Love you all, praying for you.
I just love God’s Word, it is the source of every good thing. What if you had joy? How do you get it? So you can become joyful. Why is joy so important? First, it’s a fruit of the Spirit, it comes from God. He gives it. And if you have it, the rest doesn’t matter, you’re good, no matter what you’re going through. The Bible says Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross. Joy separates you, if you have it, you can face whatever comes – in the Joy of the LORD. What is joy? Exceeding gladness, feelings or emotions caused by success, the prospect of possessing what you desire, a delight of the mind from considering the present possession of something good. Where does joy come from? How do you get it? Eleven Ways To Get Joy #1 Be filled with the Spirit, pray in the spirit, walk in the spirit – and you will experience joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22 #2 Be humble. The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the LORD. Isaiah 29:19 Not the prideful, the humble. See the Relationship Topic – How To Be Humble. #3 Get in His presence. You get there with thanksgiving and praise (Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.) Just shut off the noise, and get in His presence. You stay in His presence whenever you want! He’s always there, you don’t have to schedule an appointment, just come! Once you’re there, you get it - in your presence is fullness of joy – Psalms 16:11. #4 Consider every trial you face – a joy! (Including this one that you’re going through right now). Count it all joy when you face trials of many kinds. James 1:2 The testing of your faith develops perseverance in you so you mature, so God can complete you – so you lack nothing! #5 Steward well what you have been given. Time, Thoughts, Money, Testimony. Matt 25:21 Well done, good and faithful servant, you’ve been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge over many things, enter into the joy of your LORD. Good stewards always have joy. #6 Remain in His love – by obeying. Obedience always brings joy. Know his plans for you today and walk in them. Acts 2:28 – you have made known to me the paths of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence. John 15:9-11 – If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my father’s commands and remain in his love. I’m telling you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy will be full (complete) Obedience brings joy. It starts with PiVAT for today – obey what He told you. Obeyers always get joy! #7 – Ask according to his will. And your joy will be full. John 16:23 - I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name (according to my authority and will). Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. #8 – Put your trust in Him! And joy comes with it. Roman 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him… As you trust in Him, He fills you with joy – and peace. Put your trust in Him. Get in His Word, and put your trust in Him, with your words. Tell yourself, tell Him, He hears you. When I am afraid I will trust in you. What can man do to me. You have been my trust since my youth. I will always praise you, I will always trust in you! #9 – Take Joy. Psalms 5:11 - But let all those who put their trust in you rejoice. (Rejoice means to take joy again.) Let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them. Let those that love your name, be joyful in you. Sometimes joy is a choice. Choose to rejoice. Take joy again, and the God who gives joy will fill you. The king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! He’s still waiting for this next one… but he’s got joy in the LORD! #10 Stay in the Spirit Romans 14:17 – For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Be filled with the Spirit, Pray in the Spirit, and you’ll stay in the Spirit. Obey in the Spirit. Righteousness, peace and joy come from the Holy Spirit, let Him be in full control, and your joy will be full. #11 Stay in the Word. Jer 15:16 – When your words came, I ate them; and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. I John 1:4 – And these things we write to you, that your joy may be full. The more you are in God’s Word, the more your joy will be full. His truth, His promise, and remembering everything He has done – will increase your joy. Praying that you will be filled with the Spirit, that you will choose humility, that you will get in His presence with thanksgiving and praise, that you will consider this trial – a joy! Praying that you will steward well what He has entrusted to you, that you will remain in His love, by obeying. Praying that you will ask according to His will, and put your trust in Him. Praying that you will take joy again and again, that you will stay in the Spirit and stay in His Word. – So His joy will be in you, and your joy will be full. Praying that you will listen to the PRISM Topic Joy – The power of His Word that will bring joy to your heart. God sets you apart with joy. Psalms 45:7 – You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. It’s what the world doesn’t have, the joy of the LORD. Praying that God will anoint you with His oil of Joy, that your life would be a city set on a hill, distinct, that draws people to the love of Jesus and the hope He gives – that brings joy! Love you all, dad
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Love you all, praying for you,
I just love God’s Word – it tells the truth. Let’s talk about money. Why? Because you will love God, or you will love money. You cannot do both - God said. What do you think about money? Is it important to you? It’s important to God. Just not for the same reason. Some people say, “Money is just not important to me.” Others view money like Lombardi viewed winning… “(It’s) not everything, it’s the only thing.” Most people want money because they think it measures something - how successful you are, and how many options it affords you. But that’s not what it measures according to God. His view of success with money - is not what man thinks success is. According to God, money does measure something, success, only not in accumulation, but distribution. According to God, it’s not how much you get, it’s how much you obey with what you’ve been given. The goal isn’t to get more money, God said to the rich fool, tonight your very life will be required of you, then who