June 12, 2024

I can still remember so clearly what life was like without Jesus. I mainly looked forward to the worldly fun stuff; vacations, drinks, trips and weekends. There were always fun things planned during the weekends, but on Sunday evening I thought, “Arrggghhhh, back to work tomorrow”. I looked forward to holidays and trips, weekends away or drinks. But all these things come to an end and before you know it you are back in the daily grind, looking forward to the next outing planned. Without anything planned, days, weeks or months could be boring. I could wake up in the morning in a fantastic mood only to see it disappear like snow in the sun when someone bothered me on the road or things went wrong. Now I have learned that happiness belongs to the world; it is subject to how we feel, what or who comes our way, or what happens to us. I can give you a brand new car today, and you will be completely happy. But if I decide at the last minute that I should not give you the car after all, but would rather give it to your neighbor that you are not a fan of (😉), then at that moment I have taken your happiness away from you. Look, in a life without Jesus, you are dependent on how things go in your life or even on other people. It comes from the outside. God, in contrast, gives us Joy. Joy is something completely different from happiness. Because joy is “heavenly happiness”. An incomprehensible and supernatural joy that can delight you in the worst of floods. Even if I give that car to your rude neighbor, you can be joyful 😉. He fills your heart with His joy, Heavenly joy! God’s joy is not dependent on circumstances. It is dependent only on God Himself who is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). A Christian can have great peace and joy even in the midst of terrible problems because his faith is in God. /*! elementor – v3.21.0 – 26-05-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px} That dreary Monday morning When I think back to those worldly moments of “happiness” when I did not yet know Jesus, I can now say; What a superficial emptiness! Frightening actually because your “happiness” can also be stolen! Circumstances can change; your own emotions are as changeable as the weather; you can get sick or depressed; other people can ruin your “happiness”; your marriage can fail; loved ones can leave you; you name it! Now that I know Jesus, I wake up with joy in my heart, even on the most boring, drizzly autumn Monday. Just for the simple fact that I have Jesus in my life, every day with Him is truly an adventure! You never know what or who will come your way or what He will ask you to do. So you never know how the day will go with God. Every morning I thank Him for the new morning, and I give the day to Him. “Lord, guide me again today. I am Yours, and I want to see more of You in my life and less of myself. Let me speak when I need to speak, and be silent when I need to be silent (especially that is an important prayer point for me, LOL 😊).” When you pray this, prepare yourself, because even that drizzly Monday can suddenly turn out bizarrely wonderful, and if not, you will still be joyful simpley because of His precense.   God’s joy is given to you by God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and flows from within you outward. Jesus promises us that this Spirit will never depart from us (2 Corinthians 1:21-22, Romans 8:38–39, John 15:4); we are even sealed with Him (Ephesians 1:13–14). Meaning this inexhaustible, supernatural and incomprehensible joy cannot be taken away from you by anything or anyone!!! No matter what happens, whoever stands in front of you and shouts ugly things, no matter what is taken from you, that joy will remain in you until the end of the world and will be your strength in every situation (Nehemiah 8:10). Out of this world I have lived without Jesus for fourty years and with Him for four and a half years now, and I can tell you, a life with Jesus is really out of this world!  It is so supernaturally beautiful that I could write five hundred blogs about it, LOL. It has brought me so much, and I have never spoken to anyone or heard a testimony of anyone who regrets following Jesus. If there is anyone who has regrets, I wonder who they met with. That could not have been the case with our King Jesus. An encounter with King Jesus will not leave you unchanged; you are guaranteed to fall in love with Him, and you will never regret it! Do I never have a bad day? Never is a strong word, but I honestly can’t remember when I had a bad day. Of course, there are times when you are disappointed about something, something doesn’t go well, or you would like to see it differently, or you meet an annoying person 😊, but I have learned to shake it off by tapping into that source of joy God gives me trough His Holy Spirit!  Try not to look at your circumstances, but let His presence be the joy in your life and tap into the infinite source of the Holy Spirit. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Therefore, enjoy this new day (Psalm 118:24), give the day to Him and surrender to His guidance.