Finding Joy

A friend recently requested prayer that she would find joy in what is, for her, a very joyless work situation. Well, my first response was that she wasn't looking for joy, but happiness. Happiness comes with our circumstances; when things are going good, we are happy, but when things turn difficult and unpleasant, happiness flees, only to return when the trouble has passed. But Joy...ahh, joy can abide within us in the midst of the most difficult, unhappy circumstances...

So, my friend wanted to know, how do we find joy? And I, being older (barely), more experienced, and full of wisdom, said..."Good question." And I realized I wasn't really sure exactly how we find it. I mean, I know the stock scriptural answer, "Joy comes from the Lord," but if it is missing from our lives, how do we find it? Because, honestly? I could use more of it myself...there is a reason Eeyore is my profile picture! And while God has truly made me a new creation and removed the Eeyore from this heart, still, there are days....well, let's just say that if every cloud has a silver lining, there are days when I can find the tarnish on the silver lining...

So, I thought I'd look at how to find joy, and what I discovered anew is this: We don't find joy. We choose joy. If we are a Christian, God has already given us joy:
"The fruit of the spirit is love, JOY, peace..." 1 Cor 5:2
"Behold, I bring you good news of great JOY which shall be for all people..." Luke 2:10
Jesus is our joy, and through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, we have that joy placed within us.

But wait...if that's true, why don't I feel joyful? Because sometimes, I choose misery instead of joy, As ridiculous as that sounds, it's true--I choose focusing on my circumstances instead of on the promises of my Jesus.

Every morning when I wake up, I think, "no way. I am not getting up this morning...I hate getting up. I don't feel good. I'm still tired. Just forget it." And then I get up...
Why do I get up? Because I have two teenagers who depend on me, who won't get to school on time if Mom doesn't get them up and going. Because I have a job, and I like my job, and I especially like what my job affords me, like living in a house with a roof over my head.
So, even though I don't really want to leave the comfort and warmth of my bed, I choose to get up, because I know, deep down, that in the end, it's for the best.

Well, I need to remember that joy is a choice too...and sometimes, it is simply easier, more convenient, more "comfortable" to choose to focus on what I'm unhappy about. It's HARD sometimes to choose to look beyond the circumstances, but if we want what God has planned for us, we need to make that choice.

So, how do we CHOOSE joy? Because saying we need to, and being able to do it are very different things. Well, God has shown me over these past several days some very practical things we can do to help us learn to choose joy. Of course, there are many others, but these have proven to work for me. I'll break them into several blog entries, so this doesn't go on forever.

1. Spend time in the Word. It's my answer for almost everything, because it's God's answer for absolutely everything! We treat our reading of God's Word like it's optional, but if we want to live joyfully, passionately, abundantly, as God desires, this is NOT an option. The Word has the power to change our lives...literally! Jesus said, "If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you shall ask what you will, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." Now remember, JOY is one of the fruits...so, by letting his word remain in us, we become more capable of bearing, showing forth, that fruit!

You'll have to wait for the next posting for #2 and #3!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

A Call to Radical Commitment

The title for this blog, as well as most of its content, is not original from me--but it is worth posting if even one person has not read it before.

This was sent to me by a friend--it is by Rick Warren, written on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Saddleback Church. It was meant, evidently, as a charge to himself and his church--this is NOT just something to read and nod our heads and say, "yeah, I'd love to be like that." There is a place at the bottom to sign and date it--and while I urge others to print it and sign it, I also urge you NOT to do so lightly, just to say you've done it. Sign it because you MEAN it, and then commit to living it. Because following Christ, dying to self and living for Him and through Him, isn't something we should just "want" to do, it's something we must make the conscious decision to do. In my own life, this past year has been a process of coming to that point, of saying, "It's time to grow up, spiritually speaking. It's time to quit letting emotions rule, and quit letting satan eat my lunch like some big bully on the playground. It's time to simply say, 'this is where I stand, I can do no other' (quote from Martin Luther) and then press on toward the goal."
In short, I decided that it was time to really make a Radical Commitment, and Rick Warren has worded it as well as I ever could...
I have signed this statement, I have committed to LIVE this statement, and I have posted it on the wall in my office and stuck it in my Bible to remind me...it is my prayer that others will determine to live it too and that God's glory will begin to shine through our lives to a lost and hurting world.

