How to Live the Best Life, Cushioned by the Holy Spirit, By Chris Briscoe

This Post will show you how to live the best life which is cushioned by God the Holy Spirit of peace; for the Holy Spirit is our greatest comforter and cushion of our life when we face all kinds of trouble. 
Why my relationship with God means so much to me.

I have been a Christian for 31 years. I would like to tell you why Christianity among all religions is not really a religion to me. This is why my Christianity is so far removed from religion.Why it's the most exciting adventure and life force for my life, which alone possesses the potential to be the greatest hope of upgrading my life.

That's why Jesus said,"He who believes in me, will have life, and life in all its abundance (John 10:10) What he was saying was, he who believes in me will have the chance of the deluxe life - the gourmet life - and actually, eternal life means an abundant life - a life marked first by the most wonderful relationship with our Father who is supplying all our needs - more than living forever as much as knowing God, the God of all peace, that's why God is described as the God of all peace. Just before Jesus was arrested by the authorities and tried and killed, he prayed, "This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and his Son, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3) 

But so many people confuse religion and relationship - for me, religion means doing something repeatedly or religiously to such an extent that it becomes a ritual, but my relationship with God is anything but religious because it is the most spontaneous, love relationship in my life; because I don't just interact at set times when I am obliged to at Church, but in fact, I communicate with him more than anyone, throughout the day, even more than my wife, and even more than me; it's about how God is our real Heavenly Father who is the only person in our life who knows what we need and who alone has the power to make the greatest difference in my life; and who alone has promised to never leave me, nor forsake me, who knows what I need even before I ask him. If you don't believe that last statement, have a read of these words straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ: "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in synagogues and on street corners to be seen by men. I tell you, those people have already received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray do not keep babbling on like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." NIV Bible, Matthew 6:5-8) 

This is one of the reasons Jesus is the only one who can turn my situation around from negative to positive - who, alone knows me more than anyone and loves me more than anyone, and can upgrade and fill me with his love, unlimitedly, because only he loves me unlimitedly.

If you think about it, us humans all arrive on this earth the same: without any clue why we were put here on this planet - well, unless you are a Duke or Earl and are born with a silver spoon in your mouth, metaphorically, speaking.


It's not like we are born with our own manual attached with the words, "Working Manual" explaining step by  step why we were made. That would be helpful, but instead, we have to work it all out by ourselves - unless you had a rich daddy who was preparing for you to slide into his company slippers.

Also, unless, you were one of these supernaturally natural individuals who had learned the art of tuning into God's wavelength.


ONLY GOD IS ABLE TO DO THIS, BECAUSE ONLY HE IS GOD.
As a Christian, when I gave my life to Jesus, he adopted me as his own son, and as a guarantee of God's favour upon my life, I was sealed with God's Holy Spirit. "Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory." 
(Ephesians 1:13-14)

If you are a Christian, then part of this wonderful package is receiving the Holy Spirit and his gifts, as well as being filled with the Holy Spirit, every day, whenever we come to God and ask him to fill us afresh. 

After all, we are all sinners saved by grace, and because now and again, our old selfish and sinful nature tries to raise its ugly body and head, we need to be filled afresh with God's power, peace and comfort. Because, like cars we leak every day and need filling up with fresh oil or gasoline, every day. This world is so dark that we cannot face our days alone without God's in us, ministering to us his peace and wisdom, to calm our hourly fears, and guide us to the best way to proceed in our day, as well as face off all our enemies, which also raise their ugly heads!

So the greatest blessing of being a Christian is the truth that God does really live in us, and he is living in us for a reason:

TO EQUIP US TO LIVE THIS BEST LIFE WITH HIM. 

And because God lives in our emotions and spirit as well as our mind, then we can live natural, supernatural lives, and supernaturally, natural lives; I mean, because we have the seal of God's ownership on us through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, it means our days are not, by any means normal like other people, but we can live super-normal lives; throughout our day we can feel the tangible feeling of God's warm love inside us, ministering his sweet assurance and even sweet peace which takes away all our fears and anxieties; but, unless, you have actually surrendered your life to Jesus and made him Lord of your life, then you will not totally understand what I am going on about! Also, unless you have received the Holy Spirit, you will not understand what I saying, but you could, with the Holy Spirit in your spirit, begin to grasp this truth and enjoy the amazing First-fruits of his most sweetest presence.

