Joy Inside-Out

This week, a co-worker passed me in the hall and said “smile, it can’t be that bad”!  I laughed, shrugged my shoulders and offered the cliché` “I’m fine”.   But when I returned to my desk, I really was bothered by the fact that my emotions were so evident on my face.  Even more so, that the emotions evident were of things that really should not have sank my mood.  I had allowed Satan the foothold of stress and disappointment.  Our face can give away our heart’s emotion.  I was determined to not only change the view the world saw of me as written on my face, but to ensure that the expression of joy on the outside was a genuine reflection of the inside. 

So many things in our daily routine cause us to get frustrated, angry, or sad.  These are the things the world sees in a people that claim to have joy and peace at the core of their character.  Slamming down the phone, excessive use of  “you’ve got to be kidding me !”, and all the obvious signs of irritation should be replaced with positive responses. 

Everyday we are given ample opportunity for Jesus to be seen and ample opportunity for Satan to take control.  As an individual who claims to have Jesus living in my heart and confidence the Holy Spirit is guiding me, I must meditate on and heed scripture and make an outwardly change on my form of expression.  Here are scriptures that provide examples for outwardly expression.

Isaiah 55:12    You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.       

Psalm 89:15-18    How blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! O LORD, they walk in the light of your countenance. 16 In Your name they rejoice all the day, and by Your righteousness they are exalted. 17 For You are the glory of their strength, and by Your favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 61:10    I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,  I have no reason, and really, no right to be negative, disappointed and lacking in joy.  I have a Father who loves me unconditionally and a Savior that gave it all for me.  THAT’S SOMETHING TO BE JOYFUL ABOUT!

Father, thank you for giving me a reason to be forever joyful.  Forgive me when I allow satan to control my emotions. Help me to be a better expression of Jesus. Thank you for your love and grace.In Jesus’ name, amen.

Michelle Tittor

Grapevine, TX

My Psalm, Too!

Sometimes we may be feeling so many different emotions all at the same time.  Some are joyful and happy with glimpses of fear and sadness.  Sometimes the holiday season brings a whirlwind of emotions for many people.  Perhaps they are feelings of thanksgiving for the precious time shared with loved ones and feelings of sorrow for those who are no longer with us.  Perhaps it’s the bittersweet feelings parents of adult children have when its time for their children to return to their own lives.  Life itself can create an emotional rollercoaster for us to ride.    As individuals given souls and a spirit of love, we may struggle with these varied emotions. 

Recently, I read Psalm 86.  It is a prayer from David.  At that particular moment in time, this psalm gave words to all of my feelings.   I ask that you read it slow, as it is a conversational prayer with our Father; the one being that is supreme and has the power and the authority to work in our lives.   In some ways, it’s a challenge – to live in accordance to His will, to have a heart of a servant and to glorify God in all I do.  I found such comfort in David’s words even though they are thousands of years old – maybe you will too. 

Psalm 86 (NIV)

Hear me, LORD, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;

save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,

for I call to you all day long.

4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,

for I put my trust in you. 5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,

abounding in love to all who call to you.

6 Hear my prayer, LORD;

listen to my cry for mercy.

7 When I am in distress, I call to you,

because you answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

9 All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;

you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, LORD,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

13 For great is your love toward me;

you have delivered me from the depths,

from the realm of the dead. 14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;

ruthless people are trying to kill me—

they have no regard for you.

15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;

show your strength in behalf of your servant;

save me, because I serve you

just as my mother did.

17 Give me a sign of your goodness,

that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,

for you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me. 

Michelle Tittor

Grapevine, TX

Materialism is Harmful for Marriages

God’s wisdom is, once again, supported by man’s discovery.  According to a recent Brigham Young University news release, scholars at BYU studied 1,734 married couples across the country.  Each couple completed a relationship evaluation, part of which asked how much they value “having money and lots of things.”  The researchers’ statistical analysis showed that couples who say money is not important to them score about 10 to 15 percent better on marriage stability and other measures of relationship quality than couples where one or both are materialistic.  “Couples where both spouses are materialistic were worse off on nearly every measure we looked at,” said Jason Carroll, a BYU professor of family life and lead author of the study.  He continues, “There is a pervasive pattern in the data of eroding communication, poor conflict resolution and low responsiveness to each other.  How these couples perceive their finances seems to be more important to their marital health than their actual financial situation.”

Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

Paul’s inspired advice on the subject of materialism is quite to the point: a materialistic mindset will cause negative results in your life.  A materialistic person has an undo regard for worldly concerns.  This person is focused on short-term satisfaction and achievements, while neglecting long-term fulfillment.  The materialistic person is thinking physically, not spiritually.

When materialistic priorities find fertile ground they take root.  Unfortunately, as the Lord warned us, materialistic roots will bear evil fruits.  Goals and plans and expectations will all be influenced by the insatiable desire for “more.”  Enough is never enough.  The evil root of loving money can cause undesirable conditions, such as: overextended debt obligations, neglected or injured relationships, anxiety-induced health issues, and wandering faith.  Interestingly, according to an ABC News review of the survey, “The correlation between materialism and marital difficulties remained stable regardless of the actual wealth of the couple…  it (the survey) may simply mean that people who are more focused on making money have less energy and interest left to invest in their marriages.”  Once again, it is not the possession of money that is causing the problems.  It is the love of money, materialism, which is a root of all kinds of evil.

Focusing on godliness and being content will achieve true long-term fulfillment and satisfaction.  The contented person is satisfied.  He is not chasing after “more.”  Are your physical needs being met?  Great, that should be enough.  You arrived with nothing, you’ll leave with nothing.  Don’t buy into the materialistic mantra, “What have you done for me lately?”  The spiritual mind is mature and aware of the temptations and traps that grow out of an evil root.  

Carl  Smith
Stephenville, Texas

Are You Anxious?

I’LL TAKE PEACE, PLEASE

Yes, this world is a stressful place. Stress has even been called an epidemic in today’s world. But, even though we live in this world, we are not of it (John 17:16.)  Jesus asks us, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27) 

Actually, we’ve been told that stress can take years off of our life. It penetrates to the core of our being. Psychologists tell us that stress changes us in the process. It alters our bodies and our brains.

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  – Matthew 6:31-33 

Instead of being consumed by the pressures of this world, God has another plan for you.
That’s a great promise. But you might be wondering, like I do, why it doesn’t always manifest in your own life.

Do you spend the majority of your energy seeking God’s kingdom, or the things of this present life?One will lead to peace, but the other will always lead to stress.  Peace versus Stress.  Hmm. . . I’ll take Peace, please!

Someone writing on this blog several months ago said something I have thought about many times since. The writer said, “When I take up the shackles of anxiety and worry about the lack of control I have over my life and those in it, I deny the peace and joy already set before me... ” In a conversation with her friend and mentor she told him she was beginning a personal prayer campaign for peace. She said, “It was the question from my mentor of, ‘Why are you praying for peace when you already have it?’ that allowed me to see that I was missing out on a huge promise from God.”
(You can read Dana Jaworski’s article, “Claiming Peace” in Word for Today, March 29, 2011)

I’m not a real driven, focused, over-achieving person. In fact, I’m a somewhat lazy, scattered, procrastinating person. But that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about the things of this present life. And I am often anxious and stressed about all the things I am not getting done. I love the phrase in Philippians 4:7 that says “the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That peace is beyond understanding for many of us, most of the time.  But we have all had those emotional experiences where we realize God will take care of us. Suddenly, we feel His peace and security, and all is well with the world.  

So, how do you keep that feeling? Philippians 4:8 says, “Fix your thoughts on whatever is true, whatever is noble, is right, is pure, is lovely, is admirable; think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”  

Where do your thoughts dwell throughout the day? Do you meditate on the negative news you saw this morning, or all of the things on your ‘to do’ list for today, plus the ones you didn’t get done yesterday? Or are your thoughts dominated by the promises of God? Controlling our thoughts is one of the most difficult things to do, but it holds the key to living in peacefulness.

