Our personal joy and happiness are always a matter of focus

There is one critical difference between those people who live with great happiness and those who live with great unhappiness. The former focus on the blessings in their lives while the latter focus on the deficits in their lives. It is a matter of focus and it makes the difference between a life of joy and a life of unhappiness.

Our personal happiness is not dependent on our life circumstances. It is dependent on our focus. Having travelled the world and met people who live in extreme poverty but who know Christ I am always amazed at their joy. In conversations they tell me about all the blessings they have because of Jesus. I meet other believers who have all the material blessings who are deeply pessimistic about their circumstances. Regardless of our life situation we always have a choice as to our focus: A focus on Jesus and His blessings or a focus on ourselves and our problems. Our focus will determine our level of joy and happiness.

Those who choose to focus on their situation and problems will never be truly happy because there focus is in the wrong place. Think about the Psalms David wrote. They deal with real life but time after time David refocuses his mind on the blessings of God who is our rock, our fortress, our protector, our provider, our healer, our Savior and the list goes on and on. Even in the depths of personal despair David kept his focus on the One who could bring happiness, joy and was the source of his life. David's life was far from easy for many years, yet he retained a positive outlook by focusing on God and His blessings and provision.

When we focus on our problems and circumstances we put the source of our happiness into the hands of life which will surely disappoint. When we focus on Jesus and His blessings we put the source of our happiness into the hands of the only One who can truly give it. As the Psalmist says, "I pray to you, O Lord, for the time of your favor. O God! In your great kindness answer me with your constant help. Answer me, O Lord, for bounteous is your kindness; in your great mercy turn toward me. I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help, O God, protect me. I will praise the name of God in son, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving."

One of my regular habits it to journal. I am frank and honest in what I write. But I find myself reflecting often on the blessings of God in my life and it changes everything when I focus on the many blessings He gives on a daily basis. It is all too easy to miss those blessings when our focus in in the wrong place. Focus on Him and we see His blessings. Focus on ourselves and we miss them. Every day we have a choice. And it is a powerful choice.

Monitoring our joy quotient: It is a choice

Is your glass half full or half empty?

Take a moment and think about all the issues you are dealing with today. Think about those things that wake you up at night. Consider the "heavy" things that you are dealing with.

It is easy to live with heavy hearts and burdened souls. But it is not how God wants us to live. Consider Paul's closing comments in his first letter to the Thessalonians:

Be joyful always

Pray continually;

Give thanks in all circumstances,

For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

The first three statements are deeply interconnected. How can one be joyful always? Only when we are living in continual communion with Christ (pray continually) because when we do we realize that we are not only not alone but the issues we face can be given to the Lord of the Universe. Joy and prayer are inseparable. The more connected we are the more joy we experience. Not because our situations would necessarily merit that joy but because we are connected to the source of joy.

The third command is also key: give thanks in all circumstances. We face real issues: but we are recipients of amazing grace in Jesus as well as His daily grace that shows up in our lives all the time. When you live with thanks - and every one of us who knows Christ has an unlimited list of grace to thank Him for, we cannot easily live with downcast hearts and souls. Thanks puts our situation in perspective.

Paul's final words here are also interesting - "for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It is God's will that we live joyfully, connected and always thankful. That is a daily "game changer."

What is your joy quotient today?

Game changing attitudes

I often encourage ministries that I consult with to look for the game changers that bring major ministry breakthroughs rather than a tweak to the system. We are constantly on the lookout for those in our ministry. What we often don't think about are the game changers we can initiate ourselves - in our attitudes - which can change the whole equation of our lives and impact the people around us. These game changing attitudes come right out of our relationship with God, the work of the Holy Spirit and us.


The game changer of living in God's sovereignty.
All of us face challenges that bring anxiety, uncertainty, and sometimes fear. The reason that they are so threatening to us is that unlike other circumstances, there is nothing we can do about these ones. They are beyond our control and therefor our ability to sway their outcome.


