Put First Things First | Joyce Meyer | Radio Podcast

Join Joyce Meyer in this powerful radio podcast episode titled ‘Put First Things First.’ In this teaching, Joyce shares her personal journey of learning to prioritize God over everything else, emphasizing the importance of seeking God for who He is, not just for what He can do for us. Discover the life-changing lessons she gained from Deuteronomy chapter 8 and how keeping Jesus first in your life can transform your priorities. Don’t miss this insightful and encouraging message on Enjoying Everyday Life with Joyce Meyer!

Joyce Meyer, one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers and New York Times best-selling author, shares encouragement and advice to help us enjoy our daily lives.

With a heart to share Christ and love people, Joyce’s messages help people in all walks of life to grow in their faith, learn to study the Bible, find healing from the wounds of life, get answers to life’s questions and encounter the love of God in a powerful way.

Welcome to enjoying everyday life with New York Times best selling author Joyce Meyer.
On today’s program, Joyce will be teaching from her series but first things first.
Our number one priority in life should be spending time with God.
When and how we spend time with him different for everyone.
An easy place to start is waking up and simply saying, good morning, God. Now, here’s Joyce with today’s teaching.
If god tells you to forgive somebody, it’s not for his benefit. It’s not even for your enemy’s benefit.
It’s for your benefit. Because your life is gonna get better if you don’t carry that junk around on the inside of you all the time.
Amen? And so if you walk in here, not mad at somebody, please don’t go home the way you walked in.
Get something out of this, drop it, leave it here, and go home happy.
Verse 2, and you shall earnestly remember all the way, which the lord your god led you these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble you and to prove you to know what was in your in heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Well, god led them 40 years in the wilderness.
They wandered around out in the wilderness trying to make what The Bible says was an 11 day trip.
Does anybody know anything about that? You’re Michael. Um, oh, same mountain.
Round around the same mountain. Are we ever gonna get there, god?
Well, yeah, I want we to start doing what god tells us to.
And it’s actually there’s another scripture in in the Bible that says that god led them the long, hard way on purpose, even though there was a shorter route.
Because they were not yet ready for war.
Do you know that the word possess if you study that word like possess the land, it it means to first dispossess the current occupants.
In other words, if we want to have all that Jesus died to give us, we’re gonna have to fight the fight of faith We’re gonna need to know who we are in Christ, and we’re gonna have to stand up to the Goliaths in our life and stop running from the enemy.
Amen? And so he says, I’m not always gonna take you the short way because maybe you’re not ready to go in and possess the land yet.
I’m gonna take you the long hard way because I’ve got some things I’ve gotta do in you before I can give you what I’ve got prepared for you.
Amen? Let me say it again.
God says I’m gonna have to take you the long hard way.
This 11 day journey may take a little more than 11 days because, yes, I’ve got some good things prepared for you, but maybe you’re where I was and God has to teach you that man does not live by the mailbox or whatever your mailbox might be.
I wish that I could convey to you how frustrated I was during those years and how it did me absolutely no good.
It didn’t make god hurry. It didn’t change anything. All it did was make me miserable.
God has a timing for things.
And we may think we’re waiting on god, but to be honest, he’s waiting on us.
So he says, I led you the hard way to know what was in your mind and heart.
Now listen to this, rather you would keep my commandments are not. So what’s the message here?
Will you keep god’s commandments when you’re not getting what you want?
Will you continue to keep god’s commandments if it takes a lot longer than what you thought that it would?
Matter of fact, let me just throw this out just to have fun with it.
Would you love god just as much and spend your whole life doing everything you could to obey him if you knew right now tonight that you would never get what you want.
I don’t hear any loud question.
But you know what?
It’s good to think about that.
I’m glad you didn’t just come back because you see, Sometimes we gotta think of that.
Sometimes we have to think about, well, what if it doesn’t happen?
Or What if maybe I think I heard this from god, but I didn’t, and I find out I was wrong.
Am I still gonna love god just as much?
If I don’t get what I want, as if I do get what I want, and god will test us in those areas.
Verse 3, and he humbled you, and he allowed you, and he humbled you, and he allowed you to hunger and he fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your father’s know, that he might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread alone.
Uh-oh. That’s the thing that god said to me the other day in the car.
Now he’s got my attention.
Joyce, I’m teaching you that your joy can’t be connected to the size of this ministry.
Your joy can’t be connected by what people say about you or don’t say about you.
Your joy can’t be connected to your level of finances. Come on.
Your joy has to be in me and me alone. Now watch because this gets good.
Verse 4, your clothing didn’t get old, nor did your feet swell.
I think it’s kinda fun that God threw that in there.
Because he’s basically saying to them, look, for 40 years, I kept your clothes from getting worn out.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I would have much rather had a new outfit.
I mean, I had a lot of those years where I was wearing the same thing over and over and over and putting a different neck scarf on it and a different, you know, trying to make it all look different.
