Joyce Meyer - You Have Got What It Takes

I've got a little message simply called "You've got what it takes". Can you turn to somebody and look at 'em and say, "You've got what it takes"? You know, the fear of inadequacy is probably one of the greatest fears that people have. Let's just say it again. The fear of inadequacy, the fear that we're not enough, the thoughts of, "I'm not, I can't, I don't, I didn't, I lack," and other similar types of thinking rob us of the truth of who we really are in Christ.

We really do need to know the difference in our who and our do because if you're a believer in Christ, you're much more than the mistakes that you make. We have an identity of being in him and everything that he is and has, we also have. It's ours legally and positionally. It's in us by the new birth, and we are in the process of walking it out every day in our lives. It's literally almost like saying we are becoming what we already are. We're becoming what we already are, but we are that while we're becoming that, amen?

So there's so many things that we have that we don't really believe that we have because we wait to see them and God wants us to believe it first, and then we'll see it. The fear of inadequacy, God will always give us what we need to be able to do what he asks us to do if we learn how to agree with him. If God says I've got it, then I've got it. If God says I am, then I am. It doesn't matter how I feel or what I think. It doesn't even really matter what anybody else says. If God says I've got it, then I've got it.

Now, 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3: "For his divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and Godliness, through the full, personal knowledge of him who called us by and to his own glory and excellence". You know, the word "Glory" means "The manifestation of the very best that God has". I want us to look at this scripture again: "For his divine power," by his grace and mercy, not by anything we've done, "He has bestowed upon us," he has gifted us, "All things, that are requisite and suited to life and Godliness". That means God has given us everything that I need to live the very best life that I can possibly live, and he did it because he's good, not because I'm good. Everybody say, "I've got it".

John 16:15: "Everything that the Father has is mine". Oh, my goodness. Now, you know, I just gotta be honest with you and tell you that even as I stand here and read that to you, and I believe it with my heart, my mind is having a hard time with that. And I really believe it, but my mind is having a hard time with it.

Now, here's the thing. If we really can learn how to live out of our hearts instead of our heads... whoo, that was good. If we really learn to live out of hearts instead of our heads, wow, what a life we can have. In my heart, I believe. I really do believe that I have everything that I need to live a victorious life. I don't always feel like it. I don't always act like it, but I believe it. I got it. I believe I've got what it takes. I really do believe that I can do whatever I need to do through Christ who is my strength. I don't always think it, but I believe it.

Put one hand on your belly and one hand right up here on your head. Now, how many of you know there's a big difference in those two places? And so, if you live out of this... does anybody ever say to you, "Well, you know, just off the top of my head"? Well, that's the last place I want any information from, is off the top of your head or the top of my head. Give me something that's deep in your spirit. Give me some truth, not just what you think. "Everything the Father has is mine. That is what I meant when I said that He the Spirit will take the things that are mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, and transmit) them unto you".

Now, Jesus is sayin', "Look, everything the Father has is Mine, and I'm givin' it to you". Everybody say, "I got it". But now, if we really pay attention to this amplified translation, he says, "The Holy Spirit is revealing them to you. He's disclosing them to you," and I love this, "He is transmitting them to you". Now, in order for anybody to accurately and successfully transmit, you gotta have a receiver on the other end.

So, I tell you what, I'm learning to be a great receiver. Don't try to give me anything if you don't want me to take it, 'cause I'm good at receiving. You know, sometimes you'll try to bless people and they're like, "Oh, no, no, no, no, you don't have to do that". You ain't gonna get that out of me. I'm gonna be like, "Whoo, thank you". Amen?

I'm transmitting life-changing messages over television, but if you don't have a receiver in your house, you can't get it. And see, a lot of us are still tryin' to get something that we don't have to get. We need to stop and realize that Jesus already got it, and now we've got it because he gave it to us, and all we need to do is say, "I'm receiving". And how do I receive? Through my believing. Actually, the word "Believe," if you study it, means "To receive," and the word "Receive" means "To believe". So if I'm a believer, then I'm a receiver, and if I'm a receiver, then I'm a believer. "Be it unto you even as you believe".

I wanna talk to you today about your believing. I don't know what all is gonna happen in the earth today. Whatever it is, I'm not afraid of it, because I believe that God will give us what we need at the time that we need it. I don't know. Maybe we won't have anything but good things happening, but in case it don't turn out that way, I've just already got a mindset.

