Joy? My strength?

It's been another six months since I last posted a blog.  (sigh)   The words just haven't been there.  I used to write so easily about how the wonderful life-giving truths of life in Jesus Christ had become mine.  My growth is different now.  It's less about journaling my way through issues and more like just living my life.  That's not a bad thing at all.  I like writing, though.  I want to write, but instead I've been reading.

International Balloon Fiesta, Albuquerque, NM

I've heard that writers should be voracious readers, too.  Well, I have been that!  I hope that in some subconscious way the reading is teaching my brain something that will help me write better -- or at all!  But anyway, this morning some thoughts did come to me that seemed to be well suited to this blog.  They were about joy.  I'm learning something about joy.

I was awake but having a hard time getting up.  I've had something called adrenal fatigue for several months and mornings are hardest.  I pretty much never wake up refreshed, so I have to choose to get moving.  As I do the energy slowly comes.  "This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it"  (Psalm 118:24) came to mind and I said it aloud.  The effect was immediate.  Not a huge effect, but an immediate lifting of my mood.   It's happened before, so I know that this choice of rejoicing, being thankful, is important.  The Word of God says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  That's what I want to write about.

Joy is not an emotion.  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:23)  That means it is supernatural.  I don't think we hear enough about joy in that way.  I believe that joy is something that God provides us with to help us with life - even to give us life which is satisfying, meaningful, purpose filled, vibrant, and full.  When Jesus was praying in the upper room before going to out to Gethsemane, he said, "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them." (John 17:13 NIV)

Joy is mentioned a lot more in the Bible than I realized until I looked in a concordance.  My attitude toward my day this morning showed me how

Wonderful balloons!

powerfully joy affects us.  Nothing changed except that I chose to align myself with a scripture on rejoicing.  I didn't try to rejoice.  I just agreed that God had made this day; He had given me breath to wake up; He is sovereign over this and every day; He is my God and Father; today is in His hands and so am I.  That is a reason to rejoice!

This physical challenge has required me to really look at my thoughts, because I can let it depress me.  Sometimes I have so little motivation, I can't tell if it is depression or the affect of physical fatigue on my mind.  Maybe it doesn't matter, because I still have to choose a response.  (This is one reason I've been reading so much!  Sometimes it's all I feel up to doing.)  But God was so gracious to show me how quickly His Word made a difference to my whole being this morning. Joy is supernatural, it is transcendent, and it transforms us from the inside in the presence of any circumstance.

Please do not think for one minute that I am saying we should all work harder to rejoice or suggesting a formula.  This is all about the grace we have from God in relationship with Him.  God made the way through the cross of Jesus and our part is to choose what we will agree with.  As I thought about the power of joy, three words came to mind.  When we face unwanted circumstances (even terrible ones) we can Accuse God (You are not good!  I reject you.  I deny your existence.  I hate you.); we can Argue with God (If you are loving, how can you let this happen?) or we can Trust God (I don't understand.  I don't like this, but You are here with me.  My hope is in You and I need you to carry me).

So Cute!  (source unknown)

This must be how Joy becomes our strength.  When we refuse to be alone in life's circumstances, we cling to God.  We know that everything Jesus has is inside us as well, for He is there.  When we get that, we are strong and we have hope.  Not our strength, but Jesus's.  And not just our human emotions, but Jesus' peace and joy are there.  Our souls can defer to the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ in us.  In Him we can overcome. We can rejoice in the fact that He is going with us through our valley of the shadow of death.  We know that He will bring us out to green pastures and quiet waters once again.  He will restore our souls and provide an overflowing cup of all good things. (Psalm 23)  And we will know Him better for having walked these paths together.

Joy is a huge gift.  Ask for more.  Jesus prayed that we would have His full measure of it.

Sailing Along!

My husband and I have been in a course called “Forming” that is truly life changing.  It’s not the course that is changing our lives, but the way we are learning to connect with God’s power to change.  He is the one who changes us, but most of us feel obligated to help Him to a greater or lesser degree.  God never meant for us to work hard at being alive in Christ, but many of us are never taught the alternative.

(sorry-used before -- taken from Staten Island Ferry)

The simple analogy for Forming’s approach to Christian transformation is the comparison of rowing and sailing.  The rowing method of life change is descriptive of the work we do to live up to the commands of scripture.  We study the Bible to understand the principles God lays out and to copy the methods of others whose story exhibits how this works, or whose encouragement cheers us on with promises and instruction.  We see examples of the life God wants for us and we try to get there.  We even pray to get there.  And we even make progress because God is so good.

The sailing method of life change is about entering into such a close and honest relationship with God that we are able to hear what He is revealing to us uniquely about where we are and where He is taking us in our walk with Him.  The effort we make is to commune with God and then what we hear and see from Him transforms us from the heart outward.  Change becomes joyful and feels so natural as our sails catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and we are carried forward.  We stand amazed and enthralled with the ride we are on with God.

