The Power of Joy

Christmas time used to be my absolute favorite time of the year. I would decorate on November 1st and play Christmas songs for two months solid. The holiday was once my “happy” place because it brought me much Joy. However, over time, that feeling slowly eroded and the strength to hold on to it began to weaken with every crashing wave that slammed into my days.

This morning, a memory popped up in FaceBook. That memory was something I wrote four years ago about “JOY”. In that post, I wrote about what I had discovered about Joy...it is amazing to me to read these FB memories as it reveals the mastery of My Father in Heaven and the patience, gentleness and skill that He has in revealing to our hearts what our spirit knows to be true.

I had always believed that if I truly wanted to know the truth about something, all I needed to do was ask my Father to show me. Yes, I know how that sounds to most people. Nonetheless, it was a belief that I held because well....because that is the relationship that He and I forged over the years – a radical, risk-taking type of faith in Almighty God and His abilities.

On this day, four years ago, God took me on a treasure hunt through His Word that lead to the discovery of the meaning of “JOY”. This is what was revealed:
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The Bible tells us that Joy is our strength. A few questions arise......1. Where did mine go? 2. How do you get it back? 3. What is Joy anyway?

The best definition of Joy I could find was this one: Darkness Dispelled; the light of everlasting life lit up in the soul. YES, this made more sense than the meanings in other dictionaries of an emotion of great happiness, blah, blah, blah...
Darkness dispelled....okay, what does dispelled mean?
It means to make(a doubt, feeling, or belief) disappear or end; to drive away/off, get rid of.

Darkness is the partial or total absence of light; reflecting only a small fraction of light; unknown or concealed, lacking knowledge
Nice but what does this mean? To me, this morning, in the middle of this hurricane I have come to know as 'life'....it simply means this.....

Joy is not a feeling or an emotion as they come and go, sometimes not easily controlled. Joy is not the same as being happy or happiness, although happiness can be a result of Joy.
Joy then is a choice. The Bible tells us that God gives us this choice....I have set before you Life and Death, Blessings and Curses, therefore, choose Life (Deut 30:19) Yes, Joy is something that we make a conscious decision of choosing, every day and sometimes every moment.

Joy drives away lack of knowledge and reveals God's mystery.
Joy drives off the overwhelming feelings of doubt and unbelief.
Joy makes the darkness in our souls, our minds and our hearts disappear.
Joy is a tool in God's arsenal to set us free to shine in a dark place.

Christmas is the season of JOY! Hearts are open and looking for that "goodwill toward men" that we sing about... It is not found in the songs or decorations or destinations of the season, but rather in the manger. Jesus Christ is the Light of the world!
He is the light that drives away the darkness and makes our fears disappear.
Joy....the light of everlasting life lit up in the soul.

In my search for the meaning of Joy, I have been reminded that I have a light which resides "in my heart", lately this light has not reflected the fullness of the everlasting life in my soul....and yet God has gently reminded me this morning that it has been my choice to allow the light to grow dim - and it shall be my choice to let His light shine once again.

Life will continue to be challenging - the waves will continue to crash....BUT the darkness has been dispelled this morning! Not only can there be Joy in the journey....there is Hope that the storm will one day come to an end.
So this morning as you go about your day....be reminded that it is in our choices that we shall uncover true Joy and regain our strength for this journey.
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On this day four years ago, I chose to take the path that would uncover true Joy so that my strength would be regained...and my Father has been beside me every step of the way. During this journey, He has revealed many things that had stolen Joy from my life. He also revealed how to recapture what was stolen!

Joy.... Darkness Dispelled; the light of everlasting life lit up in the soul.

Even though the path has been exhausting in all ways, I am forever grateful to my Father for revealing how and why it had almost been extinguished. His gift to me this Christmas has been the restoration of the Joy that is found in relationship with Him.

He has dispelled the darkness within my soul making the feeling of doubt and fear disappear. In their place, my Father has revealed a place with unsurpassed Peace that calms the soul like that of a lullaby. In this place I have rediscovered Joy.