Come on, the Bible says in Colossians 3: "Set your mind and keep it set". So I've already got a mindset, "Well, gosh, gee, Lord, I hope I get everything I want, but just in case I don't, I've already decided that I can be happy anyway," come on. "I've already decided that I'm gonna believe in you just as much if I don't get the manifestation of my healing right here in this earth. I don't know. Maybe I gotta step over the line and I'll get it the moment I step into glory, but I already believe I'm healed. I know that nobody can take it away from me". "And I've already got a mindset that my faith is not based on what I see here in this earth".

A lady said to me at lunch, a woman I've known for a long, long time... and she's a woman of God. She loves God. She prays, she's a giver, and yet she has a son that has been addicted to heroin, and no matter what they've tried to do, he just keeps doin' the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing. And so I asked her how he was, and she said, "In jail". And she went through all kinds of things, nerve issues, and all kinds of problems, worryin' about him, and bein' concerned about him. And she finally realized that she either had to stop it, or his problem was gonna steal her life.

Can I just tell you something today? Stop ruining your life over somebody else's bad choice. I said, "Stop ruining your life over somebody else's bad choice". You can't make somebody love God. And so I said to her, I said, "How are you dealing with it"? She said, "You know what? I'm okay". And here was what she said that I thought was so good. She said, "You know, God is either gonna heal him and take care of it, or not, and either way, I'm okay".

And see, some of you might think, "Well, isn't that some doubt and unbelief"? No, you know what she's sayin'? She's sayin', "I can't control his choices, and neither can God". God will do everything he can to get the boy to do what's right, but even if it doesn't turn out that way, she's already made a decision that she loves God, she's gonna be happy, she's gonna bear good fruit, and she's not gonna not believe because she doesn't get it the way she wants it.

Come on, I think somebody needs to get a hold of this today because you're letting your joy be dictated to... by what other people do or they don't do, or if you see the manifestation of this now, or you don't see it now. And we look at all that stuff, and we put our mind on it, and we think about it, and we think about it, and we wanna know, "Why? I don't understand. Why, why, why"? And can I tell ya something? "Why"? Is a question that's never gonna stop being asked in this earth. Trust always requires unanswered questions. There's always gonna be something that we don't understand if we're gonna have faith in God. The fear of being inadequate is just another way of saying that we're afraid of failure. "I'm afraid I'm not enough. I'm afraid I don't have what it takes, so I'd rather just not even try than to try and fail".

Proverbs 24:16 says: "The righteous man falls seven times and gets up again". But the person who truly knows who they are in Christ, I mean, you really know who you are in Christ, it's not based on how you feel, and it's not this head knowing, it's a heart knowing. "Be it unto you even as you believe". Jesus wants us to pray and believe.

Try to identify this person: "When I was seven years old, my family was forced out of our home because of a legal technicality. I had to work to help support my family at age 9. While still a backwards, shy little boy, my mother died. At age 22, I lost my job as a store clerk. I wanted to go to law school, but my education wasn't good enough. At 23, I went into debt to become a partner in a small store. Three years later, my partner died, leaving me a huge debt which took me years to repay. At 28, after developing a romantic relationship with a young lady for four years, I asked her to marry me, and she said, 'No'. At 37, on my third try, I was finally elected to the us congress. Two years later, I ran again, and failed to be reelected. At that time, I had a nervous breakdown. At 41, adding additional heartache to an already unhappy marriage, my 4-year-old son died. The next year. I ran for land office and lost. At 45, I ran for senate and lost. A few years later, I ran for the vice presidency and lost. At 49, I ran for senate again and lost. At 51, I was elected president of the United States. Who am I? My name is Abraham Lincoln".

Wow, you know, I believe that the only way that he did that was because he was a man of God and he had to know how much God loved him. Now, listen to me, when you know, when you have that revelation knowing that God loves you and that it's not based on what you do whether you succeed or fail, whether you're elected or you're not elected, then you have no problem falling and getting up again, falling and getting up again, falling and getting up again because you already know that you're loved. You're not doing anything to be well thought of, to be loved. You already know who you are, and nobody can take that away from you. You know, it's what you think of you that matters much more than what anybody else thinks of you. It's our reputation in heaven that's much more important than our reputation here on earth. I don't know about you, but I wanna be famous in heaven. That's much more important than bein' famous here.

