7 Secrets to Keeping Your Joy by Joyce Meyer ARE YOU ENJOYING your life? If not, God wants you to. Jesus said in John 10:10 that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, but He came that we may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows) (The Amplified Bible). I believe this means God wants us to enjoy every part of our lives—not just little bits and pieces here and there. Many people today live their lives in a constant state of stress and turmoil. But as Christians, we dont have to live that way. Why? Because Gods Spirit lives in us, and a fruit of His Spirit is joy. Now this joy is not just a happy feeling based on our circumstances or on the things we possess—it is an unshakable stability in our inner man (spirit). Joy can range anywhere from a calm delight to extreme hilarity, and it is the joy of the Lord that is our strength (see Neh. 8:10) Many years ago, I spent most of my time uptight and upset about something. The reason for this was because my happiness was based entirely on circumstances. If things were going my way, I was happy. If we had money in the bank, I was happy. If it was Friday night, a holiday, or if we were on vacation, I had joy. But since these things accounted for only a small part of my life, the majority of the time I was sad and discontented. As my relationship with God grew, I got tired of being happy only if and when things were going my way. I was weary and worn out from the constant mood swings, and I just wanted to be happy. Gods Word said that I could live my life with joy, and I finally decided that I was going to do whatever it took to have it. As I really started to seek God about this issue, He began to reveal to me several important principles that are critical to receiving and keeping our joy. Following are seven of these life-changing essentials: 1. Be led by the Spirit. One of the most dynamic ways to keep our joy is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us in the way we should go. Proverbs 16:9 says, A mans mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure. Probably one of the hardest things in the world for people is to walk away from doing something they have done for a long time. In many ways, I cant stand to do the same thing for too long. For example, I have several pairs of pajamas because I just dont like to look at the same ones all the time. But in certain areas Im not like that—I would probably be happy with the same hairstyle until Jesus comes! If we do the same thing the same way too long, it just becomes old and stale, and it means nothing. But one of the things I have learned about the Holy Spirit is that if we follow Him, He keeps everything fresh. Life does not get stale when we follow the Lord. The Holy Spirit will lead us to change things on purpose just to make us pay attention to Him. God may lead you simply to take a different route home from work. He may want to show you a new tree or something beautiful on your way home. Dont just keep doing things the same way if you are no longer joyful when you do them. You will lose your joy if you are not willing to get out of the boat. 2. Simplify your life. Dont try to do too much. Satan works hard to complicate your life so he can steal your joy. If you want to live a less complicated life, you may have to simplify it by not doing so much. I used to whine and grumble about my schedule saying, How can anybody do all this? I never have any time to rest. I never take a vacation. God finally told me one day, Youre making the schedule. If you dont want to do it all, then just dont do some of it. If youre too busy, I suggest that you take an hour or so and write down everything you are doing or want to do. Then look at which events are not bearing any fruit and mark them off your list. Before I uncomplicated my life, I never had time to enjoy my home. I never enjoyed my kids. I loved them, but I never really took time to enjoy them. I encourage you to spend time with your family and friends. Enjoy your relationship with God. Many people are too busy to even take a walk. Take a little bit of time to look at some of the things God has created. Learning how to simplify your life is possibly one of the most important principles to understand because Satan wants to steal your time. He steals your joy by making you too busy to enjoy all God has given you. Take time to laugh. Take time to enjoy your life! 3. Pray with boldness. Jesus said, Ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete (John 16:24). I believe there are people who are not receiving from God what He wants them to have because they wont ask boldly of Him. Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly before Gods throne that we might receive grace and help in our time of need. Many Christians feel as if they need to clean themselves up before they can come to God in prayer. But our righteousness is in Christ alone, and no amount of good works will make us right with God. If we are in Christ, God sees us as righteous right now! A few years ago, I stepped out in faith and prayed, God, Im asking You to let me help every single person on the face of the earth. My mind said, Now that is stupid. But I kept praying that prayer anyway, and our television ministry has expanded greatly since that time. The Bible says we do not have because we do not ask (see James 4:2). I would rather ask for a lot and get part of it than ask for a little and get all of it! Be bold and confident in God when you pray; dont be double-minded when you ask for His blessings. Dont think, I wonder if I have been righteous enough for God to grant my request. Just ask for what you need, boldly and in faith, without wavering, hesitating or doubting, knowing that your righteousness is in Christ. 4. Be quick to forgive. Joy is restored to your life when you learn how to forgive and forget, and these two virtues go together. God tells us He forgives our sins, puts them as far as the east is from the west, and He remembers them no more (see Ps. 103:12; Is. 43:25). Frequently, we try to forgive people, but forgiveness cant do its redemptive work because we want to remember what they did to us. We continue to think and talk about them. Remembering a past offense reopens the wound and feeds anger—then anger in turn feeds unforgiveness. Why do we need to forgive other people? Because our faith wont work if we dont. Unforgiveness is like dirt and mud on our spirit. It blocks our fellowship with God, and that prevents our spiritual growth. Actually, we end up torturing ourselves when we hold grudges and dont forgive others. While we are miserable and upset, the person who hurt us is out enjoying his or her life, not even thinking about it. I often say that holding unforgiveness is like taking poison and hoping your enemy will die! Have you lost your joy because of unforgiveness? If so, I suggest that you start forgiving people right away. Make a list of people you need to forgive. Ask the Lord to give you the power to forgive these people, then let it go. 5. Obey God. I can tell you from experience that walking in obedience to God is one of the best ways to have a joyful, outrageously blessed life. Psalm 37:4 says: Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (NIV). Every day we need to submit our will and our plans to God. We need to learn to wait on Him and listen to what He is telling us to do—then simply obey Him. God knows what is best for our lives, and He will lead us into His perfect plan if we give Him permission to do so. When we are new believers, we have our own plans and walk in our own ways. However, as we surrender to God to really follow Him, there will be things He will ask us to do that we may not want to do—at first. But if we really love Him, we will let Him have His way in our lives (see John 14:15). Are you in a position right now in which God is asking you to do something you dont want to do? I strongly urge you to submit to Him. Your joy depends on it! I believe that as we obey God more, it wil
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 18:54:40 +0000
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