Sunday, October 6, 2024:
Blessing of Joy (morning)
Acts 2:2 ESV (from Psalm 16:11)
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.
Pondering Point
The more we check in with God, the easier it becomes to let Him make known His paths to us – paths that fill us with gladness. Here is a quote from Joyful Journey:
There are many reasons to improve our awareness of God's active presence in our lives. The best reason is the guidance and friendship we receive from "checking in" with God throughout the day. Other benefits include healing emotional wounds, enhancing character and building community.
~ Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow, Joyful Journey, page 1.
By the way, when we’re not in a good mood, bringing to mind joyful moments or hearing from God can be difficult. To help yourself, you are going to create a list of joys ahead of time.
Joy and Trauma
When we are participating in exercises that dig into our past, we can be reminded of traumatic experiences. This can create the opposite sensation we desire in recalling joyful moments in life. We will address that this afternoon with a strategy known as anchor memories. For now let’s finish our morning session.
Pray aloud
Lord God, I ask that You make known to me the paths of life through Jesus, the Word made flesh; fill me with the joy of Your presence.
Five Minutes
Use your GO TO JOYS and ANTICIPATED JOYS to fill a 5-minute window. Remember: use an alarm. If necessary, review the explanation.
Read the identity in Christ
statement aloud
In Christ, God makes known to us the paths of life and makes them full of gladness in His presence.
Closing Prayer
Close with thanks to God for these moments together.
Ask Him to bless the upcoming day, then…
GO – in JOY, with JOY anticipating JOY
Sunday, October 6, 2024:
Sometime During Your Day
Level 3: Savoring joys of the past.
Pondering Point
To assist us in navigating traumatic memory intrusions, Dr. Karl Lehman uses what he calls anchor memories. This is a time or place that, when we recall it, brings a sense of peace over us. When I envision sitting on the front edge of a boat on the Sea of Galilee, feet dangling over the water, I feel peace. I can even envision Jesus on that lake. I smile even as I type this. If God is present with you in your anchor moment, all the better. But not to worry, not everyone has such a memory with God present in this way. Any memory that produces a sense of peace or appreciation will work. This becomes your anchor memory, a time you draw on to settle your spirit when you are beginning to feel overwhelmed by other emotions.
In fact, this idea of returning to moments of appreciation are helpful any time. They are like gifts from God. According to Neuro-theologian Jim Wilder, any time we look face painful memories with God or others, we should start by returning to times and memories where we know God best. From these good memories we can better explore other memories where we do not currently perceive God’s presence in the painful memory. See Immanuel Healing, a Six-Step Process for Resolving Trauma (Wilder).
Journal Prompt:
Potential anchor memories from my past:
(list as many as you can; 30 or more is best)
Key Words:
Bookmark this page in your journal for two reasons
1) so that you can easily refer to the list of joyful memories.
2) so that you can add an anchor memory when you are reminded of a joyful memory.
Joy Story with Jesus (evening)
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Acts 2:2 ESV (from Psalm 16:11)
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.
Pondering Point
In seeking to discern God’s thoughts and ways from His Word – and the joy that comes with these paths of life – Wilder uses Thought-rhyming. This portion of Immanuel Journaling is described on pages 33-46 of Joyful Journey and defined on page 72.
Please do not pre-judge this exercise until you have read about it and tried it. It is built around five phrases viewed from God’s perspective. Journal entries are usually one or two sentence “thoughts” in the following areas:
- I SEE YOU
- I HEAR YOU
- I UNDERSTAND YOU (How big or hard this is for you)
- I AM WITH YOU
- I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR SITUATION (what you are going through).
For now let's close out our evening:
Pray aloud
Thank You, Father God, for accompanying me along my path today. As I review the day, show me where You were glad for me (and with me).
Review
Scour the day for ANTICIPATED or SURPRISE JOYS. You are training your brain to look for joy. This builds the habit. Recall the body sensations and emotion.
This solidifies the habit. Remember: use an alarm
Read the identity in Jesus
statement aloud
Through faith in Jesus, we are set on the path of life and we can know that, because of Him, God’s face is shining upon us with joy
Evening Prayer
Thank God for blessing the day, ask for peaceful rest, then GO to sleep – in grateful JOY, anticipating new JOY tomorrow under His grace.