Joyful Verses - Finding Joy #4

Sorry our topics recently have been a little heavy. Next week we will return to the usual genre of activities, games, and stories to teach your family - specifically about joyfulness.  However, to finish this week's focus, since we now agree that the Bible is reliable we should consult it on ways to find and teach joyfulness.

Now, I am giving you homework for the weekend. Pick a few of these passages to read with your family.

Key Verses On Joyfulness:
1. Psalm 16: 11 - "Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; in thy presence is fullness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures forever."

2. Psalm 28:7 - "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and in my song I shall thank Him."

3. Psalm 30:5b - "Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning."

4. Psalm 51:12 - "Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will be converted to thee."

5. Prov. 15:13 - "A joyful heart makes a cheerful face..."

6. Matt. 28: 7&8 - "'And go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead...' and they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to his disciples."

7. John 15:7-13 "...These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you...Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends..."

8. I Thess. 5: 16-18 "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

9. I Peter 1:3-9

10. III John 4 - "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth."

What are the Rewards of Joy?
1. Strength - Neh. 8:10

2. Cheerful Countenance - Prov. 15:13

3. Health - Prov. 17:22a - "A joyful heart is good medicine..."

What Produces Joy?
1. True Faith - I Peter 1:8

2. Christ's Resurrection - Matt. 28:7&8

3. Salvation - Ps. 51:12, Isaiah 61:10

4. Being in the Presence of God - Psalm 16:11

5. The Holy Spirit in us - Gal. 5:22

6. Sharing Christ with others - I John 1:4

7. A clear conscience - II Cor. 1:12

8. Obeying God's laws - Ps. 19:8

9. God's word - John 15: 7-11, Jer. 15:16

10. Wise words - Prov. 15:23

11. Seeing our children walk in the truth - III John 4, Prov. 23:24

12. Being a faithful servant - Matt. 25:21

13. Controlling your thoughts - Phil. 4:8

14. Encouragement from the saints - Phil. 1:7

How do we Practice Joy?
1. Rejoicing when we go through trials - Matt. 5: 11-12, James 1:2-3

2. Rejoicing always, giving thanks in everything - I Thess. 5:16-18

3. Delighting in your weaknesses, because when you are weak, Christ's grace is strong -II Cor.12:9&10

4. Singing thanksgivings, and playing music, and dancing - Ephesians 5:18-20, I Sam. 18:6

5. Giving - II Cor. 8:2

6. Fellowship - Phil. 1:25; Philemon 1:7

7. Sharing God with others - I John 1:4

8. Smiling - Prov. 15:13

9. Trusting in the Lord - Ps. 28:7

10. Enjoy your work and your blessings - Ecc. 5:18 - 20

Joyful Biblical Character Examples:
1. Jesus - Gospels, Isaiah 53, and Phil. 2

2. Paul -Romans 5:3-11, 8:18; II Cor. 4:7-18; 11:23-29; Phil. 4:4-8; and Col. 1:24

3. Tabitha - Acts 9:36 - 39

I would love to hear about other ways that you experience joyfulness with your family.
Have a great weekend!

Crisis of Faith - Finding Joy #3

Have you ever doubted your faith? Even if you haven't, your children will. So you need to be prepared. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Christian Studies, but during my recent family crisis even I experienced doubts. My crisis of feeling (the blahs) quickly turned into a crisis of faith. What should we do to combat doubts? Seek the Truth.

Hank Hanegraaf
The Bible Answer Man

1st - Pray about it. I asked God to make Himself real to me, and then Providentially I literally happened upon an amazing tract  "How Can I Believe in Christ, When I Don't Even Believe the Bible."
(Order yours from www.evantell.org)

2nd - Seek wise counsel.  Meet with a leader in your church or knowledgable friend, or read some of these amazing resources.
     1. Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morrison
     2. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? by F.F. Bruce
     3. Jesus and the Eyewitness by Richard Bauckham

3rd - Get answers to specific doubts or questions from The Bible Answer Man.  His website http://www.equip.org/bible_answers is an amazing resource for finding the answer to literally any Bible question you could imagine. 

I am glad to say that my doubts have quickly dissolved after seeing so much evidence.
I would love to know how you combat doubts in your children or in your own heart.

Rebellious Responses - Finding Joy #2

1st - I turned to the Bible to find JOY because it is the "good Christian" answer. Conveniently, since my sister's stroke was in January, I was still faithfully on the "read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program". Initially, I missed a few days, so I just started up again thinking that this would be the way to solve my problem of sadness. Unfortunately, "the plan" starts out in the Old Testament. I was reading Numbers, and I have to admit that reading about how to sacrifice animals and the multitude of laws that one was required to follow "or else" was not helping me find my joy at all. Instead, my negative heart was reacting to God's requirement of ultimate obedience and justice with confusion, doubt, and rebellion. As I am writing this, I am literally just now realizing that I was responding this way because I was feeling convicted of my sin and Satan was filling my head with lies.

When your children respond harshly and rebelliously to you, remind yourself that they are responding to how uncomfortable the truth is making them feel as it wars inside them against the lies of Satan. You are just an easy scapegoat. Think about the last time you got really mad about something your husband implied you needed to work on.  At first, you probably directed your anger at him, but really were you angry because the truth hurts? Nobody likes to be corrected or forced to do things. One of my children is always the meanest right before she responds to conviction with sweet repentance.

Satan was tellig me that the Bible is unreliable. What lies has Satan been telling you or your children? What makes you the maddest? When do your children respond the most angrily to you and why? How should we respond to the anger or rebellion of our children?

Where did all the Bibles go? - Thoughtful Thursdays

     On Tuesday of this week, we talked about the importance of using the actual Scriptures instead of just biblical principles to guide and direct our children.  It has never been easier to do this, since now we have wonderful technology that provides us with the ability to fit the entire Bible - complete with numerous translations and a concordance - in a device that fits in the palm of our hands. However, with amazing technology comes responsibility.  I don't want my children to forget (or never learn) what a real Bible looks like, or confuse the truth of the Bible with all the other information that you can find on my phone. If you are not continually a student of the Bible, someone could easily trick you or your children simply by saying, "The Bible says....".  Do you know which of these things are really in the Bible?
 1. "God helps those who help themselves.
 2. The Book of Hezekiah
 3. "Cleanliness is Next to Godliness"
 4. Angels married people on earth.
 5. A Bohemoth that some say might be describing a dinosaur or even the Lock Ness Monster."God helps those who help themselves."
        You can use your handheld devices to search for these, but don't do this in church while pretending to follow along while the pastor reads from God's word.