JOYCE UNIVERSITY STUDY GUIDE

WEEK 4

Keys to Staying Spiritually Strong

MONDAY
Give Your ALL to God

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God,
to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and
faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God,
which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
— ROMANS 12:1

God wants you to be whole—completely whole—spirit, soul and body. That’s the kind
of life Jesus died for you to have. And a healthy, whole you is the best gift you can
give to your family and friends, and to yourself!

JOHN 10:10 and LUKE 19:10 describe God’s plan for the quality of life He offers us,
as well as how we can get it. What is His plan and how do we experience it?
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Think about each area of your life. What parts are sick, broken or weak? What do you
need for God to restore so you can be whole in Christ?
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Read GENESIS 1:26-28. God created you in His image. According to these verses,
what does that mean for you?
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How do you see yourself? Does your assessment line up with what God says about
who He’s created you to be in these verses?
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Life in Christ is freedom—freedom from sin and any bondage that keeps us from
living up to our God-given potential. This includes things like addictions to drugs,
alcohol, food, sexual perversion, or a selfish and self-centered mindset. Joyce shared
in the teaching that “The greatest thing God has set me free from is me!”

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:15 says Jesus “died for all, so that all those who live
might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was
raised again for their sake.” In your own words, what is this telling us about why
Jesus died for us? How does it help to shape your perspective of yourself?
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Notice the term “all” in 2 CORINTHIANS 5:15. Jesus paid the price for all of us to
become whole in every area of our lives, and we need to give Him all of our heart so
we can experience that gift from God. Look up PSALM 63:5, 8 and note what these
verses say about giving our all to God.
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Study ROMANS 12:1 to discover how we give our whole lives to God. What does it tell
us to do?
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How can you make a more “decisive dedication of your body” to God today?
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Jesus came to set us free from being wrapped up in ourselves…living a selfish, self-
centered life. We’ve been bought with a price. As believers in Christ, we don’t belong
to ourselves.
—Joyce

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TUESDAY
Steps to Wholeness in Christ

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause
you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]
—MATTHEW 11:28

We all need Jesus. He is the answer for every need and every problem we can
possibly have. The exciting truth is He wants us to come to Him…to have a deep,
intimate, personal relationship with Him. And it’s through that relationship that we
find everything we need to have real love, peace and joy—the things that make life
worth living!

Read JOHN 7:37 and 6:37. What do these verses tell us about who Jesus is and how
He can help us? How do they encourage our faith in His love and acceptance of us,
just as we are?
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The enemy will always try to convince you that you have to change before you can
come to Jesus or that He would never want to hear your prayers or help you. But it’s
always a lie! God’s Word clearly tells the truth about God’s love for us and His desire
to have a personal relationship with us…to give us life!

Look up JOHN 1:4 and 10:10 to find confirmation of this. What does it tell you about
the life God wants for you?
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Joyce taught about what it means to “have life as God has it.” How did this
information open your eyes to the real meaning of having abundant life in Christ?
What can you do to cooperate with God so you can actually experience it?
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FIRST JOHN 3:14 says we know we have the Life of Christ “by the fact that we love
the brethren (our fellow Christians). He who does not love abides (remains, is held
and kept continually) in [spiritual] death.” It’s vitally important that we love others
once we have learned how to receive God’s love for us; otherwise, we will be
spiritually dead.

SECOND PETER 1:3-7 reveals the steps to developing Christian love. What are they?
How can you do them more in your life?
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As believers in Christ, God has given us everything we need to live an amazing, godly
life. It comes to you through the full personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. So don’t be
satisfied with a second-hand faith. Get in your Bible and find out for yourself what
God has to say to you!
—Joyce
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WEDNESDAY
Physical Health and Spiritual Wholeness

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit
Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your
own.
—1 CORINTHIANS 6:19

When we receive Christ as our Savior and become new creations in Him (2
CORINTHIANS 5:17), the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. Jesus says in JOHN 14:17
that we “know and recognize Him,” because He lives with us “[constantly] and will be
in” us.

As Christians, we sometimes think it’s more important to focus on spiritual things

and learn how to yield our soul (mind, will and emotions) to God. These things are
vitally important, but we also need to take care of our physical body because as 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:19 says, “Your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the
Holy Spirit Who lives within you.”

So, do you need to take better care of your physical health? Are you abusing your
body by not exercising enough, eating junk food, not getting enough rest or doing
any of the other things Joyce mentioned?
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GALATIANS 6:7-9 says we will reap what we sow. Study these verses and think
about ways you can invest in your health, rather than take a gamble, hoping you can
get away with making poor decisions that can make you sick. What do you discover?
What simple, practical changes can you start to make today to improve your physical
health?
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It’s important to take good care of your physical health because how you feel
physically—how you take care of yourself or don’t take care of yourself—affects every
other area of your life.
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Joyce said, “When Jesus offers us new life, there’s a lifestyle that goes along with
it.” She explained that the key is being obedient to God’s ways so we can have real
Life in Christ.