God of power and might, calm my wandering mind and my worries. Help me to see the beauty in my life. Your will, not mine, be done in my life. Calm, guide, and care for me, as you do for all your beloved children, and bring peace to my heart through Jesus.  Amen.

Lynn Anne Hughes
Stephenville, Texas

Are You Anxious?

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purposes.” (Romans 8:28)

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4)

These words from Paul and James are familiar to most believers. They are favorite “go-to” verses for a lot of people. And, they read quickly. But, how often has a moment in life left us speechless in the presence of these familiar texts? Traveling across the terrain of thought encompassed in these texts was anything but a walk in the park. It more aptly resembled intergalactic travel!

I recall listening to a dear sister tossing these verses on the floor in a conversation a few years ago as she unloaded her struggle to trust God through a particularly difficult time in her life. She said, “I feel so weak. I feel so ashamed. I’ve known these verses all my life. I know how I should respond to this situation, but my heart is so distracted, heavy and weak. I just thought I was more mature than this.”

Ever felt like that? I have on more than one occasion. Trials can find the seam between knowledge and conviction and test its strength. And, it doesn’t take long for the test results to come back to us!

One of the misconceptions about faith is that if we know the truth we can (and should!) snap it into place when trials crash into our lives. But, we know how difficult that can be when life gets crazy.   

Graciously, God has scattered across the landscape of scripture realistic pictures of “trust in action”. In our hurry to get to a good verse on trust (and I confess I’ve done it more than once!) we look past these blessed pictures.

Throughout the book of Psalms the Spirit has given us psalms of lament. (Individual lament: 3, 4, 5, 7, 9-10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 36, 39, 40:12-17, 41, 42-43, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 77, 86, 89, 120, 139, 141, 14; Community lament: 12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 89, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129; Penitential: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143; Imprecatory: 35, 69, 83, 88, 109, 137, 140). While many of the Psalms focus on praising God, a considerable number give voice to the experience of lament. The writers kick and scream at life situations. They throw familiar theology around the room like a bouncing ball. They lay it all on the living room carpet! They don’t work out faith in minutes; it takes days, weeks and months. Trial – to – trust is not a straight line.

Remember Job? He was a righteous man. But, after a week of silence and “blessed be the name of the Lord”…well…he takes God to task. He rifles questions at God. He even curses the day he was born! Trial to trust is not a straight line.

Remember Jesus? Even though his moves are in concert with His Father’s purposes and the knowledge of messianic scriptures are etched into his mind, he doesn’t turn himself in and say “let’s move to trial!” He collapses into prayer in the garden of Gethsemane…3 times. Hebrews 5:7 provides us with a glimpse into Jesus heart: “In the days of his flesh Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” Even for the Savior, trust was not lived in a non-emotional straight line. It comes with difficulty, struggle and lots of emotion.

Control.  Security.  Safety.  Avoidance of pain. That’s how we’re wired.

And, that’s why trust is so counter to who we are as human beings. “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” is a scary proposition. “Not my will, but yours be done” is equally unsettling. I’m not sure where the idea came from that we cruise through faith challenges with a bible and a calculator. The truth of the matter is nobody does it that way. Life hurts. We feel pain. The unknown scares us. And, to add insult to injury, to think that our “back and forth” in moments of trial is anything short of normal fuels our weakness and makes us vulnerable to the kind of collapse that the Evil One is hoping to achieve in our rocky moments.

I’m so thankful the Holy Spirit has blessed us with an honest picture of what trusting God looks and sounds like. The transparency of the psalmists – the candid speeches in the book of Job – Jesus’ example of how to wrestle trust into place…We need them all. We need them because “unpredictables” still happen. We need to know that it is okay to cry. To sit in silence before the Lord. To scream if need be. To ask people to pray for us because we don’t know how to pray. To tell God that we are in a strange situation and feel like infants who can’t tell their left hand from their right. It’s all part and parcel of how you fit yourself into the skin of trust.