And I was like, no. Thank you. I’d like to have some new stuff. Come on.
Some of you are in that place right now. It’s like, yeah. You’re getting by. You’re paying the bills.
You’re not going under. But, man, it’s been a long time.
It’s been a while since you’ve been able to go to the grocery store and just buy anything you wanted without your calculator.
I remember those years, I’d get a bunch of stuff in IL 1, 2, and 3.
And by the time I got to 45, I had to start putting it back, And I didn’t have enough sense back then to know anything about excellence, and so I would put the cleanser with the lettuce.
And, you know, I didn’t wanna go put it back where I got it.
I wanted to be sloppy and leave it for somebody. Oh, there were so many things I had to learn.
Oh, Joyce. That stuff doesn’t make any difference. Wrong.
God expects us to be excellent.
That you’re gonna get excited here in a minute.
Verse 5, knowing your mind and heart that as a man disciplines instructs his son, so the lord your god disciplines and instructs you.
So you shall keep the commandments of the lord your god to walk in his ways and reverently to fear him.
Now when I got to verse 7, I started getting a little more excited.
For the lord your god is bringing you into a good land.
A land of brooks of water of fountains and springs flowing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, vines, and fig trees pumped.
And we’re not interested in that stuff, but, you know, That was what they wanted back then.
A land in which you shall eat food without shortage and like nothing in it, a land Everything good.
Good. Good. Good. Now verse 10. You’re you’re with me. Right? Okay.
When you have eaten, you don’t wanna miss these next couple of verses.
When you have eaten and are full, When you have all this stuff, when your dream comes true, when you get what you want, when you’ve reached goal, then you shall bless the lord your god for all the good which he has given you.
Verse 11. Beware that you do not forget the lord your god. Come on now.
You know, it’s amazing how much time we have for god when we’re desperate.
You just get a terrible report from the doctor and see if you have time to pray.
Cohen, you just lose your job and you’re not finding another one for 2 months and you see if you got time to read a little bit in in the word.
See how often you can make it to church when you feel like your world’s falling out from under you.
And that’s exactly what god doesn’t want.
It’s not that he doesn’t want us to do it then, but he wants us to seek him even more more in good times, I think, even made him bad times.
Because in our good times, we don’t need him to do something for us We’re thanking him for who he is, and we’re letting him know I cannot live without you.
Man does not live by all that stuff He doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of your mouth, god.
As I said, this was very life changing for me, and I hope I hope this really ministers to some people in here tonight because When all of this is over, there’s only gonna be god left.
You don’t wanna wait until then. To try to get the right relationship with him.
There may be people here tonight that you’ve never received Christ as your savior. Don’t leave here.
Without doing that. We’ll give you an opportunity at the end of the service.
You you have nothing better to live for. You have nothing else to do. With your wife.
You know, becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that you join the church, and follow a certain prescribed list of rules and regulations.
When you become a Christian, Christ comes to live in you.
You become the home of god.
You’ve got a friend, a companion, a helper, a counselor, why would anybody not want to have Jesus in their life?
And so now just remember if you’ve not received price yet, let’s take care of that tonight.
Let’s do that tonight.
Now then if you go on here, it kinda says the same thing again.
Verse 18, but you shall earnestly remember the lord your god prison.
He who gives you the power to get wealth.
You know, when when god does good things in your life, don’t ever take the credit for it.
Oh, that’s bad. And if you forget the lord your god and walk after other gods and serve them and wash worship them, I testify to you this day that you shall surely perish and on and on and on.
You know, I’ve discovered that there’s two tests you gotta pass regarding money. You ready for this?
How you act when you don’t have any?
And how you act when you got a lot.
And, you know, the truth is, if you can’t love god just as much when you don’t have any, you’re not gonna love him when you do.
You say, well, no.
Because money is one of the big things that can quickly take you away from god.
Money and things. So it’s no wonder that god wants us to be so deeply rooted and grounded in him.
Amen? You think a big ministry like I have couldn’t take me away from god?
Oh, absolutely. I remember god saying to me one day, he said, Joyce, you are so proud of yourself because you work for me.
Problem is you don’t have any time to spend time with me anymore.
And see, working for god doesn’t replace being with god, and going to church doesn’t replace being with god.
This is not a Sunday morning sports event. Amen?
Is Jesus 1st in your life?
Yes, ma’am.
Matthew 633, 61st, the kingdom god, and all of these things will be added on to you.
In case you’ve forgotten this, let me just remind you that you don’t have to seek things and neither do I we seek god, and he adds the things.
People often tell Joyce they don’t know how to hear from god. And today’s resource offering will help with that.
Learning to hear god’s voice is a 4 week bible study designed to help hear his voice clearer than ever before.
You’ll also receive the everyday life Psalms and Proverbs platinum edition to gain even more wisdom.
Contact us now to receive this package for your gift of 30 dollars or more.
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