Tag: Joy

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Radical Freedom

Sister,

“Choose Freedom!”  I said to my fifteen-month-old daughter Annabelle as she once again reached out to play with the computer cords.  I had already begun training her not to grab the cords in the house, as they can be dangerous if pulled and yanked.  She looked back at me slyly as her chubby fingers barely grazed the cords.  “No Annabelle,” I said to her quietly.  She continued to stare me down while carefully caressing the cords.  I could see her little mind wrestling between her perceived freedom of touching and grabbing everything she desired, and the real freedom of obeying her mom.

Aren’t we all like this?  We truly think that freedom is doing whatever we want when we want.  But in fact, that is anarchy and chaos.  If everyone does what is right in their own eyes, societal orders collapse and individual freedoms soon follow.

So, how can we choose freedom?  Freedom implies that we are a slave to something.  One thing all of humanity has in common is that we are a slave to sin.  No matter what country you are from, no matter who your parents are, no matter what age or maturity level you have obtained, you are a slave to sin.  The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 6:23a).  Annabelle knew she was not allowed to touch the cords, yet she was compelled to touch them because she is a sinner.  Me too!  I know I should be patient with her and my husband but how quickly I choose impatience and anger.  The Bible also says that the wages, or cost of this sin (disobedience to God), is death.  DEATH.  Death is no joking matter.  Scripture describes death as a real place, hell.  Hell is where God pours his wrath down on sinners.  There is fire, gnashing of teeth, and separation from all that is good and right, God.  We are a slave to THIS!  THIS sin that God will punish in eternal hell.  Stop and sit on this fact for a bit.  The longer you think about how completely hopeless, painful, and abhorrent God’s wrath in hell is, the sweeter the freedom of Christ will be to you.

The rest of Romans 6:23 says, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He died for us when we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).  When believer’s eyes are opened to the utter slavery of their sin and the freedom that came through faith in Christ, our joy abounds!  We have been set free from the ultimate penalty of sin and have the ultimate freedom of heaven!  I can hear you now, “but I still sin!”  “I still want to touch the cords!”  “I am still impatient!”  Yes, we still have our moments of desiring perceived freedom, but real freedom is walking in the righteousness that Christ has already given us.

So sweet sister, no matter where you are in life, there is freedom for you.  If you have not yet put your trust in Jesus, you can have the freedom from the ultimate penalty of sin.  Trust that He paid the price for your sin by dying on the cross and rising again!  He took on your filthy sin and put His righteousness on you instead!  What an amazing gift of freedom!  And fellow sister in Christ, you are free to walk in His righteousness!  Your righteousness is not based on what you do or don’t do.  Your freedom does not rely on your good or bad works, it relies on Christ alone!  So be radically free!  This gospel is for you!  There is freedom in obeying Christ!

~Colleen

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Parfait Please, With a Cherry On Top!

My Dear Sister,

Kindness is a delightful virtue that smiles often, never frowns, is not self-absorbed and  is always received with gladness and, sometimes, with surprise.  As a distinct fruit of the spirit, following a list of virtues—love, joy, peace and patience, (Galatians 2:22) kindness is the cherry on top of the parfait!

Kindness is the ignition to selfless, altruistic performance:  help for the helpless, provision for the needy, encouragement for the distressed, gentleness to the sarcastic.  Random acts of kindness are never counted or measured.  People just do them, for family and for strangers, stretching beyond their daily routine or work, sometimes incurring a financial expense, sometimes resulting in back pain and, yet, they expect nothing in return.  One does not even think about a simple kindness extended.  Small acts of kindness are as meaningful as any.  The loveliest aspect of kindness is that it is received and extended without expectation either way.  We all experience that feel good feeling from kindness, but we must never forget that kindness of every degree flows from the one source of true love—God!  Have you received kindness this week?  Have you extended kindness today sister?

You and I could always use an example to help us understand. God gives us a beautiful model of kindness in His word.  Consider the kindness of the Proverbs 31 Woman.  She exudes the virtue, doing her daily chores selflessly and joyously.  She rises early and retires late so that her day is long enough for her to pour out as many acts of kindness as possible: she works with her hand in delight (v. 13); she extends her hand to the poor, and stretches out her hands to the needy (v. 20); she opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue (v. 26).   Ah, that is it—she teaches kindness by her talk and her walk!

Dear sister would that my talk and walk were as drenched in kindness as hers!  Oh, I rise early and go to sleep late, but do I extend kindness in that time?  Am I wasting precious kindness opportunities by treating others as if they owe me something?  Do I create my agenda with a continuum of give me, get me, or do for me?

