Day 3 of our Anniversary Giveaway
is listed at the bottom of this blog.
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1:2-8 (NKJV)
Pressure. We can all relate to this word, this feeling, this state in life. I truly enjoyed how Lisa broke this scripture down into separate parts. When pressure enters our life and minds the last thing we think to do is “count it all joy,” I know that I don’t. Joy is often times the last word I would use to describe myself. When I’m dealing with the topic of joy I look it up each time, because it is so much more than a simple three letter word. This statement is one of the many that I found about joy.
“Joy is something that is unaffected by circumstances. It is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. Joy is deep. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope.”
I have to remind myself that joy isn’t about being happy, it doesn’t mean that it is going to be easy. What it means is that I am going to accept my situation for the time being, and walk in the joy of the Lord. Pressure and joy are not two words that are normally paired together in this world. I also have to remind myself that I only live in this world, I don’t think like it.
“You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors…” (James 1:3, MSG). Basically I understood this to mean that when life is hard, when obstacles are placed in our path, or when we place obstacles in our path, the strength of our faith will be shown. This is a hard realization for me, especially when my faith is not as strong as it should be. But I learned something a long time ago—just because I wasn’t where I thought I should be at a certain time doesn’t mean that I cannot grow to be that person. Just because my faith-life wasn’t strong during a time of pressure doesn’t mean that it never will be.
We have to remember that a sword didn’t start out strong. It took work; in most cases, it took a lot of work. “God wants us to thrive whether we are under pressure or free floating” (page 113), and in order to thrive in all situations we must be prepared, we must be tempered.
We have trials. We have pressures. We count it all joy. We exercise our faith. We ask for wisdom when we need it. We work towards becoming the women that God created us to be. And we do all of this with God by our side, with God directing our paths, with God holding us up.
When I was reading these scriptures in my study Bible, this note was given:
“The potential a Christian woman has for maturity relates to the realization of her God given destiny. She is striving to reach a goal that only God can enable her to achieve.”
In order for us to be the warriors we were destined to be, we must be willing to face our trials and be willing to accept the pressure and accept it with joy in our hearts. Joy isn’t happiness, it’s the knowledge that we are where we need to be for a season in order for us to be formed into the woman He wants us to be. We are being tempered by God so that we can withstand any level of pressure, so we can continue to fight for the Kingdom despite the battle.
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Let’s Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, each day we face the pressures of life; each day we walk our journey. Some days we walk with faith that could deal with anything and some days it feels like the smallest thing could crush us, but always despite the circumstances You are with us! You are right next to us with Your hand on our lives. Lord, we are told to count it all joy. Thank You for this joy that surpasses all situations. Thank You for the gentle reminders of this gift, and thank You for the grace You offer when our faith and joy is not where it should be. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.
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Day 3 of our Anniversary Celebration Week!
Are you ready for another giveaway????
Today’s giveaway is something that I wish was around when I had little ones at home! I’m telling you, I remember days where I honestly wondered why God chose me to be a mom! I remember going to bed at night crying my eyes out, thinking what a horrible mom I had been that day! And then the next day, I wake up to two little girls who jump in bed with me, and we all begin to giggle from all the tickles!! And I start another awesome day of being a Mom! Being a mom has been one of the greatest joys of my life, and I am so forever grateful for the wonderful children (and grandchildren) God has given me! I am truly blessed!
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About Tonya Ellison
Where to start…this whole section on pressure really got to the heart of my own struggles with peace and contentment. The way she broke down james was simply amazing! And now as i read tonyas blog it has literally brought tears to my eyes as i i think about how i have reacted in the past. That i can choose joy even when the waves are crashing against me! This whole blog is one big highlight reel i want to tuck away in my heart and mind so i can pull it out when the next storm comes to my door. Thankyou!!!! This book and gch have been so amazing. This is my first online study and i am simply blown away. I cant get through my day without it now.
I agree Joann, so often we read the scripture and it touches us, but when we break it apart as Lisa did for us, it helps us see and feel it so much clearer. I’m glad this book and this group has been a blessing to you, as a writer it is AWESOME to see God working! 🙂
Tonya, thank you for this devotion this morning that reminds me and challenges me to remember that happiness is not what I should be looking for, but I should be looking for joy. God’s joy deep down in my soul. Sometimes the pressures of life get my perspective mixed up and I “forget.” True joy comes from the security of knowing I am His child and He “not only loves me very much but also has put His hand on me for something special.” (I Thess 1:5, MSG)
I also love James 1:2-8, especially from The Message, “You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows it’s true colors.” Ouch. Sometimes the “colors” that pop out when I’m under pressure aren’t too pretty! But God doesn’t leave me there. Verse 5 says, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help….”
