God Speaks....JOY to Your Heart

Have you had your Joy Juice today?   Listen carefully and you may be able to hear God speaking His JOY right into your heart!

Do you recognize God’s voice when He speaks to you?  You do know that He still speaks today, don’t you?  I’m not talking about an audible voice, but that “still small voice” as is mentioned in scripture. God wants us to hear His voice! As one author puts it, “He doesn't speak to us through a quiver in our liver or through vibes or mediums.  He speaks to us in the natural moments of life.”  Do you want to hear God's voice? Then you must be ready to listen.

Many times we hear intellectuals arrogantly express that the Bible is just a book written by men, but the Bible itself claims to be God's Word! Can we rely on it? You bet we can! The evidence of history, archaeology, fulfilled prophecy and personal testimony over thousands of years is overwhelming that the Bible is, indeed, God's Word. Do you want to hear God's voice? Then read the Bible.

How many times have you been faced with a problem or difficult circumstances and you so desire to have wisdom and guidance regarding how to handle the situation.  You pick up your Bible, open and begin to read, when you are blown away with what the scripture is saying which relates to your very circumstance.  THIS IS GOD SPEAKING through His Word. Joyfully open your Bible and begin reading it faithfully today!

 Listen to God as He speaks to your heart! 

Overflowing with Outrageous & Contagious JOY!

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  My cup is overflowing this morning with an outrageous and contagious flavor of JOY in the Lord.

            Have you experienced the JOY of worshiping with people who are not ashamed of their love for the Lord and who openly give Him praise and honor?  There is nothing that compares with the sweet, contagious spirit of glorifying the Lord together, lifting our voices and hearts before Him!  Differences seem to fade and the focus is on one God! 

            I experienced that this weekend…… and that’s why my heart is bubbling over  today!  At the OUTRAGEOUS & CONTAGIOUS Women’s Conference, women from all over our state (and beyond) joined hearts and received “showers of joyful blessings”.   Though each person came from a different background and stage of life, we were sisters in Christ and accepted each other as family.  Because of that sweet spirit, God was able to move in our midst, touching hearts and drawing us closer to Him.  HE SPOKE! Many listened!

            Does God speak to YOU?  He will!  But you must be willing to listen.  You don’t have to be in church or at a conference to hear Him.  He wants to speak to you where ever you are TODAY!   Open the eyes and ears of your heart and be ready to hear His message of love and JOY. 

           Be an outrageous and contagious Christian by learning to hear God’s voice and by splashing other with  HIS JOY!

Showers of JOYful Blessings

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  If your supply is getting low, I’d be more than happy to tell you where you can find a generous serving!

            I hope that by now most of you have heard the news about the OUTRAGEOUS & CONTAGIOUS Women’s Conference that’s being held tomorrow, February 8 at the Grand Theater in historic downtown Fitzgerald, GA !  Our prayer is that this will be an outrageously JOYful day, filled with praise and worship, fun and laughter, and wise messages from the Lord which will minister to the hearts of the hundreds of women who will be attending.  May I share some prayer requests with you?  Please pray:

• For each person who will be involved— those on the program, behind the scenes and all those in attendance!
• Ask God to speak to our hearts and draw us closer to Him.
• Pray for safety as the ladies travel from long distances or just a few miles down the road.
• Pray that there will be a contagious spirit of love and joy which will spread throughout our community
• And ask that GOD will be glorified in every detail of the event.

Our desire is that through this women’s conference, God will begin a healing process in many hearts and that we will catch that contagious JOY that comes from a relationship with Him.  Pray that each attendee will experience “Showers of Blessings” as God rains down His love and joy into their hearts and lives.

      Be OUTRAGEOUS and CONTAGIOUS by drinking in the blessings of JOY through a personal relationship with JESUS!

Be An Outrageous & Contagious Christian

          Have you had your OUTRAGEOUS and CONTAGIOUS JOY JUICE today?  If so, you are bursting forth with His love and joy! 

            When your heart is full of joy, there’s no room for much else….except love and gratitude!  When you are overflowing with the JOY of the LORD, you don’t have time (nor desire) to grumble and complain.  I’m pretty sure that’s where Paul was coming from when he wrote in Philippians 2:14-15:

            “Do everything without complaining or arguing,  so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.”

