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THE BIBLE ZONE Making
the Choice to Rejoice
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Are you enjoying your life? There are many
Christians today that aren't. They are on their way to heaven, but they
are not enjoying the trip. I was that way myself many years ago, until I
made a full-time commitment to Christ. Since then, God has taught me a
number of principles from His Word, showing me what steals our joy and
what we can do to maintain it. What are these truths? Well, for
starters... Be Honest with Yourself and Take Responsibility for Your Actions. Sometimes we are absent of joy because there is unconfesed sin in our lives. If you are not enjoying your life, one of the first things I would suggest is to get alone with God and ask Him to show you if there are any sin issues you need to deal with.1 My life was absent of joy the first few years I was married to Dave. One of the main reasons was I tried to ignore the fact that I was a rebellious wife. Every time God would try to deal with me about it, I'd make an excuse for my actions, and an excuse is nothing more than a reason stuffed with a lie. I'd say, "Well, you know Lord, I was abused as a child, so I have a hard time submitting to male authority." Every time I made an excuse, I forfeited my joy. One day, God finally got His point across to me. He said, "Joyce, you can be pitiful or powerful, but you can't be both. Yes, what happened to you was wrong, and it shouldn't have happened, but I'm willing to heal you if you'll do things My way." Once I started taking responsibility for my present actions and stopped blaming them on my past, God was able to begin healing me. God wants us to be honest with ourselves and take responsibility for our actions. When He shows us something we have done wrong, He wants us to repent, receive His forgiveness, and go on. Once we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us instantly and restore unto us the joy of His salvation. Choose to Smile! This is one of the best things we can do to lift our spirits and improve our outlook on life. The Bible says, A happy heart makes the face cheerful…,So one of the gifts God gives us is the ability to enjoy our "lot," or position, in life. Of course, our lot often changes as we go through life's different seasons. Yet, through each one, God gives us the power, or ability, to enjoy what we have, where we are. Whether it's a job, material possessions, money, relationships, or ministry opportunities, whatever God gives us, He also gives us the power to enjoy it. Make the Choice to Rejoice! and …he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances]. 2 When we frown, our shoulders tend to The bottom line is if you're going to experience the joy of the Lord, you must choose to be joyful. On slump down, our head drops, and heaviness seems to hang over us like a black cloud. But when we smile, we usually hold our head up, have good, straight posture, and feel more relaxed. Try it for yourself right now. Go ahead and frown for a couple of minutes. How do you feel? Now try smiling. I'm sure you can see the difference. Here's an interesting story to illustrate the importance of smiling. In the early 1990s, the well-known hotel chain, Holiday Inn, was looking for 500 people to fill positions for a new facility. Hotel managers interviewed 5,000 applicants, and those who smiled less than four times during the interview were disqualified. This criteria applied to all positions.3 I believe this shows that Holiday Inn executives have learned the power of having employees that smile and that there is a direct link between a smiling staff and running a highly successful business. purpose, regardless of your circumstances or the way you feel, you must make a daily, and sometimes hourly, decision to smile and trust that God has everything under control. If you have to clean your house, make up your mind to enjoy it. If you have to go to the grocery store, make up your mind to enjoy it. Doing these things with a bad attitude will only bring you down and get you upset. So make up your mind to enjoy doing what you know you have to do anyway. With your own mouth, say, "Lord, by your grace I'm going to enjoy doing..." and then you fill in the blank. "Your Word says You want us to enjoy our life and You give us the power to do it. So I thank You for changing my thinking in this area. In Jesus' name, Amen!"  Personally, I believe smiling is the "switch" that turns on the joy of the Lord in every believer. But just like the light switch in a room must be flipped on in order for it to work, we must choose to flip on, or put on, a smile in order for God's joy to flow through us. Our face reflects what's going on inside of us. It will either help or hurt our witness for the Lord. People can't see inside of our hearts, but they can see our faces. That's why we need to develop the healthy habit of smiling. Receive God's Power to Enjoy What He Gives You. It is God's desire that we enjoy our lives fully. In John 10:10, Jesus said, The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that [you] may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). Not only does God desire for us to enjoy our lives, but He also gives us the power to do it. Ecclesiastes 5:19 says, Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, and the power to enjoy them and to accept his appointed lot and to rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God [to him]. 1. See Psalm 139:23,24. 2. See Proverbs 15:13 NIV; 15:15 AMP. 3. Bits & Pieces, March 3, 1994, p 11, Illustrations on Joy, (www.sermonillustrations.com, The Christian Globe Network). |
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