How to Deal with Disappointment

by Joyce Meyer

Does your happiness depend on everything in your life being just right? If you think you can't be happy until all your circumstances are right, you will never be happy!

We all experience times in life when we feel down for various reasons, but we can't allow our circumstances to control our emotions. Satan seeks to fill our minds with negative thoughts that eventually cause us to lose our joy and feel negative. He is a discourager, and he wants to pull us down emotionally, spiritually, financially, and in every way he can.

But Jesus is our Encourager, and He came to lift us up! He came to give us righteousness, peace and joy. He wants us to expect good things for our future and fill us with hope.

Everyone experiences times of frustration and distress over unfulfilled plans or dreams. When things don't go the way we hope, it is normal to feel disappointment. But we must be careful how we deal with that feeling, because if we remain in a state of disappointment for too long, it can turn into discouragement, despair, and even depression.

I’m not talking here about some depression that can be the result of a chemical imbalance in your physical body. I’m talking about situational depression dealing with our circumstances or disappointments.

Psalm 30:5 tells us that ...Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Things may make us feel sad temporarily, but we must not stay sad. If we do, Satan takes advantage of the open door and pushes his way further into our lives, bringing more serious problems. However, with God, when we get disappointed, we can always make a decision to get reappointed. We can choose to look to Him for new hope and renewed strength to go forward.

The Way You Respond Makes All the Difference

I’ve often said emotions can be one of our greatest enemies. It’s easy to be led by how we feel, but we must realize that feelings are fickle—they change from day to day! We shouldn’t follow every thought that comes to our mind because they can often contradict the truth of what God says about us.

For many years of my life, I experienced regular depression. I would awake in the morning with a little voice in my head saying, "I feel depressed." I believed this was my own thought, not realizing the enemy was attempting to speak lies to my mind.

Later, when God drew me into a closer walk with Him and I began seriously studying His Word, I learned that I didn't have to follow every feeling and thought that I had. I began to speak aloud and say, "I will not be discouraged or depressed."

Isaiah 61:3 tells us to put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (NKJV). We may not always feel like praising God, but taking a few moments to talk to the Lord and thank Him for His goodness is one of the most powerful weapons we have to fight discouragement. We literally invite God’s presence into our situation, which brings us His strength, peace and joy.

We’ll never be able to completely avoid disappointments in life, but we can choose how we react to them. The next time you encounter a situation that threatens to pull you down, make a decision to turn to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to fill you with hope. Choose to believe what God says instead of your feelings. As you do, you’ll soon find yourself enjoying life…and looking forward to the good things ahead.

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This article is taken from Joyce's audio teaching, Understanding and Overcoming Depression.

The Simple Truth About True Love

by Joyce Meyer

The Bible teaches us that it’s God’s will for us to help hurting people. In John 13:34-35, Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]” (AMP). Matthew 22:37-38 says, “…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the…first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself” (AMP).

The love message is the power of the Gospel. It’s so simple: Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself. We often think we need someone to love us, but what we really need is someone to love. And the world is desperate for real love, so it isn’t hard to find someone who needs to be loved.

We live in a society that drives people to selfishness. So much of the advertising we see and hear influences us to want more and more and to never be satisfied with what we have. But the more selfish and self-centered we are, the less power we have to do good and help others.

The good news is we have what we need in Christ to overcome a selfish, “What about me?!” mindset and lifestyle. We have the power of God’s love! It’s the answer to every dilemma and problem in our society today. And as Christians, our goal is to represent Christ in the world and show His love.

What Is True Love?

Love is not just a feeling, or a theory, or a nice word. It’s action—it’s the way you treat people, what you do for others. Love will always cost you something: time, energy, effort, money, giving up your pride, doing what’s right when you don’t feel like it, keeping a good attitude when you don’t get your way.

Loving the way God loves means you love when there’s nothing in it for you; it’s all about giving out and not expecting anything in return. We’re called to outreach, not in-reach. Real love is about dying to self and living to love others.

Before you can love others, you have to experience God’s love in your own life, because you can’t give away something you don’t have. Then you have to be willing to ask God to teach you to love the way He loves. When you do this, God will enable you to reach out and help someone else. I know this works because I’ve lived it.

Live to Love!

I used to be selfish, self-centered, always thinking about how I could get my way. And I was miserable. See, I loved God and wanted to love people, but no matter how hard I tried to be sweet and nice to everybody, all of my trying was getting me nowhere. I was cranky, hard to get along with and impatient. God showed me the problem was that I didn’t like myself because of the shame of my past. I grew up in an abusive home, and I felt guilty, condemned and ashamed because of it. I had to accept God’s love for me before I could love anyone else.