            How often do we find ourselves grumbling about the weather?  When we do, we should be aware that we are criticizing God’s ordering of creation.  What about when we complain about an illness or problems on the job or any unexpected situation?  We should realize that we are saying that God isn’t handling our affairs very well.

            Instead of complaining about the rain or the cold weather; rather than questioning why a certain situation was allowed to happen ….let’s understand that nothing catches God by surprise and He loves us!  “It’s impossible to keep an eye out for God’s blessings while harboring a complaining spirit. When we grumble and complain, we’re blocking our expectation of good things”…and we’ll probably miss seeing them when they do come!

            In order to be an outrageously JOYful Christian with a contagious spirit of love for the Lord, remember to do everything without complaining…..so that you will SHINE like stars in the universe!

            May we all find the joy in this new day and RADIATE His love into the lives of everyone we meet!

More Christ...More JOY! Be Contagious!

        Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Choose to begin this day with an outrageous and contagious JOYful spirit!

            Genuine joy comes from a relationship with Christ.  Galatians 5 teaches about the “fruit of the Spirit”.  Many times as we read that list, we are determined to cultivate each of those traits in our own lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.  But….we can’t do this in our own strength!

            Let’s not misunderstand what Paul was teaching about the “fruit of the Spirit”.  He wasn’t merely giving us a list of traits to pursue and cultivate, but he was offering wisdom about what happens as we give our lives totally to Christ and allow Him to mature us in our Christian walk.  Lydia Brownback writes that “as we crucify all that belongs to our sinful nature, we are characterized more by Christ than by the passion and desires that governed us before we knew him.  As this process takes place, the fruit of the Spirit is manifested in us.  The Holy Spirit doesn’t give us more love or more faithfulness or more joy.  He gives us more CHRIST, and as he does, joy and all the rest are produced within us as the fruit of that union.”

            So let’s get ourselves out of the way and give Christ the freedom to reign in our lives.  “The more of us He has, the more joyful we will be…True joy—fruit of the Spirit joy—comes as we pray to know Christ, and to be made more and more like Him!  That’s what it means to be an “OUTRAGEOUS and CONTAGIOUS” Christian!

           Allow God complete control of your life and overflow with the contagious fruit of JOY!

Is Your JOY Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

              Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  Is that glass half empty or half full?  It’ll make the difference in how you face your day!

            Did you know that your example contagious?  People are watching…Whether it’s a friend or colleague, a child or an adult, a family member or simply an acquaintance….YOU make a difference in someone’s life! 

            To be a positive, joyfully contagious example, we need look into the Word of God. The Bible provides us with a wealth of guidance in the form of Godly principles.

            One such example is in 1 Thess. 5:16-18 where Paul tells us to: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Joy! Gratitude! Prayer! Those three are always linked! (Lydia Brownback, n JOY, A Godly Woman’s Adornment.)  Joy springs from a heart of gratitude and prayer. 

            The opposite is also true; pessimism and grumbling are linked to depression.  We can choose to see our glass half-empty and complain about our lives….and the price we pay is our joy and peace. On the other hand, we can choose to rejoice and give thanks no matter what. When we do this we are saying, “Not my will, God, but yours be done.”  We’ll find our glass not just half full, but overflowing with JOY in the Lord!

            Let’s fill our JOY JUICE glass as full as possible today by following the contagious example of Jesus!

Choose OUTRAGEOUS JOY in Jesus!

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  That’s exactly what you need to make certain that your day is outrageously joyful!

            Do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed and stressed even before your day gets started?  I have a suggestion for you this morning.  Let’s make up our minds from the get-go that no matter what happens today, we’re going to “count it all joy”.

            As I so often refer to the passage in James 1:2:

“Count it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

            When we get to a point in our lives that we are spiritually mature enough to accept whatever God brings or allows to happen, then we will be able to face each new day with an OUTRAGEOUS joy because of our faith and confidence in Him.    Do you realize that God cares more about our joy than we often do?  It’s for that reason that he does not leave us alone in our misery. According to author Lydia Brownback, “God orchestrates for us and in us the humility we need in order to see that God is a kind Father and compassionate friend who allows hard situations into our lives so that he can show us our need for grace and deepen our relationship with him.  Such humility is necessary in order to count it all joy.”

            You can choose to have an OUTRAGEOUS day of JOY in the LORD by putting your complete trust in Him!