joy Archives | Being Confident Of This

How Trusting Jesus Leads to Joy

January 15, 2016 by jstults Leave a Comment

Friends, I’m overjoyed to introduce you to my writer friend, Dawn Klinge, who blogs over at Above the Waves. Dawn has a new book that’s about to be released: Look To Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God (coming January 26^th, 2016). Today she’s agreed to share some of what she has learned with us.

I’ve enjoyed and been encouraged by Dawn’s words countless times, so I’m sure this will be a treat for you all. Please make Dawn feel welcome by leaving her some encouraging comments.

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What is your definition of joy? There’s one thing I know for sure; I want more of it. My definition of joy? That has been a bit harder for me to pin down.

The Bible has a lot to say about joy. The more I study the Word, the more I realize that joy is different than happiness. It’s a settled assurance, a quiet confidence, and a choice to trust God, no matter the circumstance. (Romans 15:13)

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. “Putting on” a fruit of the Spirit, through our own efforts, was once described to me by a friend as being, “just as silly as gluing a piece of wax fruit to a tree and expecting it to taste just as good as the real thing”. The production of fruit starts at the root. The root of joy comes from trusting Jesus.

I was trying to put a definition on the word, joy. Then I read this verse (emphasis added)…

First Peter 1:8-9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Joy is inexpressible and filled with glory. I take this to mean that joy is not something I’m going to be able to describe. It’s indescribable. Only those who trust in the Lord have this joy. If I want more joy, I need to, above all, seek Jesus. Joy will follow. That’s a promise.

We can use words like confidence, assurance, and glorious to describe joy- but we need to know that those descriptions barely skim the surface. Like a cold lake on a hot day, it’s best to jump in and experience it.

When we place our trust in Jesus, we will find joy. We will also continue to experience sorrow as long as we are on this side of Heaven. The two are inseparable. I love the way Kay Warren explains this in her book, Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough. She describes looking at train tracks into the brightness of the horizon,

“…the tracks become one. You can’t distinguish them as two separate tracks. That’s how it will be for us, too. One day, our parallel tracks of joy and sorrow will merge into one. The day we meet Jesus Christ in person and see the brightness of who he is, it will all come together for us. Then it will all make complete sense.”

I want joy, and I have found it, in following Jesus. When we say we want more joy, we can remember that He is where it’s found.

Jesus, we want more of you.

Dawn Klinge is the author of Look To Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God (coming January 26^th, 2016). She writes about Christian faith regularly at Above the Waves, drawing on her experience as wife and mom to two. She holds a degree in education from University of Idaho. A pastor’s kid and a church girl her entire life, she’s still trying to figure out what it looks like to put her trust in Jesus. Dawn and her husband, Derek, live near Seattle, Washington. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

For a Longing, Weary World

December 24, 2015 by jstults 13 Comments

Long lay the world, in sin and error pining…

Thus begins the second half of the first verse of my favorite Christmas Carol ever, “O Holy Night.” What is it about Christmas that leads to pining or longing? You’ve felt it, haven’t you – that sense of waiting and yearning that seems to envelop us and fill the very air with electricity?

It’s what makes the world weary yet hopeful.

Those many years ago, the world waited for fulfillment of a two-thousand-year-old promise, a promise repeated throughout Old Testament prophecy over 300 times. The longing was thick in the air.

And while I know some of today’s nearly tangible anticipation stems from that longing for the day of Christ’s birth, I have to wonder, why is the world still weary?

Why do we still experience that sense of longing every Christmas?

Then last week I read in Romans chapter 8 these words:

19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. (emphasis mine – NASB)

Over two thousand years ago the world waited as Mary labored to bring forth the Son who would forever change history. No longer would mankind be doomed to eternal separation from God, but through this tiny babe, we would be granted eternal life.

While Christ’s birth and eventual death on the cross began the process of freeing mankind from sin’s chains and molding us into new creatures, that process of sanctification is not yet complete!

As Paul wrote in this Romans passage, the world is still weary and “subjected to futility.” All of creation “groans and suffers” under the curse of sin, longing for redemption.

We recognize the devastating effects of sin all around us:

personal failures
broken relationships
ruined families
financial struggles
poor health
children starving
women sold into slavery
whole tribes dying without hope
wars that never seem to end
death

The list could be a mile long.

Even though we rejoice in celebration of the Savior’s birth, there is some part of us that realizes we are not home yet. Our world remains broken. We remain broken, not yet perfect.

According to Paul, even the very creation itself, nature, longs anxiously for that day when Christ shall return to Earth again!

Only then will our longing find peace.

Only then will creation and our very bodies be fully redeemed. Only then will we experience the paradise God intended for us from the very beginning.

This is why we find ourselves longing during Christmas, friends.

We long for His return, and the celebration of His birth affords us a small glimpse of what peace on Earth could look like. Christmas reminds us of the perpetual joy those who are in Christ shall some day experience.

We long with hope because we know He is coming again!

And the taste of freedom we experience through Christ now will be nothing compared to the final glory of being set free once and for all. The joy we feel at Christmas is minuscule compared to the exuberance of seeing God face to face.

