Day 10 of Finding Joy in the Journey
Isaiah 35:10
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Can God really use joy to overcome sorrow and sighing? Joyful Journey talks about a new normal that results from the daily practice of joy building:
From the Joyful Journey book:
Creating a new normal: Step 1:
The first step (of three) to a new normal is learning to feel appreciation in my body. Appreciation, interactive gratitude and thankfulness will all work provided I notice what I feel like in my body during the emotions. Noticing the body sensations insures that the right parts of my brain are working together (prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and insula). When my brain discovers that I can feel appreciation at will, a new range of possibilities opens for me. I can open this door through interactive gratitude.
~ page 64, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow
Session A: Continue to revisit joyful memories recorded in your Golden Moments. Look for God’s presence. Invite God to share His thoughts about the joy you experienced. You may only get through a couple. Great! Descriptions and examples are on pages 21-22 of Joyful Journey. Don’t forget to notice body sensations, mood changes, attitudes, heart rate, etc.
Journal Prompt:
Practice seeing God in the present and past joys:
Key Words:
[Immanuel thought] Keep “returning to Me” and let Isaiah’s words about the ransomed inspire you to come to Me singing with everlasting joy upon your head; I will replace your sorrow and sighing with gladness and joy.
Afternoon Session
Ezra 6:22
They kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Annual festivals were a source of great joy for the religious community. Not being present caused someone to miss out on joyful times. That said, being present does not guarantee enjoying the moment. Here is one reason why:
From the Joyful Journey book:
Noticing God's goodness and appreciating His gifts can be viewed as depositing money in our "Immanuel" savings accounts, whereas focusing on painful events in life can be like withdrawing money! Thus, the daily practice of recognizing God's goodness is always recommended to strengthen our brains to habitually notice Immanuel in every situation including pain. In other words, our iSight will be strengthened as we engage in regular exercise of gratitude.
~ page 17, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow
The Joyful Journey book teaches about interactive gratitude and thought rhyming. For today’s Session B focus, you are dwelling with joy on the third of five thoughts from God, in this case, each instance is drawn from a bible verse. It may be adapted into language of God speaking to you. It will lay groundwork for later use of these insights to help us synchronize with God.
I UNDERSTAND YOU
Psalm 139:3
- You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Journal Prompt:
Dwell with joy on the third of five thoughts from God, "I Understand You".
Key Words:
Prayer
Jesus Immanuel, bless the times of worship at my church to be full of joy. Cause the hearts of the local leaders to maintain good will toward our church and ministry and offer aid to us through partnership regarding this community. In Your name I pray. Amen.
Evening Session
From the Joyful Journey book:
The Bible urges us to live in a state of gratitude. Living a life of gratitude is something God encourages and even commands. We believe that gratitude is recognizing God as our gift-giver. Appreciating the beauty of nature or a baby's smile is appreciating God whether or not we recognize Him as the gift-giver. Gratitude is deepened by the recognition that I received these gifts from God. Gratitude is recognition of our relationship.
~ page 16, Joyful Journey, Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow
Session C: Dwell on gratitude. What and who are you grateful for? Dwell on things or people you appreciated today, recently, or while reminiscing about the past. You will soon be practicing interactive gratitude. What was God response to your gratitude? We are training our brains to find gratitude which in turn brings out joy. Close with a little bit of worship joy toward God.
Journal Prompt:
What and who are you grateful for?
Key Words:
Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day
and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
Prayer
Lord God, knowing that this is Your will for me in Christ Jesus, I take time to give You thanks…
in this circumstance: _______________________,
in this circumstance: _______________________,
and in this circumstance: _______________________.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
I give everyone and everything to You God;
I give everyone and everything to You.
Routinely quieting ourselves and entering into feelings of appreciation just a few times each day lays a foundation for a life of joy as it trains our brains that joy and peace are normal experiences.
~ page 21, The 4 Habits, Warner, Coursey