Unless....we choose to live with the dynamic truth that as His children, God is sovereign over all the events of our lives and He can be trusted to meet our needs, intervene on our behalf and be present in the midst of our circumstances. Read Romans 8 for confirmation on this. Those who choose to live in the reality of God's sovereignty over our lives and circumstances experience great peace because they have chosen to leave in God's hands what belongs in God's hands.


The game changer of choosing to live with joy.
One of the fruits of the Spirit, Joy is a powerful antidote to all of the pessimistic talk we encounter, the complaints that so many have and the tendency to look at life from a human rather than a divine perspective. 


As one of the signature traits of the Holy Spirit, joy is accessible to all of God's people in spite of their circumstances. It is rooted in the sovereignty and goodness of God who promises to meet our needs and to be present in all of our circumstances. Joy comes from faith in our God. The harder it is for us to choose joy over sadness, the greater its impact on our hearts for we have chosen the route of faith and trust rather than that of doubt and discouragement.


The game changer of choosing to live with kindness.
Another one of the Spirit's signature traits and one that touches every relationship that we encounter on a daily basis. We live in a harsh world where people dismiss others easily, treat them according to their mood, speak words that diminish and wound and perhaps worst of all, use people rather than love people.


When we choose to live with an attitude of kindness we produce all sorts of ripples because we are bringing God's love and kindness into each interaction. It changes everything. Kind people are purveyors of God's love and grace and magnets to those who come into contact with them, craving the acceptance inherent in kindness.


All of the fruit of the Spirit are game changing attitudes: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, goodness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). Each one changes our outlook on life in a major way and impacts how we interact with every individual during our day. They are truly game changers that we can choose in the power of the Holy Spirit to appropriate and live out every day in every situation. They don't tweak anything. They change everything.

Avoid the comparison trap. It is toxic to us.

Too often our view of ourselves deeply flawed. Rather than seeing ourselves for who we are we do so instead through a lens of comparison with others. That comparison creates a distorted view of ourselves: We see not who God made us to be but something different and someone different.


It is bad enough that we compare our own self worth against other people but we further complicate it by comparing our circumstances, positions, opportunities and wealth against those of others. These comparisons often create envy of others which directly leads to a lack of peace in our own lives.


Why are comparisons with others toxic for us? First because God uniquely made us as He wanted to, gave us the gifts He designed for us and a work to do that He created only for us (Ephesians 2:10). If we don't like who we are our argument is not with others around us but with God Himself. The problem is that God does not create anything but the best and it is only in embracing His purpose for our lives that we experience the greatest happiness and satisfaction.


Second, we tend to think that if we had the gifts, opportunities or wealth of others that we would be happy. Ironically, those we compare ourselves too are no less or more happy than we are. Their joy, like ours, depends on embracing the calling on their lives. And behind the good looking exteriors we all put up are issues struggled with, pain dealt with and their own set of challenges to work through.


Looking at our lives through the lens of the lives of others is like looking through a highly distorted window. No longer do we see who God made us to be with the gifting and purpose He designed for our lives but we distort our picture with what He intended for others. That distortion skews our thinking, robs our joy and more important sidetracks us from the role He uniquely designed for us to play. 


Our joy and satisfaction comes when we embrace who God made us to be, how He uniquely gifted us and how He wants to use us. Try to embrace someone else's gifting and calling and we lose our joy (and it cannot be done anyway). Stop comparing and start embracing and we experience the joy of a life God made for us. 


God has given us amazing, mind blowing gifts (Read Ephesians 1 and 2). One of those specific gifts is the making of the unique us (Ephesians 2:10) along with a specific mission in life. Embrace it, thank God for it and live it out and we will be the most joyful and satisfied of people. Distort all that by comparing ourselves with others and the joy and satisfaction is robbed.


Avoid the comparison trap. It will rob you of what God intended for your life.

Choosing joy today

It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) but how many truly joyful Christ followers do you meet? Living with joy is both a gift (the Holy Spirit gives it to us) and a choice (I will choose to live in His joy). He gives the gift. We decide whether we will choose joy over pessimism, sadness or sorrow.


