{"id":15714,"date":"2016-05-23T01:01:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T06:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/?p=15714"},"modified":"2020-06-06T15:50:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T20:50:43","slug":"joy-is-a-conviction-of-my-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/23\/joy-is-a-conviction-of-my-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy is a Conviction of my Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/23\/joy-is-a-conviction-of-my-mind\/will-i-surrender-to-god-week-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-15715\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15715\" src=\"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Will-I-surrender-to-God-week-2.jpg\" alt=\"Will I surrender to God week 2\" width=\"960\" height=\"707\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Joy is a Conviction of My Mind Week 2<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Welcome to another week of Choosing Joy.<\/p>\n<p>This week we\u2019ve taken a deep look into our own heart and mind.\u00a0 If we are honest, it\u2019s not always pretty there is it?<\/p>\n<p>I love the verses found in 1 Thes 5:16-18 because they are crucial to the heart that desires true joy.<\/p>\n<p>They tell us to rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks!<\/p>\n<p>This starts with determination.\u00a0 We must decide \u201cdo do\u201d this because we are certainly not going to be \u201cfeeling\u201d this.<\/p>\n<p>Kay reminds us that \u201cjoy begins in the mind\u201d and is ultimately how we respond to life.<\/p>\n<p>So many things bring us great joy but those things can and sometimes will bring great sorrow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>People<\/strong> \u2013 The very same people that bring you the greatest joy will one day bring you more tears than you ever imagined. We are all human and we will disappoint\u2026it\u2019s just a matter of time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Places<\/strong> \u2013 Not every place we travel to or explore will bring us the joy we thought it would.\u00a0 Sometimes, it simply isn\u2019t all our heart imagines.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Possessions<\/strong> \u2013 Keep in mind just how miserable the \u201cHollywood\u201d crowd often is.\u00a0 They have the nicest of things, shop in the greatest stores but often swim in great misery and pain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Positions<\/strong> \u2013 In this day and age, positions come and go.\u00a0 Many who hold this as a source of joy will often find themselves discouraged.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Personality<\/strong> \u2013 Shy, awkward and backwards people can have just as much joy as the most outgoing extrovert you\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n<p>The good and the bad go hand in hand.\u00a0 Joy and sorrow are right there in the midst of all of these situations and it is our choice to let go of the high expectations of perfection and greatness that keep us pinned down and often miserable.<\/p>\n<p>When we realize one fundamental thing, we\u2019ll be able to start seeing and choosing joy in nearly everything.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>JOY is in our heart, simply because Jesus is there.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When we look at the everyday with the knowledge that Jesus is in control, Romans 8:29, Jeremiah 29:11 and Eph 2:10 still hold true and that our hope is in the One who spoke this world into existence, then joy will not be as elusive as it once was.<\/p>\n<p>Where is your heart at these days? Matthew 6:21 tells us that \u201c<em>For where your\u00a0<strong>treasure<\/strong>\u00a0is, there will your heart be also.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Have you ever really considered that Gods Will can be painful?\u00a0 I have, but this year it has hit home more than ever. As a mom, I treasure my children and want the best for them.\u00a0 My son is currently in the middle of God\u2019s will, serving and seeking where God will use him as a Youth Pastor.\u00a0 You think\u2026wow, that is wonderful Marie! Congratulations!\u00a0 And it IS wonderful\u2026.but at the same time, painful.\u00a0 This year will be his last year in college and the pain comes in that I simply miss him.\u00a0 I miss the hugs, the laughter, the jokes, and the silliness.\u00a0 I miss his serious when necessary side.\u00a0 I miss him.\u00a0 But this IS God\u2019s will for him and there isn\u2019t a single day that goes by that I\u2019m not thankful for him being where he is.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes a period of darkness is God\u2019s will for us as well.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been there.\u00a0 It\u2019s difficult, scary and we wonder if we\u2019ll ever make it through.\u00a0 But we do and we are never alone.<\/p>\n<p>I wrote an article a while back about peering into the darkness and what we see there.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>What do we typically see in the darkness?