A Call to Radical Commitment

Today I am stepping across the line. I'm tired of waffling, and I'm finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable. I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now!

I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying.

Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, "we" over "me," character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most, and I'll give it all I've got. I'll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.

I won't be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I'll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me.

When times get tough, and I get tired, I won't back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I'll just keep moving forward by God's grace. I'm Spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused, so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I'm a trophy of God's amazing grace, so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I'm ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Anyway.

Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes!

I want to be used by you in such a way, that on that final day I'll hear you say, "Well done, thou good and faithful one. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!"

What does this mean?

Today, I affirm this commitment to God and submit to his plans and purposes for my life, no matter what it takes.

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Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV)

A Precious Child

Don't you just love to look at pictures of children? Even when they're messy and dirty and causing mischief, they're just so cute! I have a picture of my youngest when he was about 2 years old, sitting on the floor, with his face almost entirely covered by ketchup from the hot dog he'd just eaten!

Of course, not every picture of a child is "cute." Pictures of starving children, homeless children, abused children...these are heart-wrenching images, but, for me at least, there is still just something so precious and endearing about the child, the innocence in their eyes, and you just want to clean them up, feed them, hug them and make everything better.

Now, pictures of ME? That's another story! I love taking pictures, and I HATE being in them...because when I see a picture of myself, I see all that's "wrong" with me...I'm too tall, too skinny, my teeth are not a Crest commercial waiting to happen, I always have the whole "red eye" thing going on, and somehow, every picture was shot on a bad hair day. Oh, and I often seem to have my mouth open in pictures (which is really quite realistic, since about the only time I'm not talking is when I'm eating). Trust me--there is a REASON I use Eeyore for my profile pic; he's more photogenic!

The other day, I came across a picture of one of my nieces that I just love...it's one that I played with in Photoshop, cropping it down to focus in on the eyes, which were particularly striking, and then posterizing it:
As I looked at this picture the other day, I thought about how a picture of a child just makes you want to hug them, and it struck me--THIS is how our Father sees us. He never, ever looks at us and thinks, "wow, she could stand to lose a few pounds," or "lose the beard, seriously, man." No, he just looks at us and sees something so precious He longs to hold us. He looks in our eyes and LOVE overwhelms Him (not that God can be overwhelmed the way WE think of it, but you get the idea).

Now, I could go a lot deeper with this (and probably WILL at some point), but for now, I just want to stop right here, because if we can truly GET this one point, that God LOVES us and we are absolutely precious to Him, no matter WHAT we look like on the outside (in fact, He MADE that outside, and He's pretty proud of it!), if we truly GET how we make Him feel...when we really get a hold of that truth, it will indeed set us free. Free from our self-critical natures, free from our fears, free from the baggage we carry around, from our concerns about how others see us. Free to just Love Him. And there IS nothing greater in this life.

Go right now and find a picture of yourself--or better yet, look at yourself in a mirror. Not at your faults, not at your physical features...look at YOURSELF, the you that God sees. See the child there that He loves so much He just wants to pick you up and hold you...even when we've messed up, He still looks at us as a precious child and just wants to clean us up, feed us (spiritually), hug us and make everything better. Now, if THAT doesn't make you feel pretty good about yourself, nothing will!!

He loves you, as if you were still a little child...because, to Him, you are.
Be a child, and love Him back, freely, openly, without reservation!

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." " Matthew 19:14

Bite Your Tongue!

This is a picture of one of the stained-glass windows at my church, which I've played with and posterized.

