31 Days - Joy chose me!

 Tonight I attended a Women of Faith conference in Portland, OR.  In an arena filled with mostly women, and a few brave men...we worshiped our God with Kari Jobe, laughed til we cried with Anita Renfroe, and heard a message from Dr. Charles Stanley - God loves us, God wants us to be whole.  

 

As I think back over the evening, I remember the thrill of the bass pounding through the room...echoing inside my chest as we sang "We are the light of the world.  We are a city on a hill.  We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine."  The hundreds of voices raised in praise to our glorious, all-powerful, loving God....the echoes of joy that filled that room HAD to reverberate all the way to the heavens.  

 

Women of all ages.  Women of all backgrounds.  Women with so many different stories.  Women with hearts that ached.  Women with hearts that have been healed.  Women (and those few men) who have come together for a single purpose...to spend time in fellowship and worship of our Creator, the one who knit us together individually...and now corporately.

 

At times, you could feel the pain...dark, dreary.  But then came a reminder of how much God loves...how much He longs to make each of us whole...  And then, you'd see heads nod, tentative smiles begin to grow, hands unclasp in laps, eyes grow bright...  And joy was in that place.  

 

One of the women shared the following verses at the very beginning of the evening: 

 

Psalm 126:2-3

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are filled with joy.

And that's how it was in that arena tonight. We were filled with laughter. We sang songs of joy. We thought of all the things the Lord has done for us...all the things the Lord can do...all the things He wants to do for us...and we were filled with joy. As we joined together in prayer, hundreds of heads bowed, hundreds of hands holding the hand of someone in the next seat, hundreds of mouths whispering, hearts crying out...I could feel waves of emotions running through that room, through me. And overwhelmingly, over the top of it all....joy.


And I thank God for the opportunity to be in this place this weekend. To look forward to hearing Ann Voskamp and the other speakers tomorrow share what God has put on their hearts this weekend, and to worship with MercyMe. I thank God for the friends I came with and the friends I will make.


Tonight I didn't have to choose joy....it chose me.  The Lord has done great things for us...for me.  And I am so grateful!

31 Days - Joy in the 23rd Psalm

So, one of my little tasks at work is to collect the mail from the staff mailboxes in the fellowship area and take them to the mailboxes in the main office.  Today, I happened upon this quote on an article left for one of the pastors.  It just jumped off the page at me and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it all evening.

To believe the Twenty-third Psalm 

is to live a life of victory, a life of joy and peace,

a life triumphant in prayer, in Bible study, in service.

-Dr. Robert C. McQuilken

Wow...read that again.  Slowly.  Let it soak in to your mind, your heart.  Think about it...  And then, read the 23rd Psalm...here, I'll put it right here:

Psalm 23
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.

 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Need to read that again?  It's ok, go ahead....

Now think about this...if you lived your life BELIEVING the 23rd Psalm, what would that look like?  

The Lord is my Shepherd - He leads me, guides me, protects me, provides for me.  I have no need to worry, or fear, or want.  Peace.  Joy.  Love.

He restores my soul - He gives me places to rest, moments to quiet my mind and my life and my soul.  Peace.  Contentment.  Joy.

He leads me in paths of righteousness - He teaches, reproves, corrects, gives wisdom.  He speaks to me in His Word.  He puts people in my life who speak truth in love, who keep me accountable.   Righteousness.  Holiness. Love.

I will fear no evil for you are with me - No fear of death - our own or someone else's.  No fear of evil.  He protects His own. He is always with us.  He hears our prayers. Comfort.  Love.

You prepare a table....anoint my head with oil...my cup overflows...goodness...mercy - He gives from His grace, in abundance, with love so that we can live triumphantly...so that we can give and share with others.  Grace.  Big grace!

Grace, peace, love, joy.  

Live believing the 23rd Psalm.  Pray.  Study the Word.  Serve.  Choose joy each and every day.