\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nothing\u2026and in abundance<\/li>\n<li>Fear<\/li>\n<li>Intimidation<\/li>\n<li>Hopelessness<\/li>\n<li>Despair<\/li>\n<li>Loneliness<\/li>\n<li>Danger<\/li>\n<li>Enhanced Pain (pain is always worse at night isn\u2019t it?)<\/li>\n<li>Discouragement<\/li>\n<li>Shame<\/li>\n<li>Guilt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And I literally could go on and on because \u201cSEEING\u201d the negative is so much easier than seeing the positive in every situation.<\/p>\n<p>We forget that <strong>our darkness is another way for our Lord and Savior to remind us that HE Lives! He lives in our darkness along side of us! <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>When you peer into the darkness KNOWING that God is with you, you\u2019ll see:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Peace that surpasses all understanding<\/li>\n<li>JOY unspeakable<\/li>\n<li>Light that brightens up the darkest of nights<\/li>\n<li>Hope, never ending<\/li>\n<li>Mercy, renewed each day<\/li>\n<li>Grace, marvelous grace<\/li>\n<li>Courage, because your Father HAS you<\/li>\n<li>Comfort, knowing you are not alone<\/li>\n<li>Faith, because HE will never leave you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is a natural thing to fear the darkness and takes work to get to a place where we can see God there.\u00a0 But like Kay tells us, it starts in the mind\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Will you surrender to God in the Darkness?\u00a0 Will you believe that you will find treasures of joy, blessings and meaning there?\u00a0 Will you cling to God\u2019s promise that HE will never leave you, even when you feel completely alone?<\/p>\n<p>Remember Kay\u2019s prayer \u201cmay the pain I am in push me toward a great passion for you and a greater joy in you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My daughter spent 5 years fighting a painful battle \u2013 Gastroparesis. Her stomach was paralyzed.\u00a0 She experienced flu symptoms every time she ate.\u00a0 Take your worst stomach flu, the cramping, the pain and aches and the vomiting and when she eats, that is what was happening.\u00a0 She had about a year where she only had the pain and she celebrated that! She loved that she could eat without the vomiting and pushed past the pain and just enjoyed each day.\u00a0 Then out of nowhere it returned.\u00a0 We now know that when she is under extreme emotional distress her stomach muscles will stop working and she can only drink liquids.<\/p>\n<p>Will she use this pain to fuel her passion for the Lord? I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 She trusts Him, she still lives and serves the Lord but all of this is hard for me to process, much less a (then) 17 year old mind.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t know what God has in store for her, but I do know that HE is in control and I trust Him.<\/p>\n<p>My prayer for you is that you\u2019ll look for the good in the bad, the light in the dark and God\u2019s hand in everything.\u00a0 Treasure the beauty in the ordinary and the little things in life that make it big!<\/p>\n<p>Dwell on this &#8211; What are some of the little things in your life that make it big? Do you treasure them?<\/p>\n<p><em>Remember, I\u2019ve got JOY in my heart, because that is where Jesus lives!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/choose-joy-week-2.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Download your Free PDF Worksheet<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Choose to answer any or all of the following questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Think about a time of deep sorrow in your life, one that has passed. What treasure did you find?<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGod values character over comfort, faith over fear, mercy over judgment, justice over injustice, people over possessions, truth over falsehood, humility over pride, hope over despair, love over apathy.\u201d Where did you see the value system of heaven in your life?<\/li>\n<li>What false sources of joy trap you? Is it people, places, possessions, positions or personality?<\/li>\n<li>What would it take for someone to describe you as a woman of joy?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Joy is a Conviction of My Mind Week 2 Welcome to another week of Choosing Joy. This week we\u2019ve taken a deep look into our own heart and mind.\u00a0 If we are honest, it\u2019s not always pretty there is it? I love the verses found in 1 Thes 5:16-18 because they are crucial to the &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/23\/joy-is-a-conviction-of-my-mind\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Joy is a Conviction of my Mind&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6206,23],"tags":[7225,7251,34,7250,7148],"class_list":["post-15714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-lesson","category-marie","tag-bible-study","tag-choose-joy","tag-joy","tag-kay-warren","tag-online-bible-study"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15714"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17572,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15714\/revisions\/17572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christianrep.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}