JOY

J esus first

O thers second

Y ou last

This is true JOY. ~ Lois Kelly,

Kindergarten teacher

Oh, how the “shoulda, woulda, couldas” of life can rob our intended joy and steal our peace, the gifts of God.

When our dreams are stolen and our hearts are broken we need not stay there ~ that is what we do when our minds linger there, when we day dream over the shouldas and our words carry in them, a wistfulness for yesterday.

God allows all that happens in our life and He carries us forward, when we choose His path for us. He moves past, over, around and thru the could-have-beens and brings us to the openness of now ~ The empowered, with-God days, where Joy resides.

In Him all things are possible ~ all healing and purpose are found. The heart break and hurts that are so deep, are the very well-spring that we serve from. Living in them, instead of offering them up for service, is where our bondage traps us. There is no Life there, only sorrows of the past.

Be devoted to one another in love.

Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:10 ~ NIV

Joy was never meant to be self-serving, ‘me’ oriented. Joy, real joy, the JOY of Jesus is all encompassing. When we look at our circumstance, our feelings and see them only from a ‘what’s in it for me’ perspective, we’ve already missed it. But, when we put Jesus first and His desires for others next, our hearts are filled to overflowing! Really, what’s more joyful than sensing His presence in a situation and seeing real JOY released into the lives of others!  As for being last? We’re never last in God’s eyes. HE is the One Who directs our steps, plans our days and invites us to enJOY every moment with Him…in all things.

Our God, King of kings, Lord of lords is the Light in the darkness ~ we need only step towards Him and lean into Love’s Joy and allow ourselves to heal…to learn the unforced rhythms of Grace, as He lives in us and thru us. ♥

But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
    and through each night I sing his songs,
    praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 42:8 ~ New Living Translation

Nets

…they didn’t ask questions. 

They dropped their nets and followed.

Mark 1:18 ~ The Message

Questions, I’m full of them! ‘How? Why? When?...why?’

Wasn’t that what we were all taught growing up? How to write a good paper, formulate your thoughts, grasp concepts – they all start with questioning the obvious! Now days we have catch phrases that impugn the statements of others incessantly…Really? Seriously?

We throw up walls to deafen the input of others and cut off possibly vital life giving words, and it all runs on auto pilot. My questions to myself ~ “How am I questioning God without even realizing it? What does my “autopilot” sound like to Him? And while I’m asking questions ~ “What do my nets look like, what are they full of and why haven’t I put them down?!?”

I do think those are all good questions and maybe should be addressed. God does spend our earthly life teaching us, growing us up in Him and revealing the next right step everyday. Thank you, Jesus He does, ‘cuz we all carry things we shouldn’t and pick things up along the way that we were never intended to carry. For me, putting things out of my life that do not honour God is important, but I have to ask myself about those silly nets!?! You see, I wouldn’t have “stuff” in the way, if I didn’t have somewhere to store it.

      So Lord, please show me my “nets”. The places, people and possessions that carry my stuff, not Yours. And oh Lord, when You show me, by Your Grace, help me to put down my nets and not ask any questions.

Time

Time, it is what God wants of us, with us. He created it for us…Time, the sun rising & setting, the tides rolling in at the behest of the moon, the seasons changing ~ all the markings of time.

God doesn’t need time for Himself, He is yesterday, today and tomorrow. This is all for us, His gift to us and He wants to share in our time.

Our world is so fast, so inundated with noise and the clamor of consumption, that we so easily miss the subtle grace of the moment. God is in every moment, but how often we miss Him. There is such Peace at our fingertips when we stop to linger over His Word, when we pause to listen to the joyous ways He speaks to us ~ a child’s laughter, the coo of the birds at dawn, that first morning breeze. He speaks, He calls out to our hearts with His whisperings of Love…now  is our time to listen.

““Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11:28-30 ~ The Message Version

Choose Well

In the message at church a couple of Sundays ago, our pastor gave a wonderful explanation about this passage and what was taking place in the temple…

“…My temple will be a house of prayer”

Luke 19:45 ~ New Living Translation

One phrase he used really jumped out to me. It was, “this temple is unique.” He went on to explain that people came from all over to offer sacrifices because this is where God resided ~ the Holy of Holies. They would travel great distances to offer sacrifices ‘directly’ to God, taking care to offer the best they had.

Taking that thought, along with the scripture to now, our present day...this temple is unique ~ that’s us! Each of us, uniquely made by our Father in heaven. Each of us loved by Him, so much so He sent His Son to be our sacrifice. Each of us given opportunity to accept His gift of grace, to allow Him entry to our soul, to fill us with His presence every moment. Each of us able to be with Him in every moment…no traveling anywhere to be with Him, He’s already right here!

The Scriptures declare, “My temple will be a house of prayer…”

We are called to be in constant communication with Him, not acknowledge Him on Sundays, or whenever we get in trouble… We should be His apprentices, His representatives, not clock punchers, controllers and list checkers.

”…but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”  That is what we do in our own souls when we hold things back from God, look to ourselves first and use things for our own benefit. When we do not seek Him with all of our being, heart, mind and soul, we are the thief.

Jesus came to show us the way of Spiritual Reality. Our spiritual life, our soul is not something we turn on and off ~ it is, always. So, to imagine there is existence apart from Spiritual Reality is only a delusion we choose to live by…not reality.

The beauty is, prayer changes us. It lifts the veils of delusion and allows us entry to the life of Spiritual Reality. Understanding that God created us to be His temples here on earth, to each uniquely live out His purpose for us, will most definitely bring us to seek Him out ~ and what better provision is there than in “a house of prayer” created by Him, in each of us.

God gives us choices. Scripture is full of His providing circumstances for His people to choose to follow Him, or not…there are consequences to either side of the line we may choose to live on. We live in His reality, whether we “choose” to acknowledge it or not, also.

  

“If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today…As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”

Joshua 24:15 ~ The Message Version

We are uniquely loved by God!!!! 

Choose well

Go To Move

What are they? I believe we all have them…wound up in our routines, snarled up in the back of our minds and disguised as something else entirely ~ that is where the go-tos hang out. They are phrases and places, people and mindsets that are so automatic, we don’t even see them for what they truly are. Some are good, great even and some are not so good. The “problem” they all have in common, is that we so very often do not recognize their true nature.

So, what got me to think about all this? Oso, are dear, sweet, lovable Oso. We all came to sit outside on a lovely Sunday afternoon. I lit a small fire in the pit and sat down. Oso ran over, with the other two dogs, saw the fire and turned and ran straight under the deck. ­That is his “go-to”. He is our rescue dog and altho’ he has come a very long way, he still startles easily. Just looking at his sweet face poking out from under the deck made me think, “what is my go-to?” When I’m startled by something, do I react as if God isn’t right there? Do I have routines or things that have become my go-to, my security…instead of The One I should be relying on?

Good thing to know, to ask God to show me when my go-to isn’t Him. John 3:19-21, in the Message version is so very clear as Jesus explains…

“the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.”

John 3:19-21 ~ The Message Version

Our go-tos aren’t interested in pleasing God either, they are our self-preservation moves. (emphasis on self) Phrases that deflect and dismiss others in order to keep them at arm’s length ~ things we do, people we’re around all need to be brought before the Lord, so He can let us know if we’re really just hiding under the deck. That could very well explain a “darkness” we’re in, because we are not standing in His Light, fully open to His will in our circumstance.

I am just like Oso, I am a rescue, too. Jesus came so that we don’t have to live under the deck in darkness, if He is our go-to…To live in God’s Light, fully loved and fully alive.

We’re in no hurry, God.

We’re content to linger in the path sign-posted with Your decisions.

Isaiah 26:8 ~ The Message Version