O Lord, thank you for being Faithful and True. Thank you for being near to us and promising that you will never forsake us. And, thank you for showing us what it means to stumble and stagger our way into your arms. Strengthen our hearts with such a reminder when we find ourselves in uncharted territory. When life doesn’t’ make sense. When we flat don’t know what to do next. Weave your word into our hearts in a more mature way that we might know you are with us in the “back and forth” that is our faith coming of age. Amen.

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

Are You Anxious?

Frequently, she knocks at the door of my heart, Anxiety calls out to me.  “Let me stay and visit awhile.  We have so much to fret about:
People are sick,
Folks suffer,
Evil lurks,
Financial woes continue,
On and on she rambles…”

In contrast, examples abound of Your servants in frightful situations:  Your Son-Jesus, Noah, Joseph, Daniel, David, Esther, Job, Mary, Paul, and numerous others who found peace and deliverance in You.

Thank You, Father, for teaching us through Your Living Word not to keep company with Anxiety and her buddies-Fear and Doubt.  Instead, Joy, Thanksgiving and Prayer are to be our constant companions, trusting in You for each concern of life.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!                    

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will    guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”   - Philippians 4:4-7

Thank You, LORD, for this remarkable human body You have created and given us stewardship over.  Let us be obedient and not burden it with the pointless weight of worry.  Thank You, Father, for Your Peace that guards our hearts and minds in Jesus.  Compassion and faith, not “worry,” is what You desire-inviting us to kneel before You and intercede for those people and circumstances You place on our hearts.

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior.”  – 1 Timothy 2:1-3

Remind us, Beloved LORD, when Anxiety bids to enter our thought life, You are waiting to give us peace in every instance.  Empower us to shut the door to anxious thoughts and behaviors-through prayer and petition.

“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”  – Romans 12:11-13

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Father God, I praise You for Your boundless love, abundant mercy, and amazing grace-blessings galore.  How awesome are all Your ways.  Bathe our hearts in Your precious peace through the avenue of prayer.  Thank You, for Jesus, Our Savior- who walked each step in prayer.  Your Spirit is our Comforter, both Son and Spirit interceding on our behalf.  Amen

Mischelle Oliver,

Stephenville, Texas

Are You Anxious?

Tie a String Aound Your Finger

When my mother moved to town, one of the first things she wanted was a city map.  “I want to know where all the bad things are happening when I watch TV or read the paper,” she said.  Those few words expressed poignantly how most of us feel about the stability of our environment, the security of our government, the solvency of our assets, and the safety of those we love.

When you feel paralyzed by fear or alone in your desolation, open your Bible to Psalms.  It’s the 16th book in the Old Testament.  This is a hymnbook of Hebrew poetry where mankind talks to God and God answers.  It is as powerful and beautiful today as it was in ancient times.

In Psalm 77 the writer is in such distress he can neither eat nor sleep.  In Psalm 42 his soul is dying of thirst from lack of Godly fellowship.  All he can do is cry.  In 43 he’s so oppressed by his enemies that his bones “suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’”

It isn’t uncommon to wonder if God’s unfailing love has vanished forever, or if he’s forgotten to be merciful or if, in his anger, he’s withholding his compassion (77:8, 9), and in this earthly body our souls will sometimes be downcast.  At times like these, we can do what the psalmist did:  

“Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal:  The years of the right hand of the Most High.  I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.  I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds’” (77:10); and,  “Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise [Hebrew todah – thanks] him, my Savior and my God.” (42:5, 11 & 43:5).

When we feel helpless and afraid, and when we are bursting with joy and thanksgiving, a string around our finger – figuratively or literally – will remind us where our Hope lies.

God, you are my joy and my delight, and with the music of my heart I praise you, through Christ, amen. 

Sandra Milholland

Abilene, Texas