God loves you. He loves you so much, that He was willing to send His only Son to pay your debt - which we are supposed to die for, by the way - by dying painfully on the cross. I mean, even before you were born, He was taking care of you!! How amazing is that? You are SO precious to God! And He has already planned out your life, minute by minute.
God has this awesome, perfect plan for His children. And He uses His children to carry out that plan. No one really knows what that ultimate plan is, but I think that is a good thing - I mean, I can barely understand the plans for the weekend, much less the future of the entire universe!
But the wonderful thing is that God doesn't expect us to understand His plans. He doesn't expect us to know what to do - He doesn't expect us to handle it all on our own. He doesn't even expect us to make the plans - it's all Him!! All we do is help Him carry it out.
And He tells us how to do that. All we have to do is take a leap of faith into His Word, and let his instruction Book show is what to do, step by step!
"If there were a thousand step between you and God, and you could see no way across the great divide, just take one step toward His loving arms, and He'll take nine hundred, ninety nine." - Newsong
We don't have to walk the whole way! God will do all the work - we just have to have enough faith in Him to take that one step!
Don't worry about messing up, either. God knows that we are clumsy. God expects that! God knows that we can't possibly do anything by ourselves - we are way too small! But when we put our faith in Him, when we let Him carry us through life, we don't have to worry about falling down - He won't let us down, He won't let us go!
"It's time to take a leap of faith, so here I go! I'm diving in! I'm going deep! In over my head, I wanna be lost in the rush, caught in the flow, and over my head I wanna go. The River's deep. The River's wide. The River's water is alive. So sink, so swim, I'm diving in!"
When God calls you to do something, chances are it probably won't be too fun, or too comfortable, but guess what? He won't ask you to do something if He knows you can't do it. And we can do anything when we act on behalf of Jesus Christ.
"When I call on Jesus, all things are possible! I can mount wings like eagles and soar. When I call on Jesus, mountains are gonna fall. 'Cuz He'll move heaven and Earth to come rescue me when I fall." - Nicole C. Mullen
So here is a challenge to you (and to myself) for this week: When God calls you, will you take the plunge?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Joy and a MAJOR Red Herring.......
What is the difference between happiness and joy?
Joy:(1) the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasures; elation (2) a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated (3) the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety (4) a state of happiness or felicity (5) to be glad; to rejoice (6) to gladden
Happiness: (1)good fortune; pleasure; contentment
So, what is the difference?
Well, when I think of joy, I think of a little girl with her hands held high, facing the heavens, with a true smile on her face. And I picture that same little girl ten years later, in the same orant posture, her face still upturned.
When I think of happiness, I think of a little girl with an ice cream cone or a new Barbie doll.
The two are seemingly the same, but I think that joy is more... permanent. Even of you are sad, or hurt, or lonely, or angry... I think you can still have joy. Joy is more of a state of being - even if you are sad, because of whatever reason, you can still feel joyful.
Happiness is more temporary; likely to change.
Note that joy doesn't necessarily mean ecstatic. It doesn't mean energized and bubbly; joy can be serene, as well. Joy can be something that you feel all the time.
I have noticed that when I have left my trust in Jesus; when I know that He is caring for me and when I am 100% confident that He is indeed in control - when I know that I can rest easy knowing that He is taking care of me, I feel this serenity.
A few days ago, there was a really bad tornado warning. I knew that if there was a tornado, that I would have to put on a brave face, so Natalie wouldn't be scared more than she already was. But when the sirens went off, I simply closed my eyes - I didn't really pray using words, but I knew that as I closed my eyes, God didn't need any more invitation than that - He took my fear and worry, and I found that I didn't have to put on a face - I wasn't afraid at all. I knew that God controlled the tornado, and even if He saw fit to allow it to hit us, I knew that He was in control of it, and I realized, to my surprise, that I didn't care. If God was going to destroy the house - so what? God would also take care of my family. He wouldn't do it unless He had a plan for our ultimate safety.
I wasn't afraid - I was actually content. I was in that same state of joy that I have always felt when spending time with my God - whether in prayer or in worship, or in reading, or in simple "quiet time" with God.
So, yeah.... that's my little thingie (I really don't know what you can call these....) for today =D
May God bless you, and may you let Him provide you with the same joy that he has provided me.
In Christ forever,
Tyler Henke
Joy:(1) the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasures; elation (2) a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated (3) the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety (4) a state of happiness or felicity (5) to be glad; to rejoice (6) to gladden
Happiness: (1)good fortune; pleasure; contentment
So, what is the difference?
Well, when I think of joy, I think of a little girl with her hands held high, facing the heavens, with a true smile on her face. And I picture that same little girl ten years later, in the same orant posture, her face still upturned.
When I think of happiness, I think of a little girl with an ice cream cone or a new Barbie doll.
The two are seemingly the same, but I think that joy is more... permanent. Even of you are sad, or hurt, or lonely, or angry... I think you can still have joy. Joy is more of a state of being - even if you are sad, because of whatever reason, you can still feel joyful.
Happiness is more temporary; likely to change.
Note that joy doesn't necessarily mean ecstatic. It doesn't mean energized and bubbly; joy can be serene, as well. Joy can be something that you feel all the time.
I have noticed that when I have left my trust in Jesus; when I know that He is caring for me and when I am 100% confident that He is indeed in control - when I know that I can rest easy knowing that He is taking care of me, I feel this serenity.
A few days ago, there was a really bad tornado warning. I knew that if there was a tornado, that I would have to put on a brave face, so Natalie wouldn't be scared more than she already was. But when the sirens went off, I simply closed my eyes - I didn't really pray using words, but I knew that as I closed my eyes, God didn't need any more invitation than that - He took my fear and worry, and I found that I didn't have to put on a face - I wasn't afraid at all. I knew that God controlled the tornado, and even if He saw fit to allow it to hit us, I knew that He was in control of it, and I realized, to my surprise, that I didn't care. If God was going to destroy the house - so what? God would also take care of my family. He wouldn't do it unless He had a plan for our ultimate safety.
I wasn't afraid - I was actually content. I was in that same state of joy that I have always felt when spending time with my God - whether in prayer or in worship, or in reading, or in simple "quiet time" with God.
So, yeah.... that's my little thingie (I really don't know what you can call these....) for today =D
May God bless you, and may you let Him provide you with the same joy that he has provided me.
In Christ forever,
Tyler Henke
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