As a Christian, I am God's Son - even if you are a female, you can still enjoy the benefits of Sonship and Firstborn rights as promised by the Bible - and the best part of this Sonship is that God has promised to send his Holy Spirit, as a seal in us that we are adopted as Sons and we belong to him, and that means he has promised to never leave us, or forsake us, neither to stop supplying our deepest needs, and even our deepest desires, when they fall in line with his will. Amen.

These truths make me want to fall to my knees and pray:  

"Thank you, Lord, for Your Abiding presence in my day which gives me the sweetest peace - when I focus my troubled thoughts on you, and give you them, you exchange them by flooding my troubled emotions with your sweet peace, which ministers to me in the raging storm the greatest sense of peace and security, that I couldn't be more loved and cared for by the King of kings who can do all things and can exterminate all my troubles with the breath of his mouth. 

Thank you, Lord, that you are the One that makes my sharp path smooth. You are the One that upholds me, and steadies me when I stumble, and catches me when I fall. You are the One, when my head is full of tormenting thoughts and uncertainties, when I come to you and begin to trust you by giving you all my burdens, you flood me with your amazing peace - with the sweetest feeling of your peace, when I feel like you are physically enveloping me in your sweet presence, where I couldn't feel more loved, secure and then I can proclaim that when I am weak, you make me strong, when I am poor you make me rich. 


Rich, first in the knowledge that I am a child of the King of kings and nothing is too difficult for you - your presence is like a warm cushion, cushioning all my fears and troubles and giving me peace, when I trust in you. You fill my emotions with your sweetest presence, so that I am assured you are with me, you are steadying me, you are smoothing my path, and ironing out all my problems. You are the only One who I can come to who is powerful enough to turn my situation around and make me rest in your unlimited love and power to heal me. Only you can turn my situation around and allow me to trust in your unfailing love, when my heart and fears are stilled by your love, and I experience the greatest peace and rest in the midst of the most raging storms of life; for you surround with the sweetest feeling of peace and security that you are working out everything for my good because you promised me these things from your word,

"And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose."  (Romans 8:28)

Also, you promised, whenever I am weak and worried, when I come to you and release all my fears, you send me your perfect, sweet, peace, that ministers the deepest sense that I can trust and rest comfortably in your love, which is the most powerful force for good in my life, and which, when I trust your love to bring me through all the raging storms of my life, I can find the greatest healing because only your love can reach my deepest hurts and heal them.


Thank you, God, for that!"

If you would like to know more about how to receive the greatest peace you have ever experienced you can download my latest book - just click on the book cover:


You can also catch my latest Book, called "What's the Difference Between God and the Tooth fairy?"




WHEN YOU ARE TOUCHED BY GOD'S SPIRIT,YOU WILL FEEL MORE  LOVE AND PEACE THAN YOU CAN EVER IMAGINE.
I know as 32 years ago it happened to me,when I decided to test God's love for myself,and experience him. This book shows you how 

If you are sincerely searching for truth and God, and you would like to read more, please Click on the following Link.











I don’t know what you’re going through in your life - whether you are going through a ton of trouble which is tormenting you. If you are, then this is what I recommend you to do. This is what I recommended someone; let me just say that this was the message or comments I gave a lady who was feeling that life had ‘dealt’ her a pretty rough hand; actually, those words I used metaphorically using the picture of a card game were my words not hers, but still this was my response to her feelings of hopelessness and desperation. Whatever metaphor you employ, if you are among the thousands who ‘feel like they are hitting their head against a brick wall,’ then please use any of these prayers I recommend, including this one I recommended this lady who was struggling with the difficulty of not being able to conceive a baby; whatever prayer you utilize to bring a spiritual breakthrough, I believe it will bring a breakthrough if you pray in faith, and with even the tiniest particle of faith, even it may put you onto the pathway to faith by giving you just a glimpse of positivity when you look up and realize that there is, in fact, the first glimmers of hope to burst upon the darkest of darkness on your life.


This is how I responded:


"I believe that even though you feel that life has dealt you a rough hand, don’t worry, still there is always hope because I believe there is still a God who is the source of all hope and life, which means if you come to him and begin to ask him to do a miracle in your life, your spirit will begin to be infused with real hope - the Christian hope is actually not some airy, fairy hope but a real hope which never disappoints you, when you trust the living Lord Jesus Christ.


