Five Ways We Can Loose Our Joy

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5. We can loose our joy when we feel all alone.

Ponder:
a. Do you have the feelings that no one gets it like you do?
b. Do you think, "I'm the only one that is right"?
c. Do you isolate yourself from other believers?
e. Do you have an 'iron" in your life; "iron sharpens iron."

To conclude: "If you've lost your joy, it's right where you left it-in His presence."

Five Ways We Can Loose Our Joy

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4. We can loose our joy when we are exhausted

Ponder:
a. Are you running from God or to Him?
b. Are you tired of the work or in the work?
c. Are you neglecting to rest

Yesterday in our Sunday School lesson we talked about how we need to demonstrate our love to Jesus and to do so as a child would; free, simple and without any thought to others. Last night in our small group this came up again; discussed how Jesus wants us to come to Him as a child. This is God speaking His heart...you don't have to doubt it when he confirms it from the Word. One of the passages we looked at is written below for you to ponder.
Luke 18:15-17 (NKJV)
Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. [16] But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. [17] Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."
OK, what does this have with loosing our joy? I would like to challenge you to rest in Him by celebrating Him as a child. Take a break and just dance before your Daddy with singing and laughter. Close the blinds if you have to but crank up the music and sing and dance to Him and just see if your joy doesn't return.

Five Ways We Can Loose Our Joy

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3. We can loose our joy when we become "wonder junkies"

Ponder:
a. We are at risk most just after we have experienced a spiritual "high"
ie Elijah after Mount Carmel; Jesus after His baptism
b. Are you enjoying Him in the midst of the mundane, normal daily routine or are you longing for another mountain top experience?
c. We can't move forward when we are looking back

Five Ways We Can Loose Our Joy

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2. When our talk exceeds our walk.

Ponder:
a. Are we saying all the right things but not doing all the right things?
b. Are we practicing what we are preaching?
c. Are there sins in our lives that we are justifying, excusing or ignoring?

May the Joy of the Lord be on you!

5 Ways We Can Loose Our Joy

I am in a study about the fruit of the Spirit and found the following information very relevant to the Christian journey. The writer of the study shared that there were five ways we can loose our joy. I will list one a day and then expound on it. Hopefully it will be a way back to the joy of salvation for someone.

5 Ways we can loose our joy

1. When our outpour exceeds our intake

We can become so busy doing and serving that we are not being refueled. In order for a car to continue to be effective it must stop long enough to receive that which it needs to keep moving forward.

Ponder: a. Are you serving more than you are seeking?
b. If you are serving more than you are seeking then are you serving without Him?
c. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears
much fruitl for without Me you can do nothing." John 15:5
d. What is God calling you to do and what are you calling yourself to?
e. Are there things God wants you to let go of?
f. Are you making God a consistent priority..."Seeking Him First", or giving God
the leftovers.
In order for us to continue to have JOY, we must seek our JOY and our JOY is JESUS! The more we are with Him (in the Word, under the Word and living the Word) the more we will experience complete and full JOY. Also, when we are abiding with Him we will be much more effective (bear much fruit) in our service.

Gotta go....I going to go and seek my JOY!

God Speaks!

Are you like me and amazed that the Almighty God, Creator of all things seen and unseen desires to talk to us? He wants to sit with us and fellowship, true heart to heart fellowship. Imagine the permission from the One and Only, All-powerful and All-knowing God to pour out our hearts to Him. Meditate on the thought that He wants to reveal Himself (His heart) to us. He wants to speak to us and He want us to hear Him.

Yes, God speaks to me. Yes, I hear His voice, no it is not an audible voice but might as well be. Communication is so key to any relationship and even more important to our relationship with our God. If I am not talking to Him...what good is that? If I do all the talking...what good is that? Remember He gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason; what He has to say is twice as important to what we have to say. If i don't stop long enough to listen...what good is that? He is longing for us to talk to Him about everything. He longs even more for us to be still and listen to Him with undivided attention. Let me say that one more time, He longs for us to be still and listen to Him with undivided attention.

How does God speak to me? Will, exactly the way Henry Blackaby stated it in Experiencing God; "God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Word, Prayer, the Church and circumstances to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways."