So I decided to study God’s love in the Word, pray for God to change my heart, and confess what His Word says about His love for me. Every day I would say out loud, “God loves me,” and I would say it over and over to purposely keep this truth in my heart throughout the day. After a year of doing this, I finally got a revelation about God’s love for me.

Now I am able to receive God’s love and love others the way Jesus taught us to love. I don’t do it perfectly all the time, but I’ve come a long way and am making progress every day. My prayer is, “God, show me how I can help others. Make me a blessing everywhere I go. I want to live to love You and others.”

In my personal life, I try to make it my business to add value to everybody I come in contact with. I can honestly say that learning how to love others with God’s love has made me the happiest I’ve ever been. The truth is you can’t be selfish and be happy or have peace.

Make it your goal each day to pursue God’s love and then give it away. First Corinthians 14:1 (AMP) says to “eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest].” So go after it with all your might, and ask God to make you a blessing everywhere you go. You can do something to help someone. You can live to love, just like Jesus. 

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For more on this topic, order Joyce’s four-CD series Live to Love. You can also contact us to receive our free magazine, Enjoying Everyday Life, by calling (800) 727-9673 or visiting www.joycemeyer.org.

Ladies, join Joyce for the Love Life Women’s Conference September 29-October 1 in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information, go to www.joycemeyer.org/lovelife.

Joyce Meyer is a New York Times bestselling author and founder of Joyce Meyer Ministries, Inc. She has authored 100 books, including Battlefield of the Mind and God Is Not Mad at You (Hachette). She hosts the Enjoying Everyday Life radio and TV programs, which air on hundreds of stations worldwide. For more information, visit www.joycemeyer.org.

Please note: The views and opinions expressed throughout this publication and/or website are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

1 Corinthians 12:31 
But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all—love].

Overcoming Evil with Good

by Joyce Meyer

Has anyone ever hurt your feelings? Maybe you found out somebody lied to you or you didn’t get the raise at work that you deserved, or maybe you were rejected or physically abused. Well, one of the most important things we need to learn is how to trust God and walk by faith when people don’t treat us the way they should. Our natural response is to get angry when we’re mistreated, and feeling angry is not wrong. But God’s Word reminds us that we shouldn’t return evil for evil or anger for anger.

What Good Does Anger Do?

Have you ever noticed that being angry never makes anything better? I know because I used to have a quick temper. In fact, I was angry more than I wasn’t. Sometimes, I voiced my aggression, and sometimes it was just seething on the inside of me. The problem is, if we have unresolved anger, we either explode or we implode; we either blow up at somebody or we fall apart on the inside. And a lot of times we take it out on a person who has nothing to do with what we’re angry about. It’s just a miserable way to live.

But getting upset is not the way God wants us to fight our battles. Instead, when somebody hurts us, we can choose to trust God with our pain or injustice and overcome anger with good. Romans 12:17-21 (AMP) says, Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God’s] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.

What God is saying in those verses is there’s a right and wrong way to respond to injustice. We can get angry and get back at the person who hurt us or we can fight the way God fights, trusting Him to be our Vindicator while we bless our enemies and do good (Psalm 37:1-3). It’s certainly not easy to love our enemies and bless the people who have hurt us (Luke 6:27). In fact, this is probably one of the most difficult scriptures in the Word of God to follow.

I was sexually abused by my father for close to 15 years so I understand how painful and impossible it might seem to believe you could actually love your enemies. I’m not trying to make light of that. But there is true freedom in doing the right thing. And we can choose to do what’s right no matter how we feel. We have to stop being afraid of hard things and press in and trust God because the truth is He will give us the strength and grace to do anything we need to do.

Prayer Brings Peace

It’s so much harder to live with anger than it is to live with God’s peace, love and joy. And we have to take responsibility for our behavior. One of the best things we can do is learn how to pray for the people we’re mad at. The first thing to do when somebody mistreats you is pray, God, this hurts and I’m angry about it, but I know my anger won’t solve the problem or change the person. So I trust You. I’m going to stay sweet and keep being nice. I’m going to keep doing good because that’s what You put me here for. And as I trust You and go about blessing others, I’m going to watch You vindicate me and do what needs to be done in this situation. That is the way to fight and win your battles!

Make a decision today that you’re going to refuse to live angry. Ask God to help you take control of your feelings. And if you do act out in anger, confess it and God will forgive you. There will be a lot of battles in life, but God has an amazing plan for you! As you put your focus on Him as your Vindicator, it becomes easier and easier to conquer angry feelings and walk in peace. And you will be a blessing as you overcome evil with good!

