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| A couple of good sermonsBy S.M. Davis
Freedom from the Destruction of Anger
Freedom from the Spirit of Anger
What do these have to do with joy? Once we free ourselves from the freedom and destruction of anger (for those of us that have a spirit of anger), it will be much easier for the spirit of joy to come into our lives. I've had (and still have) a spirit of anger, and he is right...it is VERY deceptive. I guarantee the enemy did NOT want me to hear these sermons, and he certainly doesn't want any of you to listen, either. S.M. Davis is very good and there are quite a few of his sermons that I have enjoyed listening to. Very convicting, and encouraging! Enjoy!
Love,
Lisa
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| My Journey for Joyfulness part 1Right now, I am working on a little bible study for joy.  I did a search in the KJV on the word joy, and came up with 187 verses. God really holds joy in high esteem! I thought I'd go through each verse (here and there...not all in one post!), and ponder it, and possibly memorize it. I really need God's joy in my heart, and how to get it there, except to read what He has to say about it?
The first verse I came across basically tells you what happens when you don't serve the Lord in joy.
Because thou servedst not the LORD they God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. Deuteronomy 28:47-48
Wow. I think this just may be more proof that the Lord really holds joy in high esteem. He obviously does NOT like joyLESSness. I don't know about anyone else, but I sure don't want to serve my enemies...not in those conditions anyway! And that yoke of iron, a burden, upon your neck. Isn't that how it seems to be when we don't feel like we have any joy? Everything is a drudgery. It has no meaning. We begin to ask ourselves, why are we even doing this? We begin to seek out things that will make us feel better. We start to feel like we are on our own in trying to make ourselves happy, and in a way, we are because we have turned our back on the Lord. Instead of allowing HIM to take care of us, we have strayed in trying to make *ourselves* happy. We somehow think that we are just fine on our own, we don't need any help! Or do we? And then when nothing seems to make us happy, we start blaming other things on stealing or draining our joy. Guess what? We have no one to blame but ourselves! People say, This relationship is draining my joy, or, This thing or that thing has stolen my joy, or, even, The enemy has taken all my joy away. Those things may have contributed, but ultimately it is US. When something has stolen YOUR joy, YOU *let* it happen! I am slooooooowly learning that this whole "fake-it-till-you-make-it" thing really works. I think a lot of times joylessness is a habit, and a bad one at that. I had fallen into the trap. Once crabiness is the norm instead of the exception, it's *easier* to stay that way, even if it makes you feel horrible. You're not going to wake up one day and that feeling will be gone...it has become a routine. You need to work, yes I said WORK to get rid of that habit of joylessness. In fact, it's probably going to make you feel *worse* for awhile, biting your tongue and putting a smile on your face when all you want to do is give a crabby response. It's kinda like your mama used to say, If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all! I promise, if you stay consistent in "faking it" you will not be "faking it" for very long! You will experience true joy! And you will want so badly to make JOY the routine, that you will keep doing it.
Get that yoke of iron off your neck. Start living *intentionally* today, minute by minute if you have to, reminding yourself to keep that smile plastered on your face, even when it's not as comfortable as scowling. Remember, your family will reflect back to you what they see on *your* face most of the time. Make an effort to look your spouse in the eye and smile when you are talking, smile at your kids when you're asking them to do something. What's that they're doing? I think they may be smiling right back at you!
Stay tuned for more verses on joy in the weeks (maybe months? *smile*) to come. I pray the Lord will bless you through these words.
Love,
Lisa
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| Wordless Wednesday-Smile!
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| Busy with school...Go check out my homeschool blog to see what we've been doing.
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| Getting Serious......about de-cluttering, that is. Well, for the moving sale, anyway. We are going to try to have our moving sale this weekend. But, the weather in the forecast for Friday and Saturday does not look good, so we are praying for a change in weather. In the last couple of days, I've got my kitchen, pantry, mudroom, foyer, dining room, and living room completely combed-through, de-cluttered, and re-organized. I even managed to vacuum the floors tonight before the boys went to bed. It's definitely feeling pretty nice in here.
Tomorrow, I will work in our upstairs rooms. I should be able to get those done in one day, since there's not much to cover. If hubby's off from work (still not sure, I haven't talked to him yet), he will tackle the basement (that's the biggest clutter spot right now. Then, together we will do the front porch, where we have begun collecting things that we have packed and are moving with us, but we don't need right now. God willing, this house is going to lose some serious weight this weekend.
In other news, the Moby wrap I mentioned buying a few posts down is working out *really* well...I REALLY love it, and Isaac is starting to as well. Today was the first time he fell asleep in it, and it was nice just being able to do things without his fussing all afternoon. Now, I cannot wait to take the boys to the park! Who'd have thought I'd be saying that with 3 of them?! Ah, they're good boys!
OH! LOL! And, the hormone thing is getting much better. Thank you to all who have been praying for me and who have sent words of encouragement. It means a lot, and has helped so much!
Love,
Lisa
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