Well, here we are, the end of the journey of Joy Life Unlimited.
I hope that you have looked inside, been honest with yourself, worked out some of the baggage that was limiting you. I hope you love yourself a little bit deeper. And I hope you have been able to love those around you better.
You will likely need to remind yourself of the truths you have just come to believe. Old habits sneak up on us and can act like our default setting. Remind yourself. Have others keep you accountable and help remind you. And continue the journey of growth.
Here is a review of the Limiting things we’ve gone over these 6 weeks. My sincere hope and prayer is that you are able to live a life fuller of joy and less limited by your past, your hurts, and your false beliefs!
Identity
Your Values
Your Self-esteem
Your likes, strengths, and skills
History
Hurts
Depression
Anxiety
Divorce (you and or parents)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Grief
Mistakes
Forgiveness
Things you tell yourself
Comparing yourself to others
What’s your jam? Your Passion
What are your strengths, weaknesses and how that fits in to your purpose
Continuous learning
Reasons and excuses why we don’t take action
Changing your thoughts
Intentionality for growth
After the first round of running this course, I made the content into a book/workbook. In the book I added a chapter I have in each of the books I've written. It is called Hope in the Midst, and I am including it here for you now.
Because it has been a huge foundational piece of my hope, my story, and my motivation as He continues to change me and my life, I am including now a chapter on Jesus.
Even if you do not believe or trust in God, maybe you are unsure what to think, read on in case you find something valuable.
We choose what to focus on – make the choice to look to God.
• Col. 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
• Rom. 8:5 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. “
• Psalms 94:18, 19 says, “If I say, “My foot slips,’ your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties, within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”
• Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
• I Peter 5:6, 7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
• “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” John 4:18
• 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (sound mind).”
• Four G’s – when I live believing these truths, I will feel the freedom of the finished work of Christ.
• God is great so I do not have to be in control (Psalm 27)
• God is good so I do not have to look elsewhere for satisfaction. (Psalm 94)
• God is glorious so I do not have to fear others. (Psalm 31)
• God is gracious so I do not need to prove myself to anyone. (Psalm 103, Luke 15:11-24)
God promises closeness to those who mourn.
• Matt. 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
• Job 5:11 “He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to safety.”
• Isaiah 61:3 “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
• In John chapter 11 Lazarus has died and Jesus weeps with Mary in her pain and loss, even though He knows that’s not the end, He would raise Lazarus to life again. Jesus wept with his friend. Jesus grieved the loss of his friend, even though He knew what was to come.
• Ann Voskamp says, “I can sing because I know what is coming. I can hope because I know who is coming. Psalm 34:18-19.
• Real hope is not rooted in the absence of pain, suffering and heartache.
• John 11:6 says, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where he was two more days.” Ann Voskamp notes, “So. He loved them and so He didn’t move immediately…He loves me and SO He allows me to feel pain that draws me to Him.” This is a hard concept to accept. Hard to think about and see that ultimately the hard is good.
• He is our hope for life, not only our hope for Heaven someday, but our hope for today too. John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
• Jesus says in Mark 8:34, “Don’t run from suffering: embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self.”
• God asks us to trust more in who He is, and not so much on what He does i.e. what happens. This is so very hard to live out! Daniel 2:17-18 says, “…But even if He (God) does not (save us) …” (we will follow Him and not worship another.)
• Feelings will come and go, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 God loves us all with a love that does not change, regardless of our position/circumstance.
• Ravi Zacharias notes that sermons, no matter how sincere, cannot answer the unsolvable problems. “Rather, together with the Spirit the sermon exists to point out that having answers is not essential to living. What is essential is the sense of God’s presence during dark seasons of questioning. Our need for specific answers is dissolved in the greater issues of the Lordship of Christ over all questions – those that have answers and those that don’t.”
• II Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom.”
• Our children are God’s, entrusted to us for a time. We can choose to replace our fear with God’s promises.
• God promises to put His laws on the hearts and minds of his children. Hebrews 8:10-11
• God knows how to finish the good work that He has started. Jeremiah 29:11 & Philippians 1:6
• God loves our children even more than we do as parents. John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:4-5.
• Faith requires trust, giving up control. Work to make your FAITH be bigger than your FEAR. John 16:27 says, “In this world you will have many troubles, fear not, I have overcome the world.”
• 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love.” Faith, hope and love are present now and will be present in heaven too, they last forever.
• Joyful confidence in God. Joyful. II Corinthians 7:16 “Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.” Joyful confidence that God is good, even when things do not feel good or seem good in our way of understanding. Joyful by definition is not dependent on circumstances, as happiness is. Joy comes from inside, happy comes from outside.
• We need to pray for our children, that their soul be secure in the hope and confidence only Christ gives.
• These hard times are pressing us and enabling us to produce God’s fruit.
• Philippians 3:13-14 “But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
• Hebrews 6:19 “We have this certain hope, like a strong unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself.”
• Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” This verse is a part of a list of several instances in which Jesus was telling people they were blessed, had reason to rejoice and be thankful. For some time, I could not see the blessed part of mourning! It hurt so badly, how can that be blessed? Loss and heartache, how can that be blessed? Gaining a thankfulness, a thanks-living perspective, appreciating people and life and beauty. That is a blessed part of mourning.
Above all Jesus was telling us that we are blessed when we mourn because He comforts us. The God of the universe, who created everything, loves us so much more than we can imagine, and He comforts us, comes near to us when we mourn. It is so blessed to be near to Jesus that even mourning can be blessed as it draws us near, it links our hearts with His.
If you do not Know God and that He loves you unconditionally, you can pray the prayer below. I recommend following it up by reaching out to local supports--people who know and love Jesus. Feel free to e-mail me
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Do you have any questions for me?
Suggestions?
Any kind of feedback, please e-mail me at joy@joyhitztaler.com
I love hearing from you all!