Tag Archives: Ephesians 1:3-13

Joy in the Midst

No Lose Situation (Even with ….)

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 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Wikipedia states that “in game theory, a ‘no win’ situation is when no player benefits from any outcome.” The game has reached a point in which nothing good can happen for anyone involved.  How about the game called life? Most of us have experienced a time when we feel completely cornered and trapped. A step in any direction seems detrimental, producing feelings of hopelessness.

Consider my friend Chris. A successful business man with a loving wife and two God honoring sons, he found out in February of 2015 he has brain cancer. This news devastated us all. You hear about folks dealing with cancer, but when it happens to your family it hits home. I say “family” because Chris is my brother in Christ. We’re both adopted sons of the Lord Most High, bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We’re brothers on the same commission:  to live and speak the love and grace of Christ to everyone God brings our way.

Long before the cancer, loving like Jesus  was Chris’ heart. Having made multiple trips to India, he was gripped with love for the people of this crowded country. So much so,  he and his wife Sharon moved their whole family to an apartment complex, where many of his Indian business associates lived. Chris did it to be near them. He taught them to swim and loved them in ways the Holy Spirit directed him.

Though the news of his cancer was certainly devastating, Chris and Sharon have clung close to each other and trusted God in the midst. Amazingly, Chris sees this whole situation as giving him a unique platform to continue his commission. Chris is a walking example of someone who sees God as his Good, no matter what circumstance he faces. Chris is a vessel of the Lord’s joy and his life speaks of God’s nearness, infusing courage to others on a daily basis.

He shared with me that the dire spiritual conditions of some of his family is far tougher for him than dealing with cancer. Chris knows where he’s going and his faith in the truths of his future centers him and gives him eternal hope. He’s ready to see Jesus, but he knows some of his family members are not.

With conviction, he recently told me  we Christians are in a ‘no lose situation’. As adopted children of the King, given the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance[1], our lives on this earth are our journeys  home. We know how our story ends. We literally can not lose. This brings joy inexpressible and full of glory.

Chris’ life reminds me of the following verse, Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:16-18

Challenge:   What ‘no win situation’ do you feel like you’re in right now? Do you feel trapped, like no move could can get you out? If Chris had focused on his cancer, he might have felt this way. And maybe he did for a while. But Chris has ongoing conversations with his Savior. He and Sharon have drawn close to the Lord and Christ is his life.

What’s your situation? Bring it to the Lord.  See it as  an opportunity to trust the Lord with more of you.

Prayer: Lord, I must confess I’m not where Chris is when it comes to such a frightening word as cancer. But I want to consider my life as loss compared to gaining more of You.  I give all of me to you, Lord Jesus.  You are my life.[2]

[1] Ephesians 1:13

[2] Colossians 3:4

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

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 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Choosing Joy, Joy

Can Joy be a Choice?

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“Joy does not simple happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep on choosing it every day.”  Henri Nouwen

Violet

A few months ago I crowded in a chapel attending the funeral of a little girl named Violet. Violet died during her birth, the first child of Joseph and Judy.

Many wore violet articles of clothes to the service, honoring her life and her parent’s courage. Though Violet’s life was short, she impacted us all.

After the service, we were all given violet helium balloons to release on cue. When we did, the sky was filled with floating circles of purple, growing smaller and smaller as they drifted to the heavens; a salute to violet’s life and a message of love to her from us all.

As inspirational as the balloons were, what hit me most was Violet’s parent’s response. We learned from the eulogy that in the midst of incalculable sadness and grief, Joseph and Judy were choosing joy.

 Choosing Joy?

As I ponder Joseph and Judy’s resolve, I wonder how it’s possible to choose joy just days after her death.

How could this really be true? Isn’t joy supposed to be something good? Seeing the pain on Judy and Joseph’s face, I’m conflicted.

Paul’s command in I Thessalonians 5:16 comes to mind, one of the shortest verses in the Bible: “Rejoice always;”

The word ‘rejoice’ is from the old French word ‘rejoiur’, which means full of joy.

I’m to be full of joy even when my circumstances are difficult. I’m to rejoice always. But this is extreme. An only child is dead. Are we to be full of joy even then? My heart fights this notion.

What makes choosing joy possible?

In another place I read “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4

Be full of joy in the Lord.

God is joy. He is the source of joy, it exudes from Him. “In your presence is fullness of Joy.” Psalm 16:11b

Choosing joy is choosing God in the midst of anything and everything I’m going through.

As children of God, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, including being sealed in Christ with the promised Holy Spirit. [1]

We are in Christ and He is in us. See also Galatians 2:20a  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me;”

Joy, true joy, is found in our nearness to Christ and His nearness to us.

Joy is eternal, unaffected by the circumstances of our lives. Joy is God himself.

Judy and Joseph love Violet so much. Their whole world was flipped upside down on the day she was born. Months of anticipation and excitement were at once turned to horror and indescribable sadness. Yet through it all, when hearts were crumbling, they clung to each other and choose God’s nearness. They choose to find their comfort in God. They choose joy.

“In your presence is fullness of joy.” 

Challenge:  What circumstance is zapping your joy right now? No matter how difficult your situation is, choose at this moment to rejoice in God’s nearness. In spite of all, choose God, choose joy.

Lord, thank you that in all I go through, you never leave me. Indeed you are closer than breath. You are my joy. Help me continually choose you. Amen

[1] Ephesians 1:3-13