There was a fierce battle fought over these three letters, JOY! I knew I had an unfair advantage when I won my JOY! Yes, I prayed. I also enlisted other prayer warriors in the battle. We were serious. Prayer and praise are always a good strategy when you are facing your adversary.
After six long days, I received the notice. I WON! The cost of that battle for the three letters was only $45.00 dollars plus shipping on ebay! The prayer warriors and I praised God for the great Joy I received in the victory.
You might think the story ends like this...And Barbara and JOY lived happily ever after in her house. No, it wasn't like that at all. Every battle won comes with a lesson if you choose to hear it. I was about to learn how to get MORE JOY!
I started to hang my JOY on the wall. My husband said, "Barbara, your Joy looks like a billboard sign. It's too big for our house!" "But Mike...I like signs. I have great Joy in my life!" I whined. You know how women sometimes define their body shape by a fruit...like pear shaped. Well, my spiritual fruit shape is 'JOY'. It works for me. I hate it when my husband's right, but I knew Martha Stewart would back his decision. My walls were not tall enough to contain my JOY.
What was I going to do with these letters? I went back to square one, which is prayer. What did God want me to do with the treasure He gave me? 'Share your JOY with others' was the direction I received. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."Luke 6:38
My JOY is now in the church. When Nehemiah, a praying man, and the gang rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, they had trouble keeping the JOY inside their walls too. Here is their story line ...And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. Neh 12:43
Jesus won the battle for us. What are you doing with the JOY you were freely given ?
B His Girl!
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteYou may recognize this from my "Love One Another" blog. However, I felt it would be appropriate to paste it here. Because, we can find joy, even in despare. Our despare gives us a glimps of the Joy and Victory Christ new was on the other side of such anguish. We get to share in that Joy by our little successes over trials. The scripture says it better.
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.” (I Peter 4:12-13NIV)
“Painful trial”, from the Greek word purosci, is a fiery test of trying circumstances.
“Suffering” is translated from the Greek word peirasmon: written in the genitive case (belonging to the sufferer) is defined as a trial.
The understanding we should have from both Genesis 3:15 and I Peter 4:12-13 is that there will be a struggle of the mind to resist the flesh and be obedient to God.
As Christ is put to the test of resisting temptation, we can feel privileged that we share in the very type of struggle Christ had to go through. Because, every victory is to God’s glory.
Hey, Barbara!
ReplyDeleteYou left a comment on my blog and pointed me to a painting of beautiful feet. WOW! That is awesome!!!
What's funny is that the website was affiliated with Walk to Emmaus, which I took part in back in 1993! God is so good! I think I need to re-connect with Walk to Emmaus now- I was just thinking of that last week! :)
Thanks for the confirmation!
Still shaking my head over God's timing,
Onward,
Lisa R.