God's Secret Purpose

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Rest assured that God has prepared a special serving with you in mind!

            From the very beginning, God had a specific purpose for you and me.  Listen the beautiful way Ann Voskamp writes about it in her book one thousand gifts:

“His intent, since He bent low and breathed His life into the dust of our lungs, since He kissed us into being, has never been to slyly orchestrate our ruin.  He does have surprising, secret purposes.  I open a Bible and His plans, startling, lie there barefaced.  It’s hard to believe it, when I read it, and I have to come back to it many times, feel long across those words, make sure they are real.  His love letter forever silences any doubts. As 1 Corinthians 2:7 says: ‘His secret purpose framed from the very beginning is to bring us to our full glory’.”

            Such a power scripture…..  Even if we find ourselves in a place of deep sorrow and pain, discouragement or depression, we can lean on His promise that He has a “secret purpose framed from the very beginning” of time.  God desires to bring each of us to our FULL GLORY!  And  that includes abundant JOY!

            Open your heart, whether sorrowful or satisfied, and get ready for Him to strengthen, sustain and fill you with His peace and JOY.

Radical Gratitude Produces Abundant Joy

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Be intentional about drinking in every drop of JOY this day has to offer!  Remember: “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Psalm 118:24.

            Author, Ann Voskamp, encourages us to enjoy our life to the fullest.  Sure, we’re going to experience loss and pain…and it’s certainly okay (even therapeutic) to “lament the losses” as she so eloquently writes.  She reminds her readers that “poetry” can come from the difficult times---if we allow God to embrace us with His love and fill us with His wisdom.

            Another nugget of Godly advice this author shares is that we should intentionally embrace a lifestyle of radical gratitude.  I’m thinking the explanation for radical gratitude can be found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  Listen to Paul’s words….

“Be JOYful always; pray CONTINUALLY; give thanks in ALL circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ.”

            That’s mighty RADICAL!  We need to be intentional about making these kinds of choices.  No one can MAKE us “rejoice” or “pray” or “give thanks” ALWAYS.  But with God’s strength and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we can be RADICALLY changed!

            May our hearts overflow with JOY and RADICAL GRATITUDE!   

Turning Pain into Poetry

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  There’s something JOYfully poetic about seeing life through the eyes of our Creator!

            Paul tells us about joy and peace in the book of Philippians. When we give every part of our lives to God, relinquishing control of even those tender spots that bring pain…when we acknowledge that God is sovereign and loves us, even when it seems things don’t make sense; when we allow Him to “turn our pain into poetry” THEN we can experience the joy and peace Paul talks about. Why choose to stay “stuck” in the mire of discouragement, self-pity and worry?

Listen to how the Living Bible expresses Philippians 4:6-7:

            ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. ⁷ If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.”

            When we accept that incomprehensible peace and allow it to envelope us in God’s love,  we will sense the “poetry that comes from the pain” (as author Ann Voskamp terms it.)  Many strong Christians will testify of going through horrendous circumstances, but they would not change them if they could because they grew so much closer to the Lord.  And with that close relationship comes sweet peace and JOY.

             Whatever the pain that comes our way, God can turn it into poetry that will be here to stay!