Don’t Blend In, Stand Out

by Joyce Meyer

It’s hard to turn on the TV, listen to the radio, open a newspaper or look on the Internet without coming face to face with the evil of this world. I don’t know if we’re living in the very “last days” before Jesus returns or not, but I’m certain that we’re a lot closer today than we were yesterday.

A lot of Christians are interested in when Jesus is going to return, and I look forward to that day as well…but there’s a reason why God didn’t tell us when that day is coming. He doesn’t just want us to get ready for Jesus to come back. He wants us to live ready!

The apostle Paul wrote to his young apprentice Timothy and described to him what the “last days” would look like. If you read through the list of characteristics found in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, it sounds like a description of the world we live in: greed, arrogance, slander, and no self-control. The list is pretty accurate.

But in the next chapter, Paul gives Timothy specific instructions on how he is to handle these difficult times. He tells Timothy to “correct, rebuke and encourage” those around him (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

Now the encouraging part isn’t that difficult. I do a lot of that in my teaching and people accept it pretty well. But when I get into the “correct and rebuke” mode…that starts stepping on some toes.

God’s calling on my life, as a teacher of His Word, is to help people grow up spiritually so they can have the abundant life Jesus died for them to have. That means I can’t just tell them what they want to hear. When I stand before God to give an account of what I’ve taught, I’ll be responsible for telling folks what they need to hear, not just what makes them feel good.

Your Life is a Sermon

“Now Joyce,” some of you are saying, “I’m not a preacher like you or Timothy. What does all this have to with me?”

You are a preacher! Maybe not with your mouth all the time like me, but as a believer in Christ, your life is a living sermon. At work, at the grocery store, at school…your life should encourage others by showing them the love of God working in your life. And you don’t even have to open your mouth to do it!

So what kind of life makes a good sermon? It’s the kind of life that reflects the fact that you are a child of God. That alone will stand out in this world.

For example, I John 4 says we can live without fear because of what God has done for us. God promises that He will take care of us, whatever our circumstances or what’s going on in the world around us. People today are scared. They’re scared of wars, the economy, the government…it seems the news is a constant fear-fest these days.

We as Christians know that we are safe and secure in God’s arms and that He will always take care of us, even in the hardest of times. Our lives should reflect our faith in that Truth. That kind of living is what makes you “holy” or “set apart” from the world. The very fact that you can go out and live unafraid is a witness and a testimony to the world.

Prepare to Leave Your Comfort Zone

Safety doesn’t always equal comfort, though. Living in the world means we’re always going to see things and hear things that make us a little uncomfortable. And that’s OK. Sometimes God places us in situations where we’re uncomfortable just so we turn the light up a little bit brighter.

To do this, we don’t have to get all “religious.” There’s no need for you to walk around with your six-pack of Bibles and covered head to toe with bumper stickers. All you need to do is let your light shine. Loving, calm, happy, gracious behavior will stand out. That will be a light in a dark place.

In these tough times, we need God more than ever. And as we are the Body of Christ, God needs us to be acting on His behalf. He needs us to go out and shine His light into the darkness of the world. Believe today that in Christ, you have what it takes to not be afraid and to be a person that God can use to change people’s lives. 

Blessed Are the Kind

by Joyce Meyer

Webster’s Dictionary defines mercy as “kindness in excess of what might be expected or demanded of fairness.”

Mercy is not fair, but it’s godly. Not fair, but powerful. Not fair, but Christlike. And when we do what God leads us to do, He always brings justice into our life. To honor God in this area, we need to learn to trust Him more fully. Every single one of us has opportunities to do that each day…with friends and family, coworkers and even the clerk at the grocery store.

Whenever people hurt or disappoint us, our human nature leads us to dislike them because of their shortcomings. But God’s desire for us is to love all people, including our enemies (see Matthew 5:43-48).

If they can see love in your heart…instead of anger and judgment…that shows them “kindness in excess of what might be expected.” More importantly, it gives them hard evidence that Christ is working in you! I believe one of the greatest privileges we have in life is to follow His example, and we can do that by being generous in spirit, giving mercy to others, as they need it.

The wisdom of losing count

When someone hurts or offends us, it’s easy to make a list and keep count of everything they’ve ever done wrong. But God is asking us to be like Him.

Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that God’s mercies are new every morning. In Isaiah 43:25 He says, “I am he who blots out your transgressions…and remembers your sins no more” (NIV).

