Top 908 Quotes & Sayings by Joyce Meyer - Page 2

What we need to understand is that when traditions become laws, rules, obligations and expectations others put on us that we don't want to fulfill, then they lose real meaning and steal the joy from our lives. And if we're too religious, we won't be able to be led by the Holy Spirit and enjoy an intimate relationship with Him.

When we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, something wonderful happens: God begins to change our desires, and we want to be more like Him.

Reproach is shame, blame, disgrace, disapproval and a disrespectful attitude toward yourself. When you're under reproach, your behavior shows it.

Good intentions never change anything. They only become a deeper and deeper rut.

So many people live with anger and unforgiveness, and many of them are Christians.

I used to have a real problem with self-pity. Every time the devil would throw a pity party, I would attend.

God's first line of defense - and offense - for every situation is prayer.

When doubt comes against us, we have to lift up the shield of faith. We do this when we open our mouth and say what God's Word says, rather than grumbling and complaining about the problem.

The devil is a peace stealer, and he works hard to set us up to get upset. But we can learn how to change our approach so we don't live upset all of the time. And Jesus gives us the best example to follow.

Worry and reasoning are two of Satan's most successful tools. He'll get us started with one negative thought and then sit back and watch us finish ourselves off.

Because my dad abused me, I was determined to never let a man tell me what to do. God clearly showed me that I needed to be a submissive wife if I wanted to be effective in ministry. The truth is, if we don't learn to submit to authority, we won't ever learn to submit to God.

Whatever is making you so angry, it's time for you to give it to God and get over it.

There are people in the world who aren't necessarily Christians, but they're just naturally nice people who do a lot for other people. Those people will almost always be prosperous people.

Dread, which is closely related to fear, steals the ability to enjoy ordinary life and makes people anxious about the future. It keeps them from looking forward to the next day, the next month, or the next decade.

In my relationship with God, I've learned that if I follow a 'formula' for how I spend my time with Him, then I'm just accomplishing a checklist of things I feel obligated to do to please Him. This makes my spiritual life more about doing what I need to do to fulfill an obligation than something meaningful.

We have an epidemic of insecure people in our society today.

If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. It means to think of something over and over.

Everything is subject to change except God Himself.

Learning to live for others isn't something that just comes naturally to anybody. You have to train yourself to do it.

Peace is one of the most precious gifts God has promised His children.

Jesus never mistreated anyone just because they mistreated Him. He confronted them in a spirit of gentleness and then continued to love them.

I consider wisdom supernatural because it isn't taught by men - it's a gift from God.

Prayer is such a basic foundation of a Christian's relationship with God. It's how we communicate and fellowship with Him. But a surprising number of people, young and old, new and even long-time Christians, say they're not satisfied with their prayer life.

There are a lot of 'chicken Christians.' Chickens are generally afraid of life, and they seldom fly or reach their potential in life. And when a storm comes, all they seem to do is flap around the chicken yard, stirring up dirt and running to the chicken house.

There is no man on Earth or devil in Hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you.

At school I pretended I had a normal life, but I felt lonely all the time and different from everyone else. I never felt like I fit in, and I wasn't allowed to participate in after-school activities, go to sports events or parties or date boys. Many times I had to make up stories about why I couldn't do anything with my classmates.

We want our marriage to be a triumph, not a tragedy.

Spending time with God through prayer and His Word is a prerequisite for having a great life and fulfilling your purpose.

I think the perception of peace is what distracts most people from really having it.

Some people have a hard time getting rid of stuff. If that's you, pray for God to give you the courage to get rid of things you don't really need or things He wants you to give away. This will help keep your surroundings organized and clutter-free.

When you focus on how wonderful God is and all the great things He's done... is doing... and even will do in your life, your natural response will be praise, adoration and awe. Don't let yourself ever get used to it... stay amazed!

I can tell you from experience that God's help and presence in our lives is vital. He is the Author of all true success and everything that is good-without Him, we can do nothing of true value.

Peace is one of the most precious gifts God has promised His children. I know, because for many years my life was not peaceful, and I was miserable.

Nobody likes to have trouble. The moment we get a hint that it's coming, a common response is, 'Oh no! Not again!'

Real life is the life that's in you, not your circumstances, like where you live or what job you have or who you're in relationship with.

Early on in my life, I had a broken soul. I was abused by my father, abandoned by my mother and ended up in a destructive first marriage. By the time I was 23, I was broken in my soul. I didn't know how to think right. I felt wrong about everything. But God stepped into my life, and I came out on the other side and didn't even smell like smoke.

A lot of times, people feel that if they forgive the person who hurt them, then they will continue to take advantage of them or not take responsibility for what they did wrong.

People who don't know the true character of God - who don't believe He is merciful, gracious and slow to anger - can never have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him.

People who pity themselves think, 'Why would I try to do anything? I'll just fail.'

There are some hurts that we experience that can be forgiven but we won't forget them.

The Bible says that Christians are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. On the job, in the grocery store, even among unsaved friends and family members, God's people are there to bring seasoning to an unsavory situation.

Don't judge other people. For example, if you want God's anointing to be on you for parenting, you need to be careful not to criticize other parents.

Pride is an independent, me-oriented spirit. It makes people arrogant, rude and hard to get along with. When our heart is prideful, we don't give God the credit and we mistreat people, looking down on them and thinking we deserve what we have.

Did you know there's a difference between being busy and being fruitful? Did you ever stop to think that just being busy - running around in circles all day but not accomplishing anything - is the same as wasting your time? It's frustrating to expend so much energy and time and not have any fruit from your effort!

Nobody can ever say that being negative ever helped them at all - not in any way.

Don't complain. The Israelites wasted forty years murmuring and complaining in the wilderness, when they could have just obeyed God and entered into their Promised Land.

Don't just let the devil use your mind as a garbage dump.

Christianity is a lifestyle. And being a Christian is more than a label.

Some people have a difficult time facing truth and reality. They prefer to live in a make-believe world, pretending that certain things aren't happening.

I wonder how many decisions we make every day. I believe it's probably hundreds. We decide whether or not to get out of bed, what we'll eat, what we'll do, what we'll think about, what we'll say... and on and on.

It's like a jar of salad dressing sitting on a shelf... most of the seasoning settles to the bottom of the bottle. But when you shake that bottle up, all the ingredients mix together and then the dressing can add flavor to a salad. In the same way, we can stir ourselves up and regain the reverence, respect and awe we once had for the Lord.

We're not like robots. God promises to guide us through the Holy Spirit, but He gives us the freedom to make our own decisions.

As a global society, we do not have to agree, endorse or condone the lifestyle choices of others. However, history has taught us that we equally cannot and should not excuse those who would hide behind religion or misuse God's word to justify bigotry and persecution.

Change is always tough. Even for those who see themselves as agents of change, the process of starting a new thing can cause times of disorientation, uncertainty and insecurity.

You see, rebellion, and the disobedience it causes, keeps us from having the power of God that's available to us as Christians.

I have learned from personal experience that putting trust in God means there will be some unanswered questions. That was a hard lesson for me because I naturally want to understand everything... to know what's going on so I can feel like I'm in control.

I believe that everyone experiences depression to some degree at some time in their lives. And there are probably millions of people who live with a low level of sadness and heaviness day in and day out.

The truth is, anyone can start projects. The world is full of just-started projects that looked great at the time but were never completed.

Humility is not something that comes naturally. But it is a cardinal virtue that should be pursued more than any other.

Most of us have hoped and prayed for something to happen a certain way, but it didn't. And when this happened, we had a choice to make: to react with offense toward God or to trust Him anyway.