The Joy of Crazy Love

I was inspired today by my pastor's sermon on Philippians 4:1-23. It was his final talk about Joy. He talked about how elusive it is for most people , but there are 3 steps to obtaining it. Number one was to PRAY. We need to worship God. It made me think of the book, "Hindsfeet on High Places" where the main character is tormented by her mean relatives similar to demons tormenting us in our walk with God, especially during difficult times. The character learns that when she sings praises to God it drives the tormentors away because they can't stand to hear it. The same is true for us. Satan and his demons can't stand hearing us praise and worship God and will flee from it. So PRAISE! Then ask God for what you need and thank Him for what he has done.

Second we need to FIX OUR THINKING. We need to think on what is TRUE. Only 8% of our worries are legitimate!!! The rest is wasted time and torture. Why live that way? Fill your mind with the Word Of God-THE TRUTH and the Holy Spirit will guide you and guard your heart.

Thirdly, we need to have RIGHT LIVING. We need to Put Into Practice what we have learned. We need to not be a victim or martyr. Paul who had legitimate reasons to worry and complain while beaten and jailed multiple times for serving God was the most JOYFUL person of all. He was content in all circumstances. His joy was not based on circumstances , but was based on perspective, which is what we need to do. True joy is found in the MIDST of trials and regardless of the circumstances, not in AVOIDING them. Joy is determined on what Christ is doing in and through me. It is not found apart from Christ. HE is our JOY.

Now I tend to be a worrier. I think of all the possible bad scenarios that could happen in order to prepare myself. But the spiritual view of worry is that it is a wrong thinking and feeling. It is the greatest thief of Joy. It pulls us in more than one direction, causing us to become stuck, stagnant and strangled. We need to realize How BIG our God is. God will supply our needs and take care of his children. When we have the peace of God guarding us and his presence guiding us...What is there to worry about? NOTHING! So put into practice Paul's Secret...Use Christ's strength! He will give us the strength we need if we allow him to help us by trusting and relying on Him.

Now that that is said, I also just started reading a great book, "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. It talks about how intense the love of God, the God of the Universe, is for us and how that should change us. Do we live striving for normalcy? Should we? Or should we allow ourselves to live greater than that as God wants us to and called us to? We need to fall in love with God. He has two great videos to watch online you can go to at www.crazylovebook.com . Click on this and then watch the two videos, "The Awe Factor" and then "Just Stop and Think". Enjoy and be inspired.