Good Morning Girls!  A couple of months ago I was out with a few girlfriends for dinner.  One girl started sharing some of the struggles that she was going through.  Her story was very moving, and very surprising.  It was surprising because you would never know that her life was less than perfect.  I am not saying she is phony, on the contrary, she is very real, and that is one of the reasons why I love her.   It was surprising  because for the last 9 months I saw her week after week.  I saw her with a smile on her face.  I saw her standing on the Word, and encouraging others.  I always described her to others as sweet, strong, fun, and real.  So imagine my surprise when she shared her story.  Melissa and I sat there a little dumbfounded, and Mel said "You seem so peaceful all the time.  How do you do it?"  My friend's response "I choose joy".
I sat back for a moment and soaked it in.  I choose joy.......interesting.  That simple 3 word response has changed my life.  You see, there will be times when you are in the Word, and you are obeying the Word, and it still is not enough.  The Word tells us we will encounter trials and temptations.  We will have to "fight the good fight".  It also tells us Satan is a thief and a liar, and his goal is to kill, steal, and destroy.  He wants your joy!  He would love nothing more than you see you walk around with gloom and doom hanging over you.  He knows that if he has your joy, you will not be a good witness of the Lord.  If you are stuck in your own sorrow, nobody is going to want what you have.  In fact, if he has your joy long enough, you will no longer want what you have.  He is constantly taking jabs at you trying to get your mind off of the promises of God, and onto your circumstances.  When you find yourself under attack, that is when you need to choose joy.  You to need to choose to believe the Word and cast down the circumstance.  The devil is very prideful.  Pride is what got him into trouble in the first place.  Nothing makes him angrier than to be laughed at.  When trouble comes your way choose joy and let the devil know, "you may have taken my "stuff", but you will not take my joy!".   Feel free to add "by the way, when you are done with my stuff, I fully expect you to return it.....with interest.....you can return 7 times that which you have stolen from me.  Until then, I will shout with 7 times the joy!".

Phillipians 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord, I say it again--rejoice!

Love you all-
Jen