Joy of Holy Thoughts

 

    Joy is contagious.  It is something that everyone wants, but not everyone has.  When we choose to have a joyful mindset, then we can bring joy into other people's lives.  It also tends to annoy the miserable.  They like their negativity to be more contagious, but they can't take your joy unless you surrender it to them.  Prayer is the key to holding onto your joy.

    It is your choice to be reactive and allow people to affect your day.  Reactive people do not display self-control.  They act with negative intentions from your response, so that you can remain respectful to a person that God designed.  That way you are honoring God, not giving power to people who may not show you the same respect.

    It is your choice today to not allow those around you to change who you are.  Are you going to follow Jesus or your passions?  I promise Satan will place people in your path to challenge, annoy, and anger your.  God will allow it to give you the opportunity to show introduce Him to them.  

    When people push your buttons, focus on scripture that you may be reading or have memorized.  Pray about it.  Choose to turn the other cheek.  It does not mean you have to be a door mat, but you can have control over how you treat other people.  Do not let stressful situations set you off.  Allow the Holy Spirit to help keep you calm and poised.  This is how you hold onto your joy.

Psalm 16:9-11, 118:22-29, Proverbs 17:20-22, Philippians 4:4-5, & 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Joy in Time with God

 

    Choosing joy will change your life over time to result into a joy-filled life.  It all starts with today.  Your chances automatically go up if you start your day with Jesus.  Spending time in God's Word, prayer, and meditation are the foundation for a joy-filled life.  Starting your day with God is the best way because you are turning to Him before all the distractions begin.  You are building up your faith to face your day on the rock of truth.  

   When you read God's Word it only puts life into you.  You pray and you communicate with God.  You meditate throughout the day what you read to help you stay focused on what really matters.  You also need to take the time to self-reflect to listen to what God has to say to you today.  

    The mornings are normally quiet and peaceful.  It makes it easier to focus and receive inspiration.  Any other time is good too, but you may go into it with frustration, distractions, and a cluttered mind.  You are less likely to give all of yourself to God for that set time.  

    Devotional time is the time you set aside to remind yourself that God is in control.  You get to be still in His presence and surrender any burdens you have.  Life's problems are smaller than Him.  Let him cleanse, renew, and refresh your mind.  Saturate your mind with His Word to the point that it is all you can think about.  

    In your quiet time share your goals, dreams, ideas, and priorities with God.  Do what you have to do to spend at least 15-20 minutes a day alone with God.  This is where you will find your calm and confidence.  When you feel rushed, that is when you need it the most.  Let God shape your day instead of your day shaping you.  Speak to the Holy Spirit about all of your questions and concerns.

    Your morning devotional time will build self-discipline.   You will see the rewards of joy, insight, revival, confidence, and peach of mind over time.  God is the foundation of joy.  Every minute you invest in to God you gain wisdom that will help you not only survive this world, but thrive in it.  

    Look at what you read, watch, or listen to throughout the day.  Does it bring worship or distance from God into your life?  Do you pray as you go to sleep?  When you wake up what are you thinking about?  Do you avoid time with God?  If so, why?  All these answers will lead up to what kind of alone time you have with God.  Will you make it all about you or will you turn it into worship?  It is okay not to know scripture or have prayer down pact.  That will come in time.  You just have to get started.  If you want life to change, then you have to be ready to change.  Change takes time and effort.

Psalm 16:9-11, 30:4-5, Matthew 6:31-34, John 15:9-17, Romans 15:7-13, & Philippians 4:4-5

Joy of Perspective

 

    We all have good and negative qualities.  It is what we choose to focus on that will shape our perspective.  Everyone is imperfect.  We all have good days and bad day, but how we handle them is what matters.  Focus on what went right, the good qualities of the people in your life, and your positive aspects.

    The Bible tells us to focus on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and good.  This is how we can overlook shortcomings.  Challenge yourself to seek out what is good.  Choose to view life through the eyes of Jesus.  His perspective will bring forth virtue that is excellent and praiseworthy.  If they become fixed in your mind, then your mind can find freedom.

    Meditate on God's Word, so that it becomes a part of you.  Look for what is noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, and gracious.  That way you look for the best in people instead of assuming the worst.  You will see the beauty instead of only the ugly.  You will praise God with your mind instead of cursing the world.  If the Bible couldn't change people, then it would all be in vain.

    You can control your thoughts, but it is your choice.  It takes practice and work.  Understand the world through the eyes of Jesus and you can face difficulties without falling apart.  Disappointment happens, but it is not a blanket over every aspect of life.  Instead look at it as an opportunity for joy as your faith is being worked out and you grow in endurance.  It will mature you.

