Joy And Love Archives - Finish Line Faith

Daily 848

A Joy That Can Never Be Taken

Mar 25, 2023 | Eternity, Following Jesus, Gospel And Grace, Joy And Love, Satisfaction, The Blessings Of God

Our joy will always be at risk if it is dependent upon things that we look to instead of Jesus because we are always at risk of losing them. The thrill fades away. The moment is over. The thing breaks. The experience disappoints. The person leaves. But Jesus has promised to give us a joy that doesn’t burn out, fade out, check out or sell out so we don’t have to miss out on real and lasting happiness that is only found in Him. Though every other form of happiness will inevitably leave or forsake us, He never will. In Jesus, we are offered a joy that can never be taken from us no matter what else is.

Daily 845

That’s How He Prepares Us

Mar 22, 2023 | God's Care, Good Works, Joy And Love, Knowing And Growing, Relationships, Spiritual Growth, The Bible, The Family Of God, Truth

Someone once said that God doesn’t care how many Bible verses we memorize as long as we love others. But the Bible is where we find our definition for what love is and our demonstration of what love does. Knowing what God has to say about love keeps us from forming our own opinions about what is right and wrong about how we feel and treat other people. It also reminds us of His steadfast love for us despite our faults, flaws and failures. This helps us be loving towards others who, like us, are in need of grace. God cares that we know the Bible because that’s how He prepares us to care for others.

Daily 844

A Faith That Saves Is A Faith That Loves

Mar 21, 2023 | Faith, Hope And Trust, Gifts And Abilities, Good Works, Identity, Joy And Love, Mission And Modeling, Relationships, Serving, The Family Of God

Birds fly. Flowers bloom. Honey sweetens. Water dampens. Light illuminates. It’s automatic and appropriate that they do these things because that’s how they were made. This is their nature and design, and it is right to expect them to act in a certain way just as it is right to expect saving faith in Jesus to work itself out in love. It is normal. It is natural. When God’s grace remakes us into people of faith, the new love we have for God will burst forth in acts of love for others. We can’t help but love. We can’t stop loving. We will live this out imperfectly, but this is for sure: A faith that saves is a faith that loves.

Daily 841

Pleasing God Over Pleasing People

Mar 18, 2023 | Holiness And Righteousness, Joy And Love, Obedience And Repentance, Spiritual Growth, The Family Of God

The paths will divide. The objectives will conflict. The plans will differ. The desires will compete. The advice will disagree. We will often find ourselves having to choose sides for who we will listen to, go with and live to the satisfaction of … God or people. We simply cannot be and do what will make Him happy and others happy at the same time, all the time. Rather than compromising to satisfy the crowd, let us show others the better path, the better objective, the better plan, the better desire and the better advice found in the good news of Jesus. Today, by grace, let us prioritize pleasing God over pleasing people.

Daily 838

To Seek His Honor Is To Seek Our Happiness

Mar 15, 2023 | Joy And Love, Knowing And Growing, Praise And Worship, Satisfaction, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Growth, The Blessings Of God, Treasuring God

The ultimate goal of our lives is for God to be honored in us and us to be happy in Him. There isn’t anything higher to aspire to than the duality of God’s honor and our happiness. When we thank Him, trust Him, and treasure Him, these two things are achieved. Thanking Him means our hearts are glad because of something He gets glory for doing. Trusting Him means we delight to do what God has decided because we believe that He is good. Treasuring Him means we find enjoyment in His companionship because He is infinitely worth knowing. To seek His honor is to seek our happiness.

Daily 836

Whatever It Takes To Be Happier In Jesus

Mar 13, 2023 | Everyday Life, Following Jesus, Joy And Love, Knowing And Growing, Obedience And Repentance, Satisfaction, Spiritual Disciplines, Treasuring God

Every single day you and I should do whatever it takes to be happier in Jesus. That’s how we win against temptation, frustration and dissatisfaction in this life. The attempts we make to improve ourselves, improve our circumstances, and improve our lives should not simply be about trying to take away things we dislike and add in things we do like. Instead, our goal should be to know and enjoy Jesus more and more and more. We grow in our inner peace, rest, security, confidence, hope and joy not because over and over we figure out a way to make things better, but because over and over we find our way to Jesus.

Daily 832

It’s Life-Giving, Not Life-Draining

Mar 9, 2023 | Following Jesus, Joy And Love, Obedience And Repentance, The Bible, The Blessings Of God

Many people see God’s commandments as a life-draining set of rules that is unpleasant, unnecessary and unwanted. They are seeing them wrongly. Do you know how bridges are designed, built and maintained for our safety? By “rules.” Do you know how meals are prepared, served and consumed for our nourishment? By “rules.” Do you know how music is composed, recorded and performed for our delight? By “rules.” God has decided how things should work for our … Safety. Nourishment. Delight. God’s good design for all things in our lives and in our universe is not life-draining; it is life-giving.

Daily 825

His Way Works

Mar 2, 2023 | Following Jesus, Joy And Love, Obedience And Repentance, Satisfaction, The Blessings Of God, The Promises Of God

It is defined in different ways. It is pursued in different ways. It is measured in different ways. But what happiness has in common no matter how it is defined, pursued and measured is this: every single human being wants it. The message of the world is to “do what you want to do and be who you want to be” and this will make you happy. Only it … Does. Not. Work. The message of Jesus is “do what I want you to do and be who I made you to be.” In doing so, we will experience His joy, and our joy can be full no matter what else is happening in our lives. Want to be happy? His. Way. Works.

Daily 824

Count It As Joy

Mar 1, 2023 | Encouragement, Joy And Love, Spiritual Growth, Suffering And Sovereignty

Christians should count the various trials in our lives as joy. Not as defeat. Not as pleasant. Not as punishment. Not as meaningless. Not as insignificant. Not as a reason to complain. Not as a lack of God’s care. Trials can be many things, but they cannot be joy-stealers unless we let them. While it may feel like trials are breaking you today, you can be sure that God is building you up through them in ways that are going to be amazingly good in the days to come. Your faith muscle becoming stronger. Your deliverance becoming sooner. Your witness becoming louder. Your homecoming becoming sweeter.

Daily 819

Our Motive And Our Mission

Feb 24, 2023 | Everyday Life, Following Jesus, Good Works, Gospel And Grace, Joy And Love, Mission And Modeling, Relationships, Serving, The Family Of God, The Love Of God

Our motive. Our mission. We need to communicate these two things to others when we show them love through the way we treat them. First, we need to let them know that the good we do for them comes from appreciation for what God has done for us and anticipation of what God will do for us. It is from the overflow of what we get from Him that we give to others. Second, we need to let them know that we do good works because a good God has commissioned us to go in His Name to share His love with others. Let us credit Him by telling people this… God has done good to me. God has sent me to do good to you.

Daily 790

Christian Love Has Two Parts

Jan 26, 2023 | Following Jesus, Good Works, Joy And Love, Mission And Modeling, Relationships, Serving, The Family Of God, Words And Witness

Christian love has two parts: affection and action. Love feels something on the inside. Love does something on the outside. These two parts work together in the lives of those who follow Jesus to help us relate to each other like Jesus relates to us. When we look at how His love for us is, we see how our love for others should be. To the degree that we anticipate and appreciate His care for us in seeking our good, we will reflect that same lovingkindness towards the people in our lives as we seek their good. Spurred on by His love, let us love today like Jesus … caring about others and caring for others.

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