31 Days - All Joy and Peace

Romans 15:13 (HCSB) 
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I love this verse.  There's so much held in those 32 words.  It's a blessing passed on by Paul in his letter to the Romans, and to today's reader.  I can imagine how one of those early Christians may have felt...to read those words from Paul and know that he was praying those things for me....hope, joy, peace...the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  It would give me a certain confidence...the kind that comes from hope, joy, and peace...the kind that comes from knowing the love of God...the kind that comes out of believing...or as another version puts it - trusting in Him.

Do you see it?  God offers those things to us through His glorious grace...and all we have to do is believe in Him.  It's a choice isn't it?  A choice to believe...then, to receive. 

You can have hope...even in a seemingly hopeless situation.  You can have joy...even when things seem desolate and dark.  You can have peace...even when it feels like you are in the midst of a tornado of turmoil.  By choosing to believe...by giving your heart, your life, your entire being over to the Creator of all things.  By believing in Jesus Christ, the savior of sinful mankind.  By allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to fill you and flow through you.  By trusting in a God who never leaves your side, no matter the situation.

When you believe that God loves you, that Christ died for you, that the Holy Spirit will guide, encourage, and empower you...you choose a life of hope; you choose joy; you choose peace. 

What will you choose?  A life of looking for your own way?  A life of disappointment and grief?  A life of discontent?  Or will you choose a life abundantly blessed?  A life eternal...with all hope and joy and peace?

I choose to believe.  I choose the joy that can only come from walking close to the God of hope.


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Counting grace gifts illuminates joy - Joy Dare for October 2:  3 gifts falling
1. maple leaves on my lawn
2.dropping temps means fall has come
3. the number on the scale  :)

31 Days to Choose Joy

I've decided to join in the Nester's 31 days challenge.  31 days to write on the topic of your choice.  My choice?  Well....joy...my One Word 2013.

Remember this?                               

Well...here it is...October...10 months into my year of joy...and I haven't talked about it much lately...but I have been choosing it often.

So, for the next 31 days, I want to look at lots of different places in the Word of God that speak to joy.  I want to share with you my moments of joy...the joy I find, the joy given to me, the joy I choose, the joy that is in the Lord.

Can't wait to see what this month brings...as I focus on joy and share it with you!

Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!

Nehemiah 8:10b

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Are you counting 1000 gifts?  Today's Joy Dare was to find 3 gifts orange...
1. pumpkins all in a pile at the grocery store
2. pretty little african violet growing in an orange pot on my desk
3. bright orange shoes on daughter's feet

Do you KNOW?

These words...Ephesians 3:17b-19
"that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 


And then...these words....Romans 8:38-39
"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Do you KNOW how much He loves YOU?  

Dig into His Word.  Read it...find out for yourself...just how big is His love for us. 

Sharing an old post today

I just re-read an old post...and want to share it with you again today...How to wait on the Lord
And just in case you're wondering....I'm still learning how to do this well...

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Take Every Thought Captive Challenge - Weeks 3-4

Well, been a little behind in writing on this challenge...but the sermon at church today seemed a good reminder to me to get back on track. 

Pastor Steve preached on Romans 8:5-14 today.   Verse 5 specifically jumped out at me this morning...

Romans 8:5

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.


Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  Read that again.  And maybe again.


And maybe read this one out loud.  Then perhaps quietly to yourself...and again...and again...

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, 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.

When we work to take every thought captive, to be aware of what goes on in our minds, to change our thoughts, to change our actions, to look more like Jesus and less like the world....we must set our minds on things of excellence.  We must focus more on the fruits of the Spirit and less on the desires of the selfish flesh.

Galatians 5:22-25
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 Let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us take each and every thought captive.  Let our thoughts and our actions bring glory to our Father in heaven.

 

Pastor Steve suggested four ways to keep our minds set on the Spirit.  I'd like to share them here as I close out this challenge.

1. Prayer - talk with and listen to God.  Keep the communication open.

2.  Bible study - be in the Word, know the Word, keep it in your heart and ponder it daily.

3.  Slow down - take time for solitude and silence with the Lord.

4.  Accountability - find someone you trust who can speak with you about the state of your thoughts - we tend to listen to the lies whispered by the darkness...a good friend can help you see those lies for what they are and replace them with truths.

 

 

  "...and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ."     

 2 Corinthians 10:5