Pondering Point

“The Big Six”
Shame
Anger
Disgust
Sadness
Anxiety/Fear
Despair

Week two reminds us that not all joy is equated with happiness. When we are going through difficult times, it is a glad-to-be-together type of joy that is so powerful. While trials come, it is helpful to know we have others with us in the moment or season at hand. In such times, joy can be a fond memory (or current experience) of someone being there is a time of need.

The category Returning to Joy reminds us that we can get stuck in negative moods or emotions. Returning to joy via relationships helps us regulate feelings known as the “Big Six” emotions: shame, anger, disgust, sadness, anxiety (or fear), and despair.

Pray aloud

Father God, remind me to consider trials a way to test my faith, letting You produce endurance in me so I can be more complete, lacking in nothing spiritually.

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 is shaping us to become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. So, I will consider it a joy to face various trials, knowing that the testing of my faith is producing endurance and developing godliness.

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

Monday, October 7, 2024:

Sometime During Your Day

Level 3: Savoring joys of the past.

Pondering Point

The following quote relates to how we deal with pain – either metabolizing it or avoiding it. Knowing that God can use difficulties to grow and mature (and even complete us) is a helpful mindset to face trials and the pain associated with them. The process being referenced in the quote is called the Emmanual Practice and can be learned quite easily.

From the book Joyful Journey:
Me, my identity, is ultimately shaped by who I love and what pain I avoid. Love and the pain I avoid often compete within me to see whether my love or my fear of pain is stronger. As Christians we know "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18) but knowing this has little effect on our daily lives. Worrying whether someone will be angry with us often “casts out” our loving thoughts. What if we can show you how to interact with God in a way that is absolutely intimate and powerful and changes your life from the inside out? This process can be learned in a few minutes and most people experience changes from the first time they practice it.

~ Wilder, Kang, Loppnow, Loppnow, Joyful Journey, page 2.

Not-always-happy Joy (evening)

Monday, October 7, 2024

Pondering Point

In a few minutes, you are going to thank God for the blessings of today. In this moment of pause, thank Him for those who have been by your side in difficult times. List them and celebrate them as gifts of God past and present

Pray aloud

Jesus, remind me to pursue joy, especially with You. When I encounter various trials, remind me that my faith is being tested and use them to produce endurance for my journey – keeping it a joyful journey.

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

In Jesus, we can experience joy even in trials because we know that God is using them to build our endurance, which in turn will help us live a more complete life under God’s grace.

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.