing to do what He shows them to do.
How God Thinks About You
What do you think that God thinks about you? Do you even realize that God does think about you? Actually, God thinks about us all the time. And this is so wonderful. Never one time in your life has God ever had one bad thought about you. Not ever. He’s never thought, yeah, you’re never going to change. He’s never thought you’re hopeless. He doesn’t think like that. God doesn’t even sit around and think about everything we do wrong. He doesn’t think about our problems. He thinks about our possibilities. He thinks about our potential. God is the chief of all dreamers. And He has a dream for you.
But the interesting thing is since God has given us free will, no matter what God’s plan is for us, if we don’t come into agreement with Him, it’s not going to happen. Having God in your life and having the promises of God doesn’t just guarantee that all these things are going to happen to us while we sit around and either do the wrong thing or do nothing. We’re partners with God in the earth. You are God’s partner. And not only that, you’re an ambassador for God. We are ambassadors for God. We might as well just hang this around our neck and go out every day and just say, I’m an ambassador for God.
Your Identity and Purpose in Christ
This is really not my home. I don’t really belong here. I’m just here for one purpose and that’s to try to help you and take as many people to heaven with me as I can. And our behavior is one of the most important things, but our behavior also is a product of our thoughts. And even though we may want to behave right, if you don’t have a right relationship with God, if you don’t know how much God loves you and just what great potential you have, then you’re going to keep basing all your worth and value on what you do. And the thing is, is we’re not going to do it all right all the time. We are going to make mistakes.
But if there’s anything that we need in the church, it’s for Christians, every one of us, to gain spiritual maturity through cooperating with Christ and get out in the world and just be the way that we say we believe. And God understands that this spiritual maturity process takes time. And He’s not mad at you today because you have not arrived at the place of perfection yet. God thinks you are wonderful. Just wonderful. So I am not afraid to tell you how wonderful and how amazing you are. And I’m going to spend this whole morning doing it. And I’m hopefully going to get you thinking the way that God thinks about yourself because you’re never going to be the person God wants you to be if you keep thinking about yourself in a way that’s wrong.
And if you get into pride, we’ve got a message for that too. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that in due time, He may exalt you. Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to. Don’t have an exaggerated opinion of your own importance. That’s Romans 12:3. Don’t think you’re too good to lower yourself to help somebody else. You see, the thing is, is I’m not better than anybody else, but I’m not beneath anybody else either. And neither are you. Because whatever I am, I am that in Christ. And whatever I’m not, He’s got to fill up that weakness and take care of me. So the bottom line is, is I’m not above or beneath. I’m just in Christ.
The Foundation of Unconditional Love
No wonder the Bible says that if anybody is in Christ, there’s no more Jew, no more Greek, no more male, no more female, no more slave, no more free. We’re all one in Christ. He is the great equalizer. In Christ, everybody has equal opportunity. And I tell you, the more you think and talk like I’m sharing with you today, the stronger your faith is going to become. How can you put faith in somebody that you’re about halfway afraid is mad at you most of the time? We must believe that God loves us, loves us perfectly and unconditionally. Here’s the thing, God doesn’t know how to do anything else because He is love. It’s the only reaction He knows how to have.
So whether you like it or not, God loves you. You can’t earn it. You can’t deserve it. The only thing you can do or you cannot do is receive it. So, I mean, I can preach my heart out to you today, but if you don’t decide, I’m going to receive that. I’m going to receive… God is talking to me today. He’s not just talking to a room full of people. God knows your name. He knows everything about you. He created you in your mother’s womb with His very own hand. You are not a mistake. And He thinks about you all the time. God, who can do anything, who created everything, loves you. And He thinks about you all the time. God loves you.
A Special Word to the Hurting
Now, God dropped it in my heart this morning to talk to the television audience for a few minutes because I believe that there are people watching me right now that you have been contemplating and seriously considering suicide. And a lot of the reason why people get to that point in life is because they just feel that nobody really loves them or they feel that they just cannot ever get it right. And part of the reason why you get to that point is because you’re trying to find worth and value in all these other things that will never give you true worth and value. So you begin to feel like you’re just a big mess up.
You didn’t make it through college. You didn’t… your marriage didn’t work out. You, you know, you weren’t as good at sports as your brother or you weren’t as good at something as your sister. And so you’ve always kind of felt like the tail end of life. And you’re just ready to give up. I want you to listen to me today. God is talking to you and He had you turn this program on specifically at this time, even if you think you accidentally found me. And I don’t care if it’s 2 o’clock in the morning or 3 o’clock in the morning. Here’s my point. God loves you. And He thinks you are wonderful. And He’s got a good plan for you. And if you’ll just receive that by faith.
And speak it out of your own mouth. This is where it gets hard. To sit somewhere by yourself and say, God loves me. God loves me. God thinks I’m wonderful. There’s healing in that. This is what everybody wants. They want to be loved. They want to be accepted for who they are, where they’re at. And the Bible says that God never rejects those who believe in Him. He never rejects those who believe in Him. The world can reject us, but God will never reject us.
God’s Word is His Thought Toward You
John 5:38. «And you have not His word, His thought…» I love the way the Amplified Bible does that. This, this book is full of what God thinks. It’s not just some arbitrary thing that He decided to have a bunch of guys write down in case we wanted to read it sometime. This is what God thinks about you, about your life, about your past, about your future, about your family, about your finances. And about His expectations for our behavior. «You have not His word, His thought living in your hearts, because you do not believe and adhere to and trust in and rely on Him whom He has sent. That is why you do not keep His message living in you, because you do not believe in the messenger whom He has sent.»
So, the only reason why I’m reading this is to show you that there is a very close connection between believing and thinking. He said, you don’t believe because you don’t receive this as my thought. The word is not some arbitrary thing that we read a chapter of every day out of obligation to God. So, we get our check Mark on our Bible reading calendar. It’s God’s thoughts toward us and about us. And we need to take it very personally. Don’t just read the Bible. Read it for yourself. Take it for yourself. Don’t just sit here today and think, you know, this is a great message for everybody. No, God is using my mouth to talk to you. God is speaking to you, not to somebody else, to you.
The Test: Standing on Truth in Trials
We’re not gonna have the life that Jesus died to give us if we don’t learn to think the way God thinks. And we’re never gonna learn to think the way God thinks if we don’t ever think about what we’re thinking about. You’re gonna have to fight the good fight of faith. The devil is alive and well on planet Earth, and he is not gonna shut his mouth. The big problem comes when we shut ours and just let him beat our heads off instead of talking back to the devil like Jesus did. Talk back to the devil? What kind of preaching is this, Mabel? Just the kind you need.
«Do not be conformed to this world,» Romans 12:2 says. «Don’t be like the world. But be ye transformed, changed entirely by the complete and total renewal of your mind.» Amen. I am seated at the right hand of God today in heavenly places. God lives in me. I have his power. He thinks I’m wonderful. He thinks about me all the time. He has a good plan for my life. Okay, now what happens? Whoa! I’m thinking all this stuff and I get hit with a big, bad, awful circumstance. Now’s the test. Well, I thought I was so wonderful and God had a good plan for my life. Well, then why is this happening to me? Test. Test. Just pass it so you don’t have to take it again. Test.
So now when the circumstance hits you and you literally feel like all hell is coming against you. Now this is when you need to open your holy little mouth and say, «God has a wonderful plan for my life. He thinks about me all the time. I have got the power of God living on the inside of me. I am the head and not the tail. I am above and not beneath. No weapon formed against me shall prosper.»