Anchored In Joy

Wednesday, July 29th, 2020

Here is the thing.  If you think you’re going to have a great day, you know what?  You are right.  And that’s the best part.
Teri Secrest

TRANSCRIPTION

Hello, my name is Teri Secrest and I am with Joy Of Living. And I would like to welcome you to God Today. So I have a question for you, what would it be like, how would it change your life if you could wake up tomorrow morning with a really deep sense of joy in your heart.  Wow. Today that is going to be our topic.  How do you anchor your soul in joy?

Very quickly, I will give you my story.  I actually was raised in a joyful family.  I kind of thought everybody was raised that way.  And my life completely changed.  We were a very, very close family.  I am the youngest of 5 kids.  In 1981, my parents were in a car accident and my father barely escaped the accident.  But, my mother and sister were killed instantly.  That shifted my whole world because overnight our whole world changed.  And it just shook me.  I was so angry with God.  And one day, I heard the Lord whisper to me, “Teri, you have the wrong perspective.”  And I said, “No, I don’t.  I have exactly the right perspective.”  I was so angry. And He said, “No.” He said, “Do you know what you are missing?  He said, “you are missing the fact that you had a phenomenal mother for 27 years that loved you.  And a sister that loved you.  And you got to spend all that time with them.  And many people have never had that.”

And I felt so horrible.  I felt awful, I started crying thinking about people that never had a good mom.  So today, I want to give you some tools.  How do you shift from just having an okay day? How do you actually step into joy and stay anchored in joy?  Well, the first thing I learned, you are going to laugh at this, get out and take a walk.  Well, Teri, what in the world does that have to do with anything?  It has everything to do with it, you know why?  If you wake up depressed and you are feeling sorry for yourself, and you put on those tennis shoes and you start power walking, all of a sudden you are oxygenating your brain.  You are adding oxygen to your brain.  And the number one cause of depression is a lack of oxygen in the brain.  Get out and take a walk. That’s number one.

Number two, get alone with God because in His presence is fullness of joy.  You know, I tell my children, “Listen, you are either going to find your identity one place or the other.  You are going to find it in the world which doesn’t offer very much.  Or you are going to find it with God.”  Get alone and spend time with Him.  Turn off the TV and turn off your electronics.

Number three, study the life of King David.  Boy, did he have enemies!  Everybody was trying to kill him.  He couldn’t turn around without somebody trying to take his life.  But look what he said in Psalm 27:13.  He said, “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  In other words, David had to go back to a time in his life where he absolutely knew that God had rescued him.  And he had to stand on that and think about that, and ponder that.  And then, bring that into today’s world and say, “God, you rescued me before, you are going to rescue me now.”

Number four, become a policeman of your words.  We say it so lightly, we say, “Oh, I know, I know life and death is in the power of the tongue.”  You bet it is, you bet it is.  Become a policeman of your words.  Know that God is a good God.  When you know that God is good, you can expect a good ending.

Finally, Proverbs 11:17, “He that earnestly seeks good finds favor.  But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.”  You might say, “Teri, I am depressed, I don’t want to get out of bed.  Are you kidding me?”  The Bible says that when we refresh another one we will be refreshed.” When you are feeling sorry for yourself, get out of bed, quit thinking about yourself, and go help somebody else.  Because he who refreshes another will be refreshed.

And finally, in the life of Jesus, we have so many great examples.  Why?  Jesus was acquainted with grief.  But He did not stay in grief.  He actually was very lighthearted.  Think about the disciples were in the boat and they saw Jesus walking on the water and they were just like, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!”  And Jesus, what did He say?  He says, “Oh! Be of good cheer, it is I!”  In other words, do not worry about it, it is I.  Look at luke 8:48 with the woman with the issue of blood.  He says, “Daughter, be of good cheer, your faith has made you whole.  Finally to the blind man He says, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.”

Listen, here is the thing.  If you think you’re going to have a great day, you know what?  You are right.  And that’s the best part.  It is Teri Secrest with GOD TV.