Joy of Being Chosen

 

    You were chosen by God.  He created you because He loves you.  He wants a real relationship with you.  The only reason you would not have one is because you chose to reject Jesus, put distance, or never invested into getting closer to God.

    If you allow your feelings to dictate how you live, then you give them all the control.  They will have your moods and actions unpredictable.  It is a self-defeating way to live.  Your actions will push you further away from what you really want.  Living emotionally creates bad habits that will not let you see that you are chosen.  To be loved is what you need, but how can you ever accept real love when your emotions have you frazzled?

    When you allow logic to control your emotions, then you can see love, grace, and purity for what it really is.  You will be able to produce life fulfilling thoughts that are constructive for good habits.   Your emotions become indicator, but not rulers of your life.  Good moods become more consistent because you know you are loved even if you don't feel it in the moment.

    Emotions strength is directly linked to your moral decisions.  If you push the Bible away, then you invite emotional discord into your life.  Any joy that does not come from God is counterfeit joy.  If you embrace following Jesus by using the Bible and prayer, then you discover true joy.  This joy is produced through the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  

    How you live your life is your choice.  Will it be negative or positive?  Are you wiling to make changes in your life to get what your really want?  Do you really believe that God chose you and loves you?  Take a good look at your life to see which way you are headed today.  What small changes can you make today to have the life you have your heart set on?

John 15:9-17, Romans 15:7-13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Galatians 5:22-23, Ephesians 1:3-8, & 1 Peter 2:9-10

Joy of Personalization

 

You are designed by God personally.  He made you a certain way for a reason.  He gave you your personality.  You were made perfect.  It was sin that corrupted some aspects, but it doesn't change the value of what God made in you.  He made you specifically and for a purpose.  You can take joy in who you are because you are loved so much by your creator.

    You are good at some things and lousy in other areas.  The specialization gift list is shorter than the lousy list, but that is a good thing.  How would you have time for everything if you were good at everything.  Allow other people have to be accredited for what they are good at.  Work together and become stronger and enjoy life better.

    God created people to be relational.  He wants us to work together, encourage each other, and support one another.  If you choose to be a lone wolf, then you are the one missing out and making your life more difficult which steals joy from you.  As long as you are alive, God has a purpose for your life and I guarantee that it involves other people.

    Your purpose in life will use your gifts, talents, abilities, passions, and other people.  Your areas of interest are not a mistake.  What your pursue in life may go down a wrong path, but it was placed on your heart for a reason.  If you discover how God is trying to use all of this, then you will be more energized, youthful, and enjoy life more.  You are talented and gifted.  It is time to use it for God.

    Do not ignore your weaknesses.  Work on them to become stronger.  You can turn some weaknesses into strengths and other you keep from becoming a handicap.  The purpose is so you don't have anything holding you back.  Working on these can make you more relatable to some people.  It will give you a sense of achievement and satisfaction in life.  

    Persevere in your personal growth.  Do not give up on yourself.  You don't know what you can become until you get there.  In time you are likely to enjoy the process of growth because it is significant.  

    You are your gifts, talents, life experiences, personality, weaknesses, and a creation of God.  This should be put together to give you vision for your life.  Do not give up on yourself is finding something that you do for a living that you enjoy.  You spend the majority of your waking hours involved in work.  It is important to find what you are good at, so you can find joy in work.

Psalm 9-11, John 15:9-17, Romans 15:7-13, Philippians 4:1-5, & 1 Peter 1:8-9

Joy of Self-Discipline

 

    Self-discipline is something that you have to work at to direct your thoughts, attitudes, passions, and actions toward joy.  It is when your intentions defeat indulgence, your mind wins over your moods, or the Holy Spirit has more influence than your human desires.  When you have self discipline you take charge of your emotions, so you can have joy.

    If you do not have self-discipline, then you are a slave to to your feelings, moods, and life conditions.  You will never feel like you are on solid ground and it will destroy your joy.  Self-discipline is embracing the uncomfortable moment for the long term benefits.  It id doing what you don't want to do in the moment, so you can have something better in the future.  

    You need self-discipline to workout, raise a Godly family, keep a good attitude at work, balance your diet, be financially stable, and more.  You need it because it overrides unproductive emotions that lead to self-destructive behaviors.  There is a difference between what you can't do and what you won't do.  The won't develop bad habits.

    Self-discipline helps you fight against the right now culture where no one really succeeds by curving your impulsive nature and keeping yourself in check.  You sacrifice a little today for something better tomorrow.  Your feelings don't have to dictate your choices.  You can take a moment to think logically.  Pray for wisdom and guidance before making a move.  This way you can move forward with a clear conscience.  

