Joyce Meyer - How Do I Make This Decision? (08/21/2019)
Joyce Meyer shares how God led her to emphasize discernment when facing major decisions, urging believers to trust the inner knowing of the Holy Spirit over feelings, others' opinions, or natural reasoning. She stresses praying for discernment, following peace, and making wise choices to avoid trouble, trusting that God speaks clearly through His anointing that abides within us.
Discernment – The Inner Knowing from God
I believe that there are people here tonight that are in between two decisions. You're trying to decide, should you do this? Should you do that? Should you do this? Should you do that? Is this the right thing to do? Is this the right thing to do?
And I just felt like that the Lord put it in my heart to share this word about discernment because, and please listen, if you follow your feelings, if you follow maybe what everybody else is telling you to do, or if you follow even your own just natural mind, apart from the Holy Spirit, or if you would just simply do what you want to do, you are more than likely going to end up in big trouble.
And so you've got a little something fighting with you, and that's what the Bible calls discernment. It's like a knowing down on the inside of you that maybe you shouldn't do that.
You know, just because we want to do something doesn't mean that it's right. Now, sometimes we want to do something, and it is right. But if that's the case, we'll have a lot of peace about that.
But when you've got a fight going on inside of you about something that you're getting ready to do, trust me, because we've all made mistakes, you're so much better off to follow what you believe is the Holy Spirit.
You Hear from God Better Than You Think
Can I tell you something? You probably hear from God a lot better than you think you do. Come on, I said you probably hear from God a lot better than you think you do.
Actually, in 1 John 2.21, it says that there is an anointing that abides in us. That means has come to live, dwell, and remain. And that you won't need anybody to teach you.
Now, that doesn't mean that we don't need the gift of teaching of the Word, but it means you don't have to have somebody telling you what to do all the time, because you've got wisdom himself living on the inside of you.
In Proverbs chapter 1, verses 2 through 5, there's a handful of words that I think we need to know a lot more about than what we do.
Verse 2 says that people might know skillful and godly wisdom. Everybody say wisdom. Wisdom.
And my little simple definition of wisdom is to do now what you'll be happy with later. Now, that's not the official definition. Wisdom is actually the proper use of knowledge.
It doesn't do you any good to know something if you don't really know what to do with it. But I think it also means to do now what you're going to be happy with later.
Wisdom and instruction. Discern. Say discern. Discern. Comprehend. Comprehend. See, that means to have thorough understanding of something.
And understanding, say understanding. Understanding. That they might receive instruction in wise dealing. And the discipline, uh-oh, say discipline. Discipline.
Let's say that one twice. Discipline. Of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity.
That prudence, say prudence. Prudence. You know, prudence is good management. It's taking the resources you have and managing them well.
That they might be given to the simple. And see, I love this because the simplest person can have all these things if they have Christ.
This is not education. I mean, you... An education is one thing, but you can have all this and have graduated from the eighth grade.
You can have all this and not have a college degree. Matter of fact, depending on what you're taught in college, you could be better off to just have this. Just saying.
Because sometimes they talk you out of believing in God and that's sure not the way to go.
That prudence might be given to the simple and knowledge and discretion. Discretion means you can keep a secret. That you don't...
And discernment. Say discernment. To the youth.
Now, actually, one of the gifts of the Spirit that Paul talks about is the gift of discernment. And if I were you, I would pray for that every single day because I'll tell you what, we live in times right now where we desperately, desperately need discernment.
Don't Follow Feelings or Opinions
So we have to get accustomed to not just living off the top of our head and according to what we think and according to how we feel.
Do you know that feelings are the believer's number one enemy? You know why? Because they're really fickle.
You can feel like doing something on Monday night. Sign on the dotted line. And on Tuesday morning, those vacations have taken a vacation. I mean, those feelings have taken a vacation.
And you're like, well, I don't feel like doing that now. But it's too late. You've already signed up. Now you've got seven years of payments. Come on.
So how many of you are, how many of you, I mean, I know we all need this, but how many of you are really in that position right now where you're really in between two decisions?
You're really trying to decide what to do. So I'm just going to tell you this, and I don't go around saying this stuff real often.
I feel like this is really more of a word from God than just like a little exhortation from me. And so I really want you to pay heed to this, that God has got a great life planned for you.
And I mean, there's a lot of decisions we make, and they're not that major. But if you're at a major decision-making point in your life or what you're deciding is something important, be sure that you go...
And you know, I don't mean this to sound crude. It's not in the Bible. But be sure you go with your gut.
You know, because really, it's what we feel in here. How many of you have ever married somebody and it turned out to be a disaster that you kind of knew in your gut you weren't supposed to do?
Okay, let me ask you, what kind of brand of stupid is it if we do stuff that we know we shouldn't do?
So having done that once, we don't want to just keep doing it over and over and over and over.
You know, we have wisdom. We're not stupid people. We have wisdom.
My granddaughter was asked by a friend in school, she's 15, the other day. Have you ever smoked pot, Emily? And she said, No.
And the girl said, Well, are you going to? And she said, No. She said, Well, are you going to at least when you get to college? And she said, No.
And the girl said, well, why not? She said, well, because I'm not stupid.
I thought, go, Emily, that's really good. Amen?
Okay, so one last time. Make decisions for yourself. Don't be overly impressed by what everybody else... and I'm not saying it's wrong to get advice.
I'm just saying if you're going to get it, you need to get the right kind. Amen?
And hear from God and follow what you really have peace about and what you really think is wisdom.
