Rejoice, Again I Say Rejoice

Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

These past few months have been really trying for many people I know. It has been trying for the whole nation really. Today, I wanted to make this thing just a little more personal then I usually do. I'd like to talk a little about myself, and my own life experiences.

When I was a young teenager, I had a lot of trouble following God because I always let Satan get to me. I lived in a chaotic house. When church days came along, I would go into the service and get a lot out of it. The praise and the message always lifted my spirit to soaring. I learned much about who God is and how to serve Him, and I was ready to just get out there and show out my joy. All these feelings lasted right up to the point that I would get into the vehicle with one of my parents. They would be arguing with each other, or yelling at me for something or another. Satan would just reach right in to where he could hurt me the most, and take away everything God had just given to me in the service.

Months upon months of this went by, and my spirit was plummeting to near death. I finally got so tired of Satan taking it all away that I learned the secret to joy.

Hallelujah anyhow.

Praise God right on through the troublesome times, and He will keep your spirit lifted high. Joy isn't being happy. It's understanding that good comes out of a life lives with Christ. It is understanding that their is hope for the future. It's knowing that He is there with us even though times are hard. It's having faith that He will help us through.

Each time God does something wonderful in your life, or is about to break lose around you, the devil steps in trying to steal everything the Lord is doing. When we roll over on our backs and let him, we lose everything God has for us. When we begin to choose to not let him take what is ours, that's when the true joy of the Lord begins to come in. It is not our joy, but the joy of the Lord that gives us strength. If we rejoice in God, He fills us with His joy.

And now, I still go through hard times, but I don't worry nearly as much as I used to. My wife is daily irritated with me because I have become a happy person singing praises all day long and floating through the house. I can smile through the worst of times, and I can dance through my most painful moments. I know the Lord is there, and I know troubles will keep coming. I can't do anything to prevent troubles, so hallelujah anyhow.

I do understand, in the last few weeks I've had so many battles.. It seems like when you finally "get it" satan like puts his little voice in and wants you to fail wants to put you in the dark and I really hate that. I know I am a newbie here, but i have so many questions... I feel in my heart that I am finally in the place I was meant to be and that makes me soooo happy! PS.. make your wife dance with you!!!

You can ask all the questions you like and we'll answer them to the best of our ability.

I would like to welcome you to the family of God

Satan still tries to keep me from church every Sunday. Most of the time he uses my son to put me in a bad mood. (he likes to sleep in on the wekends). I don't force him to attend church. I want that to be his decision, to be there. 99% of the time he is there. He tells me the night before that he wants to go, but then I can't get him to get up. Satan knows this bothers me, so he uses it. It doesn't work tho. I know it's him trying to get me to just get mad. Once we learn that it is satan trying to get to us, it's easier to get him to back off.

Learn to recognize the enemy so you know when to fend him off