Rejoice Always!

I want to share something I read this morning in a devotional by Ann Voskamp.  I have found this truth in my own experience, but she has given it words.  And reading them just really hit me.  I hope you get something from them too. :)

 

The following are excerpts from Ann Voskamp, On Thousand Gifts Devotional: Joyous Grace:

 

"Dear brothers and sisters, when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy." 

James 1:2 NLT

 

Can we really expect joy at all times?

 

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

 

I may feel disappointment and the despair may flood high, but to give thanks is an action and rejoice is a verb and these are not mere pulsing emotions.  While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving.

 

Joy doesn't negate all other emotions - joy transcends all other emotions. 

 

Only self can kill joy.

 

The demanding of my own will is the singular force that smothers out joy. 

 

Dare I ask what I think I deserve?  A life with no discomfort, no inconvenience?  What do I really deserve?  God does not give rights but He imparts responsibilities - inviting us to respond to His love-gifts.  Proudly refusing to accept this moment, dismissing it as no gift at all, I refuse God.

 

Joy - it's always obedience.

 

Thy will be done.  This is the way the self dies.

 

I humbly open my hand to release my will to receive His...I accept the gift of now as it is - accept God - for I can't be receptive to God unless I receive what He gives.

 

Today, Lord, open my hand to joy in surrendered obedience.

My thoughts:

 

As I read this, many thoughts came to mind, but the example I want to share is about marriage.  I often hear people say they married the wrong person.  I say, the right person is the one you are married to.  Maybe you did not choose as wisely as you could have, but God's will is not that we find the "right" person (put in any circumstance here, job, etc.).  God's will is that we be sanctified and live as Christ lives.  Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and give his life.  The answer isn't who our spouse is, but our surrender to who our God is.

 

I pray that the Holy Spirit will give us eyes to see His many gifts of grace and that in choosing to give thanks and obey, we will find the joy He promises.  Let us pray for our own marriages and those around us.

 

The Power of A Song

With the rise and fall of the notes, music has the power to lift or lower our emotions.  Song speaks to us and, at times, for us.  Behind every song there is a story.  The song writer shares his story in the writing, while we the listeners hear our own story in the telling.  And a connection is formed between the writer and the listener.  A bond that says we are not alone.  There is someone who knows, who understands.

We yearn for story and song and find beauty in them, because God has created us in his image and he is the author of the ultimate story.  Since the beginning of time God has been writing His story and inviting us to see our own story within His.  To find a connection with Him and know that we are not alone. 

If we will have ears to hear, we can hear Heavens melody and our joy is made full.  He will put a new song in our heart, a song to share with others.  I know he has done it for me.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40:1-3

Holiness

I want to share a little personal experience with you.  After returning from our recent cruise and feeling a bit gluttonous, my husband and I embarked on several days of fruit and/or liquids only.  It became evident from our bodies reaction that the detox was needed.  Yikes!  I also realized the detox my soul needed. It was certainly a confirmation of why I have felt compelled to fast during Lent. 

After a couple days of nothing much to eat but fruit smoothies, my tastes and desires began to change.  Instead of my normal desire for junk, I was dreaming of simple healthy food.  As I discussed this with my husband, he agreed and we talked about how when you are hungry, you are satisfied with simple food, but when you are constantly full, it takes something more spectacular, more pleasurable, i.e. junk food laden with salt and sugar. 

 

Isn't this so in our spiritual life too?  When we are hungry and in need we find such satisfaction in God, but when we become constantly full of the world, we lose our appetite for Him and need to seek bigger and better pleasures.

 

And that is what this fast is to me...self-denial in order to be hungry for God.  To make sure he is my master rather than my flesh.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

 

Jesus said to the Father in John 17:17-19,  "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified."  And the prophet Isaiah talked of a highway of holiness in chapter 35, verse 8.  "Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God." ( 2 Cor. 7:1)  God desires our holiness and has given us His Spirit to accomplish it.  So, this week let us pray for one another and for the Church at large, that His holiness be perfected in us through faith.  We can pray with confidence, knowing that our sanctification is the will of God and He will answer according to His promise and faithfulness.

 

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. " 1 Thess. 5:23

 

Reality Shows

I admit I am prejudice against reality shows.  They are a pet peeve of mine, because whose reality are they any way?  Not the majority of humanity for sure, if any at all.  Vacation isn't reality either.  I know, I just got back.  Reality was the next day...unpacking, loads of laundry, cleaning house, scrubbing the toilet.  There was no one to clean up after me, make my bed or scrub my toilet. 

The truth is, a good dose of reality is what most of us need.  I know it sure helped me.  I had just returned from part vacation and part meetings.  Both parts were excellent and could have been a bit heady.  Not to worry, for standing over the porcelain throne, I was reminded of my normalcy.  Who am I?  Just someone, like everyone else, an ordinary girl doing a dirty job.

Praise God for His lessons in humility.  If I am going to boast I will boast in Him alone!  ¹⁷ But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 2 Corinthians 10:17-18.

²³ This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
    or the strong boast of their strength
    or the rich boast of their riches,
²⁴ but let the one who boasts boast about this:
    that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
    justice and righteousness on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24