Category: joy

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Service With An Attitude

How many times in a week do we complain when we are asked to do something menial, trivial, beneath us? Clean a toilet, help a co-worker with a mess they’ve made, a job that’s “below” our station…

What if that had been Jesus attitude?

I still can’t get my mind around it fully – that Almighty God came in the form of a baby and subjected himself to a human life. Why? 

It was because of His great love.  Birthed from that love was His desire to see us returned to our right relationship with God, the Father, that same fellowship that Adam and Eve had in the garden before sin.

“The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth.”  John 1:14 ERV

Do we take the same attitude that Jesus took?

What if he had said to Father God, “I’ve thought about it and decided I’m not going to earth. Those people won’t appreciate what I’m doing, they will only expect more. They won’t realize who I really am; some of them will really hate me and spend all their time discrediting me and telling lies about me. No, I don’t need that kind of treatment – I deserve better than that.” But that’s not how He thought.

“In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought. He was like God in every way, but he did not think that his being equal with God was something to use for his own benefit. Instead, he gave up everything, even his place with God.  He accepted the role of a servant, appearing in human form. During his life as a man, he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death—death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 CEV

So, when things get hard to handle and you feel under appreciated, remember Jesus, God’s own Son. He left the perfection of heaven to come to earth – “mighty God” and became a servant to all.

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A Personal Letter

This last weekend I spent quite a bit of time writing my annual Christmas letter and addressing Christmas cards. They’ll all go out in the mail this week – old fashioned you say – a waste of time. Never!

With our world of instant communication I find it very refreshing to receive something personal, addressed to me and not the whole of the internet universe. When I was a kid I went to church summer camp. One of the most memorable events of the day was mail call. A letter from home. Then I went off to college and each day after lunch I would head to the student union building and hope to find something in my mailbox.

The most precious letters I ever received were when Dave and I were dating. He lived in southern California and I lived in central Arizona. I have saved all of those letters and every once in a while I read a couple and they take me back to when our love was new. So sweet and precious.

To know the value of a personal letter talk to a soldier who is deployed and thousands of miles from home or a senior citizen who no longer has the ability to drive themselves to meet with friends. The personal message conveyed in a letter is priceless.

Every time I pick up my Bible and read, I realize it is a personal letter written just to me. If I had been the only one on earth God still would have conveyed His message of love and good will to me. I do not take for granted the words on the page or the way the message has been protected through the years. The love that was expressed through the writers thousands of years ago has not changed.

And then I think of the heavenly Christmas card that was given on the night of Jesus birth.

“Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” Luke 2:9-11 NLT

The first Christmas card was written in the heavens. It was sent special delivery and was given to the most common of people, the shepherds. It was a personal message spoken to a few but given to all.

Make your outreach this Christmas personal. Convey the message of your heart to those around you. It may be just the thing they need to to brighten their day.

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The Gift List

I’m sure most of us have a “gift list” for December. It has the names of those we hold dear and want to do a little something special for. The love of our life is probably at the top followed by family and friends; somewhere, a little ways down the list could be the names of the neighbors, the kids teacher, the mailman, the garage collectors, the white elephant gift for the office and the secret sister gift.

Now that we’re thinking about the “gift list” let’s redirect our focus just a bit.

In November, I asked you all to join me in making a daily gratitude list. Each day I wrote down at least three things in my journal that I was grateful for from the day before. Yesterday I took time for go back and read those pages. You know what? It made me smile and my day was just that much better.

Since today is December 1st I’m going to ask that you join me in making a new list, the gift list.

Every day we receive small gifts from family, co-workers, even strangers but many times they pass unnoticed. I’m going to make a conscious effort this month to list the gifts I receive.

Those gifts could include a plate of cookies, a cheery phone call, a lunch date or a helping hand, a kind word or a gentle smile. It may be hearing your favorite song on the radio or in a store – just the thing you need to brighten your day. If we look, we will find little gifts everywhere.

“Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7 NLV

The most wonderful gift of all, of course, is God’s gift of His Son. Through the life and death of Jesus we have been given mercy, grace and love. Those should be the first gifts we recognize and put on our gift list.

“God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.” John 3:16 CEV

“Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.” James 1:17 ERV

As we go through this month and make our gift list let me encourage you to share what you receive with others. If you receive an act of kindness, share kindness. If someone gives you the gift of patience then share that patience with others. If you receive a box of chocolates or a plate of cookies, share those too. (Said with a smile on my face.)

When we give freely, our gifts may have a life long impact.

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Shout For Joy

I hope things get really noisy at your house today. I want you to shout for joy – yes, shout!

Does that sound silly to you? I hope not. We shout at sporting events for our favorite team, we rise to our feet in applause at the end of a concert or public performance; we shout when we are calling our kids home for dinner; we shout when we feel someone is in danger. So why not shout for joy?

Little kids do it all the time – they go outside to play and they shout – they giggle, they laugh, they yell with glee! At this time of year, we should be child like and overcome with excitement and joy. There’s so much to be thankful for – if you’ve been following along since the first of the month you have nineteen days of things you’re grateful for. Everyone of them should be worth shouting about.

On my list from yesterday I told the Lord I was grateful for His loving correction in my life. Yes, correction – I had talked to Him about a situation I was experiencing and He lovingly showed me that I needed to adjust my attitude. I was mumbling inside and it was disturbing my joy. I was quick to repent and my whole outlook changed.

I would shout right now but it would wake up the whole house, so…I will go outside in a little while and shout.

Today is a day to shout – Shout to the Lord, with a voice of triumph!!!

Remember in the movies when the battle would be over and those that were on the winning side would shout and toss their hats and other clothing in the air? That’s the picture I see when I read this verse – shout with a voice a triumph – not a voice of defeat or depression!!!!

“All of you nations, clap your hands and shout joyful praises to God. 2 The LORD Most High is fearsome, the ruler of all the earth. 3 God has put every nation under our power,
4 and he chose for us the land that was the pride of Jacob, his favorite. 5 God goes up to his throne, as people shout and trumpets blast. 6 Sing praises to God our King, 7 the ruler of all the earth! Praise God with songs. 8 God rules the nations from his sacred throne. 9 Their leaders come together and are now the people of Abraham’s God. All rulers on earth surrender their weapons, and God is greatly praised!” Psalm 47 CEV

Verse 5 reminds me of the children of Israel when they had marched around Jericho for seven days. For six days they had walked around the city in silence. On the seventh day they were given the command to march around the city in silence again but when the trumpets blew they were to SHOUT and the walls came crumbling down.

“The LORD said to Joshua:
With my help, you and your army will defeat the king of Jericho and his army, and you will capture the town. Here is how to do it: March slowly around Jericho once a day for six days. 4 Take along the sacred chest and have seven priests walk in front of it, carrying trumpets.
But on the seventh day, march slowly around the town seven times while the priests blow their trumpets. 5 Then the priests will blast on their trumpets, and everyone else will shout. The wall will fall down, and your soldiers can go straight in from every side.” Joshua 6:2-3

In obedience, they followed the Lord’s command and victory came! In obedience today, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice – why? Because you feel like it, probably not; because you can figure out the solution on your own, probably not; then why? Because God said so, He has a victory planned for you!

SHOUT!

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Whatever!

Yesterday was one of those days that I just had to sit down at my desk and get some work done. Things had been piling up and there was no getting around it, I had to give it my full attention.

This morning I took out my journal and was going to write down what I was thankful for from yesterday and I had to stop, pen in hand and think. There didn’t seem to be anything significant to record on the page. However, I knew that I had a good day. I was happy and content when I went to bed but how did I put that into words. Then the word came…whatever.

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. ” Colossians 3:23 NLT

Whatever. The large and the small, the mundane and the important, whatever we do should be done with diligence and devotion.  I was able to write on the gratitude list “a job well done”.

