"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog

APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it

On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

EMBRACING JOY ...

At least I'm trying ... reminding myself

Image result for embracing joy in his presence
so then I'm
EMBRACING JOY IN HIS PRESENCE


as I prepare and read

Image result for embracing joy in his presence

{I just finished the sample 7 day devotional and will continue with the 5 day.}

Day 1
Choosing to Rejoice

starts out with

..."REJOICE Always! ...
1 Thessalonians 5:16

I don't know about you, but to "rejoice always" (evermore, continually) seems like a very difficult task in this world more and more, especially in any adversity, hardship or challenge. I mean "always" is a long time and counts every second of every day, all the time, so how is this possible? With this in mind, I decided to look at other versions, what this means, and choose to look more closely at the word "rejoice". Here are two versions that helped me somewhat:

"Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); " AMPC

What helps me here is the part in brackets "in your faith" along with be happy and be glad hearted, yes ... even in adverse times I can be happy and thankful in my heart for or in my faith. But the following from TPT, let's me come to feast in JOY

"Let joy be your continual feast." The Passion Translation

... so this I like and can do a bit better ...

actually believing God's promises
is what gets me through
tough times

A perpetual state of rejoicing is only possible through or with the supernatural joy of the Holy Spirit - a fruit and gift - that bubbles up from the inside, when we battle or encounter adversity ... God enables us with this power and strength that comes supernaturally by the Holy Spirit and our precious salvation of Jesus Christ. In this, I can rejoice! Our joy is not determined by our circumstances BUT inspite of them, nor is our ability to rejoice based only on happy experiences. Focusing on "Jesus Always", even when we may not feel like it ... reminds us of our Lord's goodness, grace and redemptive sacrifice for us.

I did not think I had this ability when it seems like day after day is an uphill struggle and battle against the forces of evil yet I so need to EMBRACE some JOY ... ok, Rejoice always ... and surprisingly, when I recently met a new addition to our family, married to a dear cousin, who knew little about me or my story, as I poured out facets, this sweet sister (cousin-in-law) mentioned how she noticed so much "joy" still coming forth through me, even with my adversities and tribulations ... another dear cousin, who I see as having so much "joy" also agreed, which frankly astounded me and I was relieved to know that the Holy Spirit still shines through in my darkness or tales of woes. So very thankful! And I will hold on to this and treasure this and her words always as I continue on with "Jesus Always" and really EMBRACE the JOY within me and around me, because of His Spirit within me. Now, there are others, who may not see this emanate from me, however I will keep trying to shine Jesus always on their darkness and inability - so it's on them.



I will be continuing with the You Version 5 day plan now, still debating whether to get this as an ebook or a real book or at all, but I did download a 52 week discussion guide (pdf) of "Jesus Always" ... and the book is 365 days of devotions, maybe it's meant for me for next year, we'll see. I do have others by this author (but lately, I've been seeing so many *authors I like being ostracized by other Christians, deemed as 'false' teachers, etc. which I don't like at all, especially because I have liked and read or listened to them for so long, gotta wonder about myself{I read and listen to quite alot of them that have been put in this category

The first discussion in this "Jesus Always" guide is the "Fullness of Joy" ... this is what I choose to EMBRACE so even though I was in the middle of Part 3 in "EMBRACED..."{by another *favorite in that category} and should be continuing with "Embracing Him in the midst of hurt and heartache", I will be, only by Embracing Joy or Embracing His Presence, which undoubtedly brings Joy! with "Jesus Always" ... so just a reminder that the EMBRACED one is only on pause - not forgotten, plus tomorrow that author is starting at FaithGateway, a study on her other recent book that I shared here before ... 



Here's the rest of "Embracing Joy in His Presence" 5 days:

DAY 2 - Blessed by Jesus "Seek to live in the present - with Me!"

DAY 3 - Led by Jesus "Seek to become..."

DAY 4 - Seek Him First {as always}

DAY 5 - His Unfailing Love "I am Your Joy!"{Yes, You are, Jesus}





Let's
EMBRACE
more
JOY

less
hurt
and
heartache

JOY brings Healing, too

don't you think so? 
(like laughter)





To my faithful visitors;
all of you who spend your valuable time here with me
I do appreciate you so much!

Thank you for taking your time to visit!

Love, Sweet blessings & Hugs!

DIOS TE BENDIGA
GOD BLESS YOU

always

Peggy