The Joy of Lord is a powerful force! Joy is a tool in God's arsenal to set us free to shine in a dark place; sometimes this dark place is our own mind. My journey has taught me just how easy it is for the enemy of our souls to dim the light within...he challenges our mind, just as he did with Eve. He plants the seed of doubt and if we are not careful, we will allow the seed to take root and grow. This doubt will challenge our belief in God and His abilities thus chipping away at our faith. In essence we become the “ye” in “Oh Ye of little faith...”.

This journey has taught me not to focus on that which I feel I have lost...No, He whispers ever-so-gently to focus on all that I have received and that He has freely given.

Feelings...they come and go with the strength of the winds that brought them BUT Joy...Joy wraps you in an embrace of Peace as it reveals the heart of the Father and whispers to your spirit “...All is well...”

May you allow God to dispel your darkness this Christmas season....may you choose “JOY”

The Destructive Power of Words

The story of the “green gumball” has been a pivotal point for much of my life. The story of how God touched the heart of a young man through the color of a gumball is inspiring and quite amazing. However, not all aspects of that moment in time have been re-affirming or positive.

That event has been the focal point of a radical, risk-taking faith; the evidence of a faith that fully trusts in the power of God. A faith that is not encumbered by the opinions of any one person but yielded to the revelations of His Spirit. In that moment, all that mattered was my obedience to the prompting of His Spirit...the nudge to ask Eric a very simple question; What color do you want?

It was not a risk in my mind – at that moment - to ask the question. It was the question that He wanted to ask Eric so I simply obeyed my Father by asking the question. There was no fear in that moment. There was no doubt of the outcome either because I trusted my Father to drop the gumball in the color Eric wanted. I was convinced that the gumball would be the color Eric verbalized.

I Corinthians 2:5 tells us that God intended that our faith be established by trusting in His almighty power. If I truly believed that He had the power to create all that we see....that He had the power to part the Red Sea...that He had the power to crumble the walls of Jericho...that He had the power to raise Christ from the dead...that He had the power to heal my body of the 2^nd/3^rd degree burns with no scars... how then, could I not trust that He had the power to drop a green gumball?

The faith that I had at that point was based on the stories I had read in the Old and New Testaments plus my personal experiences (my body being healed of the burns being one of them). My faith had been established by trusting that the stories in the Bible were true combined with my personal encounters with the power of an Almighty God. My experiences with God had taught me to trust in His ability to perform His Word....there was no doubt in my mind that God could do what He said.

That is until the “elders” began to criticize my actions. Apparently, to the more “...mature in the faith...”, my actions were reckless, irresponsible, lacking wisdom and most of all...they had the potential of being catastrophic for Eric. It seemed that stepping out and acting on the prompting of the Spirit made the elders a bit uneasy. I was faced with many “What if...” scenarios to which my only response was that I KNEW it was God; there was no other explanation other than I knew the voice of my Father and I acted upon it.

To those older and thus wiser than I (yes, that is what I was told), actions such as mine were not acceptable. The only reason given to me as to why it was unacceptable was that had the gumball not been green, I would have destroyed God's opportunity to reach Eric. The words spoken to me by those in leadership were the tools used by the enemy to crack the very foundation of my trust....not in the ability of God but the trust I had in knowing the voice of my Father.

The experience of the gumball was more thrilling and humbling than almost any other experience I have had in my journey thus far. However, the experience that followed my act of obedience was one of the most spiritually damaging battles my faith has ever had to withstand.

This morning during my time with God, I was directed to a series of verses that He used to unravel the deception that began when the words of ridicule were spoken over me almost 25 years ago. I sit here in awe at the reality of just how much power there is in the spoken word.

The power of life and death are in the tongue (Prov 18:21)

Since that experience, I have struggled to trust that I hear the voice of my Father. That doubt has brought untold emotional stress and torment...always questioning IF what I thought was God was truly Him and not knowing if I should fully trust that which my heart wanted to embrace. That struggle sparked a battle between my mind (what is rational) and my spirit (which is eternal); a true spiritual war.

During this journey, I have lost some battles along the way just as there have been victories granted. This morning however, I believe that God, in His infinite power, has put an end to the war!