I don’t know what religion you are, but whatever name you give your God - for me, when I turned to the God and Father of Jesus Christ, he alone filled me with his real and amazing feeling of peace in the midst of so many problems and pain - and I realized that when I began opening my heart to him, I began to be healed deeply, and began to be infused with a deep sense of being loved by the creator of the universe; whether you are healed in your uterus at that time when you pray, the most important thing is being born again in your spirit, because Jesus said,”I am telling you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God, unless they are born again.” (Quoted from the Bible book of John, Chapter 3, Verse 5)

If you just pray this prayer, like this,
 “God, I heard that you are all-Powerful and all-Loving, so if you are these attributes, then please come into my heart and reveal to me that you love me, unconditionally, and when I place my hand into your HUGE hand of love and protection, I will begin to feel a tangible peace which will calm my every fear and take away the torment and sense of fighting battles. I just rest in your love, now. Please heal me, first, in my spirit so I can be born again in my spirit, so my spiritual eyes would be opened to where you are. If you do a miracle in me and heal me internally, I will serve you in my life; but whether or not you heal me in my uterus etc,I know that the most important internal healing is for my deadened or dormant spirit to be raised to serve you, who is the source of all life and peace, and gives me power to love my enemies, to love myself, and to love and believe in you, who I don’t see, but when you make me born again inside I will have the power to understand who you are, and who I am in you : the most loved, and cherished daughter of the Living and most Loving God.


So, please make me born again by me placing my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for me and gave me his life on the cross, by taking all my shortcomings, my mistakes, my sin, and all my sicknesses and pain. I now receive your perfect peace and healing.


I pray in the name of your love, Jesus Christ. “ Amen.


After you have prayed that prayer, I believe and know, because that’s what I prayed for, for you, that God always answers the praying person who prays sincerely and with faith - even an atomic particle of faith. In time, if you are patient, he will break into your life, like the morning sunshine upon the darkest night. Amen.


    I am praying that            you would be born        again in your spirit,      and that God’s Spirit       of all peace and             comfort would               visit you every day        and give you the           greatest  sense of           peace and comfort,      and that you would      be healed in your         internal  organs, and     that God would              prepare the very best  husband for you, after  repairing you  internally,                physically and            emotionally,                     mentally, including  all your memories of  hurt and damaged  emotions, but most of  all, spiritually. 

I will share one more Bible reference from the writings of another of Jesus’ disciples, Paul the Apostle, who said these words of encouragement when we face all kinds of painful circumstances. He explains here what are the reasons we face these harshest set of circumstances - and what they achieve for God and us, if we are believers of him.


In the Bible book of Romans, Chapter Five, Verse Five, “But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance (patience); perseverance produces character, and character produces hope; And this hope never disappoints us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (My words in parenthesis = in the brackets)


This Holy Spirit will be your greatest gift, who will heal you and give you the greatest peace, comfort and healing, but most of all, heal your spirit when his sweet Spirit makes your dead spirit come alive - and you will be born again - and from then a new life - his most wonderful and amazing life will be born in you - and you will feel the sweetest peace and healing, every day. And if you pray and read his Word from the Bible, his Spirit will begin to guide you. All I could say to end my message to her was “Amen” because the meaning of Amen means, “So be it”.

If you are searching for spiritual reality and you have found this writing to be helpful in some way, please download the following book or books:
https://www.amazon.com/Whose-Idea-Am-Greatest-Initiator-ebook/dp/B07GJWGFFD/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XB2SFHNP51VXNQ25ZVGK


https://www.amazon.com/How-Understand-Bible-Skeptic-Struggle-ebook/dp/B07G4J3RJV/ref=pd_ybh_a_4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XB2SFHNP51VXNQ25ZVGK



As for Me, What Made Me Realize I had the Holy Spirit Living in Me.
Because it made the biggest difference in my life - the biggest difference in getting me out of being 'off my head' - it made the biggest difference in turning my situation around for the better when I felt hopeless; it gave me the strength to take my eyes of my temporal -  transient circumstances, concerns and fears and gave me power to look up and focus on Jesus - who is not just God but is a person like me and you, who, like you and me, is acquainted with grief, stress and pain because he lived a human life, and so he is my best saviour to pull me through; because he suffered, he knows my suffering and is fully apathetic and not just sympathetic, and so I can cry to him for real relief, and that’s when he sends his most wonderful comfort and presence to give me this all empowering and enveloping sweetest peace and presence of strength.