Recently, a man was featured on television for his commitment to one act of kindness daily; Just one act.  He was being admired and praised across the nation.  Imagine that—just one act of kindness!  Just ONE act of kindness, really?

As a Child of God, saved by His mercy and grace, it is my duty and privilege to live my life to His glory!  That means that my every moment should be one of obedience, selflessness, and praise to Him in everything that I do. There are so many ways to please God through kindness today, kindness done only in His presence. I can write a Get Well card.  I can sing a hymn while doing an unpleasant, neglected chore.  I can respond gently to a harsh word.  I can bless a homebound person with a phone call.  I can pray.

Oh, how I want to be a constant flowing fountain of kindness!  But I am not.  This is where I fall short of the glory of God.  Dear sister, please pray for me, that my daily tasks are not accompanied by resentment, that my contributions to the poor and needy are done without fanfare, and that what I say is never abrupt or hurtful.  Pray that the seed of kindness that was planted in me by God’s grace would begin to grow and blossom. I want to extend as much kindness as the Lord will permit—to my husband, to my family, to my friends, even to those who dislike me.

Proverbs 31 ends with praise for the woman who fears the Lord.  May this holy fear be ours today with praise to God in every kindness that pours from our being.

Kindness is such sweet fruit.  Like the cherry on a parfait!

With Love in our Kind Jesus,

Mimi

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Lasting Joy

 

My dear sister,

It comes into my soul slowly and softly some days, other days with a force, this joy that fills me from above.  I can’t predict but I can purpose.  Purpose to live with joy.  It’s the newness of the year, the hope of the unknown, the friendship of those close and near, but most of all, it is my Savior and His sacrifice that brings joy.  

You see I often live a deceived life.  You might too.  What are you hoping in?  Is it the next paycheck, the good doctor report (today I’m enjoying one of those), the latest gadget, having the final word?  You fill in the blank…what brings you hope?  I find hope and joy in so many things, and not always in Christ.  But when I’m seeing clearly, my hope and joy are fixed squarely on Christ, as the only TRUE and LASTING source of joy.  All the other counterfeits fizzle out quickly—you know this.  I know this.  Why do we fall?  The allure of sin, omission and commission, it tempts us.  It pulls at our hearts and convinces us that the struggle for true joy in Christ is not worth the fight.  The world with its flashy promises of satisfaction, the flesh, so weak and unwilling at times; these things deprive us of the joy we are meant to live in.  

How can we cling to the promises of Christ and find the joy we need to sustain us?  As we know, like Nehemiah, ‘the joy of the Lord is our strength’ (8:10).  There are a few things that help me live in the joy I’m called to:

~Reflect:  Are you looking into your soul and asking the hard questions?  Are we being honest with ourselves, and others, about where we really our in our walk with Christ?  Our relationships?  Our commitments?  

~Rest & Renew:  Often the answer for me is not doing more, but doing less.  Christ isall-sufficient.  As a college roommate once told me:  “Stop acting like you’re Jesus, Ruth!”

~Remember:  Whether it’s a long talk with a friend, looking over photo albums, or journaling, finding ways to remember God’s faithfulness to me brings me JOY!  (Keeping a gratitude journal is awesome for this as well.)

~Repurpose:  Make choices in line with what God is speaking to you through the Word, wise counsel, and prayer.  Sometimes I know what God is calling me to, and I go the other direction like Jonah.  Making a choice to follow where I’m called ALWAYS brings joy (even if it’s not easy!)

I pray your year is one marked by joy in Jesus, the only lasting source of satisfaction and peace in this world.  

(Listen to the song below for extra encouragement on your quest for joy!)

“I Will Rise”, by Chris Tomlin:

There’s a peace I’ve come to knowThough my heart and flesh may failThere’s an anchor for my soulI can say “It is well”

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise
There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes
Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead
And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
With confidence in Christ’s continued work in you…..your sister, Ruth

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Kayla’s Hope

My dear Sister,

When the psalmist says “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4) and “In Your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11) I am always confused. Fullness of joy? Really? I’ve never experienced that. And yet the word of God commands us to delight in the Lord and tells us in truth that in God’s presence our joy is complete. Still, I have remained perplexed.

This semester I have been praying that God would become my all in all. With so many distractions from the world and the many desires in my own heart, I have been fearful that I would never truly understand what the psalmist was talking about. To be truthful, for most of the semester I didn’t even want to open my Bible much less figure out this delighting in the Lord thing. Of course, I wanted God to be my all in all but  at the same time it felt like searching for this joy was a hopeless pursuit. I didn’t actually believe that God would reveal himself in such a way that would give me great joy. He does that for other people, not for me. I kept praying (inconsistently for that matter) but I wasn’t always faithful to do my part of getting into the word and praying for Him to work His joy in my life.