Can you imagine it, friends?

No more pain or suffering.

No more striving and yearning.

No more futility.

Only Love made complete!

Go ahead and long this Christmas season. It just means we know that something even better awaits.

We can celebrate the joy of Christmas with that slight tinge of sadness that tells us we are not home yet.

We have that hope of joy made complete because God kept His promise by sending Jesus to live among us and die for us. We can trust that He will keep His promise; Christ shall return!

²⁰For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Philippians 3:20-21, NASB)

Wait eagerly for it!

Jen 🙂

Sharing with: Grace and Truth

How To Give Your Kids a Good Christmas

December 22, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 5 Comments

I woke up feeling a little sorry for myself this morning, sorry for my family, too. It hasn’t been the Christmas season we expected or wanted, and I’m left wondering: how do you give your kids a good Christmas when nothing seems right in your world?

We’ve spent the entire month of December ill now. Influenza spread slowly from one family member to another. Several children ended up with infections. My asthmatic lungs were hit hard and our physician threatened me with hospital time.

Thankfully, it was just bronchitis and not pneumonia.

Just bronchitis, ha.

A pharmacy worth of medicines clutters our kitchen counters still – fever reducers, cough meds, antibiotics – you name it, we probably have it right now. Or at least that’s the way it feels. 🙂

Then, this weekend during our church Christmas program practice, our middle boy began complaining of stomach pain. By the time we had removed costumes and were ready to leave, he was on the floor curled up in a ball, crying. It frightened me because he is our tough cookie, the kid who rarely complains of pain.

So, when he started to scream that his stomach hurt, I left immediately for the closest ER!

We spent a day and a half at the hospital under observation, with many people praying – the world over. The surgeon mentioned appendicitis, but his symptoms didn’t fit exactly. Finally, his white blood cell count dropped, his pain subsided and we were able to go home.

We were overjoyed! He talked about playing with his little brother and sister and how happy he was to come home in time for Christmas. I grinned in the front seat, glad to have my funny, enthusiastic boy back. We were almost home.

All seemed right in the world again.

…

And then, suddenly it wasn’t.

Our oldest son woke in the middle of the night with an asthma attack. Then, I got sick and so did he. On top of that, the only little one who didn’t already have an ear infection complained that his ear hurt.

I’ll admit, friends, my heart travelled straight from rejoicing to complaining because it’s almost Christmas and it just doesn’t seem fair, really. Our children were only back at school for a week, and already ill again!

How can you give your kids a good Christmas when everything goes wrong?

How?

I know I’m not the only one struggling for joy right now. In fact, I’m certain that many of you are experiencing trials much deeper and more painful than ours. If I really knew the depth of them, I’d probably be ashamed of my own complaining.

And maybe you’re a mom like me who doesn’t really mind so much for herself, but for the kids!

Maybe you lie awake at night worrying about life circumstances. Maybe you’re experiencing the pain of loss or separation from loved ones. Maybe your finances are in such a state that you don’t even know where your next meal is coming from.

Maybe you catch hold of joy for a few moments only to quickly lose it again.

Whatever your lot might be this Christmas, know this: you can still give your kids a good Christmas.

You can give your kids a good Christmas without health, without money, without extravagance.

You can give your kids a good Christmas in spite of pain, loss, broken relationships, and whatever other trials you might be experiencing.

You can because He came.

Luke 2

⁹And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;¹¹for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

He came! Emmanuel, God WITH us – that’s what Christmas is really about. Christ, the Hope of the world, in human flesh, for love of our wandering hearts.

We have to let go of this expectation of holiday perfection and embrace the reality that human life is flawed, messy, painful, even at Christmas.

Christ came right into the midst of that mess, born in a stable – there’s nothing clean about that.

You want to give your kids a good Christmas?

Let go of the worry.

Embrace Christ.

Show them Hope, Love and Peace.

Teach them of the Savior who willingly left Heaven’s splendor to suffer alongside us here on Earth. That’s a Love like no other, my sisters in Christ. He chose us. He chose pain. He chose death, so that we might experience life in abundance.

He did it for you, for me, for them.

He did it “for all the people.”

The wonder of Christmas has little to do with presents and food and fun.

The wonder of Christmas is the keeping of a thousands-of-years-old promise, hundreds of promises, really. The wonder of Christmas is Christ.

Romans 8

¹⁸For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.²²For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Do you feel it, friends?

The joy of Christmas is spreading right through us.

It cannot be contained. The whole of creation leaps with joy – He is born! Promise fulfilled, salvation at hand, redemption nigh. Hope in human flesh.

Here’s how to give your kids a good Christmas: tell them the story of Jesus.

It’s the only thing that truly matters.

Clinging to hope and joy along with you this Christmas season,

Jen 🙂

Also sharing with: Monday Parenting Pin It Party, Mama Moments, Mom’s the Word, Wholehearted Home, Missional Women, Tell It To Me Tuesdays

Are You Hungry for Joy?

March 21, 2014 by stultsmamaof4 15 Comments

We hear people say it, “choose joy” as if it is a thing readily available for the taking. Just reach out and grasp it and it’s yours to keep.