The faith that God has gifted to me IS radical....it IS risk-taking...it IS a spirit-revealed truth; one that has been illuminated by His Spirit! (1 Corinthians 2:13-15)

He has restored to me the ability to trust that I hear His voice.

Today, almost 25 years later, God has given me the Green Gumball!

Radical...Risk-Taking Faith

Your ability to tap into the source of God's Power depends on the depth of your relationship with Him.
Job was tried yet did not curse God; his knowledge of God prevented him from doing so.
David did not fear the giant because he knew God as a friend therefore trusted God.

Go deeper into your relationship with The One who knows you like none other....and your faith will deepen and grow stronger because you will have touched the very heart of God.

Radical, Risk-Taking faith is simply an authentic faith. It comes from a deep place in your spirit that has been connected to the One who wrote the Book.

This type of faith honors God and in turn reveals God to a weary world looking for answers and a miracle. This kind of faith releases the power of the Creator to do what He does best.....create solutions. God creates a way where we cannot see nor find a way....He presents the solution. Yet that solution can sometimes only be found when you take that first step into the river that gets your feet wet.

In Joshua 3:13, God told the Levites that when the priests "set foot in the Jordan" the water would be cut off thus exposing their solution. However, they had to get their feet wet before He revealed the dry path to them. They had to put their faith in God into action to see the way out of their problem. The same is true for us!

Time to get your feet wet in the river and cross over into a deeper relationship with God and embrace a Green-Gumball type of faith..

In the Furnace

Daniel chapter three tells the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. I have heard this story many times and even read this story a few times myself. Today, however, something small – yet very powerful – was made known to me; this little detail is one of the key points to this story.

Has this every happened to you? You think you know a story in the Bible and one day God simply opens that story up to you on a whole new level. This morning was one of those moments!

Three men - a super heated furnace – One God

I am sure you have heard the story; these men refuse to worship a false God – they are bound and thrown into a super heated furnace – four individuals are seen in that furnace, loose and walking about – the king calls for them to come out - three walk out of the furnace - not harmed in any way by the fire

Did you catch the little detail? One little word..... LOOSE

The three were bound; they were tied up; they were chained; they were not free when they were put into the fire. Yet IN that fire, their chains, their shackles, their binding fell away.... They were set free IN the fire.

To go through some fires will take great faith, for little faith will fail. We must win the victory IN the furnace. (Margaret Bottome)

Sometimes it is in the very trial that we beg God to deliver us from that God sets us free IN. The trials that require a great faith seem to be the ones that bring the most Glory to Him. Those three men went into that furnace as prisoners yet came out of that furnace set free! Their faith in the ability of God was the catalyst for a king to declare that their God was THE One true God. Their faith brought Glory to God.

What trial are you facing? What trial are you pleading with God to deliver you from?

Could it be that this trial is the very thing He uses to set you free?

Faith is strengthened IN the trial. Green Gumball Faith is formed in the trials of your faith.

Today, be thankful that God is a God that walks with us while we are in the furnace.

Praise God that He looses us in the fire and sets us free!

Expectations and Relationship

Habakkuk 2:1

I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me..

This is his mindset after having a conversation with God and asking Him some questions in chapter 1
Habakkuk fully expected God to respond. In Chapter 1, he was questioning why it was taking God so long to answer him; Habakkuk had been calling out for help, he asked God why He would not hear his cries and why God does not save. Habakkuk was asking some pretty straight forward questions that sounded almost like accusations toward God. Yet, he expected God to answer him.

God did not disappoint Habakkuk; God did reply in chapter one. God told Habakkuk that He was going to send a group of violent people to “sweep through like the wind and pass on” This was most likely not the response Habakkuk was hoping to receive and surely struck some fear in him. However, he boldly asked another set of questions of God; questioning the reasoning of God for doing such a thing!

Stop to think about that for a moment.....God states what His plan of action is, in detail, and Habakkuk does not just simply accept what God states. I mean, this IS the Creator of everything and He just said what He was going to do but this mere man decides that he needed more information from God. Habakkuk didn't understand the WHY in what God said so he prodded God for an explanation.

