21 Ways to Finding Peace and Happiness by Joyce Meyer Page B
Authors: Joyce Meyer
Tags: REL012000
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in the end, we will be sorry if we fall into his trap.
I repeat, don’t be double-minded. Make up your mind to serve the Lord, and don’t bow down to the devil or anyone through whom he is trying to work. Be like Joshua: Have a firm attitude toward others who try to move you off of your righteous stand. No one else will stand before God and give an account of your life, only you will (see Romans 14:12), so make your own decisions.
Every decision is a seed you sow, and every seed produces a harvest. Before changing your mind and giving in to temptation, ask yourself if you want to reap the harvest of the seed you are being tempted to sow.
The Bible is literally filled with promises of good things to those who follow God’s commands. Decide to follow Jesus, and don’t ever change your mind.
In Luke 10, we see that Jesus visited two sisters named Mary and Martha. These women had quite different natures. One was very interested in seeking Jesus; the other was interested in impressing Him.
Martha was busy about much serving. She wanted everything to be clean and in the right place. She became angry with her sister, Mary, because she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, wanting to learn all she could and enjoy Him while He was present.
Martha even complained to Jesus and told Him to tell Mary to get up and help her. Jesus replied by saying, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; there is need of only one [thing]. . . . Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage]” (Luke 10:41–42).
Mary made a firm choice, and even when Martha became angry with her, she did not change her mind. We must realize that people will often get angry with us if we don’t make the choices they want us to make, but we should remain steadfast and follow our own hearts.
Learn to relax and be more like Mary. Martha believed that she had to take care of everything herself. She wanted everything to be perfect. Sometimes we can find ourselves like Martha, tense even when we don’t have anything to be tense about. It isn’t really our circumstances that make us tense; most of the time it is our own approach to life. In the next chapter we will examine ways to relax and enjoy trusting God’s faithfulness to take care of us.
Peacekeeper #6
Stay Supernaturally Relaxed
T he longer we know the Lord, the more relaxed we should become when we face situations that try to steal our peace. Previous experience with God is valuable because we learn that somehow He always comes through. Each time we face a new crisis, we can remember that even though He may not have done exactly what we wanted Him to do, He always did something that worked out. Relaxing in the face of trials helps us to maintain our peace with God.
New believers who do not have personal examples on which to build their confidence in God must be more dependent on examples in the Bible of God’s faithfulness. The testimonies of other believers can also greatly encourage them.
Remember, Jesus said that we are to come to Him when we have problems, and He will give us rest. The Amplified Bible translates His words as: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]” (Matthew 11:28).
That sounds to me like Jesus wants us to live in a relaxed state, not tense, uptight, worried, or anxious about yesterday, today, or tomorrow. We can stop reasoning and trying to figure out what we need to do. And the Lord doesn’t want us to be upset with other people who aren’t doing what we want them to, either.
Jesus wants us to trust Him and relax. I call this being supernaturally relaxed, because in the natural we may have difficulty learning how or finding time to relax. But when God adds His super to our natural, we end up with supernatural. We can have supernatural relaxation!
Jesus was saying, “Come to Me about anything, because I always want to
I repeat, don’t be double-minded. Make up your mind to serve the Lord, and don’t bow down to the devil or anyone through whom he is trying to work. Be like Joshua: Have a firm attitude toward others who try to move you off of your righteous stand. No one else will stand before God and give an account of your life, only you will (see Romans 14:12), so make your own decisions.
Every decision is a seed you sow, and every seed produces a harvest. Before changing your mind and giving in to temptation, ask yourself if you want to reap the harvest of the seed you are being tempted to sow.
The Bible is literally filled with promises of good things to those who follow God’s commands. Decide to follow Jesus, and don’t ever change your mind.
In Luke 10, we see that Jesus visited two sisters named Mary and Martha. These women had quite different natures. One was very interested in seeking Jesus; the other was interested in impressing Him.
Martha was busy about much serving. She wanted everything to be clean and in the right place. She became angry with her sister, Mary, because she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, wanting to learn all she could and enjoy Him while He was present.
Martha even complained to Jesus and told Him to tell Mary to get up and help her. Jesus replied by saying, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; there is need of only one [thing]. . . . Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage]” (Luke 10:41–42).
Mary made a firm choice, and even when Martha became angry with her, she did not change her mind. We must realize that people will often get angry with us if we don’t make the choices they want us to make, but we should remain steadfast and follow our own hearts.
Learn to relax and be more like Mary. Martha believed that she had to take care of everything herself. She wanted everything to be perfect. Sometimes we can find ourselves like Martha, tense even when we don’t have anything to be tense about. It isn’t really our circumstances that make us tense; most of the time it is our own approach to life. In the next chapter we will examine ways to relax and enjoy trusting God’s faithfulness to take care of us.
Peacekeeper #6
Stay Supernaturally Relaxed
T he longer we know the Lord, the more relaxed we should become when we face situations that try to steal our peace. Previous experience with God is valuable because we learn that somehow He always comes through. Each time we face a new crisis, we can remember that even though He may not have done exactly what we wanted Him to do, He always did something that worked out. Relaxing in the face of trials helps us to maintain our peace with God.
New believers who do not have personal examples on which to build their confidence in God must be more dependent on examples in the Bible of God’s faithfulness. The testimonies of other believers can also greatly encourage them.
Remember, Jesus said that we are to come to Him when we have problems, and He will give us rest. The Amplified Bible translates His words as: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]” (Matthew 11:28).
That sounds to me like Jesus wants us to live in a relaxed state, not tense, uptight, worried, or anxious about yesterday, today, or tomorrow. We can stop reasoning and trying to figure out what we need to do. And the Lord doesn’t want us to be upset with other people who aren’t doing what we want them to, either.
Jesus wants us to trust Him and relax. I call this being supernaturally relaxed, because in the natural we may have difficulty learning how or finding time to relax. But when God adds His super to our natural, we end up with supernatural. We can have supernatural relaxation!
Jesus was saying, “Come to Me about anything, because I always want to
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