Day 296: Right By Who?

*Take note of all the questions asked throughout today’s devo*

Colossians 3:17

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it;but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 John 4:8

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I’m the type of person that believe there is something good in everyone. I like to see the good in everyone, I feel like everyone is good in one way or another, no one is born evil. We are born into evil but that does not mean we are evil human beings. With that being said, there’s is a difference between just being a good person, and being a person full of faith following God. Sometimes we get the two confused, just because someone is nice does not mean that their heart is with Christ. We can all be good people and do right by everyone, but are we doing right by God? That’s the question. Do we let our good deeds take the place of living like Christ, and walking in faith? I think a lot of times when we think about our good deeds we think that it’s enough to please God. We think that God just wants us to be a good person, yes He does but being a good person and being a Godly person can be two completely different things. We can all be good people, but at the end of the day a person who is made good through giving their life to Christ is different than a person who is “good” but still living a life of sin.  Don’t get me wrong God is very pleased by our good deeds, but it all comes down to our heart. Is Christ in our heart? That question gives so much meaning to who we are and why we do things.  

I remember when asked if I was living right, or living for Christ, I gave  list of all my good deeds and how I was doing right by people and how that meant I was a good person. I talked about how I fed the homeless, how I’ve bought meals for people and given them money, how I offer free service or help when someone needs it. That’s great and all but does it compare to the life I am living in Christ? Am I doing right by Christ, or am I just doing right by people and hoping that’s enough? The scripture above tells us that whatever we do we should do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, if I am not submitted to Christ and I have not given my heart to him how am I glorifying Him? I can do all the good deeds in the world but if I do not have love in my heart none of it matters. If at the end of the day I do not have Christ, was it really worth it?

Sometimes we as Christians get too caught up in what we are doing as opposed to how we are living. Meaning we are more concerned with our image as a Christian rather than being a devoted follower of Christ. This is something I had to learn as well because I was so concerned with helping people, going out and talking about Jesus, and doing good deeds, but it was only to prove my faith. It was all to show that I’m a Christian. It was really self-serving. It was to make me feel good as a person. It had nothing to do with pleasing God or helping people. Especially our generation with social media, and this constant need to show the good we do for people. It’s all self-serving. Jesus was less concerned with how many people saw what He was doing and more concerned with how many were saved. We are so concerned with how people see us that we forgot that the only opinion that really matters is the one we are ignoring. God. But when we really get to know God and when we really began to live like Christ, it becomes less about good deeds and more about being a servant of God. It becomes more about serving an everlasting God whose love is unfailing. It’s about the one who sacrificed it all for us. It becomes selfless. It is less about our earthly kingdom and more about His heavenly kingdom and eternal glory. It’s about glorifying His Kingdom and walking in love. If we do not have love we have nothing. We cannot walk in love and outside of God. God is love, so walking in love means we are walking with God. Doing right by God means loving Him first, and loving His people. Submitting our lives to Him and allowing Him to lead us every step of the way. We have to walk through life with the one who provided it. Creator cannot exist without the creator. Our lives are meant to glorify Him, and if we are not doing that are we really living, and are we really doing right by Him?

All this to say, doing right by people is not the same as doing right by God. Our good deeds are not always what it takes to live like Christ. We cannot be saved by good deeds alone, it takes faith.

Reflection

1. Take the time to answer the questions proposed today?
2. Are you doing right by God, self, or man?
3. Note that when we are doing right by God we are living exactly how we are supposed to live, therefore we are doing right by ourselves and His people.

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask God to search your heart and check your intentions. Take the time to listen to what He is saying to you today.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 297!

Day 276: Good to Everyone!

1 Thessalonians 5:15

See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.

Paul is urging us to do good to people, not just certain people, but all people. Sometimes we pick and choose who deserves our kindness and who doesn’t. But Jesus was good to all, and if we are living our lives like Him then we must do the same.