God did not strike him dead....He did not strike him with “a thorn in his side”....No, God waited...

Habakkuk then responds, in chapter two, with the declaration..... I will keep watch to see what God will speak to me! WOW! He questions the reasoning of Almighty God and then declares that not only will he wait for a response....he EXPECTS God to answer.

Why? Why would a man expect God to answer his questioning? How did Habakkuk know that God would not strike him dead for such a boldness? What can we learn from this?

Those are very good questions! Let's dive a little deeper and see what we can discover.

Habakkuk was a prophet in the Old Testament. Prophet is simply someone who brings forth the Word of God. Therefore, prophets were the people that God actually spoke with...they had conversations with God. Yes, that is correct. God allowed His prophets to speak openly with Him; ask Him questions; and at times debate a bit with God. Each prophet had their own personality so the manner in which they approached God may have been different but one thing was the same with all of them.....they understood their relationship with God.

There are two words in that paragraph that we need to take a better look at; Conversation and Relationship.

Conversation is defined as intimate fellowship or association; unrestricted talk; general exchange of sentiments

Relationship is defined as the state of being related by kindred, affinity or other allegiance.

I have to admit that I got excited by these definitions!!

Habakkuk understood that he had a relationship with God. God chose him to be a prophet therefore God chose to have an allegiance with this man. The allegiance that came with being a prophet is that you got to have conversations with God. Prophets, by the very nature of the position, had access to an intimate fellowship/association with the Creator. They were given the opportunity of unrestricted talk with their God...an exchange of words.

Habakkuk understood the parameters of this unique relationship and understood that this was a gift. He knew that if his people were to know what God wanted them to do, then he needed to hear it from God. That was his relationship with God....God spoke to him and in turn, he was allowed to freely speak in return. That is very comforting to me! God voiced His plan, His praises for the people but also His disappointments. But listen....God also expected to have an exchange of words, or ideas with His prophets. He was not then nor is He now a God that just barks orders or commands. Absolutely NOT!!!

God longs for the relationship with His people. He expects conversation. Just think what would have happened if Abraham would have chose not to converse with God about Sodom and Gomorrah. God told Abraham that He was going to destroy the cities. Abraham questioned God about that decision...a few times actually. In so doing, Lot and his family were spared.

Guess what? We are able to have the same type of relationship with God today!! We are able to have a relationship where we can exchange ideas and words with God. We get to ask Him questions like the prophets. We get to tell Him about the things that stress us out or that break our heart. We are able to go straight to God with our feelings, with our hurts, our sorrow, with our anger. How is this possible?

Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

Jesus Christ died a very painful death so that we could be restored to a right relationship with the Father. Thus, Father God extended the honor of relationship to all of His children, not just to a chosen few. This relationship is between a Father and His child; the kind that Jesus had with the Father. They had conversations....Jesus prayed and God listened....and He also responded.

Does your faith expect God to respond to your prayers?
Do you have an expectation when you talk to God?

Matthew 9:29 “...according to your faith, be it unto you...”

Faith is....

Hebrews 11:1 is vastly misunderstood, partly because of the language differences in the Greek and our understanding of similar words in the English language and partly because people take them out of context and do not read before or after the verse.

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Looking at the original language and meaning/concepts of their understanding, this verse, more accurately translated would read... Faith is a firmness of mind in the expectation of what God has promised, the doubtlessness or sureness that has come, by way of testing, of matters or facts not understood or discerned.

We understand HOPE to mean a wish or want for something to be true or to happen; the strength of our hope is directly connected to the strength of OUR desire. However, biblical Hope is the confident expectation of what God has promised with the strength of that hope based solely on HIS faithfulness.

After that verse, the Bible lists the people, who by faith, accomplished many things. Each account tells the story of a person who had faith in what God showed them or told them as it relates to them personally. It was their experience that tested and proved their faith in God to perform His promise. Faith, in this verse, is not saying that we can ask God for things that we hope to be true or for things that we wish to happen...it is not about out desires, it is about God's faithfulness to perform His Word. The stories in Hebrews are about God performing His corporate Word, as with Able and Cain or His personal Word, as with Noah and Abraham.