I spent a lot of time rowing before I came into a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit, but my husband readily confesses that he was not a rower – or a sailor.  He says he was a drifter.  He was in a boat (had received salvation and saw God’s grace in his life) but he was just drifting along -- wherever.  After a few weeks of Forming class he was hearing that God had MUCH more for him if he would purposely and regularly engage with Him.  In other words, if he would put up the sail in his boat and operate the tiller, he would catch the wind!  Now Dan is enjoying morning quiet times with God and enthralled with being on his own journey.

One thing we talked about in class is spiritual disciplines.  Take that quiet time for instance.  A person can row through his quiet time by doing it as a requirement (as law).  And there may be benefit to this.  Quiet times are good.  But if it is a time of aligning your sails for the day, it can radically change your life.  Aligning your sail can look like this:  You find a scripture (or you are in a circumstance) that is speaking to you; arousing something in your heart.  It could be something very pleasant like awareness of a wonderful promise or hope or just God’s care for you.  It could something negative like worry that you don’t measure up to this scripture, or anger at someone that is getting in the way of your peace.  Maybe you are challenged by the scripture, maybe you are blessed and encouraged.  Either way, it is an invitation to come to God honestly and engage in a conversation with Him about it. 

 

God keeps us safe on this journey (Hatteras lighthouse)

If you have issues with the idea or the practice of hearing from God then the book, the class, and the exercises will help.  I, personally, discovered awhile ago and to my delight, that God does speak to me during prayer and journaling.  I have been to retreats and conferences and Bible Studies and several Christian counselors through the years and each one helped me in the way I needed it at the time.  I am so grateful for each one!  But when I met my Wonderful Counselor and began “seeing him” all the time, I was never the same.  Things that held me back were forever healed in my soul.  That was before “Forming” but I am now learning more about how and why this relationship is God’s plan for every single child.  I just thought I was lucky!

Truly, the idea of having this blog and sharing what I have learned about life in Christ came out of the wonder and joy of relating to God under grace.  Grace became my way of growing up in faith and that is why I see so much beyond the narrow gate of salvation by faith in the Cross.  We do not enter into a life of trying to measure up to a higher standard (with promised higher rewards at the end).  We enter into a fantastic relationship with our Father, our Brother and our Helper.  

Forming is the work of David Takle and I hope you will look into it if you think you might be tired of rowing.  Blessings to you in the wonderful name of Jesus!

Be blessed to know you are holy.

Listen to God's Word in Leviticus 20:8. "I am the Lord, who makes you holy."

(source unknown)

  

     God's holiness is not what he does. Holy is who he is, the Holy One. He is without spot or blemish. His eyes are too pure to look on sin. Yet his plan of redemption called for Jesus to take our sins on himself and die to make us holy in him. We cannot make ourselves holy, no matter how hard we try or how perfectly we live. Our perfection is not holiness. Jesus was the only perfect one. The Hebrew word qadhash implies being pure, devoted to God, set apart for a special task or the worship of God.

For that definition we qualify, for God has chosen us and set us apart for a special purpose in life and to worship Him.  Jesus makes us pure and calls us to devotion.  Our response to this determines how much we get to enjoy who God is and what he has done on our behalf.  From our God-given position we can live the life we were created for.

 

      Beloved one, be blessed with knowing your holy Father. Be blessed with knowing how the holiness of Jesus is counted to your credit in his death on the cross. Nothing you ever do can make him love you less or love you more. Be free from your perfectionism and the perfectionism of others, because through your Father's eyes he sees you as perfect in his perfect and beloved Son. Be blessed with joy in God's holiness and your own. Our culture does not associate joy with holiness, but God says that our joyful shouting and singing is a celebration who he is!

Does it seem farfetched to also celebrate that the beauty of his holiness extends to you through Jesus Christ?  I believe that it is receiving this new position and identity that enables us to advance in holy conduct.  All the trying harder in the world gains us nothing because no matter how much we want to we can never live the life that Jesus lived, and that life is the standard.  But when all our guilt and fear is relieved by the holiness of Jesus in us, we can draw near and allow him to transform us from the inside out.

(Pipestem State Park, WV 2013)

While conduct is how we tend to judge, God looks at the heart.  When he sees a heart that trusts Jesus he is pleased.  A change of heart is a miraculous thing accomplished by the Holy Spirit.  All we have to do is give him permission and abide securely in a relationship of trust.  There may be layers of false beliefs to be removed, wounds to be healed, but a heart put into the hands of God in the Holy Spirit will be changed and the whole person will end up looking more and more like Jesus.  Don't be afraid to own the holiness that God ascribes to us.  It will lead to the transformation you have been hoping for.  That's God's promise.