He starts this scripture by saying pay no one back evil for evil. Meaning no playing tit for tat. Do not be out here seeking to get revenge on the people that have done you wrong or hurt you. One it’s not what Jesus would do and second, it’s not as satisfying as one would think. I know many of us knows what it’s like to want to get back at someone, to make them feel how they made you feel. Or even if we don’t get them back ourselves, we want someone to do it. Sometimes we even find ourselves praying for that revenge, like asking God to get the people that got us. I know it sucks when people hurt us, or when they do us wrong in whatever way possible, but honestly the best “revenge” you can get on someone is to love them. Kill them with kindness, do good to them. They’ll never see it coming. See people expect revenge, we sometimes expect people to get back at us for the things we’ve done, it would make us feel a whole lot better, but what makes us feel even better is grace. When people decide to love us, and do good to us instead. So when we decide to forgive and treat people well it helps them too. I know we’ve been told forgiveness is about us not the other person, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes people cannot move on until they know they are forgiven. So be good to even the people that have hurt you repay evil with good. That’s what Jesus did and by doing so He saved the entire world.  

Always try to do good to each other, and to all people. Now we must love our neighbors, love everyone. Try our best to be good to everyone so that we will not hurt someone or offend them. When Paul said everyone, he meant everyone! The people we disagree with, the ones we don’t vibe with, the ones who are pretty much jerks all the time, the ones who seem lower than us (if you view yourself as above anyone we need to have a talk). Do good to all people not just the ones you like or get along with. I mean with all the evil and craziness going on in the world we can use a little good and love.

All this to say, honor people. Treat others how you want to be treated not how they treat you, There is something so freeing and beautiful about not seeking revenge but loving people through the pain and doing good in evil situations.

Reflections

1. Have you ever been hurt by someone and wanted to get revenge on them?
2. If you did, did it really satisfy you or stop the pain?
3. HAve you ever prayed for karma to hit someone?
4. What has been the outcome when you decide to love through the pain and do good in an evil or bad situation?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. HAve a conversation with God about forgiveness and revenge, and pray for the state of our world!

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 277!

Day 253: The Word Goes Out

Isaiah 55:10-11

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven  and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

This has become one of my favorite scriptures, it’s so profound. God’s like, I’m not sending my word out for nothing, I’m sending it for a purpose. I love biblical analogies, especially this. The word of God going out is compared to when rain or snow falls upon the Earth. When it rains, the Earth is replenished, it gets the water it is needed to live. Meaning the rain provides food for people, it allows plants to sprout, it brings a harvest for the planters. The rain isn’t for nothing. There is a purpose for the rain and the snow and that purpose is always fulfilled.  I’m not sure if you’re a person who likes the rain, but I do. But more than the rain I love the moments after it, the smell in the air, the quality of the air. The rainbows in the sky. It’s all so beautiful and it feels beautiful. There’s nothing quite like it. The aftermath of a rainy week is beyond beautiful, it can be breathtaking. The result of rain is nothing less than beautiful. That is the result of God’s word.

The word of God goes out with a purpose and that purpose is always fulfilled. God sends His word out to feed the nations. He sends it out to replenish the Earth, God’s word does something that nothing else can do, it saves lives. The word of God is like the rain, it gives life to those who have been stripped of their abilities to live a life fully free of condemnation. The aftermath of it is beautiful, let’s take the life of Jesus into consideration. John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. As Christians we believe that this scripture is speaking of Jesus as the word of God. Saying that the word became flesh and came to earth to save us. Jesus came to save the world He was the rain we needed. We needed Jesus because we were in a spiritual drought and the only chance of living was through Him. Through the life that He would pour out onto us. The only way of growth was through Him, the only way we could get out of the drought we were in was to drink of the living water.

The thing about the rain is that not many of us enjoy it. Sometimes there are floods and in the meantime, it’s pretty bad. Earlier this year, California was struck by floods, so many floods. People had to deal with their towns flooding. People were evacuated, there was millions of dollars in damages. Power outages were happening, people even lost their lives. But in the end it ended being great for California, because it brought us out of a six year drought. Rivers, and dams that were dry for years, or had been drying up over those six years are now filled with water. So while we thought it was bad it all turned out for our good. The aftermath of it all was beautiful. I bring this up because when Jesus was on earth many people rejected Him, they didn’t believe He was who He said He was. In fact this was one of the reasons they planned to kill Him. However it wasn’t until He died that people realized that He was the true Messiah. It wasn’t until He gave up His life that people realized who He was. The aftermath was beautiful as many people came to know Christ and believe in Him. People today are still coming to Christ because we know of His life, death, and resurrection. The result of the life He lived, the word He brought to life, and His actions upon that cross and throughout HIs ministry is still very evident today. We are still reaping from the seed Jesus sowed 2500 years ago. Jesus had to give up His life to save all of us. He wasn’t satisfied with just a few, He had to make sure that salvation would reach everyone. I’m pretty sure if we got to sit down and talk to Jesus about what those moment were like He wouldn’t say that it was fun, or that He enjoyed it. However, I imagine that He would say it was necessary.