I admire those who are organized enough to post to their blog every single day...I am NOT one of those people.

Today's thoughts are based on Matthew 12:34b, 36-37:
"For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks....But I tell you that mean will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned."

These are, to me, some of the most convicting words in Scripture--because I have uttered MORE than a fair amount of "careless words," words that I really do not want to ever have to talk to Jesus about.

Now, I already know that my eternal destination is secure--I have placed my faith in Christ and in the power of His Blood. So my careless words aren't gonna keep me out of heaven; that's my home and I KNOW that I'm going there when my earthly journey is done.

BUT--I may just have some " 'splainin" to do when I get there. The way I think about it is this: I have two boys, both teenagers. They go out and do things; the oldest one is driving now, so he's out on his own more and more. But they KNOW, without doubt, that they have a home to come back to. It doesn't matter what they do, or what they say--this is still their home, and their mother still loves them. HOWEVER...when their mother finds out that they have said something that they shouldn't have, then they may have a little "Come to Jesus" meeting when they get home. They still have a home, they still have my love, but they are also going to have to explain why they said what they did.

Why did Jesus apparently feel so strongly about these "careless words" we speak? Because what we say, and especially what we say without thinking, reflects what our hearts are full of. That's what He says in verse 34, that the mouth is simply uttering what the heart contains...

What's in your heart? One way to tell is to pay attention to what comes out of you. I must admit, I can sometimes be very careless about what I say--I have a dry wit, a very sarcastic sense of humor, and enjoy making fun of things...but sometimes that borders on making fun of people, not things, of tearing others down instead of building them up, of simply being careless about what I say.

So, if I don't want to have to explain to Jesus why I said what I said, maybe it'd be good to start thinking a little more BEFORE I say it.

A good rule of thumb for whether to say what you're thinking is, not surprisingly, also found in Scripture. It's Philippians 4:8, and I'll end with it:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

Shining Star

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. Philippians 2:13-16, NIV

When we're young, I think most of us daydream of someday being a "star." Maybe a Rock Star, or a Football Star, or a Scientist Star who develops the cure for all cancers...I was a reasonably decent soccer goalie, even played on a team that won the state under-18 title one year and came in second the year before that. But I daydreamed sometimes, of being a STAR, making incredible saves to the roar of crowds. Even IF they'd HAD women's professional soccer back then, I would never have made it, except maybe as a second alternate to the 9th string goalie!

At the root of these dreams is our desire to be noticed, to have others pay attention to us and LIKE what they see. We want to "shine like stars in the universe."

Well, God says we CAN--but we can't do it by our own efforts or clever thinking. And the more I try, the more I end up just looking like the rest of the world, my light safely hidden under its bushel.

When you look up in the sky on a dark, clear night, what do you see? (Granted, these days, it's harder and harder to see anything, since we have used electricity to illuminate pretty much the entire planet 24/7) But, you see the brightest stars, or the one that seems to almost be twinkling.

How can we be those bright, twinkling stars? Well, we can start with what God tells us here:

1. Do everything without complaining or arguing. Ouch. Don't know about you, but I'm definitely already in trouble! I must have never noticed the "out" after the "with," because sometimes I think I've made a fine art of complaining. Have you ever thought about how often you complain and grumble and argue and just generally demonstrate a not-very-cheery attitude? . Oh, and "anything" means "anyBODY" too! But God doesn't say here, "save your complaining and arguing for the stuff that really matters to you" or "don't complain or argue unless..." He says don't do it! Make it your goal to get through one entire day without complaining about ANYTHING...nothing, nada, zilch, zero. Well, if there are no more posts to this blog, it'll be because I imploded from trying to keep from complaining!
2. Hold out the Word of Life. Now first of all, before you can hold anything out, you gotta HAVE it in the first place! Put God's Word in your life--which to me means two things: first you have to make sure that The Word is in your life...Christ. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....in Him was life and that life was the light of men...and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1, 4, 14 If you have not asked Christ into your life, then His light is not in you, and you don't HAVE the Word of Life, in order to hold it out to anyone else. But for those who have his light, are you taking hold of His Word and keeping it in your heart, so that you can hold it out to others? How much of Scripture have you memorized? Here's an idea--each day, take one or two Scripture verses and write them down. Pray that God would show you meaning in those verses, and then look for how many times and how many different ways you can apply those verses during the course of the day. When you see how God used those verses in your life, write them down. You'll be amazed at how the Word of God can truly, supernaturally, change your life! And as you begin to take IN His Word and apply it to your life, something remarkable happens...you begin to shine! And people take notice.

