Joy in God my Savior

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature
God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature
of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11

As I am writing this, I find myself in the middle of my own storm and am now grasping at straws to find my out. It is amazing to me how easy it is to give advice to other people but how hard it is to heed my own. I hear myself saying things to other people and truly believing it but then find it down right impossible to follow through with it myself. Lately I had found myself disheartened and discontent and nothing brought me any kind of happiness whatsoever. Simply put, I had let go of my joy. It was gone. Lucky for me I recognized that fact and so I began asking myself why? Were there things in my life that did not need to be there or maybe certain people in my life that I needed to distance myself from or maybe rearrange my priorities? This morning I spent hours listening to the playlist that is on this blog and just spent time praising and seeking after God. I spent time acknowledging who He is and what He has done in my life. I spent time confessing and repenting and finally I began to feel true joy in my life, a joy that I have not felt in months.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Colossians 3:1-10

The evaluation of one's life can be a humbling experience. For months now, I have been seeking answers and looking for reasons as to why things in my life are the way that they are and how it is that I seem to find myself in the same places. My discovery came down to one simple fact. Self-centeredness and wanting the things that I want and the things that I think are going to bring me happiness instead of those things that God has for me. It is not that I did not want what He has for me but instead I was blind to them because the things of this world, the things that I wanted, were blocking the view of His presence and blessings in my life. I found myself at a distance from Him. It was like being in a very dark tunnel and all I could see was this pinhole of light at the end but the distance was so great that I truly did not think I would ever reach that light. Today I made it a bit closer to the end of that tunnel and began to feel Him stirring my spirit and rejuvenating my life.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Ephesians 1:17-19

Now does that mean that all of my worries and cares are gone and suddenly everything is perfect? Absolutely NOT! It does not work that way. Old habits and sin do not just go away over night and at times can lead to places of deep frustration but we have to recognize where our victory lies. We have to recognize that God has given us the strength to overcome all obstacles through His power. It means that my heart has to seek after His and to be in tune with His once again and that only He can be my lifeline and nothing else. He has to be my everything in order for me to find any real joy in this life. He ALONE can only meet my every need and only His love can bring me joy, peace, and true satisfaction in my life.

My desire is to love, honor and bring glory to my Heavenly Father, to make His name known and to be a reflection of Him so that my life may be a light to those around me.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:18

In the end, I discovered that I have to let go of my past failures, the sin in my life, take hold of His truth and what He has done for me and then move forward focusing on His face. I cannot strive to live like Jesus but instead allow Him by His Spirit to come and live in me and have full control of my life. I must choose always to rejoice in Him and His work in my life and then and only then will I know the fullness of joy in my own life.

Yet I will REJOICE IN THE LORD, I will be JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR

Habakkuk 3:18

"Father thank You for Your faithfulness in my life and for not letting go of me when I let go of You. May my eyes stay focused upon You and my heart beat in tune with Yours. I give You control of my life and will choose to rejoice in You always."