Unlike typical self help talk, the joy that Jesus gives is not the discipline of talking ourselves into a happy state regardless of our circumstances. Rather it is a joy based on the presence of Christ and the hope of Christ in the midst of our circumstances. He is the source of our hope and joy. He is the one who never leaves us or forsakes us (Romans 8). He is the one who promises to work His will in our lives, go before us, provide us with what we need for the day and be our advocate for the circumstances we face. 


This, then is no self help "joy" but a joy based on God's presence and promises. In those days when we don't feel joy we can choose joy, knowing that it is a gift from Him. In those days when our circumstances don't dictate joy we can choose joy knowing of his presence in our circumstances. 


Living with joy is choosing to see life through God's eyes and in light of His promises. It is living in His presence and remembering His promises. It is rejecting pessimism in light of God's gifts which He showers on us. It is choosing Him and hope over our circumstances and all the problems we see around us.


Joy is a wonderful gift. I choose joy today.

The amazing gift of hope

Hope is one of the most wonderful gifts that we have as Christ followers. The word is used 76 times in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 13, the three things that remain for all time are faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13: 13). Hope is a gift that we gain when we give our lives to Jesus and it remains with us forever.

 Consider these contexts:

• We boast in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2)
• We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19.
• Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1)
• Set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming (1 Peter 1:13)
• the hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2)
• We have put our hope in the living God (1 Timothy 4:10)
• so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
• I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you (Ephesians 1:18)

In every challenge of life we have the gift of hope. No matter what our circumstance we have hope. On the verge of death we have the ultimate hope - that of eternal life with Jesus. For those of us who lose a loved one we have the hope of the resurrection and the greatest family reunion of all time. Hope is our constant companion, our daily gift, our sustaining anchor. It is the antidote to despair, discouragement and hurt. 

Hope is a gift given but it is up to us to claim it and live in it. We choose either to embrace the gift of hope or to allow ourselves to move toward discouragement and despair. God is the author of the gift of hope, Satan the author of hopelessness. The gift is ours. Will we embrace the hope we have in Jesus today?

There is much in life to be pessimistic about but if you consider all the gifts and blessings we have in Jesus Christ, in this life and the next, how can we live in pessimism? In the end, Jesus prevails over all things and we with Him! There is no circumstance of life that is not covered by the hope we have in Jesus. None. 

Choose hope today!

He is Risen

We worship you O Lord

for in your victory over death

you stormed the gates of hell

and put Satan in his place,

forever.

You gave us proof of your divinity

and hope for all time.

We have no hope but You
and your resurrection 
brings us the hope we need in our lives today.

You put all of life in its proper perspective.

You died in our place

suffering the consequences of our sin

so that like You we could live again

knowing that death is not final,
disappointment is not forever
and no situation irredeemable.

There is no better news

no greater hope,

no more authentic truth,
no more joyous news

than to know

He is Risen.

You are Risen Indeed.
And so shall we be risen.

Do we really comprehend and live out God's grace in our lives?

It is not by accident that the hymn, Amazing Grace is a favorite for so many. It captures so well the essence of what attracted us to Jesus,  redeemed us and it will indeed be something that we will spend eternity trying to comprehend. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9)."


I am convinced that we will never fully understand the full scope of God's grace this side of eternity but that it must be something that we push into daily. The more we understand His grace in our lives, the more content we are in Jesus, the more grace we show others and the more we look like Jesus. He is the essence of grace and it was what made Him the magnet for people that He was.


Understanding grace is a life changer for us and for how we relate to others. Too often we are recipients of God's grace but are not students of what it means to extend that same grace to others. The legalism, conditional acceptance, interpersonal conflict and lack of love even in the church is evidence of the great need for God's people to grow in grace. Knowing truth is not enough for Christ followers. Living out truth with the grace of Christ is what will attract others to us and then to Jesus. Jesus came full of "grace and truth." Do we?


For instance, when I truly understand and live out grace:


-I no longer try to earn God's favor but understand that there is nothing I can do to make Him love me more and there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less. Therefore I can be joyful and content in my daily walk with Him.


