CHOOSE JOY!

Are you tired my friend? Do you feel weary? Are the kids constantly bickering, or the bills adding up? Have you lost a job or perhaps a loved one? Does the pressure of life seem to be great on you right now? No matter what you are going through at this moment as believers we can be JOYFUL through it all.
I can testify that in my life 2008 is stacking up to be a difficult one - my mom passed away, Christian has started a new, very intense and stressful role here in Mexico, our support account is going down quickly, Maddie's asthma has come back full force, Rosie (our dog) has eaten through the hose connecting the toilet to the water line for the 4th time, I could go on and on..... and yet I can truly tell you that I feel JOYFUL! Jesus has reminded me through sermons and through my dear husbands wise counsel that this life here on Earth is such a short time and that all the negative that may come our way will not last forever......"This too shall pass!"
As believers we can CHOOSE JOY! Do you know why? Because our hope (our JOY) is not in this world, in the stock market, in our jobs, in the way others treat us.... Our hope is in the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ.... that when we leave this Earth we get to enter into a FOREVER of perfect happiness. Our future is not uncertain, nor does it depend on our bank account or education, etc. Our hope is in Jesus Christ and that is something that will never be taken away from us. It is something that will never change regardless of our circumstances. That is a reason that we can be joyful in the midst of all this world throws at us.
I am choosing to be JOYFUL today..... how about you?