All this to say, God’s word goes out and does what it is meant to do. Sometimes it isn’t always easy like when the disciples went to bring the Good News to the people. They were beat, put in jail, forced and thrown (literally) out of cities, and killed. But through all of this, the word of God never stops, it never returns void. Through all of this the message always came through. There is always a purpose for the word of god.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Discuss with a friend what we talked about today. Have a conversation with God, Whatever is on your heart today, talk to Him about it. Remember that praying is just having a conversation with God.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening, be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 254! It’ll be a special recap.  

Day 175: One Heart, One Soul, One Love- Day 4

Proverbs 31:8-9

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Isaiah 1:17

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Psalms 82: 3

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

The whole idea of being selfless is being willing to put someone else’s needs above your own, or putting someone else above yourself. It is the opposite of being selfish, meaning our main focus is other people, and we are not worried about what we will get out of something or how it will benefit us. We are looking to benefit someone else and be totally fine with walking away empty handed. I think one of the biggest problems with the world and why there seems to be so much discord and violence and injustice, is that we are so concerned with ourselves. The world is a selfish place, and we live in it, but can we dare to be selfless in a place that is so consumed by self? I know our generation gets told a lot that we are selfish, but let’s combat that and show them what it means to be selfless. I truly believe that our generation is very selfless as we stand up for what we believe in, but also speak up so that others who are oppressed or being beat down are given a voice. We fight against injustice, and oppression and give a voice to the mute. I believe that as people of God we are called to speak up and stand up for His people, not just for ourselves. When our brother and sister is hurt or falling we are there to help them and pick them up.

I bring this up because with so much going on in the world we have no time to be selfish. With people hurting and oppressed, people facing injustice everyday, people being killed for the lifestyle they lead and the choices they make, we have no time to be selfish. If anything we have to be the ones to stand up and say  this isn’t right, to come to the defense of our brothers and sisters. We know what’s right and we know what’s wrong, let’s not sit back and let our world fall into a path of unrighteousness. People deserve to live freely, people deserve basic human rights, people deserve a place of refuge. I know some of us are going to say, “It’s not my responsibility”. If it’s not our responsibility then whose is it. The same way Jesus took on the responsibility of saving humanity, and the disciples took on the responsibility of spreading the word of God, the same way the church took on the responsibility of selling all their possessions to take care of one another, we have a similar responsibility to stand up and stand in the gap for God’s people. We are equipped with the Holy Spirit and the word of God. We have a duty to right the wrongs and correct the injustices. If Jesus, The disciple/apostles, paul, and all the many men and women of God in the bible had not stepped up to the plate and taken responsibility then we wouldn’t be here today. So yes, it is our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need to stand up for those being oppressed by the justice system, those being denied access to freedom and health, and those being denied basic human rights. It is not our job to evaluate whether or not they are worthy of our help, because Jesus did not do that to us. If He evaluated how worthy we were before coming down from heaven to save us, we would not be saved. We are not here to judge or decide who deserves a helping hand, no we give a helping hand with heart full of love and leave the judgements to God.

Reflection

1. Do you believe your responsible to stand up and be there for those who are suffering and oppressed?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide part of your prayer. Talk to God about what it means to be selfless and ask Him to teach you and help you lead a selfless lifestyle. Pray for the people of our nation, pray for those without a voice who have been silenced, pray for those who are oppressed. Pray for the things that have become normalized that continues to plague humanity.

One of the biggest thing I want to pray for today is, rape culture, and the treatment of sexual assault towards both men and women. It is something that has been normalized that continues to plague the world. The attitude towards these issues are too casual and it is a very serious and sensitive situation. People’s lives are ruined and forever scarred due to rape and sexual assault and many times the government and it’s citizens brush it off. I can’t stress enough how important this is, that we talk about it. Pray that the whole idea of rape culture ceases and pray for those who have been affected by it.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 176!  

