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How are you doing today?
With all I’ve gone through this past year, I’ve often had to deal with a level of self reflection and self frustration at how I might be handling things. Handling life. After all, not only am I a Christian - I’m in ministry. So I should be functioning full of faith and power at all times, right?
Well, in the realm of the real world, that isn’t always the case. I have experienced both good and bad attitudes from time to time.
I remember one day when God just flat out told me, “Quit complaining!”
I was kind of surprised because I was hurting. I felt I had a right to complain. But I needed an attitude adjustment so that I could move forward towards my promised land of being healed. I needed to focus on and be thankful for how far I had come.
As we’ve come into a new year, I’ve been doing a lot of self searching and evaluation about handling adversity.
I know the importance of the joy of the Lord. It’s our strength. It’s one of my favorite Bible verses. Often times in life I’ve had to shout out loud, “I choose joy today! The joy of the Lord is my strength! Enemy you can’t have my joy!” - Screaming it audibly, through my pain, with tears streaming down my cheeks.
I felt like a liar sometimes. But I knew I had to decide to choose between being depressed and defeated or going forward into making myself bring my mind and spirit into submission to God’s Word and promises.
I’m serious when I say that I think choosing that better mindset was a life or death situation.
My prayer is that I will better handle myself and my thoughts and emotions as I go forward every day. I pray that for you and me both. Because I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired and making myself miserable. That’s stupid. I know better.
Because I’ve been through a rough patch this past year, and I haven’t always handled it well, I’ve been working on questioning myself like this:
How am I handling this situation? How am I handling me?
I want to do as 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us:
“Cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
So sometimes I have to lay hands on my own head and yell at myself, “Right now, thoughts and imaginations, I just cast you down, and I bring every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God into captivity to the obedience of Christ!“
And sometimes, when I have a negative thought, I just yell at myself, and say, “I rebuke me in Jesus name!” And I begin to quote God’s word that the joy of the Lord is my strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
It’s good to ask ourselves how we are handling things and give our self a Holy Ghost adjustment when we need it.
If you are going through a loss of hope or vision, this verse is my prayer for you today:
“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)
Let’s agree with each other for that and for our ability to evaluate our own situations and respond appropriately to God and be vigilant and victorious in this new year.
Love and blessings,
Joni Ames
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