By clicking the above song title, you will be directed
to a video of our worship song for today.
Hope you enjoy this song selected specifically to go along with our
devotion!
Happiness is usually tied
to your circumstances. For
instance: I am happy when my kids do
well in school. I am happy when my husband
does the laundry. I am happy when a friend sends me flowers. And I am really happy when I eat chocolate!
Joyfulness is a way of
living, it is an attitude that lives within us.
I think that joy comes to us as a cumulative effect of the many choices
we make to live and act a certain way.
There are two things that
make us joyful. The first, a
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and the second thing is being grateful
in all things.
I recently made up some
index cards with positive affirmations written on them. I even got out my scrapbooking supplies and
made them pretty! I plan on practicing one
affirmation each week by saying it out loud
several times a day. Here are a few of the affirmations I use:
I accept the natural ups and downs of life.
Circumstances are what they are, but I can choose my
attitude toward them.
I’m inherently worthy as a person, and I accept myself
just the way I am.
Life has its challenges and its satisfactions – I enjoy
the adventure of life and every challenge that comes along is an opportunity to
learn and grow.
Each of these statements
cultivates gratitude. We are grateful for
life, even in down times. We are
grateful for and accept ourselves, just as we are. We are grateful for all our
circumstances. Finally, the last one
gives us lots of things to be grateful for - life, adventure, challenges,
opportunities, learning and growing.
In our bible reading today
we hear from Habakkuk, who did not just practice positive thinking, he saw the
problems for what they were and remembered that God was greater than them all.
Today, I challenge us to
look at the ordinary moments of our lives and see our joy. Look for the joy in the smell of your lovely
home or in the sound of laughter and giggles in your children, the feel of a warm and worn quilt,
the changing colors of the season or the taste of your favorite food. None of these experiences of joy happened at
one specific time in our lives. They are
the cumulative effect of many choices to live a life with our creator and being
grateful in all things.
Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the many
blessings you have bestowed upon us. We
choose today to live life with mindfulness and intention, being grateful in all
our circumstances. In the dead of night
or when the waters rise, we lift our eyes to you, for the joy of the Lord is
our strength.
Amen
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