More, than anything, it gave me real, solid hope - not the fluffy kind which you are not sure will be there 'when the sausages hit the fan' - but the kind which is authentic hope - which is real hope that is designed by God - His hope or the traditional form of hope - it is not the modern form of hope but rather the biblical form which comes with a guarantee, that gives us full assurance that when we place our hope in God, he will never, ever leave us nor forsake us because that’s what he promised us from the Bible, and we can take that promise to the Bank and cash it, as they say, metaphorically, guaranteeing that this hope is just as tangible and will turn up in your life, if you trust God’s love, that he loves you enough and he has all power enough to pull you through, if you just place your little hand into his - not physically because he is a Spirit - I mean spiritually, emotionally, in prayer to him, and then, as he promises, surely, goodness and mercy will follow you, all the days of your life,  it's guarantee in the Bible.

I realized that God, the Holy Spirit, lives in me, when as I was perusing the Internet, I felt this desire from my old heart trying to raise itself and give me a feeling, “Hey, look, on this site there is some picture of some beautiful ladies who look lovely which your eyes and other parts of your body will really enjoy. Such a power to tempt is strong, but the good news is the Holy Spirit power to resist is even stronger.


So when I said, “No!” the resistance of my old nature was replaced by a stronger resistance - a physical, tangible force. 

The spirit of the anti-Christ who can be very clever and subtle as a snake, who deals in half-truths. 

For example, he tried to rationalise more my resistance, “Come on, this lady looks as beautiful as your wife, and while you enjoy looking at her, you can just imagine it is your wife!”


But then I thought, I can also be as just as rationale and reasonable, “But, if I did that, I would still be breaking faith with my wife, as well as God." And that’s when I knew God the Holy Spirit lives in my heart because the more I was enticed to go down that road to look at those images, even though my old, deadened heart was resurrected or energized - meaning my old nature which had been crucified at the cross of Jesus Christ tried to rise up and be gratified through  the temporary pleasure of sin-  and I felt pleasure yet inside my new heart - my spirit, the Holy Spirit was making me feel uncomfortable and the feeling I had was the opposite of peace, called war;  it means I no longer had that beautiful and sweetest peace ministering to my every emotion and fear, but I was now again susceptible to the wrong spirit - now being actually led by the Spirit of anti-Christ into more despair and torment and darkness - all because I had opened just one millimeter of my heart and followed the enticing pleasure leading feeling which this evil spirit was leading me up the garden which looked and felt pleasurable now but leads me to the most smelly and rotten compost heap around the back of the house at the bottom of the garden, where all the fleas and disease ridden insects are.


So that was when I needed the Holy Spirit tangible power to resist all enticing spirits and wrongdoing (the word used to be called "sin" which people are deceived or the devil deceives people into thinking that’s an old fashioned word and idea, but the truth is, it’s still as potent and enticing and destroying and evil).


After I was filled with the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit came to reside in my life, after inviting him or giving my life to Jesus (the words describing that action do not matter as much as the act of surrendering one’s life to God, then the Holy Spirit came into my heart and started renovating)


Listen to how C.S. Lewis explains the process:
             
             

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”


My paraphrase: 
Jesus Christ is a gentleman. He does not force himself onto you. He does not kick down the door of your heart - first he waits until you invite him - but if you want him to come into your home - your heart - as a Landlord to clean and upgrade every room of your house, then you must regard him as the Owner who you are not afraid to invite into every nook and cranny of your heart. Not as a mere visitor but as a welcomed Invader. For unless you consider him Lord of all, He is not Lord at all. After you invite him in to take the keys of your home, that's when the real renovation begins, which, even though you feel its uncomfortable, it's actually doing you a world of good. The designs he has in you couldn't be more grander and royal - for your greatest healing: he wants to make your heart - your spirit and soul fit for a King, because he has adopted you as his own Son or daughter with firstborn rights.

 Therefore, He takes over one room, then suddenly he lifts up a sledge hammer and starts to smash against one room so he smashes completely one wall between two rooms to make a giant room, he is making our home into his room - a palace fit for the King of kings of the universe - who holds all power enough or is powerful enough to come into my heart and take out my old cold and hurting heart and give me a new heart of love and passion and a heart filled with the excitement and sense of adventure and longing to please my new King in my life and heart and follow him because only he has the power to come into my heart and fill it with  the sweetest peace so that all my fears and hurts are dispelled and he gives me a brand new heart of longing to follow his gentle, loving voice leading me into the greatest adventure written and being worked out by the real and total lover of my soul, who loves me enough to, if I had been the only soul on this earth two thousand years ago, he would have come and dies and taken my punishment for all my shortcomings and mistakes to save my soul and place his seed in my heart which gives me hope that even though I can be perfect, I can at least aim for perfection through the power of his perfect Spirit living in my heart.