    Do you want to upgrade your emotional life?  Learn to utilize self-discipline to turn your feelings into something productive.  Focus on God, then your feelings can lead to joy, passion, and satisfaction in life.  It just takes a little time and patience.  Seeking God's plan to follow it will bring enthusiasm and joy into your life because it is the greatest goal to achieve.

    Self-discipline leads to authentic joy.  It helps you fulfill your full potential in life.  You are able to see the defining moments in life more clearly instead of going through the motions.  You have the power to change your life by changing who you are.  It is not comfortable or easy, but the rewards far better in the long run.

    Learning self-discipline will feel unnatural and unrewarding the in the beginning.  Persevere or you will never discover your full potential in life.  Energy will return to you.  You can see the blessings in your life easier.  Your life will be more pleasing to God.  It takes faith to live a consistent life, but it produces the fruit of the Spirit.  

Proverbs 25:27-28, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Timothy 1:5- 7, & 2 Peter 1:5-7

Joy of the Truth

 

    The truth brings you free.  The truth is Jesus.  The truth is found in the Bible.  The truth is that we need him.  We enjoy life, grow up and make plans.  How often do those plans include your creator?  If they do not, then you are self-destructing.  

    The truth about how we talk is that it is a wrecking ball in our lives without the Holy Spirit.  You speak negative self-talk, fear, neglect, procrastinate, worry, and even cruelty.  The best thing you can do for yourself is to get out of your own way.  

    Allow the Holy Spirit help shape your character, Christ-like personality, and attitude.  Speak what you hope for every day, then pray over it.  Strengthen your faith, so you can see the truth behind what you ask God for.  Words are like seeds.  Once they are spoken, they are planted, take root, and become something real.  It build or demolishes your life.

    The truth is that your habits can be what hinders you the most.  You want to praise God, but your everyday habits are all about you, not Him.  Everyone has behavioral triggers.  These can be destructive to the life that you are trying to build.

    Focus on God's goodness and not everything that can go wrong.  Declare love, abundance, and joy that God gives gladly.  Refuse to allow your mind to go to everything that could go wrong, so that you never say it out loud.  Once spoken, it destroys pieces of hope and joy.  Refuse to claim anything that does not come from God.  

    Leave any conversation that involves cynicism, doubt, fear, worry, or gossip.  They will become a part of your inner dialog if you don't flee from it.  Be alert to the negativity around you and avoid the people who speak it.  Pray for them, so they can find God's hope and joy, but do not allow them to steal yours.

    Do not allow your mind to be contaminated by the evils of the world.  Some words never need to be spoken giving them power.  Be conscience of the way you speak to yourself.  Speak about your relationship with God and what you desire in life.  Speak God's promises.  They hold power.  Speak your faith to bring meaning to life.  You are responsible for your words and they will shape how you see the world.

Psalm 16:9-11, Proverbs 18:20-21, Matthew 28:18-20, John 8:42-47, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Ephesians 3:20-21, Philippians 4:4-5, & 3 John 1:2-4

Joy of Encouraging

 

    Success is a blessing.  You can use your success to bless other people and allow their success to bless you.  Using blessings to encourage one another is a part of God's design.  He loves you so much that He wants to bless you. He wants you to reach your full potential and give back to the world in big ways.

    Your success should never hinder someone else from being able to have success.  If your success causes suffering, setbacks, harm, cheated, or discouragement to anyone else, then it does not come from God.  People can feel hurt without being hurt.  People may have hurt feelings from disappointment, but that is part of living in the fallen world.  They should not experience actual pain for you to succeed.

    Success is an ongoing process of making God's desires into your desires for yourself and other people.  We need to try to use our success to help other people succeed.  It should not divide people.  One small act can trickle down to helping other people achieve their goals.  Let your success highlight moral character to accomplish something meaningful.

    Do your goals include serving people?  If they do, then expect to see many blessings.  If they do not, then do a heart check and pray over where God wants to put you.  Do a self check that you are not cheating anyone, contributing your success to luck, or allowing you to become petty.  At the same time don't down play your success, minimize it for other people, or ignore it.  It is a blessing and needs to be appreciate, but recognize where it came from.

    Use your life blessings to accomplish something, celebrate life, serve others, give back, become creative, be innovative, and lead others to blessings.  There is plenty of opportunity for everyone to have success in life.  

    Become genuinely happy when other people are blessed, even if you are in the desert right now.  Be their biggest cheerleader because you know God is working for your good.  It will lead to a more appreciative heart.  Celebrate other people's success, text encouragement, make a call, write a note.  It will come back to you when it is your turn.

    Appreciate what you have today and be a good steward.  God will bless you with more.  Watch over your thoughts, income, investments, savings, spending, and anything else that you would like to see blessings given to you.  Pray over your motives.  Your journey will not look like anyone else's.  Your success and blessings will not mirror anyone.  Don't ruin what you are blessed with by comparing yourself to anyone else.