Just today in my QT I was praying and then journaled my thoughts from my prayer time. I actually wrote what I thought God had revealed to me and my purpose and then asked, "God am I off on this or on target?" Then I went to the Word (systematic reading plan...so it is completely out of my hands). God confirmed so very clearly that I was on target. He spelled it out so clearly to me, actually He repeated it back to me. That's God speaking. God speaks to me face to face. Yes, with great confidence and tear-filled eyes I can proclaim to the world, "God speaks to me."

Jon gave me a wonderful gift a few years ago. The gift is a picture I saw and exclaimed to him when I saw it, "That is what I imagine my QT with God looks like." A few months later on my birthday it showed up as his gift to me. Jon is so very thoughtful and wonderful to me. The picture is a lovely outside scene with wisteria climbing on the rails of an old porch. In the midst of the vines is an old table with a chair pulled out. The verse reads, "Come away to a Secret Place and rest for a while." Mark 6:31 I have a secret place to where I go and sit with my God. We share with one another and we get up from that place hand in hand and hearts beating as one. My Beloved is mine and I am His. Glory!

'....so great a salvation"

God has a tendency to repeat that which He wants us to ponder...so ponder I must.
Hebrews 2:3 "...if we neglect so great a salvation..."

I wonder how quick we have forgotten the great gift of salvation and therefore find ourselves neglecting it. Three clear indications of neglecting our salvation is a loss of joy in our names being written in the Book of Life (forgetting from where we have come from and to where we are going), no joy in His Word nor joy in His presence.

I am reminded yet again just how lost I was without Him. I was hopeless and purposeless. I was not alive but a dead man walking; just going through the motions and barely surviving. I had no reason to live therefore I was slowly dieing and hoping death would come quickly. BUT GOD! My two favorite words in all the Bible; BUT GOD. That is exactly what happened to me...God. He bent down very low and took hold of me. He captivated me with His love. I now belong to Him and He is mine forever more. He has lifted me out of the pit and set my feet upon a rock. I now have been filled with purpose and hope. I am alive in Him! One day soon I will see Him face to face.

How could I neglect so great a salvation? How could I not rejoice in His salvation? How could I say to my Savior, "Thanks for saving me, I'll check You out when I get to heaven. Until then just be there for me whenever I want You to do something else for me?" I can not. I will not. I will cherish and rejoice in His great salvation.

Prayer and Fasting

I have spent the last three days fasting and praying. The Lord led both Jon and I to do a complete fast of all foods and also led me to fast from all TV. Yet today I am so full and satisfied. He is enough! I opened wide my mouth and He filled it. You see I have tried to fast before but for different reasons one of which was to loose weight. When this was my purpose I could't get food off my mind and didn't find success. This time I was first led by my Pastor (spiritual authority) and then the Holy Spirit. I obeyed and found success because my heart was on Him and not the fast itself. It isn't in the giving up of food or other distractions it is in the purposefully and intentionally putting our whole attention with great intensity, fervency and urgency on the Lord's will. These last three days have been so very full....of Him.
The prayer gathering of the saints was refreshing and just plain powerful. The Lord promised his presence and ear when we gather together in His name. We invited Him to come and stand in our midst and He did. Glory! I think about all He sacrificed for me and how often I am unwilling to sacrifice for Him. This week I sacrificed food, TV, time, planned events, meal time, house chores (ok maybe not a real sacrifice). As I layed each on the altar I left empty handed but my spirit was richly blessed and completely satisfied.

Why are we so afraid to sacrifice on the altar? Why are we too busy with our own life and so often unwilling to forgo our life for seeking Him?

"But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

My prayer is that we will remain mindful of the things of God and not the things of man.

Deacon's Wives

Jon and I will soon be inviting the Deacon's and their wives over to jump start the new year. After we eat and fellowship we are going to divide up and talk to them about what the God has to say in their responsibilities as deacons and wives of deacons. If you have any pointers or helps to share with them let me know.

Grandchildren

What a wonderful time I had with my two grandbabies. Clay talks a mile a minute and so very smart for his age. He can count and knows all his numbers. He also knows all his letters and is learning to write them now..he can write his name and his sisters name. Ava, is just a joy! She has the most beautiful smile and she smiles often. Jon and I slept with our grandchildren all week...to give mom and dad a break. I had so much fun taking care of them. I long to be more involved in their lives and to do all the fun things I would like to do with them. I long, I pray and I ask.