And look at the glorious and majestic - most awe-inspiring result. 

The  alternative belief world view is absolutely impotent in its power to inspire hope. Here's the evolution narrative: 
“We all evolved from a Dung-Beetle Narrative.” 

As I responded to one person who was espousing evolution's theory: I believe your premise is wrong; do you think that you exist on one planet among seven other planets which are either too hot or too cold, in one galaxy called the milky way, which is the safest place to be in the universe because of your dung beetled co-incidence — I think not; If you study science, you will see what ingenious systems of trillions and trillions of interlocking “co-incidences” came together at just the right timing to make you, which would only compel us to shout the words, “HOLY MOSES, WE MUST OF BEEN DESIGNED BY THE GREATEST MIND AND MOST GENEROUS MIND WHO HAD THE GREATEST IDEA TO MAKE YOU AND ME, in a universe razor sharply tuned for life, and particularly your human life. The truth is, you are wonderful and fearfully made.
If you tried carrying this truth in your heart for a day instead of the other dung-beetle depressant, your spirits will be lifted no end. And if that doesn’t work, trying eating some humble pie, and ask God the question, “If you are who you are claimed to be — the most powerful Agent in the universe and you are loving — show me what the power of your love can do in my life — how only your love can reach my deepest wounds and unbelief — and slowly unpeel all my hurts and unbelief; Then, watch the exciting adventure he begins in your life — but it all begins with you re-focusing your focus from a dung-beetle to the glorious majestic love which sent his only son to die, on a Roman torture machine (death by slowly suffocating the Subject) which has spiritual repercussions: for Jesus Christ to receive our punishment for our myriad of mistakes we have done, thought and said.






The Following is from Online of which I will give the Source:
How Does One Know that One has the Holy Spirit Living with Them?



The most strict and literal sense the word for “Spirit” in Genesis is the Hebrew word for "wind" or "breath," which gives us a picture of an unseen force or power. This thought is actually born out in the New Testament as well. The two Greek words that make up the phrase “Holy Spirit” can be literally translated “sacred” and “current of air or breath” so we might take this as a description of “God’s sacred and unseen power” used to work with us in our lives.
When you think about that, it is pretty astounding. God’s power at work in my life! The same power that drove creation wrote prophecy and worked miracles. How does this even happen? The answer to that question is equally as astounding, for when we look at the way God’s Spirit - His sacred and unseen power - worked in the Old Testament with humanity, we can see a clear and distinct mode of operation. When we look at God’s sacred and unseen power in the New Testament there is an obvious change in not only method but the operation as well.
Find out what the differences are between the Old and New Testament applications of God’s sacred and unseen power as well as finding out the specifics of what the Holy Spirit does and does NOT do for us here and now. Listen to our podcast on this very topic or read the transcript by clicking CQ Rewind Full Edition here: How Can I Get the Holy Spirit? | Christian Questions Bible Podcast and begin to put the pieces of God’s power applied in their proper places. If God’s power is going to work in your life, don’t you think you should know what to expect?


 Gary Devries Response to the Question, "How Does One Know that One has the Holy Spirit Living with Them?"