    List the people in your life and beside their name, list all their good qualities and strengths.  When life is hard with them, look at the list to challenge yourself not to only see what is upsetting you at this time.  Pray over your list every chance you get.  Ask the people on your list to pray for you too.

Romans 8:18-25, Philippians 4:4-14, Hebrew 12:1-4, James 1:2-4, & 1 Peter 6-7

Joy of Decisiveness

 

    Do you believe that God has a plan for your life?  Do you trust God's plan for your life?  You will never have a truly joy-filled life without decisively knowing that God brought you into this world for a purpose.  If you truly accept and embrace that truth, then how would it change your life?

    When you believe that God wants great things for you, it should altar your attitude and thought process.  You become more grateful.  Are you willing to stand on that truth even if it is not obvious in the moment?  Or will you postpone working on your relationship with God for when things are more favorable for you?  The game of wait and see will destroy your joy.  

    Gratitude is a choice.  You choose to focus on the blessings in life or everything that goes wrong.  There will never be a shortage of things going wrong, but it will steal your joy.  If you focus on the blessings, then your brain chemistry releases the good hormones into your body.  It produces joy.  

    Focus on what you can be grateful for in work, marriage, family, and other aspects in life.  Commit to gratitude as a part of who you are.  Start with writing it out in a list everyday until you are able to be grateful without working at it.  If negativity starts creeping in again, then start the list over or reread the list you have created.

    Focus on one aspect to be grateful for today.  Don't think about tomorrow.  Stay in today and appreciate what it provides.  It will help you appreciate what you have and where you are today in life.  Focus is a decisive decision.  That means that your state of mind is a decision.  It all depends on how you approach God

    If it stays in the negative, then you need to challenge your decision making.  No one else can or should do that for you.  Own your joy or your misery.  It is your choice.  Are you willing to work toward joy?  Are you willing to go the extra mile to see the good in life?  Start with thanking God for your life, then thank Him for everything on the list.  Next pray over your list.  Take joy in doing God's will.

I hope you have a great and positive day.

Psalm 16:9-11, 40:6-8, Proverbs 3:5-6, Jeremiah 29:10-14, Philippians 4:6-7, & James 1:5-8

Change Your Thinking

 

    If you want a joy filled life, you need a healthy mind.  This takes work and intention.  You geta healthy mind by feeding it healthy things.  However, diet and sleep do affect how your mind works too.  Do not work against your best interest.  Put in the effort every day.  Joy is cultivated by understanding God's love for you.

    You have the freedom to choose how you think.  You choose what you think about.  Is what you are thinking about increasing or decreasing your joy?  Joy is not happiness.  Happiness is an emotional state.  Joy is a state of mind.  Do your thoughts distress or nourish your soul?  

    It is your choice to think excellent, mediocre, focused, scattered, fresh, exciting, stale, or depleting thoughts.  You can focus your mind on compassion, love, constructive, faithful grateful, positive thoughts or you can focus on harsh, common, destructive, entitled, or negative thoughts.  Do you think of other people or do you only take care of your own comfort?

    What do you want in life?  Your life will shape itself according to how you think.  Pleasant thoughts lead to a pleasant life.  Unpleasant thoughts lead to an unpleasant life.  You will reap what you harvest.  Start focusing on blissful thoughts and start letting go of all the thoughts that hold you back.  

    Think about the person you want to be and identify the thoughts that work against you becoming that person.  Once you have identified your blocks, then you can commit them to God to change them.  It is always good to have a healthy and Godly partner to keep you accountable.  An accountability partner can be your prayer partner, spouse, best friend, or someone you trust to speak truth into your life. 

    Let go of any fear and trust God to take care of you during this journey.  Look for ways you can be grateful today.  When you catch yourself thinking negatively take hold of that thought and redirect them to be positive.  Never speak negatively about yourself or you are insulting the person that God created.  Once you see yourself the way God sees you, your emotions will follow the positive thoughts.  You are free to choose.  

Proverbs 23:6-8, Matthew 4:13-20, Romans 8:26-30, & Ephesians 4:31-32

Financial Goals

 

    It is good to have financial goals.  God does not have an issue with people being able to take care of themselves or even gaining wealth.  What God is concerned about is your heart.  You can't have your life pursue only money.  Your have to pursue God, trust the abilities He has given you, and invest wisely with what He has given you.  The point is that your heart and actions belong to God, not the pursuit of money.  Wealth is a bi-product of being a good steward and wealth is not always money.