The other day I was in the prayer chapel on campus, conveniently located right down the street from my 9:30 class, and I decided to tell God exactly how I was feeling about this. Here is an excerpt of that prayer:

Dear Lord, I don’t fully understand this joy that is fulfilled in Your presence but I do know that You are where I will find it. I do know that You have loved me with an everlasting love, a love that will never change or diminish. I know that You can heal my brokenness and give me a joy that overflows. Lord, I want to know the place where the psalmist could say that fullness of joy is in Your presence. I want to delight myself in you and I want to be in that place where I can truly say that You are my all in all…I pray that as I seek Your face daily I would find unspeakable joy in Your presence. Amen.

With that I had a short quiet time on Romans 5:2 and I went on with the rest of my day. I didn’t really feel any different but I was glad that I had been honest with my Father. When I got home an hour or two later I started doing some things around the house. At some point I found myself wanting to go spend time with God. This caught me a little bit by surprise. When was the last time that I actually wanted to open my Bible and read it? I started praying and found myself crying. However these tears weren’t tears of sadness or loneliness. No, they were tears of joy! Where had this come from? All of a sudden I had this joy in my heart that was so overwhelming that even though I had my Bible in my hand I didn’t want to open it because I just wanted to keep telling God how joyful I was because of what He has done for me.

As you can probably imagine, I didn’t want this mountaintop experience to end. I wanted to feel this intense joy forever more because there in that moment I had found not just joy but hope. I had confidence that Jesus really was enough for me. I had confidence that what I had seen God do in others; He would also do in me. I had been praying for this all semester and here at the end of my last four months of undergrad God gave it to me out of nowhere! It was like God was saying, “Here is all of my joy, Kayla. I’ve been saving it for you for this very time. Now, hope in me.”

This world we live in is a valley, dry, desolate, and wasted. If you look for hope here you will be sorely disappointed. But if you hope in the Lord you will find streams of living water. So seek the Lord and do not grow weary in seeking Him. Persevere and do not give up. There is hope.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).

Merry Christmas!

Your sister,

Kayla

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The Beauty of the Cross and Self Control

Dear sister,
 
Greetings in the grace and peace of our dear Lord and Savior!  I pray you are finding joy in the journey, even as you struggle with this topic of self-control.  It is one that has perhaps been lost from the dialogue of our culture.  Control myself, what?  The idea of controlling any of our selfish and self-centered appetites seems to be beyond what should be expected of the average American.  Forgive me for my strong words, but do you not agree?  Is not a lack of self-control the very evil that plagues our government, as their spending catapults us all nearer every day to disaster?  I pray that it will not be so, but it seems that even our leaders are blind to the fact that taming our desires will bring the joy we crave, rather than giving in to every whim and fancy, be it labeled ‘benevolent and/or necessary’ or not.  
 
With that being said, I dare say you shudder at the thought of your own fleshly desires taking control of the Spirit-led nature you hope to foster.  Certainly, though you struggle, you are cognizant of the calling we have as Christians, to be controlled by our blessed Master and the Spirit He has left in us to guide and direct us while on this earthly journey.  I urge you to recall the proverb, chapter 25, and verse 28, “Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” (NIV)  I do hope and pray that the walls of your soul are not ‘broken through’ as a result of your own careless whims.  How deceitful is the sin that lives within us!  We are so easily led astray, and I know that I, for one, can so easily justify my actions and thoughts, rather than submit them to Christ.  
 
But is not self-control restrictive, you protest?  Ah, yes.  I understand.  I really do.  This concern had been one of my own in years past; particularly as I thought about how I would someday submit to a husband.  Will he not tell me every small thing that I must do?  Will he micro-manage my day, my life?  Will I not be my own person any longer?  And from this side of that altar, I do say, submission to my husband and Christ is better than any freedom I ever had as ‘my own person’.  I will argue this point to any modern woman who declares she will never allow a man to ‘tell her how to live’…and though my dear husband is imperfect, I have experienced that it is much better to trust his leading as guided by Christ, than to insist on my own way.  Just the same, I feel this is the battle we face with self-control.  Will we live according to our own fleshly desires, or submit to our Maker and Husband, Jesus Christ, who endured the horrible cross to make us his own?  

I have been meditating on the Cross, and its beauty, as expressed in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Read with me in Philippians 2:5-11:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (NIV).

This is the only real and lasting motivation for submitting ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit, for He took this path before we ever were asked to follow.  He has taken me, a wild rose, and grafted me into the True Vine, controlled by His loving Spirit—you too can find this joy.  You must simply repent and ask for His strength.  He is faithful to provide all we need to walk this road of self-control.  
 
Be blessed,
Ruth