A recent article from Joyce Meyer reveals some of the many false teachings she embodies...

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Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. -- Isaiah 61: 7 (ESV)

https://www.christianpost.com/news/joyce-meyer-hope-bible-god-faithful-romans-12-12-positive-prayovercome-nagativity-153194/

The darling of women's ministries across the land, Joyce Meyer, can sometimes seem like spiritual Jello for discernment ministries. Not that her heresies are not evident, for they are. It is that she does not often put herself out in the public for scrutiny. Perhaps this is from the hard lesson she suffered in 2004 when it was reported that she was taking a whopping $900,000 in salary from her church on top of the $450,000 they paid for her husband's salary. Sitting on an estimated net worth of 25 million today, Meyer enjoys plying her craft out of the media spotlight that so many others seem to revel in. She is a regular speaker at false Christian conferences across this country where she spews her brand of word-faith, sloppy agape, and prosperity heresies with a definitive NAR flair that values this life and the riches of this world over the eternal life. Recently, she has begun writing for several Christian websites, including Charisma News and Christian Post. This gives us a more definitive opportunity to hold her teachings up to the Bible and hopefully show some who are enamored with her that she is simply put a wolf devouring the sheep of the Lord. The link above is to a recent article, apparently based upon a recent sermon she had given. Let us reason together beloved through the teaching of Joyce Meyer and see what God wants to show us and warn us about:

"God is good. And He has a good plan for each of our lives. No matter what may be going on right now, God's plan is unfolding. In the meantime, Rom. 12:12 (NLT) tells us to "Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying." I think that's good advice, especially in times when it feels like we've been waiting and waiting ... and waiting for something to happen in our lives. Hope is vital in times like these and it will keep us looking ahead, anticipating, expecting whatever it is we're hoping for." -- Joyce Meyer

God is most certainly good. Unfortunately that is the last accurate thing she says here. First we see the influence of Rick Warren and the purpose driven church by her assertion that God has a "good plan" for each of our lives. Now, this is a true statement in terms of the eternal life we have in Christ that transcends this world but that is not what Joyce Meyer is in the business of selling. She means good plans for this life. Is that what Jesus promises us? Not at all! We are promised persecution and even death for following Him. We are commanded to pick up our cross and deny ourselves -- not seek out temporal blessings. He specifically said that we would have tribulation in this world! That the world will hate us! The problem is those things do not sell. So the purpose driven life scam is to convince goats visiting churches to come back because God has some grand plan for each of their lives that apparently starts in the parking lot ministry of their mega church. To further compound matters, Meyer tries to leverage Scripture and in doing so reveals she is not fit to divide the Word of Truth. Rejoicing in our confident hope refers to our hope in Christ -- not in this world. Here is how Gill's Exposition deals with this verse:

"Rejoicing in hope ... Of the glory of God, than the hope of which nothing can make a believer more cheerful in this world; the saints' joy is therefore called the "rejoicing of the hope", Hebrews 3:6. This is placed between serving the Lord, and being patient in tribulation; for nothing tends more to animate the people of God to a cheerful serving of him, or to make them more patient under afflictions, than a hope of being for ever with the Lord" -- Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Nothing should make us cheerful to serve Him under great tribulation and patient under affliction than our hope of being with Him forever. What does Joyce Meyer turn this into? Instead of an assured hope in the Lord it is "whatever we are hoping for." It is purely carnal and of this world. It is not surprising since Meyer ascribes to the teachings of word faith, prosperity, and the NAR. Her god is this world. Don't believe me? She elaborates:

"Over the years I've learned how to lock myself up in a prison of hope, knowing that God has nothing but His best planned for me. He promised me things concerning my ministry and my life. And hope is what helped me hold on in those early years when it got hard." -- Joyce Meyer

