Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Do you let the behavior of others influence your joy? Protect your joy! Your joy is an indication of how tapped in you are to God. Are you recognizing Him in the day? Are you leaning on Him and giving your woes to Him? Or are you trying to handle it all and figure it all out on your own? When you are facing a difficult situation or conversation decide that you will keep your joy. Joy is an energy.
There are many people, that bring an energy to the table, that are difficult to deal with. Unfortunately, you don’t always have a choice of who you come to the table with. You choose your job but don’t get to choose everyone you work with. You choose your spouse or partner but don’t get to choose their family. So, avoiding or cutting people out of your life, that don’t have a joyful energy, isn’t going to always work. You can, however, decide the level of relationship you have with them, set limits on the time you spend with them and put up personal boundaries. You can decide to protect your joy.
God asks you to defend your joy. Joy is a gift from Him. If you aren’t protecting yourself, you can’t fully accept the gift. Joy comes from the full knowledge, understanding and belief that you are completely loved and adored by God. You are enough. Can you believe this? What are you doing to remind yourself this every day? If you are not quite there yet it is alright. It is a journey. As you become open with yourself, and with others, about your expectations you get closer to achieving joy. The more you rely on God, and turn to the Holy Spirit, the closer you get to joy. The more honest you are with yourself the closer you come to joy. Joy is attainable and retainable. Anyone can find it and keep it. Allow yourself to become clear. Become clear about how you behave and how you would like to behave.
The enemy doesn’t want you to experience joy. Joy sustains. He knows once you truly experience it you will fight for it when it starts to slip. The enemy wants you to be gloomy. He doesn’t want you too sad, perhaps just blah. If you are aware of what you lack you will try to make a change. He needs you too tired to fight, distracted and simply unmotivated. You deserve more than blah. You deserve more than just getting by.
God is the strength of your soul. He has a plan to bring you joy. He has a path for you. He calls you to follow. He will defend you and forever love you. He wants you to truly know and understand joy. Trust in Him. Run to Him with unreserved faith. When you face situations that could influence your joy make sure to choose God. Choose God over being right. Choose God over controlling the situation. Lean into God rather than anything else. Stay tapped into Him and protect your joy.
Prayer
Father God,
Thank you for blessing me with joy. Thank you for defending me and loving me completely. I can rely on you when I’m in danger of losing my joy. Forgive me for the moments I lean into the situation instead of leaning into You. Forgive me for when I settle for blah and just getting by. Blah and just getting by are signs I am not fully connected to You. Stressful and frustrating times can influence my level of joy and disconnect me from being aware of Your presence. Help me enter situations aware and awake. Help me to choose You and protect my joy. May I retain my joy in all situations and with all people.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
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