Love Joy & JESUS

Depending where you are in your spiritual journey, you may need to give this little quotable a bit of collaborated thought:

There is such a huge difference between
Sinners: Love Joy & Happiness
and that of
God’s: Love Joy & Happiness

Before I entered into the sheltering abyss of the Lord’s Canopy I spent my life living by my rules, and my choices. This means that I put the Lord last. I forgave myself of things that I had done that may have made me feel bad, or made me feel sorry later. I used to call these happenings “Lessons Learned”

I had decided that as long as I didn’t partake in evil I was a good person. The challenge here is everyone has a different opinion of evil, just as they do in sinning. I used to think that any action, or choices with a known consequence was sin. I also used to think that any action or choices that had an unknown consequence where “lessons learned” and never do it again.. and not necessarily a known sin…I was wrong in my thoughts and conceptive perception on both accounts! Obviously the Bible has all this business of sin already laid out for everyone. I was being “self-servant”…avoiding God’s Law is what I was doing, and finding “self-acceptance”…My Way…tsk tsk tsk…How Blind Was I!

Sometimes these unknown consequential lessons brought me Love Joy & Happiness. But that is how it is “living in the world” by my rules, and my choices, and lastly my decisions while placing God last. This is Sinners Love Joy & Happiness! And it was always short lived pleasures because I was being disobedient to God’s Laws & commandments. I was being his unruly child. I needed his discipline.

Some sin brings pleasure, there is no doubt about it. But there is ALWAYS & I Mean ALWAYS a consequence! It depends where we are as individuals, and sin itself. Take for example “Thou Shalt Not Steal” we all totally understand this I am sure. Yet, some people like to steal things. It doesn’t matter if they know it is against the law of God or the laws of mankind, they do it because they receive some pleasure out of it. I would say there may be a rare exception to being a thief of pleasure, although stealing is still a sin no matter what reason a person steals for.

I seen a very weary looking senior citizen back in 1982 steal some potatoes from Emsing’s Grocery store in Griffith, Indiana. He placed the loose potatoes in his very dirty winter coat pockets. He had filthy hands, and his shoes were worn and falling apart. I thought is this a homeless man? The person too seen me watching them taking the potatoes. The look on his face was that of deep sorrow and worry. I felt no desire to report this “thief” I felt a great deal of empathy and sympathy though, and deep compassion that the person was hungry and couldn’t afford food. This made me feel bad for his situation, whatever brought him to steal for food. So I went about my shopping. Obviously he left an imprint on my heart.

Sin has many faces, and it doesn’t always look like a rapist, a child molester, or a murderer. Sometimes sin looks inviting, harmless, or is something as small as being hungry. It’s not for me to judge. I learned the hard way about judging someone in sin. We are in a society that decides our own sin is nothing compared to “their” sin. It’s trifling to me now that I used to think like this. (Your sin is worse than my sin…) People sin everyday weather they announce it or not, it’s a battle here in the living world of the body of flesh, emotions, and desires. Even our thoughts can have sinful directions. We have wants, and these needs that drive us, compel us. The very temptations that we need to combat, and redirect and give it all to the Lord. Desire him. Desire his wisdom and guidance. Yearn for his bounty and pleasure in the Lord. Want his truth, not the false truth of sinners. Not the short lived pleasures of sin, and so on…

I can see everything so clearly now with each passing day the Lord Blesses me with, now that I am growing inside the light of God. I am floored by how I suffered by my own choices. I have only myself to blame for putting the Lord last, he was always there reaching for me. Always!! I spent a life time going in all the wrong directions “seeking” this so called Love Joy & Happiness when all I had to do was be with the Lord to find true Love Joy & Happiness. I am just amazed by the inner peace that continues to abound inside me the closer & closer I build my relationship with the Lord. I never thought this could happen to me. I feel so blessed, and this can happen for you too!!

I even wallowed in my own self pity party about all my losses in life. I wasn’t aware I was wallowing in a self served pity party though. I thought why would God give me such loss? Why would God give me such grief? Why did God let me be victim to disgusting pedophiles? Why did God allow me to be beaten, broken bones in domestic violence, rape, violence, abuse, murder, poverty, homelessness and so much more into my life? Is God real? If he loves me so much why why why…I felt different, I felt worthless, I felt unlove, I felt I was unworthy, it just kept on & on & on…

I realize now, while I am here on earth, I will never know the reasons why unless he decides to tell me. I have decided to trust his reason(s), and his purpose. He is my Heavenly Father after all. It is an unusual concept for me, especially when I see other people having the life I had wanted for myself since I was a little girl. But I had always lived my live for me, and placing God last, which I see now was a very bad choice. So my wants are now focused on pleasing the Lord, and not the needs of my own earthly wanting(s). Life is not picture perfect for any of us, but I have a great feeling of faith in the Lord’s Bounty and in his promises and his abundances!! I wake everyday now utterly grateful with his presence surrounding me, and too, he released me from those emotionally heavy burdens that I had carried around my whole life. He Really Does Set The Captives FREE!! I am joyous that he released me from all that anguish I carried around my heart for all my life!! The Lord Is AWESOME!!! All my yearnings and desires are focused inside the House of The Lord’s Temple…