I want to tell you about Joy & Flow.
Last week I met with my good friend Jackie Trottmann. She is an author and runs a website https://guidedchristianmeditation.com. She is also, a Spiritual Advisor and she coined the phrase Joy & Flow for her website. I met Jackie about 8 years ago during a spiritual struggle. It was just after I had found Jesus. I was searching for answers and I was unable to resolve exactly what was happening to me. How do you find Jesus, yet be so lonely? That is where I was in my spiritual place at that time. It made zero sense to me. Finding Jesus is supposed to be Joyful! AND it was! But as I basked in the Joy for a while, loneliness found me. It was confusing and It hurt.
In my quest to find someone to help me, I searched up Christian websites and found Jackie’s site. She was one of about a half a dozen folks I emailed asking for help. Jackie was the only one who responded. We set up a time to talk on the phone and the rest is history as they say. She has been such a wonderful friend to me during my journey.
The basis of our original conversation was really just two Christians exchanging how they found Jesus stories. We Gave each other our Stories. It was very comforting too. It took me many years to understand this empty feeling I had, and exactly what that meant. Eventually, I learned that when we feel this empty spiritual place, that is God showing us the empty cross. That is God showing us the empty tomb! Think about that for a second. Think about that real hard. That is the ACT before the CELEBRATION! He has Risen! He has Risen Indeed!
When you think of Joy what do you think of? Would you associate that with death? Would you associate that with the empty cross? Would you associate that with the empty tomb? Most of us would relate to Joy being things like laughter, fun, relaxation, peace, kids being kids, watching your kids grow, accomplishments, personal achievements and family gatherings. Well, those are Joyful times.
God wants us to find Joy in the tougher things too. Now that’s hard. God wants us to find Joy in growing. He wants us to find Joy in overcoming pain. He wants us to find Joy in working through the mess. I am even talking about death. After all – they do call it a celebration of life! This sounds tough eh? I have a theory as to why God wants us to have joy over these things. Simple answer. This is the battle that God has already won with Jesus. Satan is still trying to win that battle by knocking us down. Satan’s battle really isn’t with us. His battle is with God. He just tries to use us as his instruments. When we find Joy in the tough things that Satan puts before us, this overjoys our God! He loves it when we win the battle!
From this LOVE Flows. Our Joy creates the Flow of Love to others. This is God’s ultimate mission. He Loves you and wants you to love him back!
He will show you the empty tomb to get your attention so that you can celebrate that He has Risen! He has Risen Indeed!
His Love pours out on you so that you can give it to others. His love pours out on you so that you can give it back to Him.
I met with Jackie last week to go over another spiritual struggle. Do you know what I received by talking to her? Joy & Flow! We worked through the hard stuff. This included me sharing my loneliness. This included me sharing my hurt. This included me sharing my struggle.
AND we laughed and celebrated, and we shared peace and LOVE is why. Link: Joy & Flow
How did you find Jesus? Would you please Link: Give Your Story?
Please email me and tell me how you found Jesus so we can share it with others to offer them hope. Phil@giveyourstory.com
I get a weekly email from Jackie with insightful thoughts in her writings. This is how she always ends her emails.
Until next time…..