    A part of bookkeeping that people don't always seem to understand is that you have to be organized.  You need to have a clean way of keeping your invoices, checks, receipts, and anything else you may need for taxes.  You need to be able to keep these for at least seven years.  I recommend accordion folders for this organization.  It doesn't take a lot of space and you can label them by year.  The headings can be similar to what you have in your budget.  Just make sure you add receipts and other small things that is personal to your bookkeeping.  Your needs may change every year too.

    Good bookkeeping has evidence that you paid bills and invoices, so if there is a dispute you have proof.  It is good to be organized with your bills.  Keep the unpaid separate from the paid bills and invoices.  This organization along with your actual budget will help you achieve your financial goals.  

    The point of financial goals is to help you accomplish what you want in life.  Write out the goals you have for this year, next year, five years, 10 years, and 20 years.  Focus on what needs to happen for your goals this year to happen.  They should naturally help you achieve your long term goals.  If you are married, each person write down your own goals and then compare.  It is a good place for discussion, so that you can get on the same page and avoid bigger issues later.  

    Pray over your financial goals to make sure that they align with the path that God has for you.  God will confirm or redirect your goals.  Your current situation is not a factor for God, so do not limit your dreams.  If they are what God wants, then it will happen.  If not, then nothing you do will make you successful in that area.  Your part is to be a faithful steward.  God does all the heavy lifting.  That is why a lot of your goals can be faith goals.  You need God to make them happen.  

    Once you have all your goals written out, prioritize them by importance.  Not all your goals will be achieved at the same time.  You just need to organize them by time sensitivity, importance, and realistic for the time frame.  Next, look at your goals next to your budget.  Do you see anything that needs to change to make it where your goals can become a reality?  If you do, then pray over that and be specific with God.  He knows your needs, but He wants you to know why it is important to you.  Trust God to provide.

Proverbs 10:22-24, 13:11-13, 22:7, Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, Malachi 3:8-12, Matthew 6:31-34, Luke 14:28-30, & Hebrews 13:5-7

Organize your Insurance

 

    There are many types of insurances.  Some are required by certain states and some are optional.  The world will have you believe that you need them to survive.  If you save and prepare, then you will not need most insurance.  You will almost always pay more than you will get from those companies, so be wise in how you invest in insurance.

    The insurances that are typically not optional are house and car.  Really shop around and find the best deals to work for you.  The optional insurance is liability, life, health, disability, and business.  If you opt-in for these, be careful that you do not allow salesmen to scare you into more than what you really need.  Look at your budget.  Will certain insurances mess up your budget similar to having a mortgage you can't afford?  If the answer is yes, then you need to look into other options.  You don't want to be insurance poor any more than you want to be house poor.

    Pray over your insurance and other investments to feel confident that you are handling God's money well.  Insurance and annuities can become very complex.  You need to educate yourself or work with someone that understands how it works and you trust to guide you with integrity.  Using wise counsel helps make you wise.

    Health insurance is normally dictated by your job, but you always have the option to go outside and find a solution that works for your household.  It is meant to be used at the doctor office, hospital, medicine, and related expenses.  The insurance company is hoping you will never use the money that you invest.  You invest because you are afraid of something happening.  You need to pray not to be afraid, but prepared and how that looks for your household.

    Life insurance is for the people that survive you.  It should take care of all funeral expenses and along with the expenses that led up to your death (hospital, car accident, hospice, and more).  Life insurance provides a lump sum of what you signed to pay on until your death.  It can be used in whatever capacity that is needed.  If you prepare and pay for all your funeral expenses ahead of time, then your family can use the money to pay off the mortgage or any other debt.  If you don't have any debt, then you may not need life insurance.  However, if you have been paying on it for many years, then don't just close it out.  Look into your options.

    How do you budget for each insurance.  If you get medical insurance through work, then you just add what the monthly cost will be for other insurances to that.  Do your best to make sure it does not exceed 5% of your net income.  

    When it comes to calculating life insurance look at what the bread winner makes, subtract their needs if they were to die, subtract the income you will get (SSI, investments, retirement benefits), and net annual income needed.  This helps you figure out your new reality needs with one less paycheck to determine a new standard of living.

    Basically you want to make sure that life insurance will cover the funeral expenses, pay off the mortgage, and cover any major needs that your loved ones will have.  Some people will calculate what they think college will be for a child.  Do not forget that there will be taxes taken on this too.  There are many types of life insurance out there, so make sure you find what works for your household and possibly future household.  If you are going to do life insurance, then you want to start young when it is cheap.  The younger you start, the more it works in your benefit.

Proverbs 6:6-11, 22:2-5, 27:12-13, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Romans 13:1-7, & 1Timothy 5:8