Sometimes we struggle thinking that what we do isn’t important because we aren’t as skilled or trained as others around us. We aren’t a teacher, scientist, doctor or engineer. Yet, if we do all our tasks with a grateful heart we can represent the Lord and there is no higher calling than that.

I was reminded of some servants who were at a wedding. Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave them a simple instruction. “whatever He tells you to do, do it.” Jesus told the servants to fill some jars with water and take a dipper of water to the wedding co-ordinator. Simple, non-skilled labor but the “whatever” became a miracle of Jesus turning the water to wine.

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 NLT

What’s before you today? Do you have a long  “to-do” list? May I encourage you to write WHATEVER at the top of the page and then do it all to the glory of God.

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Grateful?? Sing!

Have you ever seen a child sing with abandon? You know what I’m talking about – they take a stance, close their eyes, pretend they have microphone in hand and sing at the top of their voices. They don’t care if they know the right words, most of the time they don’t and seldom are they on tune but they sing with every ounce of their being and it’s great!

I think Mark Twain must have experienced such an occasion as this when he penned these words:

“Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.” -Mark Twain

It’s time to sing!

I’m not sure what goes on in your life on a daily basis but I know that some days I face more challenges than others. Some days it’s easy to sing because all seems right with the world but other days come with unexpected distractions and joy-robbing obstacles.

That’s where singing comes in – singing lifts the heart, it can make the heart skip and brings a lightness to our step.

Paul and Silas had been beaten and were chained in a prison but at midnight they chose to sing. I don’t believe they were singing the blues either, “nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”. No, I’m sure it was something like “I’ll fly away, o glory, I’ll fly away. When I die hallelujah by and by, I’ll fly away.”

Today I encourage you to sing! Sing like a child – loud and long. Sing like nobody but God is listening. Sing a song from your heart – make up the words as you go along. It will be great! Sing songs of praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Savior of your soul. Sing because yesterday is over and you get a new day to experience God’s love.

“Sing joyful songs to the Lord! Praise the mighty rock where we are safe. 2 Come to worship him with thankful hearts and songs of praise. 3 The Lord is the greatest God, king over all other gods. 4 He holds the deepest part of the earth in his hands, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The ocean is the Lord’s because he made it, and with his own hands he formed the dry land. 6 Bow down and worship the Lord our Creator! 7 The Lord is our God, and we are his people, the sheep he takes care of in his own pasture.” Psalm 95:1-7 CEV

Sing until your heart tells your face you have something to be grateful for. Are you grateful? Then sing!

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Good Medicine

We have friends visiting us this weekend. Dear friends! Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon and the evening sitting on the back patio just talking. At one point we all ended up laughing so hard that our sides were aching and our eyes were watering. It had been a long time since I have laughed that hard – it felt so good.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Proverbs 17:22 NLT

“If you are cheerful,  you feel good;  if you are sad, you hurt all over.” Proverbs 17:22 CEV

God’s word is true. A cheerful heart is good medicine. I didn’t realize until just now that this ties in with yesterday’s blog on happiness. God intends for us to have happy hearts. It’s His medicine for our souls.

I know the Lord is in favor of joy and laughter because we are told that in heaven all sorrow and tears will be wiped away. There will be continual joy. That’s how it is when we are in God’s presence. We don’t have to wait for heaven to have joy; we can experience it each day by spending time with the Father.

“You will teach me the right way to live. Just being with you will bring complete happiness. Being at your right side will make me happy forever.” Psalm 16:11 ERV

Our joy and happiness is a good measure of our trust and dependence on the Lord. It’s easy to get discouraged when things in life aren’t going as planned; illness, financial reversal, relationship issues can all deplete our reservoir of joy. That’s why we need to stay focused on the Father’s love for us and his goodness. Counting our blessings is a good way to encourage ourselves and to restore joy.

“For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast. 16 Better to have little, with fear (reverence) for the Lord, than to have great treasure and inner turmoil.” Proverbs 15:15-16 NLT

I know I’ve told you this story before but it’s worth repeating. I heard Zig Ziglar, the motivational speaker, tell it years ago.

