Happiness versus Joy by Lorie Looney Keene
I believe one of the most common counterfeits that Satan offers to us is the pursuit of happiness rather than joy. Happiness is an emotion. Therefore, it is something that can be aroused by our senses, surroundings, or other people in our lives.
Joy is something completely different. Joy is a fruit of the spirit of God. It is not merely an emotion that can be easily manipulated by our own emotions or the attitudes of others. Instead, it's presence can be far more permanent in our lives since it's rooted in God.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23 NIV.
Happiness is often associated with a smile or a feeling of giddiness. Spiritual joy may share those feelings, but can also reside within the heart of a believer even in the midst of hardships. Satan would love for us to spend or lives searching for an emotion that will abandon us during our times of need. Fortunately, however, God calls us to embrace a joy that wil, reside with us at all times.
--Me: This is some awesome news! I can choose to be joyful, even when I am stressed with cheer, work, house hunting, and everything in between. I don't have to wait for something good to happen to feel happy, or for someone to say something kind before I can smile.
May the JOY of the Spirit reisde inside of me starting now.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
As the Snow Falls
Here is another update Bloggy,
Staying caught up on the APY 60 program has been a challenge. I have managed to complete week 2's power yoga 7 times, but definitely not 7 times in a row. I caught a pretty nasty cold that has kept me strapped to the couch with my Harry Potter books (not a bad place to be). In the Early Days of The Cold, I managed to do about half the work out twice doing the modified poses.So not my best but at least I still tried.
But now I am mostly recovered and want to get back started. The thought of having lost some momentum is depressing to me, but I don't want to start over; I want to finish something like this for once!!
On the food side of things, I haven't kept up with that at all. For week three we are now on a no sugar, dairy, gluten diet, er challenge. Yikes! I'm going to try and stick with less sugar, and more fruits and veggies. If I focus on that, I feel like I will be more likely to succeed. As for the Xylitol I last talked about, no luck! Bummer.
Otherwise, I am 2 competitions away from completing the cheer season, well, then plus the banquet, and tryouts.
Got back to church yesterday, and it felt great! I hated missing it so much, like a month!! But they came out with the new subgroup magazine and I spotted a Flash Mob group!! YAY! I'm liking the sounds of a planking mob! I will probably try to find one or two groups to join so that I can stay more connected.
Still working away too, working today in fact. Nervous to drive in all the snow and ice.... we'll see!!
TTYL bloggy
Staying caught up on the APY 60 program has been a challenge. I have managed to complete week 2's power yoga 7 times, but definitely not 7 times in a row. I caught a pretty nasty cold that has kept me strapped to the couch with my Harry Potter books (not a bad place to be). In the Early Days of The Cold, I managed to do about half the work out twice doing the modified poses.So not my best but at least I still tried.
But now I am mostly recovered and want to get back started. The thought of having lost some momentum is depressing to me, but I don't want to start over; I want to finish something like this for once!!
On the food side of things, I haven't kept up with that at all. For week three we are now on a no sugar, dairy, gluten diet, er challenge. Yikes! I'm going to try and stick with less sugar, and more fruits and veggies. If I focus on that, I feel like I will be more likely to succeed. As for the Xylitol I last talked about, no luck! Bummer.
Otherwise, I am 2 competitions away from completing the cheer season, well, then plus the banquet, and tryouts.
Got back to church yesterday, and it felt great! I hated missing it so much, like a month!! But they came out with the new subgroup magazine and I spotted a Flash Mob group!! YAY! I'm liking the sounds of a planking mob! I will probably try to find one or two groups to join so that I can stay more connected.
Still working away too, working today in fact. Nervous to drive in all the snow and ice.... we'll see!!
TTYL bloggy
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