will get all that you have stored up for yourself? Neither is the goal to do things that make money. Sometimes what God wants you to do, will produce money. And sometimes, the better you do it, the more money it will produce. But other times what God calls some people to do doesn’t produce money, it’s fruit is of a different kind. Either way, God brings the increase, you just plant the seed - (which also came from Him). The goal isn’t even to be a steward. You are one already. You’re either a good one, or a poor one. What’s a steward? Someone who cares for another’s possessions. Whose money is it? God’s. The silver and gold are mine says the LORD, and the cattle on a thousand hills. Do I need a bull from your stalls, or a goat from your pens? If I were hungry I wouldn’t tell you, because the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. “But I earned it.” Did you? It doesn’t matter, when you’re a steward whatever you earn, still belongs to the owner, it’s not yours. God told the Israelites, you cannot sell the land, the land is mine, you’re just renters. Every fifty years at Jubilee – all the land in Israel went back to the original owners – the tribes and families of Israel who by inheritance were assigned their portion of the promised land. So real estate prices were predicated on the number of years until Jubilee – when it was all returned. They were just renters, not owners. Whatever you earned was just labor, not ownership. Did you make the grass grow? Or the crops grow? Did you make the raw materials that comprise the product you produce? Did you make it rain, did you protect it from drought, did you stop inflation, government interference or regulation, or shutting down your industry? Did you stop thieves from stealing what you have? Did you keep yourself from getting sick and being unable to work? Did you give yourself good health, did you give yourself the next breath? What about waking up in the morning in your right mind, did you do that? Was that great business idea yours? Did it come from you? All of these things God did. Did you keep your company from going bankrupt? No, God did. You just labor. God said the laborer is worthy of his wages, but the ability to work, the ideas to increase production and spare from loss, all come from somewhere. Not you. There is nothing new under the sun. Anyone who said “I did that!” Is not only ignorant, but perhaps borderline narcissistic. It’s God who did all these things. Have you ever noticed our tendency to take credit for what someone else did. Money is the measure of the heart. It is God who gives you the power to gain wealth. It is God who holds health together, nations apart, and the economy together. Solomon spoke of a grievous evil under the sun, wealth stored to the detriment of the owner, or war or calamity, that sweeps it away, so a man never gets to enjoy what his own hands produced. When it comes to money - God owns it, you’re a steward. It’s not how much you get, it’s how you obey with what you have, and everything you have or did comes from God. So what about money? It’s just a byproduct of labor if you work for it, or ideas if it works for you. Far more important… What does God want you to do? Then, whatever money that labor produces, what does He want you to do with it? Some people say our job is to get more, because of the parable of the talents. That wasn’t the point, they missed the first sentence… “the kingdom of heaven… is like. God said don’t overwork to get rich, have the wisdom to show restraint. Some people decry money disadvantage, they’re part of the ‘money is success’ camp. So Lebron’s kids have an advantage over your kids, what does that matter? It’s not what you have, it’s how you obey with what you have. Someone once said, “More money, more problems.” Those with money have often reflected, “Money doesn’t change you – it just makes you more of what you are.” More money definitely is more responsibility… it’s more to obey with. Money perhaps is just a tool that God uses to test us, and to teach us obedience. Some people obey money – not God, it’s a god to them. They love it and obey it. Your god is who you obey. They make all money decisions based on how much money it will get them, not on what God tells them. Sometimes God will tell you to do something that doesn’t make money, but loses it. Everything you give – appears at face value- to be a loss. Only in God’s kingdom, everything you give that God directed you to give, is a gain, not a loss. Work for the Lord, not for money, wealth, fame, or to please someone else, your spouse or your boss. Money is a measure of work, sometimes a measure of productivity. It’s definitely a measure of priority. God said it’s a measure of the heart. It’s what you obey with, or not. So how do you learn to obey with money? Know God’s Word, Know where it is, and Know God’s Voice. #1 Know God’s Word, what God says about it. Learn to think like God thinks about money, not the way man thinks. (See The Money Packet – to learn what God says about money). #2 Know Where It Is, give an account of it, (Start a 4C’s Accounting Tool, or get current with yours – you can’t obey with money, if you don’t first know where it is.) #3 Know God’s Voice, what He tells you to do with it. (4C’s daily will make it a regular conversation with Him). Then you will learn to obey with money – the Holy Spirit will teach you. You’ll learn to love God, not money. Money won’t control you, you will just steward it – however God tells you. And when you are faithful with a few things… you will be entrusted with many things – and enter into the joy of your LORD. Money brings a cheap joy, a temporary joy. But the joy of the LORD is a different level, it’s eternal not temporal, it doesn’t depend on money, it is given by God. Praying that you are faithful in 4C’s – a Godly pattern of stewarding money. Praying that you are current in your 4C’s tool, whatever tool you use. Praying that you are obeying with time, with thoughts, and money, overcoming with your testimony! So your joy can be full! So you hear well done today! Then – you’ll hear “Well Done!” on that day. Love you all, dad |
AuthorKelly Kamentz - Jesus follower, husband, father, and friend, helping others surrender time, thoughts, money, and testimony, to fulfill their purpose! Archives
November 2024
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