real joy

what is it, at the core of who we are, that drives us?
what really motivates all that we do?  say?  work for?
is it a 'pursuit of happiness' that we live for? 

sometimes we feel happy … and other times we don't.
and sometimes, when we look and seem happy, we really aren't.
happiness is such a superficial emotion.
it is so dependent on things that are uncertain in life.
instead of pursuing happiness - live in contentment.
contentment brings a real, deep, lasting joy.

real joy has no place for worry.  worrying about the future robs us from the riches of 'today.'  
i am prone to worry, and i am good at it.
worrying about my family ...
worrying about my relationships …
worrying about world conditions ...
worrying about my health …
worrying about superficial things ...
worry steals my joy.  
my escape can be found in only one place … God's word.
meditating on His love and goodness and resting my assurance of who He is chases every worry away.  my contentment is rooted in my pursuit of knowing God.  
it all begins and ends there.

real joy does not agonize over the past.  one of my favourite quotes is from Bonnie Mohr:

it is a true saying that we cannot change the past, only learn from it.
'today' is what we are given, and today is what we should live in.

real joy has no room for procrastination.  live in 'today.'
forgive today.
laugh today.
love today.
help today.
pray today.
do the right thing today.

real joy is found in being compassionate and understanding.  it is knowing that i cannot 'fix' people.  it is not my job.  it's God's job.  it's only my job to love and pray for them.  only God knows their heart - only He knows the path they've walked on.  
trusting in His love for them must be enough for me.

real joy is found in wisdom.  wisdom helps me to set good priorities in my life.  
time is the one thing that cannot be regained.  using my time wisely does not very often mean that i have scheduled every minute for 'productivity.'  there is wisdom in being still.  there is wisdom in resting.  
turn off the t.v.
get off the internet.
silence the cell.
de-clutter life.

make wise choices - today, and then the next day, and then the next …
one day at a time.

coming alive

a new chapter has begun.
it's fall.  it's fall around me and it's fall in my life.

my fall will be a productive fall ...  not productive with activity, but productive in relationship.  i read a devotional online this morning, and these words impacted me in a huge way:

"His desire is to have a relationship with us - an ongoing, long-term relationship that bears lasting fruit."

i've known that all along.  it's the greatest commandment that Jesus spoke of:

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'  All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."

when we purposefully do the first - the second naturally follows.  my heart actually aches when i realize how so much busyness and activity have taken priority in my life in years gone by - so that the most important thing has often been made secondary.  it's a sneaky thing, really.  it's only when the season of activity subsides that you can take inventory of what's left.  

a relationship with Jesus is a marriage.  how often do marriages fall apart, ending in divorce after the children have grown up and left the home?  throughout all the years of that relationship, the priorities of husband and wife faded and took second place.  the busyness of raising kids and just life in general took over - making money, paying bills, running here and there.  time and purpose weren't spent growing that marriage.  slowly, over many years, the relationship drifted apart and became anemic.  the thing is … it just became 'the way life is' and wasn't really noticed much.  it's just how the marriage evolved.  it wasn't realized until all that activity and busyness ended and, stripped bare, what was left?

i am so thankful that, even though this season leaves a huge hole in my life, i have a marriage that is strong and loving.  it's exciting really.  i feel like we are moving into a 'honeymoon stage' that we didn't have at the beginning because, from the time we met, we had a family.  now it's just us.  and that is going to be good.  

most importantly, in my life, i want to nurture and impassion a closer relationship with Jesus.  i have more time than ever now.  it would be so easy to fill it up with activity.  i mean, i'm in a season where i can afford to do what i want to do and go where i want to go.  i love being occupied in the planning of new things.  that surely is my tendency.  

but i will not choose that.

as hard as it is to 'be still' … that i will be!

"Come, Lord Jesus.  I want to know You more than ever before." 

and in that 'knowing' this fall season will be full of a harvest of good fruit.