Being Nourished in Joy

I will take a momentary break from my thoughts regarding the things that have helped me to listen better and hear the Lord to paraphrase some thoughts from the newsletter that will go out this week. To read the newsletter go to http://www.daymarkcounseling.com/clientimages/38094/beingnourishedinjoy.pdf

I thought for those that read the newsletter the blog can be a chance to respond to its contents. If you don't want to read the whole newsletter the bigger points are summarized below:

Our Memories Must Be Redeemed so that We Hold Onto Joy
Our memories tell a story. They serve a purpose. In our flesh, our memories will tell stories that detach us from God and mock his caring involvement in our life. There are two commands we find repeated throughout the scriptures: remember and rejoice. Our fleshly tendency can be to forget and despair. The fathering memories I was holding on to told the story of an absent God and a mean father. I talked and obsessed more about my parenting mistakes and had a harder time celebrating the recollections that would bring me hope. When we are genuinely remembering our experiences in truth (the good and bad mixed together but orchestrated towards hope) they tell the story of God’s kindness and redemption. We must pray that our memory is redeemed.

It Helps to See Everyday Kindnesses as Gifts From God to Sustain Us
Forgetful joy is an experience of delight that comes from partaking in reminders of home (heaven). This helps us to disregard our present reality as aliens and foreigners living in a strange land ruled by the accuser. Forgetful joy evolves from the simple pleasures God provides to help push away the weight of this fallen world. Forgetful joy can happen to us each day. It can be a good night’s sleep, a cup of coffee in the morning, a relaxing lunch, a good book or a humorous exchange with a friend. Forgetful joy is attached to the sensual pleasures God gives us each day. “Naming” this type of joy means we accept that it comes from the Lord’s hand and we turn away from our tendency to make it an idol. Every good thing comes to us as a gift from God (James 1:17) and the more we grow in ‘God-consciousness’ the more we name every gift as a kindness from God that leads us into joy.

He also Gives Deeper Gifts to Remind Us He Has not Forgotten Us
In addition to forgetful joy, we can experience connected joy. Connected joy is deep contentment from experiencing an intimate touch from the Lord that reminds us He has not forgotten us and that we will one day see him face to face. “You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever,” (Psalm 16:11). In connected joy we experience a fresh or new taste of God personally and it penetrates deeper than bodily gratification. For instance, a kind call from a friend will touch us differently than a warm bath. They both bring us pleasure and can help us be thankful for God but the phone call, because of its relational dynamic, can go deeper. In fact, as the person making the call knows us more intimately and incarnates the Gospel more freely, the joy will infiltrate deeper and bring us closer to the Lord.

'Celebrating' both types of Joy Helps them Penetrate Deeper
The scriptures clearly remind us to “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15). One of the best ways to honor God’s kindness is to share it with friends. If we are to become people of strength and hope one of the avenues there is learning to celebrate well. You might simply tell your friend about the new brand of coffee you are enjoying in the morning or you might sit weeping at their side describing a profound moment of God’s kindness. Either way, by sharing together in these moments, we are saying and re-saying the Lord cares about us and has not forgotten us. As we recount these moments we are crystallizing their impact and working God’s kindness into deeper recesses in our heart.

My hope is that we all keep moving towards one of my favorite expressions of the Apostle Paul who said, "I am sorrowful yet always rejoicing," ( 2 Corinthians 6:10)