Is the glass half full or half empty?

People often say that you can go though life as an optimistic person or a pessimistic person. Today I want to talk about the benefits of being an optimistic person.

What is optimism anyway? 

Good question. A book I once read described it as "Learning to meditate upon the most hopeful aspects of any situation" I'm not telling you that if your dog dies you're going to smile and go, "I'm so happy this situation doesn't affect me at all!" but you could see the bright side in the situation instead of look at every single thing wrong with it.

 For example, instead of being all grumpy think about this, "Well... my dog was really sick. And if she hadn't passed on she might've been feeling worse! I wouldn't want her to suffer." No matter the situation your facing, there's always a way to overcome it. It all depends on your view on life. 

The very best way to be optimistic through you life is by remembering this very key verse: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13 (KJV) 

The verse above is telling you something very simple. No matter what problem you're facing, what obstacle is standing in your way, or what situation may be up against you there is someone bigger than you and the good news is, he's on your side! 

Let me tell you just one thing though, don't live like a grumpy-grump! What good does it do to live in constant misery and never appreciate all the good things in front of you? If the Lord had blessed you with a good time, praise Him! If he's testing you and you feel like giving up, praise him! 

Remember, "...with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26 (NIV) If your past has caused you to not believe that there's anything better at the end of the tunnel, pray! God will help you!

In the end there are only two choices: Live believing your glass is half full, or think that it's half empty. The choice is yours.

God's Not Dead 2: My Movie Review

If you're like me, you've been patiently (or impatiently) waiting for the release of God's Not Dead 2 from the minute you heard about it. When the wait was finally over, my family and I jumped straight in to watch it. I personally give this movie 5 stars. What I found most interesting was that in the credits it showed you how many Christians have been in situations such as the one our main character in the movie, Grace Wesley, went going through. People are being persecuted for teaching or simply speaking about God's Word. I often thought that this type of persecution only happened in foreign countries where Christianity is prohibited, but even in a country that was established on the Word of God and freedom of speech, these things are becoming more and more common every day.

In the movie, Grace Wesley is accused of preaching to her students by answering a question with some Biblical references, seeing as she quoted the Scriptures some students felt insulted. One student in particular, recorded what she said, making the whole thing a riot of epic proportions. Grace receives a lawsuit that sends her straight to court on a debate to prove wether or not simply quoting a Bible verse can be considered against the law. Nowadays people think that they can divide the church from the rest of society because we are 'insulting people' or don't exactly agree with the standard that a MAN has in his/her mind of what churches should be and do. In some states the government is making pastors turn in their sermons and the state law gets to determine wether they should be preaching that or not. This oppression is becoming greater and greater with each passing month proves one thing, our Lord's second return is near!

Although standing strong in our faith while living in this anti-christianity society can prove to be quite challenging as Grace Wesley said in the movie, "I would rather stand by GOD and be judged by the world, than stand by the world and be judged by GOD."  This world will cease to be as we know it, but God never will. Get your heavenly passport ready because this plane may leave any moment now and you don't want to lose your flight.

The Principle of Ownership

Today I want to talk about the principle of ownership.

 Do you know those times when we get all stingy? Maybe because we have new 'cool' items such as Beats headphones, an iPhone 6s, a brand new laptop, a skateboard, an awesome new shirt, etc.

Sometimes we even go to extremes just to 'Fit in with everybody else'. But let's hear what the Bible says about all this. Luke 12:21 states "...he that layeth up treasure for himself, ... is not rich toward God." KJV.  It's impressive how we spend so much time planning and saving up so we can buy the coolest brand of anything really and God is not even interested in that! God looks at the heart, not the car.

Now, I said I would talk about the principle of ownership, right? Here it is: "All that I have belongs to God." We were placed in this Earth as stewards of the things God has given us for a specific amount of time that He has determined. What we do with those talents, gifts, and other things that he has given us is our choice. Let's just sit and think for a moment. Have you ever lent anything to someone or borrowed anything from somebody? If you've lent someone a book, gadget, or anything really, you expect to have those things back in mint condition when they returned to you. And when you borrow from someone, the person has the same expectations that you have when you lend anyone anything. 

Here is a parable that Jesus told in the New Testament which can be found in Matthew 25:14-29 NLT:

Parable of the Three Servants

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together![c]’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate,27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

*

Interesting, huh? Now let's read Matthew 25:29 once more, "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away."  I repeat, how we use our talents and abilities that God has given us is our choice. But isn't it better to spend our lives worshiping and thanking the Lord for all he has done rather than spend a life in the spotlight with things that, in the end, really aren't ours? 

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Beginning a Brand New Year

2016 Has just begun! 

Today I would like to talk about how to start our New Year and some things to focus on this 2016.

1) Leave the past behind. It's a brand NEW year! Things that happened in 2015 stay there.

2) Get closer to God in this New Year.  Each year is filled with plenty of opportunities to get closer to Him (Some Ideas and tips at the bottom.) 

3) Begin a New cycle. Remember, things don't always turn out the way they did before. Do something different this year, try something new. Find something that inspires you and pursue it! 

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You can make your own list of expectations, hopes, dreams, and things that you want to accomplish this New Year. But don't forget to add God to your plans! 

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Now, I said that I would write some helpful tips and ideas about how to get closer to God but I just want to put something out there before I begin, no blog, or book, or speaker, person, or anyone can give you exact ideas to get closer to God and do it for you, no, you must do this yourself this is a decision you make. 

Prayer. 

Prayer is a very powerful tool which God has given us. It is our way to directly speak to him. It's okay if you feel like nobody is listening, but trust me, He listens to your every prayer. Though He may not answer fast sometimes, be patient, he will give you an answer eventually. 

Read The Bible.

Reading the Scriptures may empower you and give you hope to wait for the Lord for he IS coming soon! In the Bible you will learn many things to help you better understand what is going on. Ask the Lord for direction, to help you understand the Scriptures and give you a clear picture of what they mean.

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Thanks for Reading!

New Email for Joy&D!

Hello There to all our awesome readers!
This short post is to let all of you know that Joy&D now has an email account. Yay! Now, if any of you have a question, comment, testimony, or idea please let us know. Send an email to www.joyandd.blog@gmail.com
Thank you and Blessings!

Prayer

Prayer is such an important part of being a christian. When we pray and talk to God he listens an he ALWAYS will be even though it doesn't feel like it. I remember when I was younger my older sister kept on praying and praying and praying for a new house, (because at the time we had a small one). Not too long after my older sister was praying everyday surely we got a new house bigger and better than our old one. No matter what your going through weather it be big or small God is ALWAYS listening. When your in a bad situation you can't fight on your own it's better for everyone if you take the problem to God and he can fight ALL your fights for you. No matter what problem is you can take it to God and he will fight for you and fix the problem. Don't be afraid to talk to God he already knows what's going on in you life and he can help you! God hears your prayers and in his good timing he will do what needs to be done. Don't worry anymore put all your worries and stress in God's hands. 

Blowing the dandelion seeds..

 Sometimes (or very often) we find ourselves listening to a friend, who heard from another friend, that "saw" your best friend speaking rumors about you. Our first reaction might be, "I can't believe I ever trusted him/her!" Now, HOLD the phone! How do we know if this is true? See, most of the time, we don't even bother figuring out if it is true or not. We just think "Oh well, if people are talking about it so much, then it must surely be true." Sadly, that is how trusts get broken and friendships are ended. But, what if we took another course of action? Let's give that friend a chance, surely there must be a reason behind all this! Maybe everyone has been wrong. That is where our little verse, Proverbs 25:8 comes in. "...If you take your neighbor to court, do not betray another's confidence." What I basically understand from this is, if you are mad someone don't just spill out all the secrets and things they have confided to you. Let's take this hypothetic story as an example, "Susie is mad at Emily because she heard that Emily had been spreading rumors about her. Without thinking twice about it, Susie tells everyone about Emily's secret crush on Jack but then the thing gets complicated when Emily comes to tell Susie that it wasn't her who was spreading the rumors." Words are like dandelion seeds. When you blow on a dandelion the seeds all fly away and may never be seen again, but when those seeds reach land more dandelions pop up. Same as words, Good ones fly away and spread to make the person happy or less self-conscious but gossip, rumors, and lies fly away to become even more dandelions. Who do YOU want to be? The one who asks his/her friend before saying anything OR the one who "Spreads the dandelion seeds" The choice is yours but remember, how would YOU like to be treated?