-I do not feel the need to play the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of others but rather extend to them the grace God extends to me, pray for them and be patient with their faults as God is with mine. I am slow to judge, quick to think the best and remember how patient and gracious God is with me in my personal growth as I extend that same attitude toward others.


-I am able to forgive myself for my own shortcomings, knowing that God has already done that. My motivation to grown in my obedience is no longer about earning His favor but rather wanting to please Him out of gratitude for His amazing love.


-I forgive others quickly knowing that Jesus extends that gift to me daily. I cannot withhold from others what Jesus has so graciously extended to me. I don't give people what they deserve but what they don't deserve, just as Jesus did not give us what we deserve.


-I no longer look at people the way the world does but know that every individual I encounter has eternal value in His eyes and therefore must in my eyes as well. I go out of my way to love those that others don't love and to give value to those that others forget. 


-I don't display conditional love just as Jesus does not give  me conditional love. Unconditional love is the love of grace and it is an act of our will based on God's unconditional love for me.


-I love to surprise people with grace when they least expect or even deserve it. Just like Jesus with tax collectors, prostitutes, adulterers, lepers, and all those that were considered undeserving and worthy only of judgement. After all, God surprised us with grace when we did not deserve or expect it.


-I am not hard or harsh even when I need to bring correction to a brother or sister. Rather, my motivation is always love that comes out of God's gracious love in my own life. I display toward other the same graciousness that God gives to me daily.


-I love to encourage those who have messed up big time that God is not finished with them yet and that He can redeem their sin and give them hope and a purpose. After all, that is what God did for us. He is the hope for the broken, the guilty, and the hopeless. There is no person and no situation that God cannot redeem so we become evangelists of His hope.


There are many other characteristics of living out a life of grace. One of the most valuable things we can do is to regularly think about all of our relationships, attitudes, words and actions from a filter of God's grace to us. Reading the gospels regularly helps us to capture the secrets of Jesus' grace to inform us of what it means to live a grace filled life.

I would be happy if.....

Have you ever fallen into the trap of thinking that "I would be happy if.....?" Maybe it is a new car, a new spouse, a new house, that nifty flatscreen TV or whatever. "I would be happy if..." robs us of happiness today and defines happiness by our circumstances, our possessions or some external factor in our lives when happiness can only come from the inside! As soon as our happiness is defined by external things we are robbed of the ability to live in happiness every day.


Relying on the external for the core joy and happiness of our lives is the reason so many people chase after stuff, experiences and even sin at the expense of a relationship with Jesus which is the true source of joy and happiness. "I would be happy if...." is an empty promise! As soon as one attains that thing that will supposedly make us happy, the goal line changes and we find another "I would be happy if...." When our joy and happiness comes from within (and from God) we have the real deal and no one can rob us of it.



Joyful living is a gift of the Holy Spirit (one of the fruits of the Spirit) and it is a choice that each of us make every day. As a gift of the Spirit it is available to us at any time, regardless of our circumstances. That does not mean we don't wish some things were different in our lives or hope they will be different someday. It does mean that we choose a posture of joy in whatever circumstances we find ourselves because we are intentionally walking with God and conscious of His provision, care, and love.


A key to joyful living is the fostering of an ongoing spirit of thanksgiving to God for all of His blessings. Numerous times in the New Testament or Psalms we are told to be people of thanks and to live with an attitude of thanks. "Thank you Jesus" ought to be the mantra of our days. The more thankful we are the more joy we possess because thankfulness leads to a joyful heart.


It is an irony that many of the most joyful and happy people I have met are those who have suffered the most. Their circumstances did not determine their joy, their relationship with God did. Any of you who have been in the presence of Joni Eareckson Tada know exactly what I mean. Joy radiates from her paraplegic body and her singing, smile and words of encouragement infect all around her. But she would be the first to tell you it is a daily choice and not always an easy one. 


In the next 24 hours, simply live in a spirit of thanksgiving and see what it does for your happiness factor.