Get Your Hopes Up!: Expect Something Good to Happen to You Every Day by Joyce Meyer Page A
Authors: Joyce Meyer
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / Inspirational, Religion / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth, Religion / Christian Life - Personal Growth, RELIGION / Christian Life / General
Ads: Link
He would not be talking with them much from now on (see John 14:30). Why would He say that? It was because He knew the power of words, and He also knew how tempting it is to say all the wrong things when we are going through difficult or painful times. He knew that His Father had a plan for the salvation of man and that it hinged on Him, and He was determined to do everything necessary to stay in agreement with God, including speaking words that God could use, not ones that the devil could use.
I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]
But [Satan is coming and] I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know (be convinced) that I love the Father and that I do only what the Father has instructed Me to do. [I act in full agreement with His orders.] Rise, let us go away from here
.
John 14:30–31
Of course, Jesus talked about many things, including sin. There were times when Jesus scolded the Pharisees and corrected His disciples. As you read the Gospels, you find that Jesus talked about a lot of things, but His problems weren’t one of them. Luke 4:22 says that the people “marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth.” Jesus was on a mission, and He wasn’t about to get sidelined by focusing on the everyday problems of life. He said that His words were spirit and life (see John 6:63).
Are your words spirit and life, or carnal (fleshly) and death? The good news is that you can make a change right now if you need to. I am the first to admit that the mouth is impossible to control withouta lot of help from God. However, if we make the right decision and come into agreement with God’s will in this area, He will certainly help us make positive changes.
Take the Narrow Path
Jesus instructs us to take the narrow path that leads to life and to avoid the broad path that leads to destruction (see Matthew 7:13–14). Obviously, the narrow path is more difficult to walk on. I always say that on the narrow path there is no room for our carnal, fleshly ways. We can go through life saying what we feel like saying and having no regard for the power of our words, but that puts us on the broad path that Jesus said leads to destruction, and I doubt that any of us want that.
It’s easy to get focused on the things that aren’t going right. It seems like so many of our conversations are focused on what’s going wrong rather than what’s going right. They are not hope-full, they are hopeless!
The kids are sick. The traffic is terrible. My feet hurt. The economy is down. Can you believe what she said about me? I can’t afford that
. But the more we talk about what’s going wrong, the more power we give it in our life.
Have you ever considered that you might be making your problems worse by talking about them excessively? Have you ever considered that you might not be making progress in life due to complaining? I certainly had not considered these things until the Holy Spirit confronted me about them, and I am so glad that He did because we can’t change any area of our lives where we lack knowledge.
When you’re going through a trying time, the best thing you can do is stop talking about how big your problem is and start talking about how big God is
.
When you’re going through a trying time, the best thing you can do is stop talking about how big your problem is and start talking about how big God is. Take some time each day to meditateon God’s Word and speak His promises over your situation. Power comes pouring in when you focus on what can happen with God on your side instead of what is happening in your life right now.
Doing What Is Right on Purpose
You may not always feel positive, and you may not always want to speak positive words. There are going to be days when you wake up feeling downright
I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]
But [Satan is coming and] I do as the Father has commanded Me, so that the world may know (be convinced) that I love the Father and that I do only what the Father has instructed Me to do. [I act in full agreement with His orders.] Rise, let us go away from here
.
John 14:30–31
Of course, Jesus talked about many things, including sin. There were times when Jesus scolded the Pharisees and corrected His disciples. As you read the Gospels, you find that Jesus talked about a lot of things, but His problems weren’t one of them. Luke 4:22 says that the people “marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth.” Jesus was on a mission, and He wasn’t about to get sidelined by focusing on the everyday problems of life. He said that His words were spirit and life (see John 6:63).
Are your words spirit and life, or carnal (fleshly) and death? The good news is that you can make a change right now if you need to. I am the first to admit that the mouth is impossible to control withouta lot of help from God. However, if we make the right decision and come into agreement with God’s will in this area, He will certainly help us make positive changes.
Take the Narrow Path
Jesus instructs us to take the narrow path that leads to life and to avoid the broad path that leads to destruction (see Matthew 7:13–14). Obviously, the narrow path is more difficult to walk on. I always say that on the narrow path there is no room for our carnal, fleshly ways. We can go through life saying what we feel like saying and having no regard for the power of our words, but that puts us on the broad path that Jesus said leads to destruction, and I doubt that any of us want that.
It’s easy to get focused on the things that aren’t going right. It seems like so many of our conversations are focused on what’s going wrong rather than what’s going right. They are not hope-full, they are hopeless!
The kids are sick. The traffic is terrible. My feet hurt. The economy is down. Can you believe what she said about me? I can’t afford that
. But the more we talk about what’s going wrong, the more power we give it in our life.
Have you ever considered that you might be making your problems worse by talking about them excessively? Have you ever considered that you might not be making progress in life due to complaining? I certainly had not considered these things until the Holy Spirit confronted me about them, and I am so glad that He did because we can’t change any area of our lives where we lack knowledge.
When you’re going through a trying time, the best thing you can do is stop talking about how big your problem is and start talking about how big God is
.
When you’re going through a trying time, the best thing you can do is stop talking about how big your problem is and start talking about how big God is. Take some time each day to meditateon God’s Word and speak His promises over your situation. Power comes pouring in when you focus on what can happen with God on your side instead of what is happening in your life right now.
Doing What Is Right on Purpose
You may not always feel positive, and you may not always want to speak positive words. There are going to be days when you wake up feeling downright
Similar Books
