Experiencing Joy When Your Heart Aches
Every challenge we face forces us to make a choice. Will we choose to trust our doubting selves? Or choose to trust a God who is faithful, wise, and good?
Every challenge we face forces us to make a choice. Will we choose to trust our doubting selves? Or choose to trust a God who is faithful, wise, and good?
I would benefit by investing time and energy into learning about Makana’s operating systems. I just need to do it. The same is true for spiritual disciplines.
I hold messy reality in one hand: Uvalde, Ukraine, inflation, family and ministry concerns. I hold God’s spectacular promises in the other.
As the birds sing this morning, a song pops into my mind. I recall the lyrics, and they encourage me to focus not on my concerns but on my blessings instead.
Changing the way we think means identifying the lies and replacing them with the Truth. As our thoughts align with God’s, our behavior changes as well.
Jesus is the Vine. We are the branches. Maintaining a strong and vibrant connection with Him results in a fruitful life that brings much glory to God.
The marina sling holds the weight of a vessel, but my God holds every ocean, sea, bay, cove, river, and stream in His hand.
Short prayers like—“Help!”—whispered or cried from a heart desperate for God’s provision or intervention can stir Him to answer.
Today’s blog is an excerpt from my book, Keeping Hope Alive: Devotions for Strength in the Storm. May it encourage you when you’re at a loss about how to pray.
God has purposes yet unseen for our lives, too. Every one of the hardships we experience are part of the pruning and honing necessary to prepare us.
God does not always lead us into suffering, but sometimes He does. Sometimes, God works in and through our trials to carry out His purposes.
How often do we look at our circumstances, assume we know everything there is to know about them, and fall into discouragement or fear?
Only God knows what the new year will hold. One thing we know ~ no matter what the new year’s headlines say, we can experience peace because Jesus promised.
God is with you, my friend. His presence will never leave your side. You don’t face your challenges alone, nor do you face them in your own strength.
If we take Jesus seriously, then we can rest assured that trusting in God is the better way to respond. Here are five good reasons for choosing that better way.
If we train our minds on gratitude, our brain responds by releasing hormones related to pleasure and contentment. Our day assumes a tone of joy.
How do we respond to suffering? Do we get angry or fall into self-pity? Or do we allow God to use our pain to refine us and make us more like Jesus?
Soul care matters. If we’re in a healthy place, then we’re better able to help others who are struggling. So be good to yourself.
Take a moment to thank Jesus for His invitation to give rest to the weary and burdened. Come into His presence quietly and with no agenda. Exhale your worries.
In the wake of all the negative stuff happening, I want to suggest doing something to keep hope alive: host a celebration.
Praising God shifts our focus from our fears and failures to the character of the One who never disappoints or abandons us. And joy is born.
God will never make a promise and then forget to honor it. He’ll never commit to doing something and then procrastinate. God always keeps His word.
Trusting God means yielding our desire for control to the One who is in control. It means admitting our understanding of a troubling situation is incomplete.
His intent toward us is always good and never meant to harm or destroy. We find rest for our souls when we rest in Jesus.
Every moment of every day we need God’s presence in our lives. And every moment of every day our heavenly Father hears our sighs and cries.
The truth is, Almighty God is on our side. The enemy wants us to believe otherwise, so he whispers lies intended to lead us to believe defeat is imminent.
When weariness drains us dry, joy is ours if we want. When burdens threaten to crush the life from us, joy is available as a supernatural gift of God’s grace.
We can either let them intimidate us, or we can choose to believe and live from the truth that the Lord of heaven’s armies rescues His people.
God cares deeply about what concerns me and you, and he invites us to come to his throne room anytime day or night. We needn’t fear interrupting him.
God sees strengths in us that we fail to recognize. Perhaps we need to ask the Lord to help us view ourselves as He does.
I pray that today’s post will encourage and inspire you. It’s an excerpt from my devotional book Finding Hope in Crisis: Devotions for Calm in Chaos.
Asking with humility and recognizing our needs and Christ’s ability to meet them, works. He may or may not answer with a yes but He recognizes humble faith.
We’re faced with a choice. We can camp our thoughts on lies or we can secure them on truth. Our choice influences our behaviors and determines our destiny.
If we’re too busy to acknowledge God’s presence, then we’re too busy. Let’s be alert to the devil’s efforts to derail us using busyness as his weapon of choice.
Let’s take the high road. Let’s follow Christ’s example. And get on with the work of sharing Jesus love with others as He sacrificially shared it with us.
Crisis changes life in a nanosecond. It can rob us of routine, ruin our ability to sleep well, and remove our capability to think straight.
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GRACE FOX MINISTRIES
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1945 McCallum Road
Abbotsford, BC V2S 0E4
Canada