Joy

Joy comes in the morning if you look to God and not to yourself or others!

The Steadfast Mind

"The way to walk through demanding days is to grip my hand tightly and stay in close communication with Me." ~ Sarah Young from Jesus Calling

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." ~ James 1:2-3

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." ~ Philippians 4:13

"The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in Thee." ~ Isaiah 26:3

Be encouraged today that no matter what you are going through, God is with you!

What if We Knew

What if we knew a trial or difficult time was coming? Would we prepare for it? I think oftentimes we proceed with life as if life will be great and easy and then something happens and we feel we simply aren’t strong enough to handle it. We know God won’t give us more than we can handle, but sometimes it feels like He does. Is there a way to prepare for tough times, and to feel stronger through them when they come? I believe there is. It’s not really a brilliant thought, but I think we as Christians often forget. We almost always turn to God when tough times come, and our relationship with Him starts to get stronger because we are spending more time with Him. We feel weak, so we know we need God. But what if during the easier times we were preparing our hearts for the tough times? If a famine or war was coming and we knew it, we would be gathering food and weapons. In the same way if we knew a difficult time was coming in our personal or Spiritual life wouldn’t we prepare for it? I’d like to say of myself of course that I would, but in reality do I? The truth of the matter is we know the Lord says we will have trouble in this life. We know the Christian walk is not always easy and we will go through trials and temptations. I’m not sure I can say I always am prepared though. You may say, how can you really prepare? I mean you can’t know when the rough times will come. Don’t difficult times usually come by surprise? How can you always know when you’ll lose your job, a loved one will die, a friendship will end, or a disaster comes and takes away your home? Well, I think the best way to prepare is basically to always be prepared. That sounds ridiculous, right? Too hard and wouldn’t you just always be worried and thinking about when the bad will come? What I’m talking about is more a matter of where your heart is. I mean what if we were always close to God and didn’t just turn to Him in the hard times. What if we didn’t ignore Him during the easy times? Let’s get to work putting God first in our lives at all times in the good times and the bad times. I know if we do this we will be better prepared for the difficult times. It doesn’t mean they will be easy, but at least we won’t be at a place of reacquainting ourselves with God again. I think we really need to ask ourselves where God ranks in our lives. What’s most important to us? What do we spend the most time doing in our free time? How much do we value praying, reading His Word, serving others, seeking His will for our lives? I know for myself it’s not enough. So often other things distract me too much, such as, movies, books, shopping, frivolous thinking, fun entertainment, or even friendships. It’s not that all of these things aren’t good sometimes, but are any of these things distracting me from God and all He has for me? This should be something you ask yourself frequently. It is so easy in this life to get too busy for God. Our world is so me/fun centered that we really so often put God second. If God was really first and we were learning from Him every day, I know we would be stronger through the hard times because we would have less of the world’s attitude and more of God’s attitude. I am so much happier when I focus more on God and less on entertainment. Why do I ever forget this? Even during the good times when God is first in my life, life is even better. The simple truth is that God brings joy to your life when You love Him with all your heart, soul, and strength. Why do we ever forget this? I don’t want to just get close to God so the tough times are easier, but so that all life is lived for God. Living for God is a pure joy. Why do we forget this?! Go live DAILY for God! You will never regret it!