Joy, Jesus and Jill

I often write about choosing joy. Joy is one of my favorite words! Today (this will not be published for a while) has been a hard day with fear, hurt and tears. We all have those days that are out of our control. When I knew things were fine I stayed sad, scared and stressed. I thanked God for having been in control and for continuing to be in control. Then my flesh sat right down at my own pity party, knowing I was not choosing joy.

A few hours later, I got a churchwide email from Pastor Barry. "Happy Monday! What a joy this new week is! God's new beginning. We are God's creation, designed by Him for His purposes. That's how special you all are. As born-again people, one of the fruits of the spirit is joy. Does that fruit come forth, surface, within, and from us naturally and spontaneously? Our spiritual joy is a recognition of how deserving our God is, and it spontaneously shows our glory to Him. Are we allowing the freedom of our spontaneous joy? Our God is worthy. Glory to God." OUCH!

Here God is working everything out for me telling me not to stress, He's got this. Philippians 4: 6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." He is not going to leave me alone to handle this.

Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." My God is sooo deserving so I am going to start praising! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Choose joy! Thanks be to God and Pastor Barry!