God is so good and faithful to answer prayer, many times when we least expect the answer to come.

As a single mom trying to keep my finances in order, I was praying about them. In a few months I will have some added expenses to pay. I know I will have to find an extra little  job as well as keep working on my online business.  In my prayers and conversation with God I thanked him for being my provider.

I refuse to become fearful of the future. My life was riddled with fear a few short years ago and I have learned how to take those thoughts captive according to Christ’s word. I just cannot let myself doubt the provisions of God being able to meet all my needs according to his riches in heaven.

He alone knows what is best for us. Oh yes I can get myself in his way plenty often.  In this case I have talked with God about the upcoming stretch of my budget and asked HIM to show me the way. What can I do that is what you want for me Lord? 

Several answers have come to me and doors have been closed as well.  Okay go on with the next thing as obviously that idea was of the flesh. Often I hear him say to me "keep doing what you are doing".  Okay, but it seems so small. 

Well today, I got my mail, sigh. There was a letter there from the utility company. I thought, " oh goodness what now and I am sure I paid my bill." Inside the envelope was a one page letter, which I reluctantly read. Before I was even through I was praising God for his goodness. I flew downstairs to my daughters room exclaiming over God’s provision.  You see, I am on budget billing for utilities and several months ago it had went up, which confused me at the time.  In our current economy with everything go up including energy, I was so blessed to find that my budget billing –starting next month is going down by one-third!   Yes, you read that correct 1/3 of what it was. 

We have tried to be diligent stewards of the heat and electricity in this big house (which needs sold so we can downsize) and God has blessed us.

God works in the most amazing ways to provide for us. I would never have dreamed that my utility bill would go down, let alone so drastically.

I can only say thank you Lord. My faith increases when he shows me his goodness and mercy for me in my need. Total unmerited favor upon us.

I pray he will bless you in an amazing and powerful way!  God is always faithful even in the small things in our life.

Spiritually rooted disease is result of separation on three levels.  So what are the three levels of separation?

1. Separation from God - which includes HIS Word, HISperson and HIS Love.

2. Separation from yourself - This means not accepting yourself for who you are. Allowing guilt and condemnation to rule you instead of forgiving  yourself.

3. Separation from others - breaches in realtionships with others. Are there people in your life that you have difficulty with?

At some level we all have fallen short of the glory of God and need to repair our relationships with God, others and even ourselves.  When we hold onto our unforgiveness in all three of these levels it puts us into A box. We build walls, perhaps unintentionally. Life creeps in slowly and before we know it our walls are high, separating us from Truth. 

In His grace and mercy God has given us time for reflection and conviction. He will reveal to us where we are at emotionally and spiritually. 

Remember there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

As we go through the process of revelation, taking responsibility for our actions in the circumstances, forgiving ourselves, others and God then we can move on. God will close those gaps of separation on all three levels and healing in mind, body and soul will take place.  Yes it may take time but aren’t you worth it? God thinks so!

I want to set the stage for understanding the principles and foundations to divine health and blessings in life.

Gods word states in Hosea 4:6 “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge-because thou hast rejected knowledge I will also reject thee”

Sounds harsh but God does have conditions set forth in his word –just like being a parent in the world. God is our ultimate parent and authority. He is called God the Father, whom we should love, honor and respect as our ultimate authority. 

1^st John 4:8 says God is love.

When someone loves us they want the very best for us. The best, means boundaries we live with for our own protection and good.

Remember his burden is light and his yoke is easy. So following God’s ways are easy and not a burden. Sometimes rooting out and understanding God’s word, design and will for our life seems complicated.

Really  the first steps are simple –first read his word and take responsibility for your life.           

One of the JOY stealers was worry. Worry is fear of the future and the ability of God to provide for us in all circumstances.  This had overtaken me and sent me into anxiety attacks.  I did not have a content and secure mindset, instead worried about everything in life.  Fear is a huge factor in our lives.