Two little girls were each placed in a room filled with manure and left alone for a short while. When the door was opened they found one little girl in tears. She thought this was an awful experience. But when they opened the door to the second room they found the other little girl laughing and playing in the manure. When they asked her why she was so happy she replied “With all this manure, there must be a pony in here somewhere”. This girl had a merry heart!

The one little girl looked at life’s circumstance and became despondent while the other looked for the blessing and remained joy filled.

Laughter is good! How long has it been since you had a good belly laugh – the kind that makes your sides ache and tears roll down your cheeks? If you’re feeling “heart sick” it’s time to take your medicine.

Laughter is good medicine!

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Growing Happiness

The last week or so I have been reading things that talk about happiness. Just this morning there was a story on Facebook, I have seen a few times before, about a woman who said she decided each morning to be happy. The memories of her life were like deposits of golden joy that she withdrew from her account in her later years. She had six rules to happiness:

“1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less,
6. And enjoy every moment.”

Max Lucado has just come out with a new book, How Happiness Happens. I haven’t started to read it yet but I am involved in taking his seven day happiness challenge. Each day, he encourages us to find someone – friend or foe – and give happiness away. Not just to the deserving and kind but to the aggravating and cynical. It is a challenge! This is day four.

To me, happiness is different from joy but they are related. Joy, which is a gift of the Spirit, is planted in our hearts and grows as we do. Joy grows in difficult situations. It keeps us focused and in control. Joy is a stabilizing factor that gets us through the rough times.

“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” Romans 5:1-5 NLV

Troubles don’t come from God but they can be used by Him if we keep our focus on the Father and not the problem. When cast our care (trouble) over on the Lord he takes it and works it out. We need to be patient in the process knowing that He hasn’t forgotten us but is working on our behalf. That’s what produces the hope we have and when we hope in Him we will never be disappointed.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” James 1:2-8 NLV

Happiness is an outgrow of joy. Think of it this way. Joy is a tree and happiness is the fruit. The tree needs sunshine and rain; it faces the elements, the daily hardships but it endures. And from the endurance it gathers nutrients that help produce the fruit – the fruit of happiness.

We can then take that happiness that has grown on the tree of joy and share it with others. God loves us and is working in our lives and on our circumstances. We can be joyful as we wait to see how He is working things out for us and then we can pick that fruit, happiness, and use it to bless others.

Grow happiness!

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Say It Again

I hope all of you have experienced hearing someone you love say your name. Words cannot describe what happens in my heart, the center of my emotions, when I hear “Kris” spoken lovingly from David’s lips. That same emotion rises when I hear “Mom” and “Besta”. There’s a tenderness, a caring, a verbal loving embrace.

It reminds me of a scene from the movie Ever After. Some of you have heard me tell of this before but it came to mind again this morning. I think it has something to do with the fact that this last week I have spoken with all of my family except for AJ and Kylee and heard that sweetness in their voices and had them call my name.

In the movie, close to the end, Henry, the prince, realizes he can’t live without Danielle, Cinderella, so he rides out to save her from her indentured life to Jacque LePew. As he comes up the hill to the fortress walls, she is walking out, having gained her own freedom. He apologizes for doubting her, tells her he loves her and can’t live without her. She stops him in his conversation and says, “Say that again.” He starts to apologize again for failing to trust her and then she says “No, not that. Say the part where you call me by name again.” And then he says her name, Danielle, and declares his love. AWWWW!

There is nothing so sweet than to hear the one you love say your name. It stirs the heart and words can’t explain fully explain the feeling it gives you. WOW! It is completely over-the-top.

