It’s time for our last devotional in our “Perfecting a Stayed Mind” Series. Tomorrow will be the conclusion and I’ll have some downloads for you on tomorrows post.
Have you missed any of the sessions?
Perfecting a Stayed Mind Series
Introduction & Session One
Session Two
Session Three
SESSION FOUR
We have arrived at our last thing to cling to when it comes to having a stayed mind in relation to our theme verse for this series.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
Today we will be discussing how to cling to joy. Joy can be a wonderful thing, especially to our minds. It can elevate our spirits. It can help us overcome the ordinary. It can do wonders for our attitudes.
As Christians, we should be full of joy because just look at the God that we worship. He is that Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace. That in itself should bring us joy. Look how much God loves us! Look how much He cares! And joy is even a fruit of the Holy Spirit. And yet, joy is a tricky thing when it comes to our minds. Our human perspectives can sometimes overwhelm us, and joy can escape our grasp.
I think though that if we want to have those stayed minds, that we need to work on clinging to that joy. I in no way think it is an easy thing to maintain though. We will need to put some effort into it.
Joy is something that brings us great pleasure and happiness. Some synonyms for joy are jubilation, bliss, rejoicing, exuberance, satisfaction, exaltation, triumph, gratification, enjoyment, glee, exhilaration. I like all those words. Don’t you?
All those words are about feeling, and that’s basically what joy is considered. It is considered a feeling. But we don’t want joy as a fleeting feeling or a feeling in the moment. We want to work on lasting joy, and I think these four things will help us.
MAKE ROOM FOR JOY
FEED YOUR JOY
STRIVE FOR A HEALTHY JOY
REMEMBER JOY IS A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
Make Room for Joy
You can’t welcome joy into your life if you are out of sorts physically, mentally, and spiritually, so we have to work on making ourselves a welcoming place for it to live.
I love that people say, “choose joy”, but it doesn’t just naturally come to us. Like anything else of value, we have to work to gain it. If we are depleted, feel rejected, depressed, and out of sorts mentally, then that joy isn’t just going to happen magically. Even if we desire it and want to choose it, it just doesn’t appear. I feel like if we are going to choose joy, then we are going to have to make room for it in our lives.
Let’s think of joy as a houseguest. It’s going to visit our minds and if we want it to visit our hearts as well, then we are going to have to invite it in and welcome it. And if we truly want it for a guest, we are going to have to make allowances for it. If you want joy for a permanent houseguest in your mind and in your heart, you are going to have to fix a guest room for it.
You can say, “I choose joy” until you are blue in the face, but if you never stop to make your heart and mind ready for it to visit, then those are just words.
We must ready our mind, body, and soul for it. Joy is one of those sensitive houseguests that you have to treat just right. You must treat joy like a special commodity. Because in the long run it is valuable. It is worth something. After all it is a fruit of the Spirit. We have to make a place for it to grow in our lives.
What do you do when you ready your own home for houseguests? First you probably clean your home or your guest room really good. Just like when we talked about decluttering our minds in Session Three in order to find peace, in order to gain joy, there may be some housecleaning to do.
Joy is hard to accept if you have a bunch of negative emotions hanging around. You will need to give them an eviction notice to leave the premises of your mind. You may have to boot out a few things from your life before joy will visit you.
What about bitterness that may be hanging around in your thoughts? You are going to have to say goodbye to it if you are going to welcome in joy. Joy doesn’t hang around depressing thoughts either. Joy is pretty picky about who it hangs out with in your mind.
Next, when we have a houseguest, we normally set out those necessities our guests might need while they visit. Maybe clean towels, extra blankets, and all those things.
We need to prepare for joy by keeping our minds peaceful and decluttered, meditating on God’s Word, connecting to God through prayer, and all of those activities that keep our mind right spiritually.
What do you think joy needs in order to live comfortably in your mind and life?
There are so many things we can do to make joy more comfortable in our minds. We have to learn to pamper it. You can’t upset joy with bad thoughts and emotions, or it will disappear. If you don’t give your joy some attention, it will suffer.
We have to prepare our minds for that joy so that we can cling to it. In the end it is another thing that will help our mind be stayed on the Lord.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Romans 15:13
Feed Your Joy
If you want your joy to grow, you are going to have to feed it. As I mentioned, we are looking at joy like a houseguest, and you must take care of your houseguest with regular healthy meals. So, you will need to give your joy all the best in how you live.
Feed Your Joy…
- By sharing Jesus. (Luke 2:10)
- By giving thanks. (Psalm 28:7)
- By taking refuge in God. (Psalm 5:11)
- By staying in God’s Word. (Psalm 119:111; Jeremiah 15:16)
- By having unity with other believers. (Philippians 2:1-2)
- By praising God. (Psalm 71:23)
- By righteous living. (Ecclesiastes 2:26)
- By trusting in God. (Palm 33:21)
- By asking through prayer. (John 16:24)
- By resting in God’s comforts. (Psalm 94:19)
- By placing our hope in God. (Proverbs 10:28)
- By encouraging others. (Proverbs 15:23)
Please! Take the time to look up all of these verses and read through them closely when you have time. You will find each are packed full of how our behavior as Christians relate to our joy and happiness. These verses are like little recipes to feed your joy!
Jesus wants our joy to be full and we can only do that when we are obeying Him and doing His commandments. Look what He says in John 15.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. John 15:10-11
Strive for a Healthy Joy
I think we should have “healthy joy”. We want a healthy weight. We want a healthy appetite. We want a healthy blood pressure. We want a healthy heart. Let’s put joy right up there too as an important part of our overall health.