Most of us cannot fathom living without things combined with dire circumstances. Oh I don’t care to lose all the things in my life and live in abject poverty; however we are to be content regardless. Paul is such an incredible example as he was content being a prisoner in chains. I am sure he would have much preferred other circumstances. I am amazed at how he used his circumstances to further the kingdom of God.

 
Philippians 4: 6 encourages us to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  AND the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Can you see that we can present our requests to God, meanwhile as we do so we should have the mindset of secure peace and contentment?   

With our current American economy we have to re-evaluate what is important in life.  Many are living in fear of job loss or with a job loss already.  I understand the fear that sets in to provide even basics to live.  As with Paul, even in dire circumstances we can have the peace of God that transcends all understanding. 

This can be accomplished by right praying.  As above we are told to pray with thanksgiving when making our requests knowing God understands. This increases our faith giving us a content and secure mindset.

Let us not put confidence in the flesh and the things of this world.  Be transformed by the world not conformed to the world.  Paul talks about pressing on towards the goal to win the prize. What prize?  Is it the prize of materialism while conforming to the ways of a sin filled world?  Of course not! As we focus on maintaining humility and being single minded for Christ, we will not put the prize of doing the work of Christ before acquiring earthly treasures.

Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is your heart will be also.  

As we go through life most of us fall into the desire to acquire things of this world. Pretty soon those things consume us as we store up treasures on earth.  We end up working and paying off the financial debt we are in because we have conformed to the world along with the things of the world. Even we Christians fall into this trap. 

I am not saying it is wrong to have things, however putting those things into perspective according to our ability to truly being able to afford those things without the things of this world taking our focus off of furthering the gospel of Christ steals our JOY.  Truly things take our eyes off of eternal rewards will lead us into discontent.

So let us not put our confidence in the things of this world but instead store up treasures in heaven.  After all that is where we will spend eternity. Life on earth is truly but a vapor, an extremely small portion of our existence.

Maintain your JOY by humbly staying focused on having a transformed spiritual mindset.

Paul was a very humble man, not seeking vain glory with selfish motive. It is amazing to read that Paul was not bitter but reached out in love while he was in chains in a Roman prison. I ask myself if I could do that. In truth, I know I have not been as Paul when my circumstances have not been to my liking during some intense trials in my life.  I let my human sinful nature dwell within me and over take me.  Finally, as Paul did all along, I changed my mindset, looking to my circumstances as an opportunity to be a testimony of the gospel.

Paul says that as a result of his reaction to his circumstances it had become clear to the whole palace guard and to everyone else that he was in chains for Christ. It also gave encouragement to the rest of the believers to speak courageously and fearlessly.  Philippians 1:13-14   At times, I am fully aware that my actions to my circumstances were not a testimony to Christ working in my life.  In becoming aware of this, I work daily to be more Christ like in my life so it would be clear to those around me who and what I live for.

The lesson I have learned from this is to have pure motives, be humble in love and stay single minded focused on the fact that God is in your circumstances. People are watching your reaction to the trials of life in Christ.
Philippians 2 tells us that as we imitate Christ’s humility we should consider others better than ourselves, look not only to our own interests but also to others.  When we are one in spirit and purpose, having the same love as Christ, then our JOY will be complete.

So far maintaining a focused single minded as well as humble mindset will complete our JOY.

 

“James1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways”. 

That is what God says when we let our minds wander from this to that.  I remember the days that I was double minded, not being able to make decisions very easily.  A “fence straddler” is a double minded man.  In Philippians Paul talks about being focused on Christ and not his circumstances. He was in prison yet wrote letters thanking Christ Jesus for his circumstances. Paul definitely was not into self-pity as he was chained and imprisoned for his faith.  

