Feast on Seeds of Joy

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Drink it in like a thirsty songbird drinking from the fountain of joy.

            Yesterday, I told you about my summer visitor who has taken up residence at our home.  A beautiful red bird has made her nest and proclaimed that the Ashley home is her summer vacation retreat. That’s fine with me, because I’m learning a lot from her example.

            Today let’s consider how this little bird never worries about a thing.  However…on my side of the windows…which she continually tries to fly through, to no avail…I often find myself thinking of things that I have no control over….The what-ifs and the when-evers; the unanswered prayers; the hurtful actions of others and my not-so-Christian thoughts about them! I guess you could say that we often choose to worry!

            Not so with our little feathered-friend.  Her example illustrates perfectly what Matthew 6:25-27 teaches:

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

             Let’s learn from the birds---release our worries to God and feast of the seeds of joy!

Persistent Joy

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Persistently drink in the joy of Jesus!

            This summer I’ve had a persistent visitor every day. She’s uninvited--but not unwelcome.  I’ll admit sometimes her persistence is a little aggravating, but her innocence and beauty are gifts of joy!

            My visitor is a beautiful red bird…This little gal is gorgeous, but not very smart!  She has a habit of flying into my windows countless times each day.  Sometimes it’s the front windows, sometimes it’s our sunroom widows; other times it’s the kitchen windows…..she is no respecter of windows!

            Now, wouldn’t you think that this creature would finally learn that the windows are there and when she flies into the glass, it hurts? What can we learn from this illustration?  

            Could it be that we find ourselves making the same mistakes over and over again? Maybe we run into a wall of sorts, turn and go another direction….only to come back to the same wall and make the same mistake again.  Now, though my little red-bird-friend really doesn’t have much thinking ability…WE DO!  And it seems that we SHOULD learn from our mistakes.  God allows us to make wrong choices, but He loves us so much that He wants us to learn from those mistakes and be redirected to follow closer to Him.

            My prayer for us today comes from 2 Thessalonians 3:5: “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

Share the Secret!

          Have you had your Joy Juice today?  It’s not a secret! The joy of the Lord is the best source of joy you can experience.

             As many of you may have done, I’ve read the short book of Philippians many times. And it’s always fresh and encouraging. Sometimes I “see” things in a whole new light….and other times I’m convinced I’ve never read that before….like a secret being discovered for the first time.

            Speaking of secrets….Let’s read verses 12 & 13 of chapter 4.  “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

            Did you hear the “secret”? Paul’s secret of being content: to trust God to give Him strength to face whatever comes his way. Do you “know” that secret?  It’s just as true for us as it was for Paul! When we make an intentional decision in our faith to rely on God’s promises and Christ’s power to help us, then we have learned the secret of being content. Paul was content because he could see life from God’s point of view! That’s a “joyful” vantage point!

             Share the secret with everyone you meet today: JOY is found in JESUS!