The answer is that those who comprehend it, have been ‘initiated’ by the Holy Spirit himself. The apostle Paul says of the truths of the gospel — “But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10). Later he adds “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). Believers then, understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified and risen for their justification, because they have been initiated into it by the Holy Spirit. The bible talks about the “mystery” of the gospel. The New Testament Greek word “mystery” means ‘something whose meaning is hidden from those who have not been initiated, but which is crystal clear ( an open secret) to those who have.’
The apostle Paul stresses three things about the Holy Spirit’s work in initiating believers into the ‘mystery’ of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
  1. The competence of the Holy Spirit for revealing the truth of God arises from the perfect comprehension of that truth in that the Holy Spirit “searches … the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10) The reason the Holy Spirit is able to comprehend these ‘deep things’ perfectly, is the exact correspondence between him and God. How exact is this correspondence? Paul says it is as complete as the correspondence between a man and his own mind (1 Corinthians 2:11).
  2. The instrument the Holy Spirit uses to initiate believers’ is the revealed truth of God through the ministry of the apostles. In the New Testament we have the essence of what the apostles’ received from God ( they are spiritual truths placed in spiritual words). The Word of God is tool the Spirit uses when he initiates someone into the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:13). And other scriptures assure us that this is so. Paul declares to the Romans “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). James adds “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18) And Peter agrees that we are born again “through the Word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:23).
  3. The final result of the Spirit’s work of initiation in the believer creates what Paul calls the “spiritual man” and this person is marked by two qualities (1 Corinthians 2:15).
To sum up: the believer is a puzzle to the unbeliever. The believer because he operates in two realms can understand the unbeliever, however the unbeliever operating in only one realm cannot understand the believer. He sees the believer going to church and he fails to see the attraction of it. He might even go to church himself to see what the believer finds there, and when he gets there, he finds himself completely befuddled by it all. The singing of praises to God. The praying to God, the preaching of God’s Word — it all seems absurd to him. He sees the believer denying himself the pleasures of sin, and he is mystified.
How does one know they have the Holy Spirit ?
Are you puzzled and mystified by Christianity? If so, this is because you are still in the darkness of sin. The Holy Spirit hasn’t performed his work in you. But don’t despair. If you find yourself desiring to know more about God and desiring to have what the believer has, that is an indication that the Holy Spirit has begun his work in you. Ask the Spirit of God for his help! Renounce your sins! Trust completely in Jesus Christ! Do these things, and you will be brought into the family that understand the glorious wisdom of God.



From Nicole of Publishous
They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ― Tom Bodett
Too often we find ourselves wallowing in negativity and responding to current events instead fighting for the joy that is present around and within us. Contemplating life, a news cycle, an upcoming election, a weekend indulgence, the haves and the have nots, and life in general is enough to steal anyone’s joy, if we let it.
C.S. Lewis says it like this:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Let’s reframe the quote to say we are often falsely pleased.
In a season of Thanksgiving I ask:
Where is your joy?
Do you know?
Is it in circumstances?
Is it in the moment?
Is it life events?
Is it in abundance?
Is it in trials?
Is it in want of something?

Rejoice

Rejoice always, It can always be worse.
If I look inward I wouldn’t say that rejoicing is always my natural reaction; can you?
Do not be anxious about anything. It seems impossible; right?
Are you:
  • Frustrated?
  • Distracted?
  • Anxious?
  • Unsure about your future?
  • In failing health?
  • Where is your perspective?

Perspective

Underneath those emotions and worries is commonly a place of fear.
Allow yourself to dig deeper.
Are you afraid of something?
  • Failure?
  • Abandonment?
  • Not measuring up?
  • Being left again?
  • Not being accepted?
  • Being hurt again?
Fight back with gratitude.

Gratitude

Can you give thanks despite what torments you?
Unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude.
Are you grateful for something that needs to be communicated?
We move so fast, get so busy. Sometimes we just don’t think about it.

You’re invited

I invite you to slow down.
Pause.
Stop long enough to take a deep breath and remember gratitude.
Grateful people are innately peaceful people.
Expressing gratitude improves your mental health, physical health, and relational well-being.
Dr. Robert Emmons conducted a psychological study with people from age 8 to age 80 and found that when they focus on gratitude for just three weeks they improve their overall well-being.

Physical Improvements

  • Stronger immune systems
  • Less bothered by aches and pains
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Exercise more and take better care of their health
  • Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

Psychological Betterment

  • Higher levels of positive emotions
  • More alert, alive, and awake
  • More joy and pleasure
  • More optimism and happiness

Social Awareness

  • More helpful, generous, and compassionate
  • More forgiving
  • More outgoing
  • Feel less lonely and isolated.
Gratitude makes a difference and it matters.
It is deeper than psychology, It effects us to the core of our hearts.
A peace that surpasses our understanding will fill us with gratitude.
Fight with gratitude. This is difficult, but it is worth fighting for.
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, — if anything is excellent, think about such things.
Where is your mind?
What are you thinking about?
Are you contemplating gratitude?
There’s plenty of negativity in the world. If you’re in a place of abundance it’s easy to forget there others who are scrounging to eat and find shelter. If you’re in a place of want you may have difficulty being grateful.

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