Day 164: When Fear is Good...

Psalms 56:3

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Anybody have something that scares the crap out of you? Like one thing that you will just say no to and not look back or regret it? I know we all want to be brave and walk around like we aren’t afraid of anything, but we all have at least one fear. There’s something out there, besides God, that shakes us to our core. For me that thing is needles, I am terrified of needles, and I’m not talking about not liking needles. I mean it’s bad, I’m worse than a two-year-old. There are tears, kicking and screaming, bribing, running, multiple explanations, and eventually, my mom has to hold me down. All of this for a split second of pain, and it happens every time I go to the doctor. It got so bad to the point where I would send myself into an asthma attack and the doctors would have the machines ready because they knew that Dyamond was going to act a fool. And I never let them down. The thing about this it is that each time I went to the doctor I had to face and overcome this fear, and I knew that I would come out alright because my mom or dad would be there holding my hand through it. It took a couple of decades but I’m not as afraid as I used to be. Fear is a temporary thing, we won’t always be afraid. We won’t be scared forever.  sometimes we’re afraid to do something and then we realize that it’s not that bad after all. I truly believe that facing our fears head on is how we overcome them. The same way my mother and father was there holding my hand or holding me down is the same way God leads us to overcome our fears. God is there holding our hands and walking with us through these valleys of fear.

Fear turns us to God. Fear moves us to act. Fear does something to us that bravery can’t, it reveals our weakness, and therefore our need for God, in whom we get our strength and courage. When I’m scared the first thing I do is scream Jesus. You don’t even have to be Christian to understand me on this one. When we’re afraid, it doesn't matter if we haven’t talked to God in years, we start praying like we are trying to call down every angel in heaven. This is why I say fear can be a good thing and can be used to bring us closer to God. Fear is scary and uncomfortable and it pushes us to act. Recently my two-year-old nephew was choking on an apple. My sister was trying to get him-him to spit it up. His face started turning red and before I knew it I jumped out my seat like a superhero to save him. The fear that went through my body when I saw his little face turning red as he was trying to breathe is indescribable. It was almost as if I flew out of my seat to get to him. He’s fine now, we got him to spit it up. But it was my fear of losing him in those few moments that pushed me out of my seat to get that apple out of his mouth. This is the type of fear that drives us to trust God and lean on Him. Even when we are afraid of things, and life we can put our trust in Him and know that whatever happens, we will be okay.

We all want to be fearless but we don’t start out that way. We don’t come out the womb brave and taking on the world unless you’re Wonder Woman. We learn over time to be courageous, we are taught not to fear things as we get older. God gives us courage as we grow in Him every day. I know we all want to claim to be superhuman and unafraid but we’re just human and there are some scary things in this world. However, it is overcoming them through Christ that gives us courage. If we’re never afraid we will never know what it’s like to have courage. Now when I talk about fear in this context I’m not talking about the crippling fear that stops you, I’m talking about the type of fear that moves you. The type of fear that keeps you going. The type of fear that motivates you. This is fear that doesn’t stop your life or cause you to have panic attacks. No, this is godly fear. That’s how we fear God, this type of fear is driven by love, This type of fear is good. This is the type of fear that is birthed from love and respect. This is the type of fear that says, Lord, I love you so much I don’t want to lose you. I’m going to keep going in life because my fear of losing you is greater than my fear of anything else.

Fear can be a good thing, but don’t let it paralyze you or stop you. It’s okay to be afraid we’re human, it happens that that moment is when we turn to God. We cannot let fear stop us, let it motivate us and push us. Fear drives faith when you're afraid just lean on Him, turn to God.

Reflection

1. What are you afraid of?
2. Do you believe that God is bigger than your fears?
3. When is fear a good thing?
4. Can you tell the difference from when fear is good and when fear is bad?
5. What is it?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Ask good to show you the difference between godly fear and worldly fear.

I love you, I hope you have a magnificent day or evening, be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 165, and follow the blog!

Day 137: How Are You?

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

“Hello, How are you?”

“I’m good, and you?”

“I’m great, thanks for asking.”