That prison isn't hope Joyce -- its heresy. She has now taken Romans 12:12, which speaks gloriously about our eternal hope in Jesus Christ and used it to promise everyone a fantastic plan that God never promised anyone. Wait a minute preacher! Are you saying God doesn't have a fantastic plan for my life? Of course I wouldn't say that beloved because I do not have to. The Bible already does. Before you go all "Jeremiah 29:11" on me you may want to sit down. That verse was not written to you or me. It is written to the exiles in Babylon. Now does God have a plan for your life? Sure in the sense that He sees all time and therefore knows what will unfold in your life. For Peter His grand plan was for him to be crucified upside down. For the Christians in the Middle East today it may be to be beheaded in a martyr's death. For our brothers and sisters in the underground church in China it may be to live a life of quiet desperation. For you it may be to live an ordinary existence serving Him. Raising our kids under the admonishment of the Lord. Refusing to compromise the Gospel for the baubles and trinkets of this world peddled by the likes of Joyce Meyer. Our hope is liberating beloved. It frees us from the anxieties and cares of this world knowing our Lord and Savior has conquered the grave itself! If you think hope is a prison then you need to take a serious look at what you are enslaved to. Heresy is a hard prison beloved. It demands that you sacrifice the true Gospel for a powerless screed that has an air of piety but no power to save or change anyone.

"I remember when it was just three weeks into my marriage to Dave and he asked me one day, "What's wrong with you? You have such a negative attitude!" I said, "Well, if you don't expect anything good to happen, then you won't be disappointed when it doesn't." That was how I felt based on my past experiences. I had a very negative outlook on life, so I spoke negatively about it. This is the way I used to live ... before I became a prisoner of hope. As I grew in my relationship with God, I learned how to trust Him, how to stand on His Word and how to stand my ground in prayer when it got tough. Today, my outlook on life is completely different from what it was many years ago. Now, I enjoy my life, and I encourage others to enjoy theirs as well.

Jesus died for us to live an abundant, fulfilling life. And hope is the confident, favorable expectation of the life we can have in Him." -- Joyce Meyer

If you were truly standing on His Word Joyce then you would not butcher it so badly in pursuit of your pre-decided sermon points. You would understand that Romans 12:12 is a beautiful glimpse into our eternal hope and not some dungeon door into prisons of our choice. You would understand that the verse you are referencing here has nothing to do with what you claim it does. To Joyce Meyer, Jesus Christ died so that we might live an abundant and fulfilling life. What do we do then with the aforementioned brothers and sisters in Christ not fortunate enough to be born in this country? We all know where Meyer is getting this notion and it is another example of proof texting to prop up sermon points instead of actually hearing what God is saying. Here is the verse in question and the surrounding context:

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. -- John 10: 7-13 (ESV)

Take a very close look at this beloved. Who is the thief in these verses? Jesus makes a direct comparison between Himself as the Good Shepherd and those who preach falsely as hirelings who care nothing about the sheep. The thief beloved, is the false teacher. The thief, is Joyce Meyer. The false teacher steals, kills and destroys by holding back the one thing that can save someone -- the Gospel. Even the abundance referred to hear Meyer perverts into the riches of this world. Jesus has an abundance of grace for us beloved. Grace when we did not deserve it. He has an abundance of mercy for us beloved instead of giving us what we did deserve. He has an abundance of spiritual gifts for us if we would follow Him. This is the abundant life Joyce. Not your private jet and yacht. Unfortunately, she was not done brutalizing Scripture:

"Now, I do realize there are many things that can happen to us that aren't so enjoyable. And that can make it difficult to grasp the idea of enjoying life. So, think of it this way: What are you hoping for? What are you expecting in life? What are you looking forward to? Focus on that.

My negative outlook was due to my attitude about all the bad things that had happened to me. I was stuck in the pain of my past, so I didn't believe anything good would happen in my future. Because of all of the negative things that had happened, I was programmed to believe that negative things would always happen. I lost hope." -- Joyce Meyer

What are you hoping for an expecting in life? Seriously? Beloved Jesus made in abundantly clear that the only way to be His disciple was to do three things -- deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow Him. We should expect nothing from this world except pain, misery and increased sin. We carry with us the keys to the kingdom of heaven! The Gospel has the power to save anyone from the grasp of Satan and this world! Meyer's word faith bonafides are showing here however. She believes that by thinking about negative things she created that reality in her life. She believes that by locking herself away in some mystical prison of hope, she can change her reality. It is always however focused on herself and this world. Never on Jesus, except to leverage Him.