Two key words keep appearing in Philippians in what Paul is saying.  He constantly is thanking God and praying which maintains his joy.  Reread the first section of Philippians and you will note that Paul is not praying for himself or his circumstances to be changed. He is praying for the other believers in Christ Jesus.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for you, I always pray with JOY because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Paul was single mindedly focused on the power of Christ Jesus in his and all believer’s lives. He focused on advancing the gospel, faith in the gospel and fellowshipping in the name of Christ.

Can you see that his focused mind kept him in joy even though he his circumstances were far less than ideal?

People most surely can rob our joy, IF we let them. 

Don’ t you find at times that someone will aggravate you or make you angry. Watch out as that is robbing your joy to allow them to do so.  Perhaps your children or co-workers are demanding of your time and energy.   Maybe you and your spouse had a disagreement, regardless of how minor it may have affected your day. 

We have to live and work with people, that is the way it is.  Becoming a recluse isn’t  the answer to finding and keeping your joy in life.

Circumstances are the second way our joy can be stolen from us IF we allow it.

Consider how you feel when all the things in your life are going well.  The car doesn’t break down. The month runs out before the money. Everyone is healthy and thriving in the family. No one is fighting.  Work is awesome. The list goes on.  Of course we feel on top of the world.

Yet how much of this do we really control in life?  We can’t control the weather, things other people do and say, accidents and such. The circumstances of life are truly pretty much out of our control except for minor daily things.  So why stew over all the impossiblities that may arise. Set fear aside and experience each day in the fullness of joy that God promised us.

Worry is a huge thief.  It robs of of so much in life. Worry is fear in action. Fear is a lack of faith in trusting that the Lord is in control of what…our circumstances. Right now our country as well as the rest of the world is struggling.  We take those thoughts in and let the worry of the future steal our joy. Worry - fear steals our physical health as well as our peace and sleep. 

Things can surely steal our joy. Jesus warns us against laying up treasures on earth where moth and dust will destroy. Instead we should be laying treasures in heaven that are eternal.    Things cost us money, which leads to worry about finances to purchase them.

Over the years I have helped elderly relatives downsize from the farm to a house in town. After some years they were aging and the health was failing. So we began the process of downsizing things from the house to go to a retirement lodge.  Once again they had to move as they needed daily care so they downsized their possessions to almost nothing to live in a nursing home.   In this process I began to realize that we work all our lives to acquire things that eventually we will get rid of.  Many times these things have value to us, however our children and grandchildren may not value them as we did.

So we work to acquire things that end up going by the way side. The past years I have become more cognizant of where I spend my money. Things can pull the greed and envy right out of a person as well.  Just watch a couple of kids fight over an item. How about your teenager who just has to buy that name brand clothing because all the friends have it too. 

All of these JOY ROBBERS are interconnected as well. 

Consider your life and evaluate whether or not any of these four are robbing your joy!

Why do we live in a cloud of disappointment and depression when God’s word says we can have the "fullness of joy"….Psalms 16:11

Jesus Christ was a man that had many trials and rejections by this world.  He was beaten and cruelly crucified  for us, yet in John 15:11 he said the following  " "These things I have spoken unto you, that  MY JOY might remain in you, and that YOUR JOY might be full". 

What a powerful message that is to us. If Jesus  could have joy in the midst of his horrendous trials, then why can’t we?   Of course we can.  It is about a mind set and attitude we choose to take on.  Paul, while a Roman prisoner,  wrote about joy, gladness and rejoicing nineteen times in four chapters of Philippians.  

Paul goes on to write about  the secret to his joy starts in the mind.  Christian joy is found in our choices as a believer. All choices start in the mind with thoughts.  Remember thoughts are generated from three places.  These are God, yourself and the enemy–the devil. 

Take every thought captive according to Christ. Line them up with what is pure and just and honorable.  We can have the fullness of joy even in the midst of troubling times.  Sometimes I have to work to bring my mind back into focus and believe that God is in control and only wants the best for me.

There are some theives that can steal your joy.  I will talk about them in the next post.