Category: joy

Wise and Gracious: a Guide

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Meditation Thought: “ Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)

Conduct yourself according to My Word and you shall conduct yourself wisely. Speak My Word and you shall speak graciously. You cannot use My Word as your guide if you do not know My Word so thoroughly that you are able to understand it and to use it.

Saturate your mind and your heart with My Word, for as the Word penetrates into your very being, it transforms you through the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The truth of My Spirit – the power of My Spirit – the grace of My Spirit – the forgiving nature of My Spirit: the Love of My Spirit – shall be as the most delicate, enhancing flavoring to be savored by both you and those who know you.

Through my penetrating Spirit you shall bring delight, joy, hope, strength, determination of purpose.

Today’s Value

The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Meditation Thought: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23)

Serve the Lord with joy! For in joy did the Lord create you – and serves you: through teaching you the precepts of life in the Spirit.

Each moment has meaning, has value, has influence on every other moment of your life. For each moment serves to move you into greater, more willing service to the Kingdom, or into more estrangement from it and greater conformity to the world. The world will not last; the Kingdom will. Your body will not last; your Spirit will.

Take heed that this moment, which is always now – present, not past, not future – is dedicated to the service of your Lord, for in serving your Lord, you serve yourself – you serve all of humankind.

Do not fear to be bold in the expression of your faith: if you will cling with all of your might to the wisdom of the Word and the truth of the Spirit, you shall serve your Lord and serve man as the natural consequences of serving your Lord: thus is the gospel spread and the Kingdom expanded and joy increased.

Freedom from Fear; Joy Released

You are free of that you feared.

Meditation Thought: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation – if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (Colossians 1:21-23)

Little child, do you tremble because you have done wrong and you fear the consequences? You would undo what you did – but you cannot… you shrink from the future, knowing the past makes it unattractive.

And then, One comes before you, taking the consequences, intervening on your behalf, deflecting the pain you were sure would come. You are free of that you feared.

The relief! A chance to start anew! Will you thank the One who rescued you? Will you share the good news that there is an Intermediary who will arrange pardon for your sentence?

Will you have faith, believe that your Friend is true to you, and desires above all else to help you discover life’s purpose and joy?

Will you come into intimate fellowship with this Person who reveals to you your Father and His love, who brings light to remove the fears and the stumbling that exist in darkness?

If you choose, by faith in His Word, by pleasing to do His will – He who is the Image of the Father, for He is One with the Father – to conform yourself to His personality and teachings, then are you the expression of the Father on earth, with the dross of self-will and evil removed from you by the sacrifice of your Friend’s pain substituted for your pain: your appreciation of His stepping in to take the consequences of your unwise choices is the healing of His pain, the releasing of joy in His heart!

Trough and Crest

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together.

Meditation Thought: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)

Ebb and flow. You have a fascination for moving water. It is a symbol of life itself. Be content when you are in the trough or on the crest, for both places are necessary for life: for your life.

In the trough you learn to trust without proof: this is faith, you learn to be obedient – this is discipline to make you sturdy and steady to withstand the low places, and to keep you thankful and not prideful in the high places. On the crest you feel grace and blessings which open your heart to the fullness of joy of My love; it is easy for your expression of love to overflow onto those in the trough near to your crest.

This moment is yours – and this moment is Mine: weld our moments together that they may be expressions of both spirit and flesh which expand love, reconcile that which is separated, heal that which is hurt, bring order to chaos, bring relief to the suffering, bring peace to the broken-hearted, bring hope where there is despair, bring forth fruit where there was no sign of life in the branch.

The way is not easy – but the rewards are great, for joy, peace and hope along this way depend not upon circumstances, or others’ treatment of you – but upon our moments welded together as one moment spanning heaven and earth: the Holy Spirit reaching from Mind to mind, Love to love, Spirit to spirit.

You know the way – the way of the cross: obedient, humble, selfless, loving, grateful for all blessings and guidance wherever it leads, knowing who has the world beyond death, into resurrection.

With eyes of faith
And tongue of love
Hands to comfort
And feet to move
Where’re I bid you go
Not one place
Shall you abide
Away from Love and Hope.
This moment, be it trough or crest,
Is triumph over all.

Delightful Freedom

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved and cherished.

Meditation Thought: “Rejoice in the Lord.” (Philippians 3:1)

To rejoice in the Lord is to think about the Lord, thank the Lord for blessings, trust the Lord to protect, guide and be with us. The concentration of our joy on the relationship with our Lord is to release joy in every other area: for ourselves, for all whose lives we touch, for the Lord also.

Oh, the excitement of knowing we are loved, we are cherished, not for our position or what we do, but because we are spirit of God’s Spirit.

