Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I am learning that everything that threatens to derail us, get us out of the Spirit and walking in the flesh, we can use it instead of lose it! We don't have to lose our cool, our composure, or our self-control. I know how fierece some battles can be, friends.  But the Lord of our souls has promised to always lead us in triumph!  Always!!  This is an astouding promise from our God! When I see troubles and problems and upsets from a fleshly perspective, I lose.  Every time. I am asking the Lord for His perspective on everything.  And though evil still comes at me and tries to get to me, I want to truly watch the Lord Romans 8:28 (used as a verb) every single attack that is aimed at me.  In the moment.   If I use the "heat of the battle" as an opportunity to let Christ lead me in triumph, then the enemy will back off!  Why?  Because his schemes are not working.  Oh, he will keep trying, devil that he is.  But we can keep winning, too!   Please remember this:  the enemy is a

"Jesus has a great plan for your life!" How many of you have heard this statement before?  I believe it is a uniquely American perspective.  However, I do not believe that it is God's perspective. Am I saying that God has a miserable plan for your life?  No. I am saying that following Jesus is hard.  His "great plans," if we are truly willing to obey Him fully, include our pruning, refining, the wilderness (at times), and many more trials and tribulations than we bargained for. I have experienced that the "great life" is more an inner job than outer blessings.  The life of Christ, via His Holy Spirit, comes to live inside our hearts when we receive Christ as our personal Savior.  Now, if we pay attention to Him, our interests have changed.   The accomplishments of this world don't matter as much to us, and if they still do, the Lord has ways of changing the course of our lives so that we are not anywhere near accomplishing what the world deems as a

Sometimes, this is all we need to know. Dear Lord, please help me see that my problems are temporary.  Help me focus on You and Your glory - eternal things - so that I may gain a better perspective on life here and now.  I trust You, Lord, and leave all that concerns me in Your very capable hands.  Thank You in advance for how You are working things out for my good!  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

What do you do when someone is bringing out the worst in you so that you cannot move forward in your ministry?  Who are you allowing to disqualify you or get in your way?  What do you have no control over? We all need support in life.  It comes in many forms.  But sometimes, it feels like we have little to none at all.  We feel down, discouraged, like there's no way out of our situation. Are you crying out for wisdom from the Lord today?  He will answer you!  He promises to!  It may not come exactly when you want it, but it comes when you need it. And it may not be the answer you were hoping for, but it will be the solution that you need. This is hard.  If you're at all like me, then you want things your way and in your time.  Oy.  I thought the spoiled child in me was long gone, but it turns out she can still rear her petulant head! God is God. He can do anything.  He can stop others from harming us.  And if He has a plan to move us forward and sees that someone is being an ob

What is it that you think you need to make you whole?  What piece is missing in your life? "If only I had ______, I know I could make it."   When life doesn't turn out as planned, where to we turn? Or when we reach a certain age where we thought we should have "arrived" by now but aren't there at all, then what?  Give up?  Stop dreaming?  Stop living? No one tells you that you wake up one day and you're 20 years older in a flash.   Oh sure, people talk about how quickly time flies.  But we don't really feel  it when we're young.  It's only as we get older that we realize how short life really is. And boy, it  - time, life - whizzes by at breakneck speed. Maybe you are a goal-setter and your life is so carefully planned out, to the smallest detail, that you are  exactly where you planned to be in life, where you wanted to be, and doing what you thought you would be doing at your age.   For me, it's like the Lord would not let certain dream