Tag: Joy

Delight, Desires

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“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭37:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Which side of the comma are you living in?

Take delight in the Lord,

or

And he will give you the desires of your heart?

Delight, desires.

What you focus on determines how you experience Him.

When you are focusing your life on delighting (joy, great enjoyment, and pleasure) in the Lord, the world seems like a wide open space for you to experience with someone you love.

When you focus on the desires of your heart, the world seems a small closed space in which you can only see what you don’t have and experience and envy what everyone else seems to have.

I’ve learned that my desires are not good taskmasters but they do make great idols.  They also make flawed foundations for a relationship with God or anyone else.

I’m not saying that your desires are bad, in fact, I believe that the Lord puts loads of good desires in your heart: the desire to love and be loved, to connect and be connected to,  to cherish and to be cherished.  What I am saying is that if the focus of your life is getting your desires met that you will be miserable and probably not even know why.

Living on the delight side of the comma means that your focus is on your relationship with God and being delighted in Him, by Him and with Him and trusting Him with the rest.

There is sweet freedom found in delighting in your relationship with God while letting Him hold all your desires to do what He may. He is a good Father and knows you more than you know yourself.

How are you delighting yourself in the Lord?

What is making you miserable?

What side of the comma are you living on?

Awareness

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“But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13:11 MSG‬‬

If you are aware of anything today – be aware of God.

If you are afraid of anything – be afraid of getting so busy making a living that you miss making a life.

If you have to make a do to list – put living in the joy of the Lord #1.

Take care of what you need to take care of today but make room for God to interrupt, intervene and weave His perspective into each thing you must do.

Are you so busy that you are oblivious to God?

What does being aware of God’s presence mean to you?

How can you make that happen?

May the awareness of God supersede all else as you are embraced by a Savior who loves you unconditionally and completely.

Restoration

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“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭51:12‬ ‭NIV

Today I am praying for the wind of restoration to sweep away the cobwebs of the fear and regret that are clinging to your soul.

I am praying for the worries and wonderings of “what if’s” be swept away because what is done is done and today is a new day.

Today is a new day to invite God in.

Today is a new day to embrace the hope you have in Jesus.

Today is your new day to walk in the power and purpose of God.

Ask Jesus to restore to you the joy of your salvation and fill you with vision & hope.

There is a sweet joy that captures the soul the moment you receive the washing away of yesterday and release the white knuckling fear you have for tomorrow.

Put all your yesterdays and tomorrows into God’s hands – He is big enough to handle them. 

May you live fully filled up and have a willing spirit to fully engage in what God has given you to do today.

 

The Sentence that Matters

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There are many things in life that are small but can make a big difference in someone’s life.

Like small sentences:

Don’t give up.

I forgive you.

I love you.

I miss you.

Pray for me.

Go for it.

You matter.

Forgive me.

Let go.

Yes.

No.

Which sentence do you need today?

Which sentence do you need to say today?

Jesus used many small powerful sentences to change people’s lives:

Follow me.

Your sins are forgiven.

Stand up and walk.

I am He.

Pray like this.

Be healed.

Which one do you need to hear today?

Sometimes, the most important things are said (and heard) in the smallest of sentences.

The sentence that matters is the sentence that is said.

Use them, receive them, say them to someone who needs to hear the truth of them today. 

 

Heaven

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Earth is not our home- heaven is.

What does heaven look like? What does it feel like? I don’t know. But I do know what the Word says about the atmosphere God creates in the place that He dwells:

“Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His dwelling place.”

1 Chronicles 16:27 NIV

I may not have the details of what it looks like but I know that it is magnificent. More than that, joy and strength permeates the air and fills its rooms. Truthfully, wherever God is, He brings these attributes with Him. They are a part of who He is.

Where He is, strength abounds and joy lives.

Heaven is a real place and someday you will be there.

Until then, may you experience God’s presence here on earth and be filled with such peace and deep joy that it makes you homesick for heaven.

Made for More

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You are created to live every day with:

overwhelming love,

deep joy,

persistent peace,

solid patience,

thoughtful kindness,

soul deep goodness,

stubborn faithfulness,

grace-filled gentleness and

Spirit inspired self-control.

What a beautiful existence, can you imagine?

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God wants you to do more than just imagine it, He wants you to live it.

Jesus paid for it.

The Holy Spirit provides it.

You can live it.

You were made for more, don’t settle for anything less.

What is holding you back?

It’s the Holidays

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As we head into Thanksgiving Week and then Christmas right after, I want to remind you that the holidays can be wonderful and terrible at the same time.
As much as they create opportunities for new memories, they also bring reminders of old ones. Moments of joy and thanksgiving are often mixed with sadness and loss.
Jesus allowed himself to feel emotions, all of them. He mourned. He loved. He was thankful. He knew that there was time for all of them and that they often overlap.
Jesus knew that there is:
“a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,”
‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬
This year, give yourself permission to feel all the emotions this time brings. Walk with Jesus through them, acknowledge them, embrace them. Grieve if you need to.
When you take time to mourn, you make room in your heart.  Ungrieved losses of the past must be processed so that you can fully experience the moments of joy in the present.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean that you are always happy or only feel “good” emotions. It means that you choose to walk with Jesus through all the emotions that this time in your life brings.
Walking with Jesus during this time means you are more fully present in it than you have ever been before.
May you fully embrace and be fully embraced by Jesus as you experience this holiday season with Him by your side.