I really appreciated reading the statement from your study Bible. I think I need to type it out and tape it to my bathroom mirror. 🙂
Oh OUCH, on that scripture Clella!!! I agree that it needs to go on the bathroom mirror, and everywhere else in my house!!! Good one!!!
Its hard to remember not to seek after happiness in life, while being happy is great, we all know that we will face times of unhappiness. And during both times we need to have that joy. The great thing to remember is that we dont have to find joy. It is a gift to us from God and always available. 🙂
“…joy isn’t happiness…” SUCH a true statement! thank you, tonya, for being willing to be transparent in sharing your struggles but equally for encouraging us! i loved this sentence you wrote: ‘we are being tempered by God so that we can withstand any level of pressure, so we can continue to fight for the Kingdom despite the battle.’ the tempering of fire and water (trials, pressure, stress, pain) truly making us stronger. may we each be stronger at the end of today and maintain joy in our hearts! <3
We should always remember that what we are going through, good or bad is designed to make us stronger. 🙂
Thank you, Ms. Tonya for sharing your heart. I think we are all seeing pressure as a needed element to make us into the character God wants and needs us to be. The process is painful and tiresome sometimes, but when we look back and see where He has carried us through we should feel JOYFUL. He loves us too much to leave us in our pitiful state. He transforms our lives into something strong and useful. I am thankful for you my friend.
“He loves us too much to leave us in our pitiful state” So very true. We have to remember that these are seasons in our life. He knows what He is doing and we have to trust that. 🙂
We are being tempered by God so that we can withstand any level of pressure, so we can continue to fight for the Kingdom despite the battle. ENDURANCE
That is a good life word. “Endurance”.
The whole section about Joy. So true. Where I am trying to be. And in the prayer some days we fill completely full of faith and other days are not so easy. I want to be full of joy regardless!!!
Amen! Joy regardless of the situation: )
Great blog today I too wish to be full of joy no matter what my struggles are!! it is so true that some times it is not so easy when we are facing challenges that hit us at our very core, but trusting in the Lord and giving it to him will only make each one of stronger with the sword He has provided us all with!!
Cursor, It’s not easy and joy if too often the last thing on our minds. It takes a conscious, intentional effort on our parts to remember to give it to God and to walk in faith and joy. And like you said, it will only make us stronger. 🙂
Cyndie. I’m sorry for the name mess up. Auto correct.
LOL on the name mess up I kind of like it hehe! And yes you are so very correct but we must do this daily!! 🙂
Thank you, Tonya, for your personal notes on your struggles with maintaining joy. You are a blessing!
🙂
Guilty person right here with getting “joy” and “happy” mixed up too often. Not matter what situation, the joy is that state of mind and a matter of our faith! Thank you for your heart! 🙂
Thank-You Tonya for this Blog! God gives us sooo much support through each of our trials. HE gives us his grace, strength, wisdom, love, encouragement, counsel, and answers to prayer. God desires for us to grow in faith so we will thrive joyfully!! I looked up joy in my bible and was lead to these verses. Hebrew 12:1 “Therefore,since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run the race of endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the JOY he knew would be his after. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.” Pressures, trials will help us strip off the weight that slows us down!! I pictured in my mind excess baggage(sin) that weighs us down and then trials don’t seem like obstacles but an opportunity to shed sin in our lives. Jesus did not focus on his suffering to make it to the cross but the Joy that he would have after HIS obedience!! Joy is always present when we keep our eyes on our Jesus and our prize which is eternal life with our Father in heaven!!
I only live in this world, I don’t think like it……..THAT HIT ME BIG! I love that, and need to remind myself of that TRUTH! Awesome blog today:)
This quote REALLY spoke to me : “Joy is something that is unaffected by circumstances. It is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. Joy is deep. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope.” and reminded me that the Joy of the Lord is my strength.
What spoke most to me was to ask in faith with NO DOUBTING! So often we speak of giving our worries over to God, but do we really? After we have asked for something do we no longer think on what we asked for? Do we keep trying to take control back from Him? We have to ask in firm belief and then drop the matter completely, believing the Lord will answer or prayers. In fact, He answers our prayers before we are finished asking. I imagine it is insulting to Him when we asked more than once and/or take control back.