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What stole your Joy?


In an effort to blog more, I am going to cut down on my Instagram page and try to make more time for writing here:)  Half the time my post are longer than a typical Instagram post, so if I take a little more time, I think I can keep up more regularly with my blog:) 


Recently I wrote down some thoughts on joy, I thought I would share them...
"When we have "lost" our joy, one thing to ask ourselves is, what is stealing our joy? Is it an issue, a thing or even a person, that we are allowing to steal our joy? Once we have thought about this, we need to give this thing, issue or even person, to the Lord and not try to take it back again later. If we can trust the Lord with salvation, can we not trust Him with this thing? We can not find joy in the things of this world; our joy can only be found in Jesus. When we are fully concentrating on our Lord, the things of this world can not enter our mind and thoughts, and therefore, can not steal our joy. 
I suppose it is possible to let our desire for something steal our joy. But if we desire something (obviously if we desire it, we do not have it) we should take that desire to God. Ask Him to help us discern whether or not this thing is good for us, whether or not it is in His will for us to have it. If the answer if yes, give it to God. He can provide it for us much better than we ever could. And His timing is always just right. And if the answer is no, give it to Him and realize that if we still desire it, we are desiring something that is less than the best for us. If we want to have true joy, we must be abiding in the source of joy...which is the Lord. Psalm 16:11 says, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy...." "

So those are some thoughts I wrote down recently regarding my joy in the Lord. I definitely have days, and sometimes weeks where I feel like there is nothing to be joyful about. But when I reflect on those days, I realize my thoughts were not on the Lord like they should have been. Of course, sometimes it has been because the Lord is bringing issues in my life to the surface and asking me to let Him deal with them. And when I let Him deal with them, it hurts, but my joy is restored. I  hope these thoughts are as encouraging to you as they have been for me!  Focus on the Lord fully...fully abide in Him...ask Him to show you what has stolen your joy. And whatever it is, give it to Him...I know it can be hard for me to do that sometimes, and then I want to take it back. But that's like inviting a thief back into my home, to steal valuable things. I have to remind myself that the only way to "get my joy back" is to turn to Jesus, because He is the source of my joy. 

 I know life circumstances are often hard and I can get discouraged, but I know that in those times, are when we need to focus on Jesus even more! So cheer up...and focus on our Lord Jesus! If it were not for Him, there would be no reason to rejoice! 
Until next time,
Elise 


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