" When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."
Acts 4:13

Unchained Melody

At a conference I attended recently, the speaker ended her message on the last night by asking us to imagine dancing through life with a God who loves us passionately. Then she played a song by Mary Mary and danced--and as she danced, she got others to come up and grab on and start dancing, too, until there was a long "train" of dancers, and those who weren't part of the train were dancing in the aisles (of a church!!) and at the seats.
I'm a middle-age, conservative Southern Baptist and I don't dance--not because of my religion, but because of my rhythm, or my lack thereof. I'll sing, I'll sway, I might even tap my foot a bit, but I don't dance. But that night...I danced. Oh, I looked goofy all right--God didn't choose that moment to suddenly make me light on my feet, I was not suddenly endowed with a supernatural sense of rhythm...but I WAS freed from the chains that sometimes keep me from dancing, both literally and figuratively. Self-image, fear of failure and ridicule, depressive tendencies are just a few of the things that have shackled me, but God wants us to be FREE from those things.

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
David danced before the ark of the covenant, because he was free to love God. David danced, practically "nekkid" in the middle of the streets with all the little servant girls around. His wife, Abigail, was shackled by pride and fear of what others would think, and she was absolutely dismayed to see her husband, the King, carrying on in such an undignified manner. She tried to talk some "sense" into him and enlightened him about what a complete fool he had made of himself...David's response was to tell her that he would become "even more undignified than this" if that's what worshipping God led him to do.

That conference was months ago, but I'm still learning to dance, and I'm discovering that as I learn to, as Paul put it in Heb 12:1-2, "lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us..." I find it easier and easier to worship Jesus my Lord and live my life "unshackled."

I could say LOTS more about this topic, but am developing it as a topic for my speaking ministry, so I'm not going to give it all away here....

What keeps your heart from dancing before the Lord? What weighs you down and shackles you to this world, instead of feeling the freedom God gave us through Christ? Give your burdens to Jesus!! He asked you to, you know: "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Mat. 11:28)." Then put on some music, and dance!!

Shackles(Praise You) by Mary Mary:
Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
(What'cha wanna do?)
I just wanna praise you
(Yeah, yeah)
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
(Uh feel me?)
And I'm gonna praise you
(What'cha gon do?)
I'm gonna praise you

In the corners of mind
I just can't seem to find a reason to believe
That I can break free
Cause you see I have been down for so long
Feel like the hope is gone
But as I lift my hands, I understand
That I should praise you through my circumstance

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
I just wanna praise you
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise you
I'm gonna praise you

Everything that could go wrong
All went wrong at one time
So much pressure fell on me
I thought I was gon lose my mind
But I know you wanna see
If I will hold on through these trials
But I need you to lift this load
Cause I can't take it anymore

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
I just wanna praise you
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise you
I'm gonna praise you

Been through the fire and the rain
Bound in every kind of way
But God has broken every chain
So let me go right now

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
I just wanna praise you
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise you
I'm gonna praise you
[repeat x3]

Take them off
What'cha gonna do, yeah

Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance
I just wanna praise you
I just wanna praise you
You broke the chains now I can lift my hands
And I'm gonna praise you
I'm gonna praise you