Scripture says that rivers of living water flow through those who believe in Christ. The river brings the fruits of the spirit. It brings love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It brings fulfillment and freedom.
Unfortunately, the various things of life can crowd the river. Emotional and spiritual debris falls in, and rather than letting it get swept away in the flow, washed away in living water, sometimes we let the debris stay. We hold on to it. We let it accumulate. We let dams develop, dams that stifle the flow of that life-giving water. The river turns to a stream, then a trickle, and we are left downstream, with less and less access to that living water.
But God does not intend for us to be dried up. He doesn't want that for us, and He is ready and waiting to help us clear the debris, to help us bring down the dams. When we ask, He will reveal to us the things that are damming up the river running through us. He will reveal how to rid ourselves of the debris that has collected. He brings healing and restoration. He brings life, that we might have it to the full.
He never promises that clearing the debris will be easy or simple, but I am finding that it is rewarding work. I am attempting to clear the debris from my life, to rid myself of the negative things I think about myself, the discouragement I experience in my work, the temptations to give up, to accept that I will never be more than what I am right now. I am attempting to bring down the dams that are holding me back from the rivers of living water that Christ promised.
Are there things standing between you and rivers of living water?
Today's Verse:
John 7: 38
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.
An exploration of faith and hope in the midst of fibromyalgia and the various and sundry things of life.
Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts
Friday, March 29, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Little Things
There are so many distractions and stresses in life, always so many things to be done and accomplished. But sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step back and do something different. To take all those demands on our time and focus, and put them on the back burner. To reach out and connect with other people, to do something fun, regardless of whether it's productive, regardless of whether it will further your career, regardless of whether it will boost your grade.
Today I bake. I put on my music, spend the morning in the kitchen, and create. I make up a recipe and experiment. I rejoice.
The best part of baking is that it serves other people - I don't even have to eat the food I make! I can do something that brings me pure joy and use it to please others.
I see God in the little things I do, the seemingly unimportant tasks that I love, like baking. I take joy in my creations the way I hope God takes joy in me. If I can experience such pleasure at the delicious taste of my confections, imagine how much pleasure God finds in me and you!
Are you taking the time to do what you love? Do you see God in your passions?
Today's Verse
Matthew 6: 33-34
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Today I bake. I put on my music, spend the morning in the kitchen, and create. I make up a recipe and experiment. I rejoice.
The best part of baking is that it serves other people - I don't even have to eat the food I make! I can do something that brings me pure joy and use it to please others.
I see God in the little things I do, the seemingly unimportant tasks that I love, like baking. I take joy in my creations the way I hope God takes joy in me. If I can experience such pleasure at the delicious taste of my confections, imagine how much pleasure God finds in me and you!
Are you taking the time to do what you love? Do you see God in your passions?
Today's Verse
Matthew 6: 33-34
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Being, Not Just Doing
It isn't enough to go through the motions of faith, to say all the right things, do all the right things. It has to come from within. We have to BE faithful. We have to BE hopeful. We have to BE joyful. Acting the part will only get us so far.
It's in the early morning hours that I confront this concept most often. I wake, before I am ready to get up, filled with thoughts and worries, fear eating at my gut. In the dark, everything I knew and said and did in the light seems insignificant and insubstantial. I am practically powerless against the the thoughts running through my mind, the anxiety eating away at my peace and contentment.
I ask myself, "Am I just going through the motions? Or do I truly believe that God has everything in hand, that so long as I follow him I can't go wrong? Do I believe that He has a good and perfect plan for my life? That He WANTS to do good things for me? Do I believe that He is faithful and true and that He honors His promises?" I do. He is. He does.
So I say no to the fear and anxiety. I say no to the thoughts that run rampant through my mind. I turn my focus away from 'what ifs' and back to what and who He is. I can be faithful and hopeful and joyful because of who He is and what He has done and what He will do. Nothing has changed since I first fell asleep. Nothing will change if I sit up and worry and nitpick. Nothing will change if I let go, rest, and go back to sleep.
Worry and anxiety are my way of taking control back from God. Of saying 'Look at me, look how well I can reason this out, how well I can handle it." But that's not faith. That's going through the motions. I can say all the right things and still hold back on the inside. But I am not doing that today. Today, I will rest in His grace and I will be faithful. I will be hopeful. I will be joyful.
Are you being or doing?
Today's Verse
Numbers 11:23
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!"
It's in the early morning hours that I confront this concept most often. I wake, before I am ready to get up, filled with thoughts and worries, fear eating at my gut. In the dark, everything I knew and said and did in the light seems insignificant and insubstantial. I am practically powerless against the the thoughts running through my mind, the anxiety eating away at my peace and contentment.
I ask myself, "Am I just going through the motions? Or do I truly believe that God has everything in hand, that so long as I follow him I can't go wrong? Do I believe that He has a good and perfect plan for my life? That He WANTS to do good things for me? Do I believe that He is faithful and true and that He honors His promises?" I do. He is. He does.
