Receive Joy!

             Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Your serving is readily available! All you have to do is RECEIVE it!

            Yesterday we discussed the Battle to Forgive.  Today let’s think about the Battle to RECEIVE.  The Message Bible translation of Philippians 4:23 says, “Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves.” I love this terminology! To have the love of Christ, His amazing grace, His abundant joy… deep, deep within our hearts…oh, what a blessing! This should be a spiritual goal that we, as Christians, desire!

            How often do we feel “unworthy” to receive?  We’ve made sinful choices; we’ve reacted in ungodly ways; our words sometimes tear down rather than build up! We make messes all through life.  But God can take those “messes” and make a beautiful, healing message. “His mercies are new every morning”….remember that scripture in Lamentations? When the enemy brings up our past mistakes that have been forgiven by God, then we need to tell him to GET LOST! Let’s put his attacks under our feet and move closer to Jesus. 

            Susie Larson gives this challenge: “To move into the bigger and the deeper and the more profound things of God, we must continuously and relentlessly hang on to grace and divine love (and joy in His strength). Daily He’s pouring it out; daily we must receive a fresh dose of it! Every morning, He’s there! Open your hands (& your heart)!”

            Receive your serving of joy today!

Let God Fight Your Battles!

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Even in the midst of our daily battles, the joy of the lord will strengthen us and sustain us.

             Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us: “For the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  The power of that truth is ours for the taking.  When we face the battles that come our way, this weapon of strength is in our Christian arsenal.  But we must choose to use it!

            There are five battlegrounds that I’d like for us to discuss this week. Today, let’s talk about the battle to FORGIVE!  Mark 11:24-25 says: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

            Unforgiveness poisons our souls and steals our joy.  If we refuse to forgive, we find ourselves right in the middle of the BATTLE! “When we stand on the side of unforgiveness, we stand against God. To stand against God is to turn our backs on Him and to cross over to the other side where we face Him as a foe rather than a Friend.” (Susie Larson)

            Writer Susie Larson explains: “In matters of our heart…, our offender is beside the point.  The fight for us is one for a heart that is willing to hand over our offenses because Jesus asks us to. God will defend. God will settle the accounts, and when He does, everyone will know He is a God of righteousness and power.”

            Allow God fight the battles and let’s rest in His joy and strength.

Rejoice! Revel in His joy!

          Have you had your Joy Juice today? Drink in a special serving and CELEBRATE!

            Celebrations come in all shapes and forms…large and small, grandiose and modest.  Some celebrations come with fireworks and others are so private that not another soul knows what’s being celebrated.  We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, good news, holidays, successes, championships, graduations, weddings….  There are countless reasons to celebrate.

            Today, let’s celebrate the joy of Jesus! And then, may we choose to celebrate it tomorrow and the following day and the next…until it becomes a daily habit! Celebrate the joy of knowing Him on a personal basis. Christmas is the time that we set aside to specifically celebrate the birth of Christ. But then….do we tend to forget to celebrate Him the rest of the year? 

            Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord, always; and again I say rejoice.” The Message Bible gives this beautiful translation: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”  When we rejoice, indeed, we are celebrating! Let’s remember to “revel” and “rejoice” every day!

            Just as we are to “pray without ceasing”, let’s celebrate the love of Christ without ceasing. When the eyes of our hearts are continually on Him, then joy will be ours in a way that is impossible by any other means.

            Celebrate Jesus and revel in His joy!