Thursday, October 10, 2024:
Reviewing Our Joy (morning)
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].
Thursday is review day in IMMERSION discipleship. Let's go.
Review
Can you see yourself rejoicing with those who are joyful?
How about weeping with those who grieve?
Are you sharing your joys and griefs with others?
Repent if Necessary
Repent if necessary of missing opportunities to connect with people in such moments.
Do you need to repent of not inviting others into your joy or grief also?
Return (as necessary)
Return as necessary by asking God to help you connect with Him and others in times of joy and grief, not allowing yourself or others to go it alone.
Alright. On to your 5 minutes of joy for the morning:
Pray aloud
Father God, I pause to thank You for those who rejoice with me in times of joy and those who weep with me in times of grieving.
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 Jesus, we are kind of people who rejoice with those who are rejoicing [sharing their joy] and grieve with those who are grieving [sharing their grief].
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
Thursday, October 10, 2024:
Sometime During Your Day
Level 3: Savoring joys of the past.
Pondering Point
The Joyful Journey book teaches about interactive gratitude and thought rhyming. (see the October 6 devotion for further explanation)
For today, you are dwelling on the second of five “thoughts” from God: I HEAR YOU. In this case, we draw from 1 John 5:14.
1 John 5:14
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
Here it is adapted into language of God speaking to you. It lays groundwork for later use of these insights to help us synchronize with God. (I HEAR YOU: 1 John 5:14)
Listening to God...
This is the confidence you have approaching Me:
Ask anything according to My will, and I hear You.
God hears us in our rejoicing moments and the grievous ones. Not only that; He wants to share the moments with us, to help us cope.
Cast your burdens upon the Lord
and He shall sustain thee
He also wants us to do the same with others.
More Listening to God...
My child, rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Weep with those who are weeping.
Who comes to mind when you envision God sharing this thought with you?
Journal Prompt:
Joyful memory related to school.
Key Words:
From a neuroscience perspective, joy is always relational. This is because it is largely created by a right-hemisphere to right-hemisphere connection in the brain. When my right brain interacts with your right brain and we are happy to see each other (usually through eye contact) the result is joy.Top
~ page 35, The 4 Habits, Warner, Coursey
Reviewing Our Joy (evening)
Thursday, October 10, 2024
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others’ joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others’ grief].
Pondering Point
Earlier you reviewed your life. Now you can focus on simply the day.
Pray aloud
Thank You, God, for those who rejoiced with me in times of joy recently and for those who joined me in my sad or difficult moments.
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, I want to become the kind of person who rejoices with those who are rejoicing [sharing their joy] and who grieves with those who are grieving [sharing their grief].
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.
“If you possess faith, your heart cannot do otherwise than laugh for joy in God, and grow free, confident, and courageous.
For how can the heart remain sorrowful and dejected when it entertains no doubt of God’s kindness to it, and of his attitude as a good friend with whom it may unreservedly and freely enjoy all things?
~ Martin Luther