Here's you some joy!

PODCAST: https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1a07e1a4/heres-you-some-joy-choose-joy-3-june-4-2024

You can choose Joy!  

Travel is not always glamorous. Actually, mine has been rather trouble ridden of late. Ha, speaking of glamor, there was the one time I found myself eating a mug of instant oatmeal in a hotel dining area on a rainy morning in Oakland, California. The only conversation near me came from a television where I heard Mr. Miyagi agreeing to teach a young man karate after the teenager had been jumped.

Stay with me here... Miyagi asks Daniel to trust him, because then he would be able to defend himself--if the punks came back, he at least would be safe. Strangely his instruction begins with the waxing of his car, saying, "it's like this--Wax on, wax off..." Unbeknownst to Daniel, the Wax on, Wax off motions would develop the muscles he would need to fight. And the underlying principle? Success would only come through DESIRE, DEVOTION and DISCIPLINE.

Actually, these three--desire, devotion and discipline have application to many things if you stop and think about it, including our discussion of choosing joy.

->if you are just joining Morning Briefings, you might want to

->read the last two: https://www.pastorwoman.net/post/want-some-good-news

and -> https://www.pastorwoman.net/post/this-is-some-good-news-june-3-2024

With the realization that true joy comes from the heart of God, if we really have the  desire to experience joy, then devotion will lead us to the spiritual disciplines of prayer, learning our Bibles, worship, generosity and more.  'Bears repeating that if what. I. believe. about. God. is. the. most. important. thing. about. me, then I will want to  get to know  this GOD WHO LOVES me ~  to understand his heart, his ways, his wisdom, his plans and purposes. note: if you are at all like me, I will not take anyone's word for this; I must know and experience it on my own.

Huh. My friend, if you have a mate, think back to the time you met your sweetheart. You likely could not get enough of her!  Why, you thought he hung the moon!  You lingered over long telephone calls, you loved learning all about her, you found yourself thinking of him all throughout the day.  Most of all, you loved being with her. That relationship simply would not have gone anywhere without getting to know him, without spending time with her. And so it is with God.

All relationships require knowledge of one another, time spent together.

And, all relationships require communication or they languish.

Same. with. God.  We cannot know the God who loves us, the one to whom we can entrust our lives, without spending time with him . . . time to get to know him for ourselves.  

Enter Mr. Miyagi's three.  To be certain, there is a difference between duty and devotion.  When, out of my devotion, I get up early to be alone with God, I find the time absolutely life giving!  It is a discipline not borne of obligation, but of desire to be in God's presence, recalling what the psalmist said so beautifully:

                        You make known to me the path of life;

           in your presence there is fullness of JOY;

          at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Psalm 16.11

Relationship with God was meant to be as it was in the start in the Garden of Eden . . . face to face.  Genesis 3.8. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve literally walked and talked with God in person--again, face to face.  Can you imagine??   It is time to  get ourselves back to the Garden, into the presence of God because in his presence, we find joy! Again - we choose joy.

While most of us may not be able to create a garden paradise in which to meet with God, we can establish a regular setting of our own to meet with him daily.   And we enter into his presence as we talk to him, read the Word, and give him some quiet in which to speak to us.  What a gift!

What often helps me experience the presence of God is music ~ 

In my own sacred space, I employ music like this to enter into God's presence; after all, he said he would never leave me, so I must be with him!  I included it at the end of the podcast - go ahead, listen, sing - even if only in your car!   Wax on, wax off . . . a motion that trains your muscle to fight.  In God's presence, there is fullness of joy!  

           DESIRE, DEVOTION and DISCIPLINE  ~ Thank you, Mr. Miyagi.

a song: "Here's My Heart" Lauren Daigle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V2fVtcluOU

Choose joy~

Christine

(third in a series