I’ve been reading about Samuel and how God called him to service:

“The boy Samuel was Eli’s helper and served the LORD with him. At that time the LORD did not speak directly to people very often. There were very few visions…. 4 The LORD called Samuel, and Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 Samuel thought Eli was calling him, so he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” But Eli said, “I didn’t call you. Go back to bed.”
…Finally, Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Eli told Samuel, “Go to bed. If he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, LORD. I am your servant, and I am listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. 10 The LORD came and stood there. He called as he did before, saying, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel said, “Speak. I am your servant, and I am listening.” I Samuel 3:1-10

Can you imagine? The voice of God calling your name, what a joy!

Then I remembered that God called others by name as well; it started with Adam & Eve; Noah, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zacchaeus, the disciples, Mary at the garden tomb, Saul on the road to Damascus and John on the Isle of Patmos; all of these and more had that same wonderful experience of hearing God call them by name.

See what Isaiah says to the children of Israel:

“Descendants of Jacob, I, the LORD, created you and formed your nation.
Israel, don’t be afraid. I have rescued you. I have called you by name; now you belong to me. 2 When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you, and you won’t drown. When you walk through fire, you won’t be burned or scorched by the flames. 3 I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, the God who saves you. I gave up Egypt, Ethiopia, and the region of Seba in exchange for you.
4 To me, you are very dear, and I love you. That’s why I gave up nations and people to rescue you. 5 Don’t be afraid! I am with you.” Isaiah 43:1-5 ERV

God the Father has called us by name as well. Yes, He has! In His love He called our name telling us that He has a plan for our lives; a plan to be in fellowship and relationship with Him; a plan of adoption so that we can call Him “Abba Father.”

Hearing God speak our name shouldn’t be a one time experience, limited only to the day we accept Him as Savior. How sad it would be if I only heard David say my name the one time when he made me his wife. No, daily he says my name and tells me he loves me and it never gets old.

Daily God is calling our name and telling us He loves us. Do you hear it or are you too busy and distracted? Take time to listen…and take time to respond. Can you imagine how it thrills His heart to hear you say, “Abba Father, I love you. I want to spend time with you today”?

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Spoiler Alert – Watch Out!

“Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards.” Song of Solomon 2:15

Or to paraphrase: don’t let the little things in life spoil your garden.

In my case it was the gophers that spoiled the vine. Years ago I made a serious attempt to plant a garden. It was a difficult task because we lived in an area where the soil was good but the water wasn’t. We had to keep the water slowly running in the garden because if it stopped the surface would become dry and a salty crush would form.

I took good care of my garden. We protected it from the varmints with a rabbit fence and it discouraged the coyotes as well. I watched as the watermelons developed and could hardly wait to cut one of those delicious dark green beauties open.

The kids kept asking if they could pick them but I said they weren’t quite ready – I was checking everyday and then the day of harvest came. We went to the garden, with mouth watering, we bent down to pluck the melon from it’s vine. To our shock and great disappointment, the melon was ruined.

It looked beautiful – a rich, dark green – big and round. It was going to be the best melon ever and it would have been if the gophers hadn’t have come up from underneath and eaten a hole in the rind and devoured the middle!

A life lesson here – as christians we are to bear fruit – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith. But if we aren’t careful the little foxes and the gophers (varmints), will come and destroy the fruit. We know them better as worry, fear, self-reliance, peer pressure, overwork, laziness, stress, etc. These varmints will try to destroy the fruit that God wants us to produce.

“I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me. 6 “If anyone does not get his life from Me, he is cut off like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you get your life from Me and My Words live in you, ask whatever you want. It will be done for you. 8 “When you give much fruit, My Father is honored. This shows you are My followers. 9 I have loved you just as My Father has loved Me. Stay in My love. 10 If you obey My teaching, you will live in My love. In this way, I have obeyed My Father’s teaching and live in His love. 11 I have told you these things so My joy may be in you and your joy may be full. 12 “This is what I tell you to do: Love each other just as I have loved you. ” John 15:5-12 NLV

If we stay connected to the vine, Jesus, we will produce the fruit that He has commanded of us. That fruit is love for each other as Christ has loved us.

Don’t let the little foxes spoil the vine…and watch out for the gophers too!

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