    Being gracious doesn't always come naturally.  You may have to work on it and pray through it, but it will fine tune your attitude.  It will help you overcome envy and jealousy that will destroy all types of gratitude.  They can remove blessings.  

    Think about like this: do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.  That means if you want others to pray for you, then pray for them.  If you want wealth, then learn from those who have wealth and integrity.  If you want a good marriage, then surrender it to God.  

    Life always looks better on the other side of the window, but you have no idea what the other person may have to deal with.  Be happy with what you do have and be happy for them too.  Do this for your joy if not for other people's joy.  You never know how it may affect them.  God loves us all equally, but no life looks alike.  Focus on your mission and allow God to take care of all the details.  It will bless others and yourself.

Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 16:9-11, Romans 8:18-25, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, Galatians 5:22-23, & Philippians 4:4-5

Joy of Careful Speech

 

    The words that come out of your mouth can bring forth joy or they can destroy it.  The power of words bring life or death.  They encourage or discourage, motivate or crush, bring joy or repel it.  It is an insult to the person God created to tear ourselves down.  We talk to ourselves worse than we would anyone else.

    Your mind hears the words that come out of your mouth and believe them.  The brain doesn't comprehend it as being a joke or sarcasm.  It believes your words to be truth.  Tearing ourselves or other people down is in direct opposition to God's will.  

    Speak life into yourself like a prayer.  Speak it like it has already happened and give God the space to make it happen.  Use your words to be respectful and encouraging.  It all starts with you taking charge of your mouth.  It is part of disciplining your mind.  

    The words you speak reflect what you believe and at the same time it reinforces it.  Do your words reflect your current anxiety or hope for your future?  Do your words speak worry or blessings?  Do your words reflect God accurately?  Do not let your words limit your life.  Use your words to bring life to the fullest blessing it can be.

    Listen to the words that come out of your mouth.  Train yourself to be sensitive to what you allow yourself to think about most often.  This will be what determines your quality of life.  Do not block what God is trying to give generously to you: blessings.  

    Unprofitable talk will steal your blessings.  If the words are spoke or read it does the same thing in your mind, so make sure your words are good, pure, kind, lovely, and worthy.  If you can't say something positive, then choose silence.

Proverbs 15:23-24, 17:27-28, 18:20-21, Isaiah 43:18-21, Ephesians 4:28-29, James 1:19-21, & 1 Peter 3:8-12

Joy in the Big Picture

 

    Adversity can produce positivity.  It is just hard to believe and accept.  The truth is adversity produces growth that can bring joy.  We rarely grow when things are going well.  If you try to avoid adversity, then you end up avoiding life.  

    It takes practice to remain joyful in the hard times.  Develop poise and calm to help you respond when things are difficult.  Everyone has bad days, setbacks, season in the desert, and big life events that seem insurmountable.  You just have to remember that God is bigger and more powerful than any of it.  Stress develops when you are inconsistent with Biblical principles because we do not sense God in our lives or allow Him control.  

    Life is like the four seasons.  If you did not have winter, then you would not enjoy spring as much.  If you didn't have summer, then you would not enjoy fall as much.  Adversity develops strong character and builds resilience.  It is like a muscle.  If not worked, it will get weak.  You always have to be ready to face discomfort, pain, and uneasiness.  Plus working out helps you deal with stress and trauma better.

    If you want to have strong character, then you have to decide on how you will deal with adversity.  It is your choice on how you will deal with difficulty.  Your mind is your inner world.  It decides how the outer world will be for you.  It is more than positive thinking.  It is keeping a joyful attitude.  It is choosing to deal with human nature in a Godly manner.

    Adversity reveals character flaws.  You have the choice to work on them or ignore them and allow them to become bigger issues causing significant damage in relationships.  Your character is the essence of who you are: thoughts, habits, flaws, virtues, vision, ambition, and inspiration.  Will you grow or shrink?  You develop your character over your entire life.  

    You will never know what you are made of until you are put into the fire.  Life will give you failure, tragedy, difficult times, obstacles, set backs, crisis, and suffering.  Sometimes more than one at a time.  It can hit your health, family, friendships, marriage, work, or church.  It can destroy you or it can develop you.  

    Look for wisdom in the trials of life.  Look for what God is trying to sift our of your life.  If you find it, then you can find your blessings that bring joy.  If you allow adversity to develop character, then it will drain the negative energy.  Accept adversity as a norm and look for the benefits instead of all the negatives.  This is when you can take advantage to grow.  You just have to train yourself to look for it.  God is with you in the small and big things.

Psalm 16:9-11, Isaiah 61:10-11, Habakkuk 3:16-19, Philippians 4:4-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, & James 1:2-4