Monday, November 7, 2011

Choosing Joy

So, I feel like I should apologize for my last post. I completely agree with it, but after the weekend I just had, it seems I didn't explain that choosing Joy isn't any easy choice.

It's quite easy to sit here and write that "the Joy of the Lord is our Strength." It's not easy to really and truly believe that. At times, it is the most difficult thing to do. But that's when we need to remember that it is a choice.

Emotions are not something we should allow to rule us, no matter what we've been told. Like thoughts, we can choose the ones we dwell on and let in. With some, it's easy. With others, it just isn't. I wish I could give you guys a step by step guide, that by completing A, B, and C, you too can rule your emotions. It doesn't work like that, though.

All I do know, is that you have to make a choice. You have to consciously and continuously choose to walk in Joy. Choose to cast out vain imaginations. Choose to believe that we serve a good God who has the best plans and hopes for us. But it doesn't stop there.

The one thing I can almost guarantee that will happen when you choose Joy? You are going to be tested. This is not a reason to back off from the Joy, which is your Strength! This is a call to arms. Whenever we receive a victory in our walk with Christ, that is the moment we must keep our guard up even more. Many battles have been lost after great victories, because defenses have been let down.

DO NOT LOOSE HEART! Do you know why Joy is our Strength? Because our Joy comes from a knowledge that we've won! We find strength because we've already done this. This battle has been fought and won, and because of that, we know we can win it again.

In the midst of your discouragement, remember the Cross, and what was finished there. When you've done all to stand, STAND! The only way the devil wins, is if we quit fighting. One of my pastors recently said to someone discouraged by all going on around her, that it wasn't up to her to withstand the devil. The devil had to withstand HER. And that, he can only do, if we let him. So let's not.





Thank you so much for reading. It means so much to me. Really. And please know that I am talking to myself just as much, or possibly more than I am to you. I struggle, and do not, by any stretch of the imagination, have all the answers. If you have a point to make that I did not, or disagree with something, please leave a comment! We are here to help each other grow! 

2 comments:

  1. or if you're me, you work you way up to choosing joy by choosing to not punch people in neck.

    baby steps.

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  2. This was awesome! Very well written and thank you for your dedication to Christ and for putting it out there for everyone to see.

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