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Posts Tagged ‘Joy’

What pleases God?

Posted in Challenge verse, God, Jesus, love, pleases the Lord, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2013| 3 Comments »

 
Love the Lord your God
 with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and find out what pleases the Lord.
 
Matthew 22:37 & Ephesians 5:10
 
 
 
Loving somebody and wanting to please them go hand in hand.  This is a natural connection — a relationship connection that the Lord wants to have with us.  Recently, I have been noticing many verses that mention some form of the word “please,”and I would like to share some of them with you:
 
We have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.  And this is his command: to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. (1 John 3:21-23)
 
Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)
 
Jesus said, “The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.”  (John 8:29)
 
I urge you in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
 
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. (Romans 14:17-18)
 
My righteous one will live by faith.  I will not be pleased with the one who shrinks back. (Hebrews 10:39)
 
We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. (1 Thessalonians 2:1)
 
Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all
spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9-10)
 
And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (Exodus  33:17)
 
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
 
“Is this pleasing in your sight Lord?” is a question that should filter our thoughts and actions.  A great love for the Lord is the motivation for wanting every aspect of our lives to be pleasing to Him.
 

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More in 2013

Posted in encouraging verse, God, tagged , , , on January 1, 2013| 4 Comments »

 
Bring joy to your servant,
 
for to you, O Lord,
 
I lift up my soul.
 
Psalm 86:4
 
 
 
New Year’s Day is one of my favorite days of the year.  On January 1, 2006, my youngest son Sterling was the first baby born of the new year in Nashville, Tennessee.  We made the news on four television stations and were highlighted in the area newspaper.  It was a fun time, but what made it even more special was that the date of his birth was an answered prayer.  I had prayed that he would be born on the birthday of my dear friend Dianne.
 
Another reason I love New Year’s Day is that it is a time for making a fresh start.  Even as a child, I liked making New Year’s resolutions, and once I even laminated the resolutions.  (I still have the list!)  This year, I am not making resolutions; I am choosing a “focus word”.  For me, a focus word defines how I want to grow, what I want to accomplish, and what I want to be like in the upcoming year.  My word for 2013 is “more”.
 
 – I want to be more aware of God’s presence.
 – I want to be more organized.
 – I want to exercise more.
 – I want to be more patient and kind.
 – I want to have more joy and more peace ….
 
I know that I cannot have “more” by my own effort.  In John 5:30, Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing.”  So I am praying that God will “be merciful to me and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:2) and grant my request for “more“. 
 
I would like to invite you to choose a focus word or words for 2013.  If you would like to share what you chose, you can e-mail me at spacious4@aol.com or leave a comment.  Happy New Year! 
 

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my head ~ my story

Posted in encouraging verse, Joy, overcome, story, tagged , , , on January 9, 2010| 18 Comments »

 
You are a shield around me, O Lord;
 
You lift up my head.
 
Psalm 3:3

~

~

In the book To Be Told, Dan Allender, Ph.D., encourages his readers to share their life stories.  In some of my favorite quotes from the book, he says,

We will never come to embrace the heartache of our story until we see it profit another human being.  Even then the sorrow doesn’t leave, but seeing someone benefit from our pain adds hope to that pain, and our gratitude begins to transform the past.”

“It is nearly impossible to feel someone’s pain if we do not know that person’s story.”

After reading this book, I realized that I want to share my story with you.  I have not had a day or a moment without a headache in eighteen years.  The last day I can remember not having a headache was my wedding day, May 25, 1991.  I probably had a few days that summer without a headache, but I didn’t know then to treasure those pain-free times.  Since the winter of 1992, I have felt an incessant headache, all day and all night.  Fatigue constantly accompanies these headaches, and I have had to learn to live with both. 

Over the years, I have had many diagnoses; however, the words we use to define ourselves are powerful and should be chosen carefully.  I do not want any diagnosis to define who I am; God defines who I am.

Thank you for taking the time to read about my journey, and if you are interested in more details, they can be found in the comments section below.  I am thankful that I have found true joy that is larger than my pain.   

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willing

Posted in Jesus, Peace, tagged , , on March 6, 2009| 2 Comments »

 

“I am willing.”  Jesus
 
Luke 5:13
 
Jesus says, “I am willing…”
 
-to give you peace (Luke 7:50, Psalm 29:11)
-to be your friend (John 15:15, Luke 5:20)
-to pray for you  (Hebrews 7:25)
-to give you a full life (John 10:10)
-to show you the way you should go (John 14:6, Psalm 32:8)
-to prepare a place for you (John 14:2)
-to make your joy complete (John 16:24)
-to help you in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16)
-to give you strength (Psalm 29:11)
-to surround you with love (Psalm 32:10)
 
Questions I am asking myself:
What am I willing to let Jesus do for me?
What am I willing to do for Jesus?
 
Thank you to Jill Davis for sharing Luke 5:13 with me.

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