Study JOHN 14:6 and write what this means for you personally, from a practical
viewpoint of taking steps toward better health.
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According to 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-17, how important are you to God as His

“temple”? And how does He feel about it when we abuse our bodies?
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HEBREWS 12:11 says that “no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful;
but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it.”

The benefit of godly discipline far outweighs the grief or pain we experience going
through it. Think about the good “fruit” you can glean from exercising discipline and
self-control with the help of the Holy Spirit and write them down as goals you can
work toward.
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One of the most amazing things we discover in the Word of God is that we are God’s
house…He lives in us! The principle here is that we are not to do harm to the temple
of God. Are you treating your body with respect?
—Joyce
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THURSDAY
Making the Connection: Spirit, Soul & Body

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep
well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.
—3 JOHN 1:2

3 JOHN 1:2 makes a connection between the health of our soul—our mind, will and
emotions—and our physical body. It’s important for us to understand that each area
of our life affects other areas.

For example:
• If you’re not spiritually healthy, it will affect your mind and emotions.
• If you’re not physically healthy and don’t feel good, it can zap your mental and
emotional energy to pray and study the Bible, which affects your spiritual health.
• And if you’re not emotionally healthy, it impacts your desire to do healthy things,
such as exercise or eat right.

Examine your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health. What areas of your
life are hurting right now or need some work? Note them and be specific about what
improvements you’d like to see.
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Read PSALM 103:2-3. According to these verses, what benefits do we have when we
give our lives to God?
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Study 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12 and explain in your own words what Paul was saying
here. How can you apply this to your own life? Is there anything that you are a
“slave” to?
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Obedience to Christ is key to making progress in having better health in every area
of life. Keep in mind when you’re striving to make changes that you have limits.
There are going to be things you’d like to accomplish but you can’t do it all in your
own strength and understanding. Joyce says, “We need to do what we can about the
part that we can do something about.”

Take some time to consider your goals and note the things you can do—your part—as
well as the things you need to trust God to handle. Is there anything you know you
can change, like going to bed earlier or making time to exercise? How can you invest
in your health more today? Be simple and practical.
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What’s the secret to successfully handling stress in your life? How can you reduce it?
Read about the Holy Spirit in John chapters 14, 15 and 16 to discover the ways He
wants to help us and list them here.
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You can’t have a sick soul and a healthy body. Jesus came that we might have Life.
He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us, teach us, convict us of sin, convince us of
righteousness…and if we’ll follow Him, we’ll have Life!
—Joyce
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FRIDAY
Sharing God’s Hope in Your Heart with Those on the Inside

Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being
mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
—HEBREWS 13:3 NLT

In the Bible, we read that Jesus was “moved with compassion” for people in need
(MARK 6:34). And in the verse above, we see how important it is to God that we, His
disciples, reach out with the same love and compassion He has for us, to help others
in need.

That’s the heart behind our Prison Ministry. As you saw in the program today,
inmates all over the world desperately need to know that someone truly cares about
them and that they are not forgotten. They need hope. And we can share God’s hope
—real hope—with them by simply visiting them and giving them a gift.

There are so many ways we can express the love of God and inspire others to have
hope. Oftentimes it’s little things, like a smile or a thoughtful gesture—opening a door
for someone or letting them go before you in line at the store—that make a person’s
day better. Maybe you are a good listener and are there for someone who is going
through a crisis that is tearing their world apart.

Wherever you are, God wants to work in your life, and through you, to help people in
practical ways right where you live, giving them life-changing hope.

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about how we show God’s love when we
help those in need. Look some of them up and write them down here. (Hint: If you
need help getting started, use a concordance to look up references for words like
love, share, hungry, poor/poverty and forgive/forgiveness.)
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God wants to use you to show His love to others and make their lives better. He has
amazing plans for your life and He’s given you the talents and abilities you need to
walk them out. Search your heart as you spend time in prayer and ask God to show
you what He’s created you to be and do. Write down what He reveals to you.
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SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:20 (NIV) says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,
as though God were making his appeal through us.” Consider how you are Christ’s
ambassador in the world around you.

What can you do today to reach out and help someone in need in your neighborhood,
family or workplace? How can God use you to “make his appeal” known to people in
your sphere of influence? Remember that it’s more important to show God’s love
than preach about it without living it.
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God works through people, and He wants to use YOU to be an answer to someone’s
prayer. He will provide ways for you to share His love with others, because
EPHESIANS 2:10 (NIV) says, “We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do
good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

So be full of hope and expect Him to do something good in you, for you and through
you today!

Hope is not something we have based on our circumstances. Your real life is in you—in
how you think, the attitudes you have—through the forgiveness of your sins and a
deep, intimate, personal relationship with God.
—Joyce