The key to possessing your promised land

**Joyce Meyer


God wants to lead you into your promised land...after all, you have been recreated in Christ, born anew, that you might live the good life that God prearranged for you. But to follow God into that life, He will have to prepare you first, and that means some things will need to change.


Now, do not be afraid of the word change; it just means that you stop doing some things you have been doing and start doing some things you have not been doing. For example, stop thinking negative thoughts and start thinking positively, stop settling in your comfort zone and step out of the boat, stop procrastinating and start taking the opportunities that arise.


It is not enough to just read about and talk about the Promise Land. Decide that you are going to possess your promised land. God is good; He will lead you there. Just be willing to follow and accept the positive changes that God wants to bring to your life as He prepares you to be a blessing to others.


Prayer starter: Holy Spirit, show me the changes I need to make in order to possess my promised land. Thank You for preparing me to be a blessing to others and fulfill the destiny You have for me.

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

You must develop patience

**Joyce Meyer


When you and I say to God, "Change me, " we better know what we are saying because we are not just going to wake up different the next morning. Instead, what God is going to do is give us an opportunity, through opposition, to grow as we change.


James 1 tells us how important it is to have patience when we are changing and facing opposition. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that only develops and grows under trial, and it is something we need. Scripture tells us that when we have it, we are perfect and entire, lacking nothing. However, there is just no way to get it without going through something to receive it.


If we really want to be victorious Christians who serve God and make a difference in the world, then we are going to have to go through some challenging things. The devil will try to scare you off, but God can see you through any challenge.


So today, choose to let God work through you, even in the face of opposition. As your patience grows and develops, you will step into a life of great victory.


Prayer starter: Lord, I want You to change me, and I know that means I will have to go through challenges. Give me Your strength to endure and be steadfast when I am going through trials so I can have patience and be fully developed in Christ.

James 1:4

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

You are no surprise to God

**Joyce Meyer


Do you ever feel like God is disappointed with you? I used to feel this way until one day He said, "You know, Joyce, you are no surprise to Me. I knew what I was getting when I got you."


Think about it! God knows the end from the beginning, and all the days of our life are written in His book. Every decision we are ever going to make, good or bad, God already knew them before we ever showed up on planet earth. He already knows today every word in our mouth that is still unuttered, even what we are going to say a year from now.


Sometimes we go around thinking that God is so disappointed with us all the time. It is true that we make mistakes. And we are not supposed to be lighthearted about them, we need to take them seriously. But in spite of our mistakes, God has hope for us and knows that He can change us if we will stay close to Him.


God is not disappointed. He is full of hope where we are concerned! He believes in us more than we do ourselves.


Prayer starter: Lord, Your hope for me is so encouraging and inspiring. Even when I do not believe in myself, I know that You do, and that gives me the strength to overcome my mistakes and follow You.

Jeremiah 1:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

What are you hoping for?

**Joyce Meyer


I have a question for you: What are you hoping for? What are you expecting in life? Are you looking for something good to happen or are you expecting to be disappointed?


So many people are feeling hopeless these days. However, Jesus did not die for us to be hopeless. He died so that we could be full of hope.


The devil wants to steal your hope and he will lie to you. He will tell you that nothing good can happen in your life or that the things you care about would not last. If you are struggling with a difficult situation, he will tell you it will never end. But you have to stay full of hope and remember that the devil is a liar. God can change everything!


Our Father is good, and He has good plans for your life. If you will maintain your hope, especially in the midst of troubled and uncertain times, He has promised you "double for your trouble". So refuse to give up hope. Start expecting God to do something, something good!


Prayer starter: Lord, my hope is in You. Satan is a liar and I will not listen to him and lose hope. I expect You to do things in my life.

Zechariah 9:12

Return to your fortress, O prisoners of hope; even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Follow the ark

**Joyce Meyer


Are you facing any new opportunities right now? Whatever those opportunities may be, it is always important to "follow the ark."


What do I mean by that? Well...sometimes we can hang on to old, stale situations in life, simply because they are familiar to us, and we are really just afraid of getting into uncharted territory. And then there are times we can sense something new ahead of us and we just want to step right into it, before it is God's time for us to do it.


In Joshua 3:3, God talks to Israel about following the ark of the covenant. The ark represents the anointing of God...the presence of God...the will of God. It is very important for us to learn to follow the will of God and not our own will or the will of others.


God has a plan for you and me, and the only way to see that plan unfold is to follow the ark, or the will of God, and not our flesh or other people or our emotions.


Remember today that whatever God's will is for your life, He will provide the way for you to accomplish it.


Prayer starter: God, like the Israelites, I know that I need to "follow the ark." My timing for the new opportunities does not matter...only Yours will matter. As I follow You, I know that You will make a way to bring Your plan for me to pass.

Joshua 3:3

giving orders to the people: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it.

We are called to enjoy God

**Joyce Meyer


We need to get comfortable with God. I do not mean we should be disrespectful, but that we do not have to be afraid of Him. In fact, I believe that the high call of every believer's life is to enjoy God. We are called to enjoy the Father because He is life and all life comes from Him, so we can't truly enjoy life if we do not enjoy God.


Sometimes we do not enjoy God's presence because we get all wrapped up in serving Him, discovering what gifts we have, and spending all our time working at our ministry. This happened to me. About five years into my ministry, God had to make me hit the brakes because I had become so proud of the work I was doing for him that I was no longer enjoying Him.


We have to be careful when we start getting proud of ourselves because of all the things we are doing. That is not what God's after. As our Father, God wants us to know and enjoy Him.


So let me ask you, are you proud f your works today? Or are you truly enjoying God?


Prayer starter: Father God, I want to enjoy You. Fellowshipping with You and being in Your presence is so wonderful. I lay aside my pride and humble myself before you so that I can find my purpose and joy in You alone.

1 Corinthians 8:6

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

The reason Jesus came

**Joyce Meyer


I want you to notice something about the verse above. Notice that we are told to draw near to God before we are told to stop sinning. 


There are so many people who have it backwards. They think they can never come to God, can never have a relationship with Him, and can never be a Christian because they have issues in their life that they are trying to overcome first. They are trying to get themselves all straightened out so they can be good enough to have a relationship with Him.


But that is wrong. The reason Jesus came is because we can never be good enough without Him. We have to have Jesus in our life. His death, His shed blood, paid for our sins, paid the debt that we owed.


There is no way we can be cleansed of sin until we draw near to God through the name of Jesus. God longs for you to come close to Him today. Do not stay away, believing the lie that you must clean yourself of sin first. Instead, go to God, already cleansed by the sacrifice Jesus made for you.


Prayer starter: God, I refuse to believe the lie that says that I have to be sinless before I can come to You. Coming to You through the blood of Your Son cleanses me of my sin. I refuse to live in shame and know that I can draw near to You now, receiving Your love and forgiveness.

James 4:8

Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.