Posts tagged as:

Joy

The 12 Joys of Christmas

by Andy Wood on December 22, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Insight,Life Currency,Principle of Eternity

Joy.  It’s probably the most common word associated with Christmas.  You see it on the faces of every witness and every participant.  Though it was expressed very differently, every single character in the drama that was the birth of Jesus experienced profound joy.

Maybe that’s why we try to go back and relive the story every year.  Maybe that’s why we do the children’s pageants, exchange the gifts, and pull families (best we can) back together for Christmas.  Maybe we’re in search of the joy that can be so elusive.

The details of the coming of Jesus – and those who experienced it – point the way to how you can I can experience a joy that’s timeless, and doesn’t depend on the circumstances or the calendar.  Here’s a sampling of the 12 Joys of Christmas that are yours to experience year-round. [click to continue…]

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Where is the Joy?

by Andy Wood on October 14, 2011

in Enlarging Your Capacity,Five LV Laws,Life Currency,Love,LV Cycle,Principle of Abundance

This just in:  God wants your joy to be full.

I know, I know!  It shocked me, too!

I was having coffee with a friend a few years ago and he mentioned a quote from Jesus:  “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24).

“God wants your joy to be full,” my friend said prophetically.  That resonated with me.  Deeply.

“I’ve had many joyful moments,” I confessed, “but I can’t tell you when the last time was I had joy on that level.”

How about you?  When was the last time you experienced a joy so deep you could barely contain it?

I’m talking about something that Nehemiah says is your strength – this joy of the Lord.  It’s the result of a supernatural exchange, according to Isaiah’s prophecy.  The Spirit of God anointed Jesus to exchange your mourning and ashes for beauty and joy.  Jesus later told his disciples that they would mourn at his death, but that their mourning would be turned to joy when they saw him again.  And, as they asked in his name, they would receive, and their joy would be full.

So… just to make this clear… [click to continue…]

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A Heart Once Captured Will Never Let Go

by Andy Wood on May 23, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Hoarders,Life Currency,Love,LV Alter-egos,LV Stories,Principle of Freedom

You wouldn’t have known from meeting Martha the first time that her life had been a sinking ship.  Rewind from the near-poverty this single mother of two sons lived to the day she walked away from her “covering” – an abusive, controlling religious system.  Go back a bit further to the time her minister husband left her for another woman.  If you dare, rewind a bit more to the night she and her husband came home to find their third son, Matthew, dead in his crib from SIDS.

Life had not been kind.  But you wouldn’t know it from the courageous smile, the ox-like willingness to work, and the radiant joy she had in her relationship with Jesus Christ.  Sure, Martha had her moments, and could cry with the worst of ‘em.  But a heart so captured by the grace of God will cling to it, even when everything else seems lost.

I once asked her why she didn’t just walk away, since loving and serving God had been so costly.  I don’t remember any words – just the look on her face that let me know I had just asked the most absurd question possible.

A heart once captured will never let go. [click to continue…]

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Still Loving, Still Here

by Andy Wood on May 4, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Life Currency,Love,Principle of Eternity

When I’ve lost the fire of passion and power and feel reduced to ashes and embers, will You be the Fire that burns in my soul?

When you’ve lost the fire of passion and power and feel reduced to ashes and embers, I’ll be the Fire that burns in your soul.  I still love you.  And I’m still here.

When I’m standing alone in a crowded room and feel unnoticed… forgotten… alone… will You be the Truth that reminds me I’m not?

When you’re standing alone in a crowded room and feel unnoticed… forgotten… alone… I’ll be the Truth that reminds you you’re not.  I still love you.  And I’m still here. [click to continue…]

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A Heart Made Glad

by Andy Wood on April 19, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Life Currency,Love,Principle of Abundance

To know I can rise to the dawn of a new day,

Having surrendered my fatigued sorrows to a night of rest…

To see my hope ascend with the sun

And feel the comfort that only Your presence can provide…

This is the story,

This is the song

Of a heart made glad by love.

 

To hear the sound of laughter in places reserved for mourning,

Knowing the troubles are lighter lately because You carry my load… [click to continue…]

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The Lovely Moment

by Andy Wood on February 28, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Following Your Passion,Life Currency,Love,LV Cycle,Principle of Eternity,Time

One of Friday's Lovely Moments -Cohen's first haircut, and I got to BE the front-row seat.

Nobody has to convince you that life is busy and blazes by at the speed of, well, life.  Expressions like, “Where did all the time go?” are the stuff of every-day conversation.

