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SEEKING REAL JOY

For Fapstronauts who are disciples of Christ

  1. timcia

    timcia Fapstronaut

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    Psalm 16:11 ESV
    You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

    We find joy in God's presence. But we will not be fully in His presence if we have unconfessed sin in our lives. If we confess, repent, and have a plan to change, we start making progress.

    Once we are in a right place with God we should start to feel His presence. If we don't feel it, we need to ask Him why? Sometimes we merely need to give Him praise and thanks to get in His presence. At other times He wants to show us some unknown sin that is keeping us from fulfilling what He wants us to do.

    When I don't feel the presence of the Lord, I react very aggressively and try to get to the bottom of why. I will not live with darkness clouding my mind. Frustrations filling my head, anger filling my heart, or any other condition other than the presence of the Lord. I do this because I insist on living in joy.

    Secondly, set your PRIORITIES in Order.

    Matthew 6:33, (CSB) – (Jesus said), “But seek first the kingdom of God[and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

    Seek God first. Focus on righteousness first. When we live this way, we can start to feel the presence of the Lord.

    Thirdly, pray. Someone said it like this, “When we pray, we talk to God. When we read the Bible, God talks to us.” When pursuing after God we need both – to talk to God, and to listen to God speak back.

    Fourthly, Seek His Presence with HUMILITY. Through the prophet Isaiah God proclaims, “I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2, CSB).

    Humbly seek the Lord. I am always wrong. He is always right.

    Lastly, do a soft memorization of John 15:1-11.

    John 15:11 ESV
    “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

    Making a decision to “Live” the first 11 verses of John 15 is making a decision to “Find” the joy of the Lord.

    Seek Him, have the right priorities, and you will find Him.

    For the full article click https://chrisvaught.net/2019/02/16/four-ways-to-pursue-the-presence-of-god/
     
    maak to likes this.
  2. timcia

    timcia Fapstronaut

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    Lately, I have been close to being obedient to scripture. Close to doing God's will. But when I live this way, frustration increases and motivation decreases.

    I need to memorize Psalm 16:11 ESV

    “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

    When we decide to be fully dedicated the Bible says: Psalm 32:8 ESV

    I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

    Life is great when we insist on the straight path. When we do that, God shows us what “to do.”

    Consider praying: “Father, help me to be a fire burning for you.”

    When we sell ourselves out to be a burning fire for God, He instructs us, He counsels us. Psalm 16:11 starts to become true for us.

    The Feb. 26th article and this article give us a lot of keys for finding joy. Consider filling out your pyramid for quitting with some of these ideas. Because the best ideas for quitting are sometimes the ones that show us how to experience God's pleasures.
     
    maak to likes this.
  3. maak to

    maak to Fapstronaut

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    Thank you dear brother for speaking the truth to us. The Lord be with you
     
  4. maak to

    maak to Fapstronaut

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    You will keep him in perfect peace,
    Whose mind is stayed on You,
    Because he trusts in You.
    (Isaiah 26.3 NKJV)
     
    timcia and Tao Jones like this.
  5. timcia

    timcia Fapstronaut

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    Strongholds kill joy

    2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not [a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

    We go to great extremes to go to war against lust because we know that it is a “stronghold” that hurts us. If we often study the verses for quitting we are acknowledging that our habit is a stronghold and that it will be very hard to get rid of it. But... there is great power in these verses. These verses are “God talking directly to us.” These verses are “God instilling His power into us.”

    These verses clash with our desire to be in control. Our desire to live however we want and still have heavenly security. Our desire to have the pleasures we want instead of “God's great pleasures.”

    A Ticket to Joy

    These verses are our ticket to joy because they teach us to take every thought captive.

    #1 Fear is good. These verses teach us to fear these sins. Consider working daily to form a habit of “Fearing lust.” Coincidentally, when we focus on obeying the Bible we start to increase in joy.

    #2 War is (sometimes) good. I have declared WW3 on lustful thoughts. If you want to start to have joy, start working incessantly on fighting bad thoughts. You can do it.

    #3 Work is good. Christians everywhere criticize me for helping others instead of increasing in American dollars. They plan to be the first person to load the hearse up with cash. The Bible says we can have treasure (Received for focusing on helping others) with us to enjoy for the next million years and more. Plus, helping others leads to increasing joy.

    #4 A block of prayer is good. The Bible says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy.” God “always” eventually leads those who are fully committed. God “always” eventually fills those who are fully committed. Today, consider committing to a block of prayer daily. It will be a commitment to being filled and to eventually starting to find real joy.

    #5 What daily habits do you need to form to find joy?

    “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
    Henri J.M. Nouwen
     

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