And some think they’ve found it in a nice house or pretty clothes or a fulfilling relationship, while others are just plain hungry for it.

We think we find joy in children’s laughter, walks on the beach, sunny days, a good book. We claim joy in date nights, a healthy bank account, a successful career or ministry, good health, full stomachs, any and all of those blessings we’ve counted up.

We look for joy always in all of the created things; we crave it.

But all of these things, even these people, they are are fleeting, friends: here today, gone tomorrow.

Any joy based on these moments, on temporary possessions or circumstances, is destined to pass.

When that happens, we feel cheated somehow, don’t we?

We feel let down. We may even wonder if something is wrong with us or question why the joy is gone. Have you been there before? When the sunshine suddenly turns to rain, when laughter turns to pain?

I have.

I’ve walked through seasons where joy seemed scarce and even counting my blessings, though they are many, wasn’t enough to satisfy my soul. I’ve found myself hungry for lasting joy, one not of this world.

True joy, lasting joy, comes from one source and one source only – the Father God who created us purely for love’s sake. His only Son took upon Himself the burden of the cross “for the joy set before him” so that we might have joy unspeakable.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Are you looking for it today, friend, the kind of joy that lasts through the hard times and back again, the kind that wells up from within, unstoppable?

Find joy in Jesus.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done, I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

Psalm 92:4

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

Psalm 95:1

Jen 🙂

It’s Five Minute Friday again, so I’m joining up with the lovely ladies over at Lisa Jo Baker’s place for a stress-free, five-minute, free-write on a one-word prompt. Join us if you like!

Cultivating Christmas: Reflect

December 7, 2013 by stultsmamaof4 1 Comment

Every morning when it’s time to “do hair” we stand in front of my mirrored dresser. “Look in the mirror,” I tell her in an attempt to keep her still as I comb through the tangles that seem to multiply in her near-black hair overnight. She chatters and squirms as I comb, my daughter, my mini-me.

She’s the only girl in our bunch of four, but that doesn’t hold her back. She’s spunky enough to hold her own with her brothers, tough enough to throw an elbow once in a while, and brave enough to climb the same tall pines in the backyard. When she comes in the house smiling with dirt on her pant knees and twigs in her long, straight locks, I think – That’s my girl! Half tom-boy, half princess!

Unlike her twin brother, she’s fiercely independent and prefers playing on her own as much as she enjoys playing with her brothers. She’s smart and inquisitive, loving learning simply for the sake of knowing. And when her feelings get hurt, we can expect a good twenty minute pout. She doesn’t cry often, but when she does, big alligator tears roll down her face from her large, hazel eyes, sometimes silently.

She appreciates order, and beautiful things, and chocolate, and clothes (yes, even at the age of four!), and babies, and animals, and singing, and books, and laughing, and so many more of the same things that I do.

She’s a reflection of me, both physically and in personality. My only daughter, my sweet yet spunky princess.

And having experienced the separation of living halfway around the world as a missionary kid, I cannot even imagine sending her a world away (or any of her brothers, for that matter), especially knowing she would suffer pain and temptation, rejection and persecution, and even death.

But that’s exactly what our Father God did so long ago. He sent us his only Son, His pride and joy, His very reflection, stripped of godly position to become fully human, fully feeling, fully fragile. He did all of this, knowing what would be required of His beloved Son. All so that we might know true life and know it abundantly.

Jesus.

He reflects real Light, real Love, real Hope and real Peace.

Because He is Emmanuel, God with us.

So that we might know Him.

How can we comprehend such a love as this, sisters? That the Almighty God of the Universe would care enough for undeserving sinners to sacrifice the joy of His only Son’s presence in order to gift it to us, so that we might know Him.

That’s the joy of Christmas!

Jen 🙂

I’m joining in with the Five Minute Friday crew this week, albeit a day late. 🙂 We write for five minutes on a one word prompt, no planning, no editing, no stressing. Just words. Join in here!

I may also be linking up with any of these lovely blogs.

Power to Produce

June 5, 2013 by stultsmamaof4 8 Comments

If you are anything like me, then cleaning out the fridge is low on the totem pole. You might occasionally reach in for some sustenance and pull out rotten food instead. Instead of giving life and energy, the food is wasted, worthless, and sometimes even downright disgusting.

Our spiritual fruits can be that way, too! Have you ever tested your fruit? Held it up to the Lamp, the faithful Word of the Lord?

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love,

joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,self-control;

against such things there is no law.

In my bible, beside this passage I have written two small words: the test. Do you want to know how closely you are walking with the Lord? Examine your fruit of the Spirit! Do they pass the test? Are you overflowing with patience, joy, peace, kindness, love, goodness and so on?

All too often I find myself trying to produce these fruit all on my own. I wake up in the morning thinking, I’m going to be patient with my children today. I’m going to be kind and loving to my husband. And later in the day, when strength runs low, I feel frustrated and out of control. I wonder, “Why am I acting this way? What is the matter with me today?” as if some sort of spell has come over me, and I’ve been rendered incapable of obedience.

Finish reading this post by following the link to its new location here.