So I say no to the fear and anxiety. I say no to the thoughts that run rampant through my mind. I turn my focus away from 'what ifs' and back to what and who He is. I can be faithful and hopeful and joyful because of who He is and what He has done and what He will do. Nothing has changed since I first fell asleep. Nothing will change if I sit up and worry and nitpick. Nothing will change if I let go, rest, and go back to sleep.
Worry and anxiety are my way of taking control back from God. Of saying 'Look at me, look how well I can reason this out, how well I can handle it." But that's not faith. That's going through the motions. I can say all the right things and still hold back on the inside. But I am not doing that today. Today, I will rest in His grace and I will be faithful. I will be hopeful. I will be joyful.
Are you being or doing?
Today's Verse
Numbers 11:23
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!"
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Choosing Happiness
Lately, I am finding life to be full of cynicism and discontent. There are always things to complain about. There are always scenarios that can be over analyzed and stressed over, and there are always potential outcomes to fear. There is always something that isn't going as well as it could or as well as one might wish. I feel like these things are crowding in, trying to push me to a place where I complain and over-analyze and stress and fear.
Earlier, I wrote about joy as a fruit of the spirit and how lately, for me, being joyful has meant having a positive outlook on life, even in the face of all these things. When I was looking for definitions of joy, I kept coming across the word happy, and I find myself contemplating happiness today.
I have always thought of happiness as temporal, fleeting, something based on my circumstances and the current events of my life. But what if being happy is more nuanced than that? What if happiness is not rooted in circumstances, but is instead rooted in choice?
What if we can choose to be happy or not? What if we crowd out happiness, pushing it away by focusing on negative things, on potential problems? What if it isn't life that makes us unhappy but our own approach to living?
The next time I find myself complaining about something, I want to choose to focus on the good things that are happening. I want to diffuse negative conversations that crop up around me by noticing positive things about the people and situations being discussed. I want to encourage my friends to choose happiness rather than cynical discontent, to encourage them to choose happiness and positivity rather than stress and fear.
Surely joy is a good place to start when choosing to be happy, but it may work the other way too. Maybe choosing to be happy in everyday moments helps cultivate joy. Maybe we need to get out of our own way and let happiness in. Maybe if we make room for happiness, we will actually be happy.
Are you making the effort to be happy? How might you change your approach to things to increase the happiness in your life? How do you encourage others to be happy?
Today's Verse
Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Earlier, I wrote about joy as a fruit of the spirit and how lately, for me, being joyful has meant having a positive outlook on life, even in the face of all these things. When I was looking for definitions of joy, I kept coming across the word happy, and I find myself contemplating happiness today.
I have always thought of happiness as temporal, fleeting, something based on my circumstances and the current events of my life. But what if being happy is more nuanced than that? What if happiness is not rooted in circumstances, but is instead rooted in choice?
What if we can choose to be happy or not? What if we crowd out happiness, pushing it away by focusing on negative things, on potential problems? What if it isn't life that makes us unhappy but our own approach to living?
The next time I find myself complaining about something, I want to choose to focus on the good things that are happening. I want to diffuse negative conversations that crop up around me by noticing positive things about the people and situations being discussed. I want to encourage my friends to choose happiness rather than cynical discontent, to encourage them to choose happiness and positivity rather than stress and fear.
Surely joy is a good place to start when choosing to be happy, but it may work the other way too. Maybe choosing to be happy in everyday moments helps cultivate joy. Maybe we need to get out of our own way and let happiness in. Maybe if we make room for happiness, we will actually be happy.
Are you making the effort to be happy? How might you change your approach to things to increase the happiness in your life? How do you encourage others to be happy?
Today's Verse
Ecclesiastes 3:12
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Being Positive
A while back I went to a conference about finding God's calling for your life, and the application for the conference asked which fruit of the spirit I thought was most evident in my life. I chose joy.
But what is joy? The dictionary defines joy as "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires." Yes! Exactly. In Christ, I am well, successful, and I have what I desire.
So what does this mean for my life? What does having joy look like? I am discovering more and more that having joy means being positive. When I cultivate joy, I don't complain as much. I don't get annoyed with other people as easily. I roll with the punches of life much more readily. I see the silver linings all around me, even in the midst of chronic pain. My heart and mind and eyes are opened to the beauty of the world, the fun to be had just being alive. I have everything I need and I rejoice in God's provision in my life. If God is with me, who or what could be against me?
Do you experience joy in your life? Which fruit of the spirit do you see most in your life?
Today's Verses
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
But what is joy? The dictionary defines joy as "the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires." Yes! Exactly. In Christ, I am well, successful, and I have what I desire.
So what does this mean for my life? What does having joy look like? I am discovering more and more that having joy means being positive. When I cultivate joy, I don't complain as much. I don't get annoyed with other people as easily. I roll with the punches of life much more readily. I see the silver linings all around me, even in the midst of chronic pain. My heart and mind and eyes are opened to the beauty of the world, the fun to be had just being alive. I have everything I need and I rejoice in God's provision in my life. If God is with me, who or what could be against me?
Do you experience joy in your life? Which fruit of the spirit do you see most in your life?
Today's Verses
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
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