"Well, God was there, and He knew that. But over time, He kept loving me and dealing with me, promising me what Isaiah 61:7 says: "Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours" (NIV). That's an amazing promise for us all--a promise of double for your trouble! Double the blessing ... double the joy ... double the peace! Now doesn't that inspire hope in your heart?" - Joyce Meyer

Once again we see Joyce Meyer conflating what God intended to be speaking about eternity with the greed and avarice of her own heart. Isaiah 61:7 is the key verse today and is God speaking to those who had come out of exile in Babylon. For their shame and disgrace as captives, God promises a double portion of restoration, inheritance, and everlasting joy. It is sound hermeneutically to see the direct correlation to our lives as Christians. We were once in spiritual captivity in the Babylon that is this world. We too had our shame and disgrace of sin, when we still slaves to it. But thank God almighty He did not leave us there! His Gospel led us out of captivity. Now we are seated in heavenly places and we have an inheritance of eternal life. Everlasting joy is ours beloved! How does Joyce Meyer manage to cheapen it? By pretending that these verses represent God promising everyone a double portion of sheer carnality. Double the blessing! Double for your trouble! It sounds like a late night infomercial. But wait! There's more!

"Of course, this double-blessing promise isn't for the double-minded. When you walk it out in everyday life, there will be times when doubt, fear, unbelief and weariness will come against you. It's in these times you will need to fight a good fight of faith. You will need to guard your mind against negativity about your situation. I encourage you to find out what God says about it and then stand on the promises in His Word. The Bible tells of many times when people encountered Jesus and He touched their lives, and how they wanted to stay with Him and follow Him. But He sent them home--back to everyday life--to live out and share with others what He'd done for them." -- Joyce Meyer

Like any good snake oil saleswoman, Meyer now plants the seeds of blame for those who will not see any such radical changes as she promises. If you are not experiencing the double portion blessing then it must be because you are being double minded! You have to walk it out! Fight the good fight of faith! Eliminate the stinking thinking of negativity! All carnal teachings of the wickedly deceitful human heart. I encourage you beloved to not proof text the Bible as she is recommending here. Read it thoroughly. Do the work of a Berean. Discern what God is saying and set it apart from what man is trying to say. Mercifully, Meyer ends:

They had to hold on to what He had done for them. And in the same way, we must hold on to whatever He promises us and be confident that He is working in our situation. Hope releases the power of the Holy Spirit in these times. I want to encourage you to make a decision to cultivate an attitude of hope in your life. Speak positive things about your future and refuse to be negative. You may not always feel hopeful but don't give in to your feelings. Catering to bad feelings feeds and empowers them. But standing our ground and not giving in to negative feelings starves them and causes them to lose their power over us. Just ask the Holy Spirit to lead you. Line your will up with His and get excited about serving God. You could become a person who inspires others to become prisoners of hope!" -- Joyce Meyer

Faith and knowledge of scripture releases the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives beloved. Joyce Meyer ends with what brought her to the dance and made her a multi-millionaire 25 times over. Word faith heresy. Speak positive things about your future and stop being so negative! Facing the possibility of beheading for refusing to denounce Christ? I am sure positive self-talk will help! Facing persecution in the underground church? Stop being a negative Nellie! The arrogance of Meyer's theology is staggeringly ignorant. Jesus came to set the prisoners free beloved. Not to lock them back up in some prison we have created in our own minds by eviscerating Scripture. Joyce Meyer has hoped in the utter carnality of this world and wants you to become prisoner to it. To hope for thriving ministries, overflowing, riches, and Lear Jets. I feel badly for Joyce Meyer because her testimony revels that she suffered a lot of abuse at an early age. I feel badly that she has been taught so poorly that she comes up with such ridiculous theology. I feel badly because she is a prisoner of her own heresy and she is so blinded by the carnality she desires that she thinks her heresy is hope.

I feel the worst however for her followers"

Reverend Anthony Wade -- December 7, 2017

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.