Healthy joy requires some work, just like our body requires work to keep it healthy in all areas. So, let’s tend to joy. Let’s check its levels. Let’s check to see if it even registers in our body. Let’s devise a healthy relationship with our joy because in the end it helps with a healthy mind.
What are the two questions that are on every health form at any type of doctor?
Do you smoke?
Do you consume alcohol?
When your doctor knows the answer to those, it can help him in whatever area he needs to diagnose. He will automatically know how those things affect you. We can’t argue that those two habits are bad for your overall health. They specifically can cause lung cancer and liver problems.
So, what two habits are bad for our overall health and especially bad for our joy? I’m going to say, complaining and worrying. Those two bad habits can affect our overall health and drop our levels of joy dramatically.
So, for a self-diagnosis, ask yourself…
Do I complain?
Do I worry?
If you don’t feel joyful, ask those questions. It can help you figure out what’s wrong. Knowing the answer to those questions can help you figure out if you need to adjust your habits!
Let’s look at some practical things that can help our joy remain healthy.
- Get good rest and sleep.
- Exercise.
- Connect with friends and family.
- Take time for yourself.
- Do some laughing.
- Don’t vent, but problem-solve.
- Deal with negative emotions as they happen.
- Do some kind deeds.
- Share your blessings.
- Pray for someone else.
- Serve or volunteer.
- Reduce your stress.
- Enjoy the little things.
- Enjoy life one moment at a time.
I think we have to make our healthy joy a priority. It’s one of those things we have to put time and effort into or there won’t be any results. It’s one of those areas of life that we have to put our heart into in order for it to thrive. We have to do it “heartily” as Colossians reminds us when we are doing anything.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord,and not unto men; Colossians 3:23
I feel like in general as Christians that we don’t treat joy as a priority. We say things about it. We have Bible studies about it. We sing songs about it. We even have cute phrases we repeat about it. But in reality, I think we have missed the mark where joy is concerned. It has to be brought up to the next level.
We need joy in our lives to help our minds and bodies function better. We need it to cling to so that we can have those stayed minds.
Remember Joy is a Fruit of the Spirit
As Christians, joy isn’t optional. It’s part of that fruit of the Holy Spirit that we should be bearing. If we are walking in the Spirit, joy is going to be something that we are growing in our lives, and it is something that will bloom and flower or bear fruit.
I think this is one of the number one things we should be teaching new Christians. When someone accepts Christ, they are going from living for the flesh to living in the Spirit. That’s the big change in their lives. And that’s what most of the New Testament letters and epistles are all about. They are about living in the Spirit instead of the flesh. It’s how we grow as a Christian. It’s how we produce fruit.
We have to start teaching how to bear that fruit, and joy is one of those important fruits of the Spirit. We need it for the daily function of our lives. We need it for our minds. Like I mentioned, It’s not optional! We must learn to produce it as a Christian.
Let’s look at all the fruits of the Spirit that are listed in Galatians 5.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25
Those are all beautiful things. Right? Joy is one of them and all those other things listed are associated with joy. They can survive harmoniously. They get along well. They are friends.
But look at that passage in Galatians above that. It’s talking about the works of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
As Christians it is so easy to say, “Well, those aren’t me!”. “I wouldn’t do any of those things!”. But in reality, it is just so easy to be caught up in the flesh. Think about just that hatred one for a minute. I know Christians who get caught up in hatred and try to justify it because of how someone may have wronged them. I’m not proud of it, but I’ve been hateful at times. I think we all have. Frankly, it’s easy for hatred to grow if we don’t get rid of those thoughts that begin first before the hatred even appears on the scene. Look how Jesus taught us to forgive. He taught us to love. He knew we were humans and we would have trouble with the flesh.
A few verses on up in that passage in Galatians says this.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Galatians 5:16-17
And check out what Romans 8 says about it.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
We have to remember to walk in the Spirit daily because our minds count on our joy. Joy lifts us up. It puts depression at bay. It helps our mental state of mind.
We have to be so careful though because the flesh will send our fruits of the Spirit away. They will rot on the vine. And what about joy specifically? Joy can’t survive with all those things of the flesh. Remember. Joy is picky who it hangs around with up there in our minds.
Final Thoughts
Joy can be a wonderful thing and can improve our minds and lives immensely. That’s why we want long lasting joy, not just that fleeting feeling.
If you don’t really want joy for a houseguest though, believe me, it will know and it will go. If you aren’t going to feed your joy while it’s visiting, then it will waste away to nothing and it will be gone. If you don’t give your joy some attention so it remains healthy, it will shuffle off and away. And finally, we can never forget that joy is a fruit of the Spirit in the life of a Christian and if we aren’t living in the Spirit, joy will be a missing fruit.
When we don’t have joy, it can deflate us. We can get down in the dumps. We can get depressed. Joy is a natural mood booster. I love what Proverbs 17:22 says.
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
My hope is that you will find more joy in your life and that you will cling to it. It can help us keep our minds focused and stayed on the Lord.
So, are you clinging to joy?
Perfecting a Stayed Mind Series
Introduction & Session One
Session Two
Session Three
Session Four
Summary
I’m so grateful that you were able to stop in today for this topic of joy. If you want to leave a comment just pop over to my Julia Bettencourt Ramblings Facebook Page and join in the discussion.
Have a lovely day,
Julia
Remember, if you are being overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts, please talk to a trained health care professional.