The modern church has failed the body of Christ in that it does not teach an accurate translation of God's Word. So many are confused, and rightly so, because what they have been taught does not seem to work. The result is that they lose “faith” in God..however, it is not the God who wrote the Word that they are losing faith in....it is an image that has been taught. God says that you will find Him when you diligently seek Him....that is on each of us; a personal challenge. That is His promise.....if we want to find God, we must do the seeking ourselves.....through prayer, through digging in His Word, through praising Him....it is a personal journey, a personal walk with Almighty God.

This walk with God is not without trials, or heartache, and there are costs to following Him and His Word. However, the peace and calm while going through the storms of life cannot be matched by anything this side of Heaven. God also tells us that He is angry about the abuse of His children just as we get angry about it. He also promises us that, if we leave it up to Him, He will avenge the wrongs that have been perpetrated against us. He is also a comfort for the times when tragedy happens that we do not understand, ie the death of my dad on the eve of my favorite holiday, Christmas and the death of my first son. We all have events in our life that have scarred us, left us raw, confused, angry and resentful. It is time spent with God that helps the sting of these events fade and our hearts and minds to be restored.

God is good...His ways are Best, even when we cannot understand them.

Vengeance vs Revenge

“Vengeance is Mine says the Lord”

Where does this quote come from?   Is it in the Bible?      If so, where?

Do you know, or even care about, the context in which these words were spoken?   To whom they were said or why they were uttered?      Does it even really matter?

Is it quoted as the entire verse?      Or has it been edited a bit for maximum effect?

The context of every verse in the Bible actually does matter....a great deal!

We, as believers, have been taught to listen to the pastor, minister, priest or teacher and NOT question their interpretation of a passage of scripture. However, the Bible teaches us to do the opposite of that; we are to search the scripture for ourselves. To simply rely on a mere man to seek God on our behalf is to revert back to a Pharisaical mindset....the mindset that Christ came to destroy.

Vengeance is defined by the Webster Dictionary as:

The infliction of pain on another, in return for an injury or offense.

Such infliction, when it proceeds from malice or mere resentment, and is not necessary for the purposes of justice, is revenge, and a most heinous crime.

When the infliction proceeds from a love of justice, and the necessity of punishing offenders for the support of the laws, it is vengeance, and is warrantable and just.

Deuteronomy 32:35

Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip;

This is the verse that is referenced when people say...Vengeance is Mine says the Lord.

The context in this passage is God speaking of avenging His people, as a nation. This was a promise of the destruction of their enemies and oppressors. This is not referring to an individual seeking justice for the wrong done to them by another individual.

In the passage, God also shows that He has compassion for the sinner in that He wishes for their conversion. He is ready to help them as soon as they choose to help themselves. God, in His infinite wisdom, understands that the heart of man, left unchecked, is wicked. Therefore, God will check the nation on their evil behaviors, giving the nation the opportunity to change their ways. God has the power and the right to judge a nation...that vengeance is His.

For the individual, He tells us in Romans 12:18-19, to never take our own revenge but to leave room for the wrath of God. Okay, so we need to understand what revenge is if we are expected not to take our own.

Revenge is defined as inflicting pain or injury in return for an injury received; doing so contrary to the laws of justice and humanity. To exact revenge would then be one going outside the laws to inflict pain/injury as retribution for an injury received. This is not permitted nor acceptable according to God's Word. However, God has set forth commandments and laws to which individuals can be held accountable for their actions. It is via these laws that the individual heart is “checked” giving the individual the opportunity to repent, to turn from their wicked ways. This is yet another opportunity given to the evil-doer by a merciful God. God is all about saving the sinner through repentance, a changing of an evil way.

God is merciful. He has compassion on His creation. He is faithful to avenge His children. He is just.

In my study of the Word and the scriptures that tell us about God's vengeance, I believe that holding the individual accountable for their evil ways is showing them the love of God. Without this, the opportunity for repentance may never again be given to the individual and their soul may be forever lost.

God expects those who claim to be His followers to be held accountable for the wrong that they inflict. I believe this to be part of His Vengeance, wrapped in mercy, leaving room for His wrath.