We must move from the position under the law of forcing ourselves to do right out of fear, to the position under grace of accepting our freely-given love and forgiveness and then in delightful freedom from sin’s burden and recognition of love’s beauty, rush in eager anticipation to do right. Thus doing right moves from a resented, “poor me but I’d better do it anyway” attitude to “I’m so lucky to have the privilege of doing right because it’s such fun and the results are fantastic – for me, and for others too!”

Kingdom Hope; Kingdom Joy

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

Meditation Thought: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35)

Although this sounds a bit strange, it does not take a great deal of thought to realize that Jesus is saying that those who do God’s will are bonded by being God’s children.

It is when we plod along, trying to perceive God’s will and attempting to do it, that we begin to perceive that some power beyond ourselves is truly at work!

When we comprehend this, our whole perspective on life changes: we have hope even in the seemingly hopeless situations.

When we have hope, we can more easily energize ourselves to take the effort to bring good results – and, frequently, with God’s guidance, we accomplish acts that actually astonish us.

If we know about some of these results, how many results are somewhere in the world we do not recognize? This is the reason we need to seek God’s will and to do it to the best of our ability! How else can the joys of the kingdom be spread across the world?

Big Brother

…my big brother Jesus would know what to do in this situation. Let me check with Him and I know then I’ll be taking the right action.

Meditation Thought: “For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50)

“I’m a relative of Jesus” – what a statement to be able to make! Of all the name-dropping, that has to be the ultimate statement. And, yet it is true – as we, through faith in Jesus as Savior, accept our Father as our guide, our Creator, our loving, indulgent parent, and we obey Him as such, we are born into His Kingdom and His family just as surely as we are physically born into this world. And His Son is surely part of His family!

Maybe we should think more in terms of making decisions, going through a process such as saying to ourselves: “Well, now, my big brother Jesus would know what to do in this situation. Let me check with Him and I know then I’ll be taking the right action.”

The heavens rejoice at the expansion and maturing of the family of God. It is enough to know that this is so; we do not need to know why it is so. We rejoice because our Father rejoices as He delights in our obedience. Our delight and joy become contagious to one another; we want to continue this happy time, this happy relationship. There is only one way to do  it – we must do as our Father requests – in a manner of trust, pleasure, reliance and eagerness, as well as performing as competently as we are able.

Believing is Seeing

When it becomes a reality, it is My Kingdom on earth .

Meditation Thought: “Whoever… does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23)

“Seeing is believing – but believing is also seeing. Keep this phrase in mind as we work together. You need a positive, trusting attitude to complete your work to My satisfaction. This is not natural for you – but it is natural for Me and therefore, you must adapt, and adopt it as your own.

Concentrate on seeing in your mind what I want you to accomplish as a completed task. The vision is only a dream until it becomes a reality; when it becomes a reality, it is My Kingdom on earth – My promise fulfilled and fulfilling – mercy, resurrection, triumphant order of life as experienced by the Body of believers. The life encompasses many experiences but all are only different expressions of the one theme.

Once you accept this, it easier to understand your journey and the understanding produces an accepting heart. The accepting heart throbs with the joy of knowing the outcome will be triumphant which raises the energy level to new heights, bringing the triumph all the sooner.

Will you choose this way? If so, you must commit yourself completely, enthusiastically, happily and whole-heartedly.

 

Over. Come.

The evil says “come”  the Lord says “come”. We must decide where to go.

Meditation Thought: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

Overcome: Over. Come: “over” implies a movement upward – we move “up” to God’s higher methods, more effective methods, when we consult Him. “Come” – implies the invitation to movement. The evil says “come”  the Lord says “come”. We must decide where to go.

We have our “manual” – all we need to do is to consult it, to determine which destination we must choose. Good is always concerned with love, with peace, with joy, with giving – evil is always concerned with malice, with conflict, with envy, with taking.

 

Wholeness

It is imperative, therefore, that any change in us be a change toward God’s will.

Meditation Thought: “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Corinthians 12:26)

If one part is missing, the “whole” has disappeared – it is now something different. It may even be considered a whole, but the original “whole” has disappeared, it no longer exists. When a part is altered, no matter how slightly, the whole is altered too. It may take a while for parts of the whole to be affected by other parts – but it will happen, for all are interconnected.

Therefore, we must take care that we, as a part of the Body of Christ, are a healthy part, a part that is in good working order, bringing joy not only to ourselves, but to all the many other parts, and to the whole. We must remember that no matter ow slight an event might appear, that creation all is structured so that one tiny cell changing in the slightest manner, can have an effect that becomes magnified – a chain reaction in fact, a geometric multiplication.

It is imperative, therefore, that any change in us be a change toward God’s will, toward the furthering of the health and purpose of the Body, for our own good, and for the good of the whole.