Prayer for Those in Decision-Making Moments
Now, I want to pray, especially for all of you that are in that place right now. And I think God's going to do some turnaround here, and you're going to stay out of some trouble that you might have gotten yourself into if you wouldn't have been here tonight. So, Father, we thank you for giving us a word in due season. And we all want to pay heed to this. Rather, we have a situation now or we're going to have one later. We all come up against these decisions all the time. And so I pray that you would take what I've said, prayerfully led by your Spirit, and that you would expand on it and expound on it for them and show each person here exactly what they should do and not only show them what to do, Father, but give them the courage to do it. No matter what anybody else says about it, let them follow you and not anything else. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.
What Am I Doing Wrong?
And so today we've come to the name Jehovah Nissi, which means the Lord our banner. And it basically means that He is our victory or He's the one who gives us victory.
And we can really expect God, expect God, not just have to kind of wait and see, but we can expect God to give us victory over sin, over addictive habits, over all kinds of bondages, over a painful past, victory over the enemy.
He is in the business of giving His people victory. You are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath.
In Daniel 11, 32, the Bible says, Those who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand strong and do exploits for God.
I love that. If you know God, not just if you go to church, going to church is lovely. I highly recommend that everybody be very regular in being plugged into a good local church where you can learn and grow and be accountable.
But it's those who know their God. I went to church for a lot of years and didn't know God.
Victory in Battle – Exodus 17
Exodus 17, 8 through 15. Then came Amalek, the descendants of Esau, and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out, men, and go out, fight with Amalek, and tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
Now, God had placed His power in that rod that Moses had, and that rod was what was stretched out over the Red Sea when it parted.
So Joshua did as Moses said, and he fought with Amalek, and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop.
And when Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses' hands were heavy and grew weary, so the other men took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it, so don't ever complain about your seat. He was sitting on a rock.
Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and we all need people to hold our hands up when we get tired and weary. Amen.
And Joshua mowed down and disabled Amalek and the people with the sword.
And the Lord said to Moses, Write this for memorial in the book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, and I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.
And verse 15, And Moses built an altar and called the name of it The Lord is My Banner, which means sign of conquest.
So really in essence, when he said, Jehovah Nissi, The Lord is My Banner, what he literally meant is make no mistake, God is the one who has given us this victory.
And let me tell you, God is a God who gives victory. And whatever situation you're in right now, you need to stop being afraid of it, and you need to know your God, and know that you can do whatever you need to do, and that however long it takes, and nobody knows exactly what that is, but the battle's already won, and when it's over, you will have the victory.
You will have the victory. I know it by experience, and I know it by the Word of God.
Victory Over Sin and Bondages
Now one of the areas that God always gives us victory over is sin. But I want to notice in what we just read in Exodus, and this is going to be kind of a high point of what I want to bring to you this morning.
Moses followed God. He did what God put on his heart to do. And when I go back all the way to the condition I was in when I first got into a real serious relationship with God, I was a churchgoer a long time before I got serious.
And I always like to kind of share that because I think a lot of people are going to church and they think that's all they need to do. But what you need is victory. And if you don't have victory, then you need to start asking yourself why.
And you need to start looking at the word to see maybe what you're missing that's available to you.
God has called us to be lights shining out brightly in a dark world. And that doesn't mean we have no problems, but it means that we have victory over our problems. Amen?
And so if I look all the way back to the condition I was in, I mean, God has given me so much victory in my life. And it's been 37 years worth of little victories and little more victories and little victories day after day, little by little.
And you know, part of our problem is we don't like the little by little. We don't like the from glory to glory because in between those glories there's sometimes a pretty long span of time where not too much of anything is going on. Amen?
But as I look back I can tell you that it wasn't just because I loved God or just because I read the word of God.
I give God all the credit and all the glory but let me tell you you and God are partners. and God will give you things that He wants you to do and He will also tell you some things that He doesn't want you to do.
Some of them are in the word and they're for everybody but there are things that God speaks to us specifically. Things that He lays on our heart that are just between us and God.
Times when maybe He requests sacrifices. There was one time when I had a whole bunch of money saved up for something I wanted.
And I mean we gave on a regular basis we weren't stingy people we were givers but God asked me to give away everything that I had saved.
Man I tried to get out of that. You know the best thing is is to follow God when you feel like He's leading you to do something.
Now listen to what I'm going to say God is never ever trying to take anything away from you. He didn't need my little money that I had saved up but it was something that I was a little too attached to and sometimes God will request something from us because He wants to get us detached from our attachments.
And when we say God you're first and you're everything sometimes He asks us to prove it. And I can pretty much guarantee you that some of you are still holding on to things that God told you to get rid of a long time ago.
You're still in relationships friendships that are hurting your walk with God and you know down deep inside that it's something that's not healthy for you but rather than be lonely for a little while you keep unsafe relationships rather than maybe be by yourself for a little while and wait for God to give you the right relationships.
So I want to tell you that along with all those little by littles and from glory to glory there has been a lot little obediences and little things that God asked me to do and some of them were things that didn't make any sense and some of them were things that I did understand and I just feel that I really need to make a point today that when you're born again let's just say you're living in total darkness now you step out and you're born again well one of the first things you begin to realize is hey somebody has provided for me somebody being Jesus This awesome place down there as an inheritance where there's righteousness and peace and joy and all my needs are met.
And I, boy, it's just going to be wonderful. I'm going to be free from all these bondages.
But you can kind of see it, but there's a jungle between you and it. And that jungle is that mess in our lives that needs to be straightened out.
And we have a road map through that jungle, and it's the Word of God. It's our road map.
And if we simply will just one step at a time, one thing at a time, one step at a time, one thing at a time, one step at a time, let me tell you something.
Get over being in a hurry and make a decision today that you're in for the long haul.