1 John 4:18, we've been talkin' about fear all weekend, we have to take one look at this scripture: "There is no fear in love dread does not exist," now, can I just stop right here and say that dread is a very close relative of fear? And I wanna encourage you, when you go home, to get "Dread" out of your vocabulary. Do not look at a sink full of dirty dishes and say, "I dread doin' the dishes". "I dread goin' to the grocery store". "I dread doin' the laundry". "I dread payin' my bills". "I dread drivin' in traffic to work tomorrow". Don't even sit here and think, "I dread goin' home".

I know some of you are already thinkin', "Oh, this has just been so wonderful. Man, I just dread goin' home". No, you say, "I got it. I got what it takes to go home and have a victorious good attitude. I can conquer the dishes. I can pay the bills. I can do the laundry. I can change the diapers. I can live with a husband who's not quite where I'd like him to be yet. I can do whatever I need to do through Christ who is my strength. I've got it". Come on, don't make me come down there.

The power of believing. Look at me and let me tell you something. You can believe what you wanna believe. You're gonna believe something. It might as well be something that's gonna help you. Actually, it's easier to believe you can than to believe you can't. It's easier to believe you are than to believe you aren't. In God's economy, faith always leads. Feelings follow, manifestations follow, but faith always takes the lead. Faith always steps out into what it's not really sure of. Faith doesn't stay safe in the boat. Faith takes a risk. Faith takes a chance because faith is determined to be all it can be.

And, you know, based on what you guys tell me, you love me, you like me. You know, you tell me, you know, "I think you're this. I think you're that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, you've changed my life". You have no idea how frighteningly average and normal I am. I mean, it's like sometimes I'm walkin' around and somebody'll run up to me and say, "Aagh, you're Joyce Meyer"! And I'm like, "Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, I'm Joyce Meyer".

But see, actually, the truth is, is I'm just like you, and you're just like me. We're all just a big mess. With Jesus livin' on the inside, sayin', "You got what it takes". If there is any difference in me and you, and there doesn't have to be, but if there is any, it's only because I've decided to believe it, and you haven't quite decided that yet. You can get over a broken past if you decide to believe that there's nothing in your past that can keep you from havin' a great future.

You can't listen to what other people tell you. You can't listen to how you feel, what you think, your own experiences. You fight with your sword. You fight the lies of Satan with your sword. I talk to you all the time about confessing the word of God out loud. And I don't know if you get tired of me harpin' on it or not, but I don't care. I'm never gonna shut up about it. We have got to learn how to talk back to the devil, amen?

You know, when you go home, you're not gonna have all the pretty music and all the sweet sisters sittin' next to you. And just to be really honest, you're gonna go home to some of the same messes you left. We can't wave our magic wand over everything. But the thing is, is although the things may not have changed, you have changed. You have been strengthened. You've been encouraged. You've been empowered. "Perfect love casts out fear".

Let's look at 1 John 4:18 again 'cause I didn't finish it: "There's no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels with it every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and so he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love is not yet grown into love's complete perfection". So, really, what is that saying? If I still have fear in my life, then that means I still need a deeper revelation on how much God loves me. Because here's the truth. There is nothing that can happen to us that God will not work out for our good one way or the other as long as we keep believing.

Now, let me just tell ya somethin', and this is a good thing for you to remember. As long as you keep believing, God keeps working. I said, "As long as you keep believing, God keeps working". As long as you keep believing, God keeps working. And if there's anything that we must not do, we must not let the devil take away our believing. And let me tell you somethin'. There is a strategy that's in place in the spiritual realm, a strategy that Satan has been working for several hundred years that's designed strictly for no other purpose than to get people to live out of their head and not out of their heart, to get them not to believe. "All things are possible to him who believes".

What is the work that God requires of us? It says in John 6:29: "'This is the work that God requires of you: that you believe in the one whom he has sent.'" I love that. I used to have this message goin' on in my head all the time: "What do you want me to do, God? What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do"? I just thought, "Surely, my circumstances would get better if I could just find the right thing to do". Is anybody there? And then there'd be a little demon sittin' on my shoulder, screamin' in my ear, "What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do"? Then my friends would come along, "Well, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do"?

You know, we don't live out of a do. We live out of a done. Come on, he said, "It is done". It's not about what I need to do. Now, yes, I do things, but I don't do them to get God to love me. I do them because he already loves me. Well, God has already given us everything we need to succeed in life. But so often, it's our fear of inadequacy that keeps us from fully experiencing all that God has for us. We need to realize that the same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us.