When my husband, Dave, and I were newly married, I was pretty good at keeping score. Every time we had an argument, I would bring up every single thing he ever did to me since the day I met him.

I’ll never forget one day, after I recited my list, when Dave looked at me and said, “Where in the world do you keep all that stuff?”

I’ve learned the best thing we can do for ourselves is to let go of the hurt…to lose count of how others have wronged us…and leave the past in the past.

There’s a why behind the what

I always say that mercy understands the “why” behind the “what.” It cares about the person, not just what they’ve done to us.

What if you walk into a grocery store and the checkout clerk is grouchy with you and has a sour look? You have a choice…

You can say, “I don’t appreciate your attitude. I am a customer here and I don’t like the way you’re acting. I’m going to tell your manager.”

Or you can be merciful and say, “You look like you’re having a hard day. I just want to say that God loves you and really cares about you.” You can believe the best about that person and realize they are upset for a reason.

When someone hurts us, our first inclination is to think, “You’re not going to treat me that way. And if you think you’re going to get by with it, you have another thing coming!”

However, it helps to remember that everyone who acts badly is hurting in some way.

When I first met Dave, I had a lot of problems from the sexual and emotional abuse I endured growing up. I was wounded and hurting, and it seemed like every other day I was starting an argument or saying something I regretted.

Because Dave already had a strong relationship with the Lord, he continuously showed me mercy and loved me in spite of my behavior. No matter how badly I acted the night before, he wasn’t mad the next morning. He didn’t let my behavior change his character.

You Reap What You Sow

Luke 6:36-37 says, “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged…Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (NIV).

We reap what we sow, and whatever we give away to others is what we’ll receive in return. If you want mercy, then sow mercy. If you need a friend, then sow friendliness. If you have financial needs, then look for ways to meet someone else’s needs.

It’s easy to judge. I cringe when I look back at the extremely critical and judgmental person I used to be. In fact, before I was a serious Christian, judging others was one of my favorite things to do.

I would sit at the mall and watch people walk by, sizing them up and thinking negative things about their clothes, hair, or the people around them.

But the Bible says, “Judge not” (Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37 NKJV). I wasn’t only sowing bad seed; I was making myself miserable by not walking in love and believing the best of others.

The truth is, when we sow mercy, we reap a harvest of peace, joy and healthy relationships. We also take a giant step forward spiritually. Choosing to do what’s right—even when it hurts—causes us to grow and mature in an amazing way.

So, is there anyone you can extend new mercies to today?

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For more on this topic, order Joyce’s four-CD series Nine Attitudes That Keep You Happy. You can also contact us here to receive our free magazine, Enjoying Everyday Life, or by calling (800) 727-9673.

ANOTHER SUSPECTED KUWAIT HUMAN TRAFFICKER ARRESTED

Saturday, 2 January 2016

Another suspected human trafficker of girls to Kuwait has been picked up by security forces. The suspect is said to have been visiting Cameroon for the festive period when she was nabbed in Limbe, South West Region of Cameroon.

Vivian Fonge: Gov't Needs Explanations

 “ She is been detained and we have to carry out proper investigations to establish her involvement in the trafficking and smuggling of girls to Kuwait and the Middle East countries; Lebanon, Bayreuth, Saudi Arabia and others.  We are also questioning many returnees and victims who are giving us testimonies of how some of the so-called agents collected huge sums of money from these poor Cameroons. Some of the agents return home and hide themselves thinking they are too smart. The government machinery grinds slowly but surely,” the security source said.

Other Cameroonians who are in Kuwait paint controversial pictures about the suspected human trafficker identified as Vivian Fonge. “It’s that woman who claimed how she is helping girls though very wicked.” “She helped me when I escaped from my slave home to the Central African Republic embassy,” said two different sources.

Recognised by Cameroonian Gov't?

Other reports suggested the suspect, Vivian Fonge is said to have been ‘working’ closely with the Cameroon Embassy in Ryad, Saudi Arabia which has diplomatic jurisdiction over all Middle East countries. “We are surprised that she has been arrested because she is the one who was holding meetings with Cameroonian diplomats each time they visited Kuwait from Ryad. Remember she printed the T-shits of the Cameroon Association in Kuwait and was been referred to by many as ‘President’” one other Kuwait returnee hinted.

Requests to get Cameroon officials in Ryad explain the relationship they had with the suspect have remained unanswered, though it is reported that she was simply saving her face by trying to bring Cameroonian girls together. 

ARE EXPIRED GOODS TIMELY DISPOSED OFF?