This conversation or set of statements look familiar to you? We go through these statement on a daily basis. Without really thinking about it; it has become second nature to already have a prepared answer when asked how we are doing. Usually, the answer is, “good”, “great”, “fine”, and on a rare occasion we might get an “okay”, Rarely do we tell people how we are actually doing, not even our closest friends.

“How are you?” has become another way of saying hello, instead of a real concern. I’m not saying that we are not concerned with how others are doing, I’m saying that the question “how are you?’ does not mean how are you anymore. It means hello. Many times we already know what people are going to say when we ask and we know what to say when we are asked. But I have a question, if God asked us how we were doing, what would we say? Would we be honest with Him about everything going on with us, or would we tell Him that we are “fine” or good?

Now to take it a step further, sometimes we say fine when everything is falling apart, we say well when we are doing terrible, and we say okay as a cry for help. This may not be true for everyone, but I know it is true for many of us. We talked before about how there are many people walking around broken and if we just take the time to pray for them or with them, they will experience God’s healing. We talk about how we can save a life just by checking in on someone. Now what about ourselves, what about when we are walking around broken. Many of us are walking around broken but ignoring our feelings. We must stop this and take care of ourselves.  We often believe in healing from God for others, but why is it so hard to believe for ourselves? Why is it so hard to pray for ourselves? Why is it so hard to check in with ourselves when we are falling apart? Why do we cover up our own pain? We are not helpful to anyone else if we are at the bottom of the pit ourselves. It reminds me of when I’m having a bad day and I’m sure most of us have experienced this. I can walk around falling apart on the inside, but I’m holding it together on the outside, barely, but I’m holding it together. The moment someone asks if I’m okay, everything comes pouring out. We hold things in until we cannot hold it anymore then it all comes storming out of us. We hold too much in and we become like a ticking time bomb, all it takes is for someone to press the right button and we will explode all over the place. My friends, this is not how we are destined to live, we serve a God who works around the clock, giving us twenty-four-hour service. We can come to Him at any time of day or night and He will be there. We do not have to harbor the pain we go through. We do not have to silence our struggles or whatever it is we are going through. We do not have to suppress our emotions, it is okay. God is here for us.

We neglect ourselves too often, sometimes we have to sit back and consider how we are actually doing. What’s going on inside us, check in on our soul, see how everything is going. We all want to be selfless, but that does not mean that we neglect ourselves to do so, it does not mean that we forget about our own feelings. Sometimes we just have to stop and pray for ourselves, sometimes we have to cover ourselves. Sometimes we have to give ourselves some “me time”. It is necessary, please don’t neglect or overlook yourself, it’s not a healthy way to live.

Reflection

1. How are you doing?
2. Really, how are you doing?
3. If God asked you how you were doing right now, what would you say?
   
   

Prayer Time

Take the time today to check in with yourself, search your heart. Bring it to God. Pray for yourself today, you know what you need to pray for yourself, lift yourself up in prayer today.

I love you, and I pray you have an amazing day or evening. Take care of yourself today. Share this with someone and be sure to come back tomorrow for Day 138! Enjoy you day!!!

Day 72: Recap

Day 65: The Character of God

We kicked the week off by talking about the character of God. We focused on the scriptures, 1 John 4:8, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

We often view God as some approachable being, or some mean old guy in the sky. But that is not true, the scriptures tell us that God is love, and shows us what it is to love. Listing the characteristics of love, therefore listing the characteristics of God. God's character is love.

Day 66:  The Kindness of God

Today we continued by talking about the kindness of God. We focused on quite a few scriptures today: Titus 3:4-6, Galatians 4:6, Matthew 18:13, and Psalms 30:5.

There is a sweetness in our relationship with God. We are His children, It is said that the Hebrew meaning of the word abba is, daddy or papa. Also that it is the sound a child makes when trying to say daddy. There is a sweetness there that breaks the barrier of punisher, servant or slave master, and turns it into daddy daughter, daddy son. These words are more intimate that father child. It establishes a relationship, and we start to see God as a dad. We do not fear Him in a sense that we afraid of what he will do to us, but we are in awe of Him, respecting Him.

Day 67: Pure Joy

Today we talked about what it means to really have the joy of the Lord in our hearts, even when life is turning upside down. The scriptures we focused on today were, Psalms 4:7 and Nehemiah 8:10.

