Never Give Up~

James 1:2-4

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance...

Greetings~

The reason God asks us to consider it pure joy when faced with trials is that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. Maybe that doesn't sound like a good enough reason to consider our hardships an opportunity for joy. On the surface these verses might even seem harsh because we face trials of many kinds, and our faith is tested.

But let's not let these trials to go to waste. Let's let the testing of our faith produce something awesome and wonderful--PERSEVERANCE!

Can any of us really succeed at anything if we don't persevere?

P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-E, as defined by our friends at dictionary.com means to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly. All this reminds me of a friend who had some struggles with her child.

When the problem first surfaced, he was in middle school. At first, his parents were in denial and then they panicked at his behavior. One day, about three months into their ordeal, they realized they were in for the fight of their life and they hunkered down. Every day started with their reminding their son that they loved him, that they would never disown him, followed by their going off to pray desperate prayers. It might be easier to pray if the answers come quickly, but more often than not, we must dig in our heels and decide that we aren't going anywhere until we get the answer. Asking God once or twice is hardly perseverance. Asking Him day in day out for a couple of years is a better definition.

I do not know why some answers take a longer time than others. But I have discovered that focusing on the "whys" of life is distracting and debilitating. It is much better to focus on the "Who" in charge.

Nevertheless, these parents persisted in loving their child and in spite of tremendous difficulty, obstacles, and discouragement, they maintained their purpose, which was to pray their child out of his wrong behavior. They never gave up. Some days were better than others, and some days all my friend could do was lay hold of one particular promise of God and repeat it over and over again until she fell asleep:

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Well, she never gave up, and has been reaping that harvest for several years now. Her child is on track and a phenomenal young man! The most amazing thing is the attitude shift that took place.

In her own words...

"Yenise, Some days I was so mentally and physically exhausted that I thought I would never recover. But a few months into our season of struggle, I noticed that God was really encouraging me with gems of truth from His word. His words became so real to me, and though some might never believe it, I can honestly say I found myself having joy. Joy that God was in control. That He had enough power to fix things, and a desire to do so. That ultimately, nothing or no one--including my rebellious son--was a match for God's love. Once I decided that I would not give up no matter what was when the joy really took root..."

What an inspiration! I hope this will encourage us all to look at our trials differently.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, It makes no sense to ask someone to consider their struggles as an opportunity to have joy, but considering our options, we choose joy. Your verse tells us it is possible. We accept it as truth and call on You for Your help. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Get Rid of It~

Monday morning greetings:)

Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow. If it's a good thing, only He can take the credit!

Back in the 90's I had a little Nissan that I sold, and when I did I turned the tag in. I figured that I already hoard enough stuff, so I might as well get rid of it. All these years later turning that tag in proved to be a smart move. I recently bought another car and because the other tag was in the DMV's custody, the fine government of the state of Florida gave me credit for it to the tune of $261.75. Glory to God for that lovely surprise:)

Let it go...

Why is it so hard sometimes to let things go? I am one to talk because while I did turn in the tag, I have held onto a bunch of other things through the years. Just ask the ladies at my daughter's bridal shower who got to see one of my mom's negligee's from the 60's.

Yet, for our own sakes, God encourages us to get rid of certain things.

Ephesians 4:31-32 "Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred. And be sweet one toward another and affectionate, and be forgiving one another, just as God in The Messiah has forgiven us."

Most of you might have a hard time believing that I am not always sweet. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I am sorry; I had to laugh at that because, let's face it, we have all had our hot-tempered, bitter moments, sprinkled with a bad word or two or 10...

Please take note of this verse above because God is not asking us to get rid of this bad behavior--He's telling us to. He knows that before we can have pure joy, we have to make room for it. He understands that actively pursuing a clean soul will come back to bless us later, and it will bless us considerably more than $261.25. He knows that we have enough burdens in life and cannot afford to add more negative weight to our already heavy loads.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We need Your help. There are some things that have a way of hanging around that bring us down. We desire to be sweet and forgiving, so help us. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Newfound Greeting~

Dear friends,

I am proposing a change in the way we typically greet people.

Instead of, "How's it going?" or "Hey there!" or What's up?"  How about we say,  "I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit." 

Those words are found in 3 John 1:2 in the Bible, and they are lovely! And it would be lovely for all of us to embrace the beauty of desiring the best for one another and celebrating the fact that God wants us well - mind, body, and soul.

A few moments ago my former boss invited me and a few of my former colleagues for lunch. Later today when I meet up with them, I am going to use my newfound greeting on them.  I can't wait to see their reaction, but I suspect they will be pleasantly surprised and powerfully blessed!  

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for verses like this one that remind us that You care about every single thing about us - not only our souls. We pray today that we and those we love would be well and healthy in body and strong in spirit. We declare that all is well because You are with us. We volunteer to be ambassadors of love toward our family by praying for them. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Pray the Joy In~

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds...

Greetings,

It's been a busy few days for me, but I am back :)

Pure joy...we've been talking about it because while we all want to genuinely live and breathe it, sometimes stuff gets in the way.

Ironically, it's the stuff that gets in the way that is supposed to spur us on to joy in the first place.

But I completely understand the challenges of trying to have joy when there's a lot going on. So does our amazing Lord. The Bible is not just one verse that we take to heart, but hundreds and hundreds of verses that lovingly and wisely intertwine resulting in one beautiful and encouraging love letter to us all.

