A Cheerful Face

Some days, I just want to be grumpy. I want to walk around, looking like my body feels--tired and wilted. Sometimes I don't want to think "What Would Jesus Do?" because I know that will bring me out of my "woe is me" mentality. And to my flesh, selfishness feels good, plus grumpy sometimes seems easier than being cheerful.

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You weren't expecting that, huh?  Well, I've been thinking about words and actions the last few days. When you feel like you have excuses--sometimes several--it is SO easy to slip into a mentality of "I'm not doing well, and I don't want to act like I am fine" OR " I need someone to comfort me". This is one area the Lord really challenges me in, especially the last year. I have been tested, re-tested and re-RE-tested (I am apparently hard headed) with issues, challenging my faith AND my heart attitude. God allowed testing through stomach issues, burns, bad hip problems, poor circulation, migraines, and now some intense back pain because He desires me to trust Him with my whole heart and not rely on my own capabilities, strength OR on others for comfort. There are times in which God has put his hand over my mouth in order to keep me from spilling my complaints to others--He wants me to run to HIM and trust HIM first. Cheerfully!

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 As it gets closer to the 1-year marker of getting burned (which I actually am planning a blog post about that, but you can get a quick reminder here : http://cheerfulquill.blogspot.com/2013/01/annas-story.html ), one of my biggest regrets about this time was the fact that I did not keep a continual cheerful heart and keep glorifying God as much as I needed to. I was so sick of dealing with TONS of minor details in taking care of myself AND feeling physically/ spiritually exhausted, that I let my heart slip into a place of self-pity. Others may say "well, you had good reason to be" and "compared to others, you were great!", but I disagree. You see, Jesus looks at the heart. What is my heart saying when my leg is burning with pain, my feet are turning blue because of poor circulation, I haven't had time with Jesus and I have to remember to take my inhaler because of my lungs filling? I may be smiling, but what is my heart whispering? Am I praising God for life, for my family, for good care? Or am I continually asking "why me, Lord?!".

The enemy wants us to stay in selfishness and thinking about our problems, so THAT'S when we know we need to run back to Jesus quickly! So the question is HOW do we do this? How to do we cultivate a cheerful heart? I am thrilled you asked. ;)

1) Humble yourself and take a look at your sin---look at the thoughts of your heart when your parents tell you to do something, when you keep getting interrupted while working, OR when you receive an answer that you truly did NOT want. It's pretty ugly, huh?

2) Repent and ask Jesus to clean you up. Actually say "I'm sorry" to the Lord, because it's against HIM that we have sinned. Sin is not just some distant bad thing, it is actually an action against our Heavenly Father. So, saying that we are sorry and meaning it? That's really important AND very special to Jesus.

3) Ask God to help and grant you cheerfulness, despite your day-to-day scenario. It is the times when we DON'T want to think "what would Jesus really do?" that are the MOST important times for us to ask that question. When I am about to grumble in my heart (usually over-spilling from my mouth), think about the character of Jesus and would he actually refuse to help someone? Would he roll his eyes at his parents or get angry when he was interrupted? (By the way, I challenge you to look up Mark 6:34, and Matthew 14:14 in his responses to having people need him all the time). Ask Jesus to fill you with Joy!

4) Think on verses that encourage you to trust God and rejoice in him, no matter how you FEEL. Because Jeremiah 17:9 says that "The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick;". We can't trust our hearts to be our guides, despite what Disney says. Verses are one of our defenses against the enemy, because even he knows how powerful the Word of God is. Find verses special to you and memorize them!

(One of mine is "The Joy of the Lord is your strength!" (Nehemiah 8:10) )

5) SING. Sing even if you can't sing. Sing even if the dogs howl with you. :) Scripture says that praise is becoming to the upright (psalms 33:1-3). When we willing choose to sing and praise God, it gets our focus OFF ourselves and back on Jesus, our moods will change and our hearts will start to rejoice. Try it and see. ;)


So, as I am seeking to continually pursue a cheerful and joyful heart, I challenge you this week to do the same. Make a conscious effort to take every thought captive, especially the grumbling ones, and ask the Lord to forgive you and change your heart! Then start praising him!

Rejoicing in the God of My Salvation!

