Where is your Joy?

The news these days is filled with so many bad messages and bad reports that I don't watch it at all. Even on my Facebook page I have to scroll through, or sometimes block, the many negative images that try to inundate my feed. Plus, if you're a believer and you know what the Word says; it's hard to bypass the fact that we are truly entering into the end times.  With all of this coming at us it's easy to despair and allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by it all.  I know I have.

Recently, however, while I was praying, I heard the Lord say -'Where is the Joy?' The Word say says ..."the Joy of the Lord is our strength"  (Neh 8:10).  It also says "Rejoice in the Lord...Always" (Phil 4:4) and by always He means ALWAYS, but I know first hand how hard that can be.  Yet, the Lord in His Love and His Mercy is showing me that it's okay to be joyfull because it's all a part of His plan and His plan is always for our ultimate good.

So, I had to do some soul-searching and some research.  I prayed and asked for guidance and understanding, but most of all I asked for assistance in finding His Peace and His Joy in the midst of what appears to be pure chaos.  I found a book that seems to be helping me understand Revelations/prophecy better it's called "The Merciful God of Prophecy" by Tim LaHaye, the writer of the Left Behind series.  While I haven't finished it ,yet, I can say it's very encouraging.

That's why I'm writing today and going back to writing in general.  The first step in finding Joy (after receiving Christ) is serving others and I hope that through my obedience by writing, I am serving anyone that stops by this blog and is in need of an encouraging word or just food for thought.

See just like all of you, I go through hard times and I have moments when things aren't the way I want them to be or the way I think they should be, but that's when I have to turn to the source of all and remember: HE HAS A PLAN. It's not easy, I know, to trust the plan, especially when you don't know all the details and that's okay.  Just know that all will unfold just as it's supposed to.  Your job is to keep your eyes focused on the "prize" and find Joy in the midst of it all.  Encourage a friend or stranger, have dinner with your family, listen to a baby laugh or scroll through pictures of animals with funny faces; whatever you need to do, just find a way to smile and know that our Father in heaven loves us (yes, even you) and He loves to see us smile.

If you're going through something today, know that you didn't stumble on this post by accident.  I pray that our all knowing, all merciful God will help you find your way back to letting Joy into your life, again.  Children don't need a reason to smile, they just do. I pray you find that child-like part of youself and see the bright side of life, again. In Jesus, name, I pray. Amen.

If you're one of those people that have the Joy of the Lord always or you always see the bright side of things - Great! Now, share some that with the rest of us!

Either way, Be Blessed!

Re-Post: A smile or a fingernail?

The following a re-posted entry from my other other blog:
Butterfly wings from the Flames of bird
I thought it would be relevant here as well...


Since I was a little girl I have always been a stargazer. I remember watching my first lunar eclipse (as much as I could stay awake for) when I was about 12 years old…amazingly it was centered right at the very end of Flatbush avenue, I felt like God did that just for me - just so I could see it.

I’m still a stargazer, to this very day and it doesn’t matter to me, whether it is during the day or late into the evening. I’m always excited when I spot something that appears new or unusual (to me) and just as I thought as a child, sometimes I feel like God is showing off…just so I can see…

Needless to say, I’ve raised my children with this same stargazing mindset….we take finding shapes in the clouds to completely new levels and we get excited, collectively, when we hear of some phenomenon going on in the sky. If I’m outside and see something interesting – I’ll run inside and call them out – if they see something interesting they do the same for me. {As matter of fact, about two years ago, they saw a bright comet in the sky one night and called me out to see it….silly me, I assumed that it was a falling star and I’d miss it any way so I didn’t go out, but apparently it wasn't and was bright in the sky for a long time! I ended up missing it! :-( ... But I digress…}

With this in mind, imagine my excitement when my eldest daughter – now, married and living out of the house – called me one night to tell me that I had to run outside and see the moon! She said that it made her “happy” because in her words: “God’s smiling at me”. So despite the cold weather, I got my slippers and wrap and quickly went outside to see “God Smiling”. Talking to myself, I asked God if He was going to smile at me too. But when I get out there I saw no moon. I continued a little further out, hoping it wasn’t lost behind the trees or a building and there; behind the house was this big ole “Cheshire cat grin” crescent moon. It‘s rare for me to see the crescent moon in that way, but it gave me reason to smile and laugh along with my baby girl because God "smiled" at me too!

The next day, I told her of my experience and asked her if she shared the Smiling moon with her husband and she said she had, but that he didn’t see a smiling moon – what he saw was a "fingernail", as if God were pointing downward…like “look at you!’’.

Now, I’m not saying my son-in-law believes God was judging him, or her for that matter, but I found the response rather odd and it made me think what about others? I just assumed that everyone would see the moon and think “smile”; a fingernail was the furthest thing from mind…

So I pose this question to you…how do you see God? Is God a "smile" or a "fingernail" to you? Do you think He’s taking every opportunity to smile at you? Or do you think He’s pressing down His finger of judgment?

Do you think He delights in you? Or do you think He's fault-finding?

Don't get me wrong, sometimes we mess up, but if our hearts are sincere and we ask forgiveness and turn away from the ways that would bring disappointment, then He smiles with us...and at us...

Here's to God "smiling" down on you!

Be Blessed