Sometimes that can feel painfully lonely as we emerge from the grindstone and wonder where everybody went.

Sometimes that can feel out of control as we are swept away by the rhythm and melody of somebody else’s music.

And yet…

And yet…

Even in the craziness, the busyness, and the where’d-it-all-go, life has a way of presenting what Roger Breland calls a Lovely Moment  – those experiences where even if for a brief pause, life seems to come up for air and fill your heart.

Sometimes the Lovely Moment arrives in the form of a long-anticipated event, like your wedding day, graduation, or the birth of a child or grandchild.

Sometimes the Lovely Moment comes as a complete surprise, when suddenly you realize how full your heart is because of a special memory, a future conversation played out in your mind, the joyful news of a friend, or a reminder somehow that you’re being thought of.

The Lovely Moment can be an elusive thing, but only because we’re too busy, too wounded, too stressed, or too blinded to open our eyes and see them.  The truth is, Lovely Moments are in abundant supply… [click to continue…]

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Two Questions to Start Each Day

by Andy Wood on January 28, 2011

in Five LV Laws,Following Your Passion,Life Currency,LV Cycle,Principle of Abundance,Time

(Time Leadership, Part 2)

What kept Jesus on the cross?

That’s been the subject of many a sermon or song.  And the answer is always the same, ranging somewhere between the ugliness of our sin and the beauty of His love.

You know He could have come down, don’t you?  When He was mocked and taunted, Jesus could have called a legion of angels and put an end to the whole shebang.

But He didn’t.  So what kept Him there?

Hint:  the answer to the question is not, “love.” [click to continue…]

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No Joy in Joyland

by Andy Wood on January 12, 2011

in 100 Words,Gamblers,LV Alter-egos


No joy in Joyland today.

Coaster cars parked, bumper cars boarded up.  The carousel still and silent.

The sign says, “Open March 12.” [click to continue…]

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My Christmas Prayer for You

by Andy Wood on December 25, 2010

in Five LV Laws,LV Cycle,Principle of Abundance,Waiting

Wherever you may find yourself this Christmas – in prosperity or poverty, health or sickness, laughter or tears, togetherness or solitude – I pray that you will experience the same sense of wonder, gratitude, and grace (and more) that I have found. 

I pray that in the midst of all you call blessings, you experience the beauty of knowing the miracle of being loved in this life – deeply, fully, completely…

That the evening shadows and stars remind you of the one star that mattered most and the Spirit behind it, guiding those who sought Jesus to discover His presence, and to miss Herod’s schemes…

That as heaven and nature sing of the glory of God, the mountains you face only serve as reminders that they are no match for the love He has shown you in His coming and His care…

That Jesus, our Emmanuel, would manifest His faithful awareness and presence and the miracle that takes place when God and sinners are reconciled in love and grace…

That whether you hear His voice in a prayer or a song, a promise or a still small voice, that you would truly hear it – and that as He sings over you, you would taste and see that the Lord is good,  His mercy everlasting, and His truth endures forever to you and yours…

That joyfully and triumphantly, you would live in anticipation and adoration of the Word of the Father who appeared in flesh, and that you would not for one moment miss the opportunity to invest your life in what He is still doing today…

That in the silence of the night or the newness and glory of the morning, you would experience again and again the coming of the King – with the promise that the One who lit the sky once will split the sky when He comes again to claim you…

That the nearness and tender care of the Lord Jesus would carry you through the seasons of loss and the memories of those you miss this Christmas season…

And that the Carpenter’s son who built a bridge of goodness and light will find you waiting, however long it takes, for the day He returns.

Merry Christmas!

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Six Signs of a Life-Lover

by Andy Wood on November 10, 2010

in Enlarging Your Capacity,Five LV Laws,Life Currency,Love,Principle of Abundance,Tense Truths

A few years ago, my friend Rick was on a plane loaded to the wing flaps with hazardous cargo.

It was hauling a bunch of preachers to a convention.

Rick was in his best never-met-a-stranger form, and he was trolling up and down the aisle introducing himself.

“Are you a pastor?”

“Where are you from?”

He’d chat for a while and move on.  And the more he moved, the more the passengers paid attention.

Finally he reached one row and asked a well-dressed man, “You look like a pastor.  Where are you from?”

“I’m not,” the man replied in a louder-than-usual voice.  “I’ve just been sick for a few days.”

The whole plane erupted with laughter. [click to continue…]

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