SUNDAYS WITH JOYCE..."MATURITY"

MATURITY

Be steadfast    1 Peter 5: 10    But the God of all grace, who hast called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make ye perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Content in all situations    Philippians 4: 12, 13    I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Discipline from God fosters maturity    Hebrews 12: 6-9    For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chasteneth, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father od spirits, and live?

Grow in faith and love    2 Thessalonians 2, 3    Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.We are bound always to thank God for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

Grow to completion    Philippians 1: 6    be confident of this very thing, that he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:.

Partaker of deeper truths    Hebrews 5: 14    But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Stand firm    Philippians 1: 27, 28    Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; and in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

Stay Calm    2 Timothy 4: 5     But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Think like adults    1 Corinthians 14: 20    Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding, be men.

 

 

Some people believe that you can have some experience in your life and all of a sudden you have arrived, you’re perfect. That is not the way our Christian life is pictured in the Bible. In this passage we have a call to press on. There is a warning that no one has arrived. We never reach a level of moral perfection in this life. That will happen when we are with the Lord in heaven.

It could be summed up by the old Negro Spiritual song. "Please be patient with me. God is not through with me yet." It is a journey. It is a goal. The first goal that we see is that we must press on. Look at verse 12.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

This is the Apostle Paul speaking. He is saying, "I have not yet arrived. I have not yet obtained all these things." So we know that nobody in the Christian life has arrived. Not the Pastor, not the deacon, not Billy Graham. No one has arrived. We are all called in this journey to press on.

Spiritual growth requires an ongoing lifetime commitment. Paul wrote this instruction because there were members of the church at Philippi who thought they had arrived. They thought that everything was where it needed to be in their life and they did not realize they need to continually press on in Christ.

Those are the times we are called to press on. We are to be more like Christ and continue to look ahead to the finish line. Paul wants to make this point so clear. He does this through an illustration. He talks about the imagery of the games. He talks about one who is running a race. The race could only be won when the runner gives the race his full attention.

That is what we find in the story of the tortoise and the hair. Here is one who can run fast, but if distracted they will not win the race. Paul says, Run in such a way that you may win. Press on that you have your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ and the goal of becoming more like him.

 

 

 

When God Came To Him

When God came to him
For the first time,
God saw his heart
Fast asleep.
Therefore, God went back
To His celestial Abode.

When God came to him
For the second time
His mind rejected God.

When God came to him
For the third time
His vital ignored God.

When God came to him
For the fourth time,
His life criticised God.

When God came to him
For the fifth time,
He asked God
Why He continued coming.
He asked God if God was a beggar
Or a robber.

God said to him,
"My child,
I am neither a beggar
Nor a robber.
I just cannot help seeing you,
For you are My Divinity’s
Self-Transcendence-Dream."

 

 

 

If you fear punishment,
Then why don't you love
Enlightenment more?
In enlightenment
Punishment is an undeniable unreality.

 

SUNDAYS WITH JOYCE

WORD FOR TODAY

JOY

1. The humble will be filled with fresh joy    Isaiah 29:19   The meek shall also increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

2. Joy at answered prayer    John 16:24   Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

3. Serve God with joy    Psalms 100:2    Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing

4. God anoints with oil of joy    Psalms 45:7     Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, they God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows

5. Trials, count it all joy    James 1:2    My brethern , count it all joy when you fall into diver's temptations;




God said:

Joy begets joy.

Let joy be the theme of your life.

Let it be your byline,

your password, your entry into Heaven.

Let Us not be snobbish about joy.

Joy does not have to be of the Highest.

There is joy also in entertainment.

Just bear in mind that joy

is not mere entertainment.

Joy is an entry, not an exit.

Joy does not have to jump up and down.

Joy can be like the quiet reading of a bedtime story.

It does not have to be a performance.

There is great joy with Me,

beloveds, when you are in the mood for God.

Of course, sometimes you think I interfere with your life,

get in the way, cause obstructions.

Truly, beloveds,

there is no need for Me to do that.

I clear your path.

You throw your own stumbling-blocks,

will you concede this?

You have some short-sightedness

or long-sightedness

that obstructs your view.

Nevertheless, keep going, beloveds.

When it comes to life,

you cannot predict accurately.

You just have to skip along,

on one foot and then the other,

and see what comes.

But joy is not meant to be dependent

on what occurs in life.

And that's where I come in.


Your awareness of your closeness to Me gives you great joy.



Life is meant to be lived joyously. We are the ones who put so much strain on our lives. We try to do God's work for Him. He has blessings for us, that we will never have room to receive...simply because we are not emotionally, or spiritually where he can reach us.....


Let us find new ways to see God in our everyday lives. Let's find something to show for all the blessings He has given us. it's another week. Another month. Another season. Something to be joyful about. Don't you think...lol

SUNDAYS WITH JOYCE

TOLERANCE

1. Intolerance of disciples    Mark 9:38.39, Luke 9:50    And John answered unto him saying, Master we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

2. Jesus tolerated tax collectors    Matthew 9: 10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meet in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and his disciples.

3. Paul's tolerance of self-serving preachers Phillipianns 1:17,18     But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the Gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoise, yes, and will rejoice.

4. Tolerance for opinions ofothers     Romans 14, 1-5, 7    Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another who is weak eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth dispise him that eateth not; and let not him that eatheth dispise him that eatheth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.  Who art thou that judgeth anothe rman's servant?  to his own master he standeth or falleth.  Yes, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. One man esteemeth, one day above one another: another esteemeth every say alike.  Let every man be fully pursuaded in his own mind.   For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.

5. Tolerance for the sake of spreading the Gospel    2 Timothy 2:10    Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

 

Tolerance
Is a secret and sacred way
To enrich our human life.

~

Strength and tolerance
Must be eternal partners
To be victorious in life.

~

India is not Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist.
India is India.
Its tolerance is more than ready
To freely house all religions.

~

Tolerance is not peace,
But from tolerance,
In the near or distant future,
Peace may blossom.

~

If I cannot have compassion-power,
Let me have forgiveness-power.
If I cannot have forgiveness-power,
Let me have tolerance-power.
If I cannot have tolerance-power,
Let me at least delay
My judgement-power.

 

~Sri Chinmoy~

 

 

What is tolerance? -- it is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly -- that is the first law of nature.

 

The problem to be faced is: how to combine loyalty to one's own tradition with reverence for different traditions

 

Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict [slavery] might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes--Abraham Lincoln

 

The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own

It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty