Are you stealing someone's joy?

Are you stealing someone’s joy?

I remember when I was in college and I would get really excited about something, then someone would come along and bust my bubble. My dear friend, Vicki, would say to me “Don’t let the devil steal your joy!”

I have been wondering in the past few weeks if the devil ever uses me to steal someone’s joy. Or more than that, do I ever get in the way of someone else’s opportunity to serve?

I think sometimes we get so caught up in wanting to serve that we forget those around us and their desire to serve the same Lord that we serve. We get to a place where we feel like if we don’t do it personally, it won’t get done right. I see people around me every day, in different churches and circumstances, running themselves ragged and then see others wanting to help and not knowing how to jump in, some of them even feeling that there’s not a place for them. As we mature in Christ, it is our responsibility to take others and disciple them…to teach them about the Lord we serve and not deny them the opportunity to learn more about Him and serve Him the best way that they can. Everyone has a gift and the Lord can use all of our gifts for His glory. We get joy from the Lord when we serve Him with the right heart. Does your heart feel that joy when you serve? If not, maybe it’s time to step back and pray and make sure you are serving for the right reasons.

Paul tells us about the Body of Christ:

1 Corinthians 12:11-13 (New International Version)
11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

None of us can do it alone – each one of us is a part of the Body of Christ. Hands can’t function without arms, feet can’t function without legs. Can you imagine trying to walk without toes? A head may have a brain, but the head and the brain can’t live without a heart to pump blood, blood can’t circulate without veins and arteries, veins and arteries would just be hanging out if we didn’t have skin to cover us, skin would just be floppy if we didn’t have bones…get the picture? The parts can’t function on their own – we need our entire body to be able to function (except I can’t quite figure out that little hangy-thing at the back of my throat and what it does).


Sometimes we can get so caught up in service that we forget Who we are serving. Keith Green once said, “Don’t get so caught up in the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work”. If we so busy serving that we are actually forgetting the people around us, then maybe we have lost our focus. Maybe we need our spiritual eyes to be opened and for God to show us what’s wrong.


Most of all, let’s not get in God’s Way – He’s been doing things for years without our help. I’m thankful He chooses to use me – and I need to remember that He’s still in control no matter what happens. Even if we mess up and fall, He is going to use that experience for His glory.
It’s just what’s on my mind….

Rainy Days and Fridays...

Rainy days and Fridays always get me down...hey, wait, wasn't that a Carpenters song back in the '70's? Oh, yeah, that was rainy days and Mondays!

Rainy days make me want to sleep...Fridays make me want to cry. The road in this picture is the road I used to take every Friday...the road to my Dad's house. Unless something else came up, I got in the habit of going to see him every Friday night. Now on Fridays, I have to remind myself not to call him to see what we are having for dinner, especially if I get in the mood for a shrimp box from the Dairy Isle. Sometimes I have to remind myself daily not to call him when I think of something that might have made him laugh, or I hear something about the Virginia Cavaliers, the Yankees, the Redskins, or Nascar.

I have to remind myself not to call him when I just want to hear his voice.

You know, I used to be a really prideful person, stubborn and hard-headed...okay, I still am at times, but nothing like I used to be...and I held grudges and I got mad over stuff that didn't amount to anything. Being this way caused me to be away from my dad for a few years. But as God healed my heart, He showed me that we all fall...and we all have to trust Him to lift us up and heal us.

God healed my heart of a lot of negative feelings - and I encourage any of you who have problems in your relationships to search out the face of God, and pray that God changes the other person, but more importantly, pray that God changes you. Sometimes we are the problem and we don't even realize it. I felt guilty for a long time about the time I spent away from my dad...and since his death, I have had all of those feelings resurface. But the past is the past, and I know that the time my dad and I spent together before his death was more precious than any other time I might have had.

I just thank God that He allowed my dad to live long enough for me to realize that - and that He didn't take my dad home before I had a chance to make amends and tell him that I love him...and I'm thankful that I will see my dad again one day, when Jesus takes me home.

Call that person you need to make amends with...don't wait until it's too late. It doesn't matter whose fault it was. Don't let pride get in the way. Love hard. Love the way God wants you to love.

It's just what's on my mind.