God is better than the world's best thing.  We can have everything we ever wanted but there is nothing like the joy of God in our hearts. No matter what we have we can only get that pure permanent joy from Christ. They can give me everything, but it will never add up to what I get from God, what I have from serving Him. There is nothing better, it does not get any better than this.

Day 68: Being Honest with God

Today we talked about honesty with God and how sometimes we have to get brutally honest with Him. The scriptures we focused on today were: Psalms 62:8, 142:1-2, and Genesis 3:7-10.

We are allowed to pour our hearts out to God even when they don’t “look” like a Christian heart, to us. We are allowed to have feelings, we are allowed to be angry, we are allowed to ask questions, and we are allowed to have sexual feelings, we’re human. Most importantly, we are allowed to talk to God about what is really going on in our hearts and in our minds. That’s what having a relationship with God is, we have to be brutally honest sometimes. God knows our hearts, He knows what they look like, He created them. He knows the struggles we go through, the pain, the temptation, Jesus went through it. God wants all of that.

Day 69: God Knows Better

Today we talked about how God knows better than us, He knows more than we could ever wrap our small brains around. The scriptures we focused on today were: Revelation 22:13, Isaiah 46:9-10, and Isaiah 55:8-9.

God knows what’s going to happen, even when we don’t. He sees the bigger picture because He painted it. We just have to trust in His sight, and His vision so that even when we don’t know what to do even when our plans hit a wall we can know that whatever God has planned is better than anything we could have dreamed up ourselves. We must accept the fact the no matter how smart we are, what we know does not compare to the knowledge of God.

Day 70: Thriving Under Pressure

Today we spoke about thriving under pressure, and not giving in to it. We focused on a few scriptures today: James 1:12, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:23-24, and Isaiah 40:31

We go through a lot, with our friends pulling on us, our parents expectations of us, the pressures and temptations of the world. Sometimes the pressure is too great that we just need some release. We can get temporarily relief, or we can thrive. We can stress drink, have sex, get high, give in to what the world is telling us to do. We can get temporary relief we need at the moment, or we can find the strength in Christ to stand on His word and not let our lives be altered by the pressures coming from the outside.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing Day or Evening. Enjoy you Sunday and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 73!

Day 68: Pure Joy

Joy

-(Biblical definition) Joy isn’t like happiness which is based upon happenings or whether things are going well or not. No, joy remains even amidst the suffering. Joy is not happiness. Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful. It could be described as exhilaration, delight, sheer gladness, and can result from a great success or a very beautiful or wonderful experience like a wedding or graduation but the definition of joy that the world holds is not nearly as amazing as biblical joy but joy is also gift.

-(Dictionary.com definition) the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.

Psalms 4:7

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

This is one of my favorite scriptures, because it highlights God as the source of joy, which He is. He gives us more joy than our favorite things in the world. We can have everything we ever wanted but there is nothing like the joy of God in our hearts. No matter what we have we can only get that pure permanent joy from Christ. They can give me everything, but it will never add up to what I get from God, what I have from serving Him. There is nothing better, it does not get any better than this.

Third thing to know: God is better than the world’s best thing. (Yes that is from a Chance The Rapper song)  

Joy is not like happiness we can’t fake it, we either have it or we don’t. Joy comes from within, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and know just how loved we are by god. When the holy Spirit dwells in us, that is when we know what it is to be filled with the joy of the Lord. We know that there are no worries, nothing can take away the joy that God has given us. It’s like an unbreakable smile, a happiness that cannot be tainted. We can have joy even in our pain and trials, as we are told in James 1:2, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Nehemiah 8:10

...And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

When have the joy of the Lord we can find strength to keep pushing through the trials because we are fully aware of the word of God, and fully aware of His presence in our lives.. We find great delight in Him even when we are facing the hardest battles in our lives. Because we know that He is sovereign, we know of His promise, we know that no matter what, we can look to Him and know that everything will be okay. We can find strength in Him when we are weak. Even in our darkest hour, if we still have faith, if we still trust in the Lord our joy cannot be tainted.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on the passages maybe reread some of them. Talk to God about what it means to have the Joy of the Lord in our hearts. Rest in the presence of God, and know that His joy is your strength. Whatever is on your heart give it to God. Know that no matter how great something is, God is greater.