Spot Cleaning

I want to share a little story with you. This summer, while my family was in Canada, I had a chance to talk with one of my "big brothers". For those of you who know my family, we don't actually have any brothers. Yet God has blessed me so much with some dear brothers-in-Christ, who feel like they are actually blood related!  So I was talking with my "brother" Gabe about what God had been teaching me and he began sharing things that God has done in his own life this year. Gabe currently has a 2 month old daughter, and he occasionally has to get up in the middle of the night to take care of her. One of these nights, God met him as he was praying in the midst of caring for his daughter. As Gabe was praying, suddenly  his favorite movie from years ago came to his mind--a movie that he actually gave up because he felt it was against God (This friend and his family have actually gotten rid of their TV/videos/game systems years ago). Although he had thrown out the movie years ago, God walked him through the movie, showing him the intense violence and other things that actually are offensive to the pure Spirit of God. Gabe was able actually apologize to God for willing watching something that was repulsive to God, and to ask Jesus to forgive him. It was so neat to hear him talk about it and to see the continuing work of purifying and cleansing in Gabe, especially because I know how much he loves the Lord!

About 2 or 3 days after we arrived home from Canada, I was cleaning the house and suddenly I felt an urge to go up to my room and pray. So I went quietly into my room and began to pray earnestly. Suddenly, I started thinking of "random" things--movie titles, books I used to read, and computer games I played when I was a young teenager. I was immediately taken aback, because all of the things that were scrolling through my head were things that Lord had previously asked me to give up years ago. Finally I realized I should probably be paying close attention, so I grabbed a pen and began to list all the movies I used to watch, the games I used to play, and the books I formerly read as they came to me. It was quite a list. Some of the things I hadn't thought about in years. 

You know, from an outside perspective, most of the movies and things I was watching/reading "weren't that bad".....YET, even though they were normal to the people around me, they actually grieved the Spirit of God. I know that as soon as I watched those movies, Jesus left the room. Some of the movies looked harmless to me...except for the fact that they broke God's law---a law that I want to (and have chosen to) follow because of my love for my Savior! As I was praying, God began to walk me through my past and scroll through parts in different movies and games. Things like violence, sensuality, lust, taking the Lord's name in vain (which, by the way, is almost impossible to find a movie that doesn't), and also things that encouraged rebelling against my parent's authority. One of the main games was a game that had magic in it---witchcraft specifically. It started out a fun game, but little by little, it would take you nearer and nearer to a certain part of the game where there was a ring of magic that I know is evil. I thank the Lord that He protected me at a young age and caused me to throw the game away, even before I got too far into the levels. I was young and didn't really think about it, but when God showed me that it was actually evil and in opposition to His sweet spirit, it kind of put things into perspective.

After I began listing and asking the Lord for forgiveness, I started feeling clean! Like, squeaky clean! The more I asked for forgiveness, the lighter my heart felt, and the more I wanted to come up with more things to apologize for! :) Haha! I call this part the "fine tuning" in my heart, because although I had dealt with getting rid of them physically, God began detail "spot cleaning" and cleaning small spaces in my heart that I hadn't realized were still dirty. I asked the Lord to break any ties that were still attached to my heart, clean me up, and fill me with his sweet spirit. And He did. Let's just say that the Joy of the Lord is unlike any kind of happiness that this world holds out to us!

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All I know is that I want Jesus to be my closest friend. I don't want to exclude him from any area of my life. I know there are things in my life that He is still working on---in fact even this week He asked me to give him 2 things that I have been holding on to**---and every time I have given something up for the Lord, I have never regretted it. Ever. In fact, I feel miserable when I don't give up the things He has asked of me! So as I continue to ask the Lord to show me things in my own life, I would challenge you today, dear friend, to ask the Lord if there is anything in your life (past or present) that hurts Him, or is grieving his Spirit. Ask him about the movies you're watching, the music you listen to (Christian music too! Seriously, just because it's "christian" doesn't mean you should always listen to it!), and the books you read. When He points out things, because He always does,get rid of them, ask for his forgiveness, and ask him to wash you completely clean! You will feel the burdens of sin and dirt lift from your shoulders AND your heart!

In His Sweet Name, 

**Another story for another time

P.s. If you have any questions about why I feel like God has asked me to give up TV/certain movies/books, or just have questions about anything I wrote today, feel free to email me at anna.dumaresq@gmail.com.