Therefore when we can't consider it pure joy because of the problem, rest assured there's a verse to help you take a step in the right direction.

For instance: "Yenise, How can I have joy when I can't even sleep because of all the fear I have?"

Psalm 118:6 The Lord is with me; I shall not be afraid.

It's always a win-win with Christ. He wants us to have joy and will always provide a verse to help us redirect our focus off the problem and onto Him.

"Yenise, How can I have joy when I am so anxious about ...?"

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And peace will guard your heart.

"Yenise, How can I have joy when I am so hopeless..?"

Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

What is keeping you from experiencing joy today? No matter what it is, you can pray it out and invite the joy in.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We will not be afraid because You are with us and because You are with us, we have joy. We will not be anxious because prayer welcomes You and Your power into our lives and that is a cause for celebration. Our hope is in You, and we feel strengthened already! In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Pure Joy Part Two~

Happy TGIF ~

We've been looking at God's gentle encouragement to "consider it pure joy," when faced with problems. Not just joy, as though that weren't hard enough, but PURE joy.

Let us turn to our on-line resource, dictionary.com, for clarification.

Joy means, "the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying." Pure means, "free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water."

That's a simplistic definition for all us spiritual giants, but there is a lot of truth here. Obviously we can have joy when exceptionally good and/or satisfying things are happening. But God puts the word "pure" in front of the kind of joy He wants us to have because our level of happiness and delight should not depend on how many struggles we are facing. He wants us having joy no matter what--free from external influences. The junk of life so easily contaminates our joy, however, so what are we to do?

Just this morning I received an email from Max Lucado that thoroughly blessed my soul.

I love love love him and highly recommend ANYTHING he has ever written. He brought something to my attention that I had never noticed before.

“On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.” (I Corinthians 11:23)

What frame of mind do you think you or I would be in if we were about to face the greatest struggle of our life and knew it was coming? Yet our Lord takes the time to say thanks...

This is only possible if we make having joy that is free from external circumstances a priority. And we get better at it by practicing. And one of the ways we practice is by being thankful.

Allow me to share a prayer that someone prayed yesterday. Some details will be omitted to protect privacy.

"Dear Lord, Thank You that You preserve my life and the life of my child. Thank You that while I am waiting for You to open up my child's eyes to the error of her ways, I can have joy in knowing that You will never get frustrated or weary of hearing me and helping me. I have joy because even though I do not have all the answers, You do. You have never let me down before, and knowing that strengthens my soul. You have all the answers, all the solutions, and all the power for my situation, and You are willing to share. You are a sharing and caring Father, and You sings songs of love over me, which settles my heart. You have not taken Your eyes off my child for one second, and You are busy busy busy bringing about a change in the direction my child is headed. I have joy because of Your great promise that You will work everything out for my benefit and my child's benefit..."

That's just a small portion of what my buddy prayed. Isn't that fantastical? Sometimes only the melding of two words--fantastic and phenomenal--can explain an emotion!

Pray that prayer for yourself and edit according! Our Lord has set the example and shown us what we need to do when facing the greatest storms of life.

In Jesus' name, AMEN~

No Match~

Tuesday greetings~

A part of yesterday's prayer said, "We must take the focus off our trials and focus on the One Who sees us through every single one."

How do we do that?

Psalm 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Yes, that's an invitation, and I am extending it to you!

Magnify means to enlarge and make bigger. And we magnify the Lord by praising Him more than worrying about our struggles. We make Him bigger by praying more then fretting. We enlarge Him by thinking about His goodness, strength, and unmatched power, and when we do that, our problems begin to pale in comparison.

It is natural to worry. We are good at it. There is not one place in the Bible that says, "You beautiful humans are so strong and able to rise above and never worry; good for you!"

On the contrary. Verse after verse, including the one above, encourages us to take proactive steps in order to have that joy and peace that seem so elusive at times.

No need to RSVP to my invitation. Let's do it!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We magnify You now by calling on Your powerful name! Help us, heal us, guide us, protect us, provide for us, give us peace and joy, and do the same for those we love. Nothing or no one can even come remotely close to Your magnificence, and we know it. All discouragement, suffering, and problems are no match for You. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Test Grades~

Greetings brothers and sisters,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend:)

James 1:2-4

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Have you ever felt as though your faith is being tested?

I certainly have, and more than once I have felt as though I am failing the test. And it is at those times that my sweet Lord comes to me and whispers in my ear," Yenisita, Jesus lives in your heart. He has set up a permanent home there. When I look at you, I see my Son in you. I have never rejected Him, and I will never reject you. I do, however, desire perseverance produced in you because you will need it. I am allowing this test to further bless you..."

And then I do my happy dance :)

I discovered a long time ago that I can not truly control anyone or anything. He knows this, which is why He offers His help, His love, and His Son. He accepts us exactly as we are because He accepts His son. We are worthy only because Christ is worthy. We are lovely because Christ is lovely. We are His because Christ is His. None of it depends on our test grades, or I might be in trouble. But He loves us too much to leave us the way we are. Just like we all desire to see our children grow up and make wise decisions, He also desires to see us mature. Maturity is a great thing. Being complete is a awesome thing, and not lacking anything is the bomb. The testing of our faith will produce this, and we must trust Him.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, It's not about us; it's about You. We must take the focus off our trials and focus on the One Who sees us through every single one. Strengthen us as we persevere. Thank You that the result of all our prayers and faith will mightily bless us. In Jesus; name, AMEN~