Ha, so you know my last post about conquering anxiety? (If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, you can find it here) Yeah, so the battle I mentioned that is happening in our minds now... well, let's just say that that battle is alive and well. The devil is sneaky! Very sneaky. This last week or so has been a tough one for me.
Ever since I posted my last blog about anxiety, questions have been swirling in my mind. Questions like: Why am I doing this? What if I'm not qualified to do this? What if I lead people astray with something I worded the wrong way? What if I offend somebody by accident? I'm not a writer, what makes me think that I can do this? All of these "what if's" have just been swirling and swirling, like a tornado... Ironic right? Like I said, the devil is sneaky. He has used a busy week, and all kinds of distractions to make me lose focus on God and His word. The battle is strong... but I am still fighting.
Even through this battle, I see God working in my life. Throughout the last week, I have had multiple people give me notes of encouragement. These people are truly a direct blessing from God, and I appreciate them and their comments so much!
Let me put a disclaimer out there just to settle some of the "what if's" in my head. I am not a professional writer by any means. I am "new" to this whole living for Jesus life. Yes, I was raised as a Christian, but it was only within the last few years that I realized that the knowledge that I had learned growing up needed to be translated from my brain to my heart. Throughout the past few years, I have grown so much in my faith, and this blog has been an incredible tool to help with that. My prayer is that it will help you grow your faith as well. If I accidently offend any of you, please let me know, and I will try to fix it. (My intention is to help, not to offend anyone!) And yes, there are better, more profound writers out there, and I will do my best to direct you to them as I find them! (Jennie Allen, Emily Ley, Louie Giglio, Max Lucado, Lysa Terkeurst just to name a few of my favorites!)
Phew.. now that that is off of my chest, let's look at a song that my heart needed to hear... This one was recommended to me by my best friend (and sister)! She is one of the most joy filled people I know, and its no wonder that this is the song she cranks in her car when it comes on, much to my nephews dismay! :)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22, 23a
Do you think there is a reason that joy is the second fruit of the spirit, only after love? Joy is mentioned about 215 times in the Bible. (variations of the word - Enjoy, enjoyment, rejoice, rejoices, rejoicing are mentioned 59 times) That's a total of 274 times that the Bible mentions the word Joy, Rejoice or Enjoy! Do you think its a clue, that as Christians, we should be filled with joy?
There is always a reason to choose joy. "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4) Paul wrote the book of Philippians to the church of Philippi to encourage them to live joyfully in every circumstance. Being imprisoned for sharing the gospel, Paul was still able to preach the gospel to whomever he could. Throughout the book of Philippians, Paul uses the following ways to find joy in his life. He finds joy in:
Prayer - "I always pray with joy" (Philippians 1:4)
The preaching of Christ - "The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice." (Philippians 1:18)
Being able to spread the news of Christ "I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." (Philippians 1:25,26)
Knowing Christ is near. "Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (Philippians 4:4,5)
Having close friends who care for him. "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me." (Philippians 4:10)
Life is going to be hard, we are going to fight battle after battle. The devil will try to beat us down. But as long as we have Christ on our side, we always have a reason to choose joy and rejoice.
"However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20)
Christians have the biggest reason to smile: Our names are written in heaven! Remember, whatever sufferings, trials or battles we are facing, we are not facing them alone. God is with us, and the battle belongs to God. He is fighting those battles right beside us! And God doesn't lose. Ever.
"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm 16:11) With God, we find joy, true joy! Joy that will not end, but that will last forever.
There is always a reason to smile... choose joy today!
Bonus!! I couldn't talk about choosing joy, and not include this song...Enjoy!
If you are interested in purchasing "Things that Got Us Here" by the Sidewalk Prophets, to hear this song, and other great ones, click on the Amazon link above in the blog! As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
SMILE CREDITS:
Ben McDonald | David Frey | Hannah Ellis | Josh Bronleewe
© 2019 Pencil Prophet Publishing (Admin. by CURB | Word Music Publishing), Run Run Milo (Admin. by CURB | Word Music Publishing), Curb Wordspring Music (Admin. by W.C.M. Music Corp.), Josh Bronleewe Music (Admin. by W.C.M. Music Corp.), Curb Dayspring Music (Admin. by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.)
JOY CREDITS:
Ben Glover | Joel Smallbone | Luke Smallbone | Matt Hales | Seth Mosley | Stephen Blake Kanicka | Tedd Tjornhom
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