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“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 (NLT) Paul says, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NLT) He doesn’t say you should be joyful only in good times. He says you should be full of joy always. But how can you do that? The Bible teaches that—even when times are tough—you can be joyful if you follow these four simple strategies: Thank God in all things. When you pray, do it with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is gratitude. It actually increases your immunities. It makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They’re never satisfied. It’s never good enough. But if you cultivate an attitude of gratitude—of being thankful in every circumstance—your stress will lessen. Don’t worry about anything. Worrying doesn’t change anything. You learned it from your parents.

You need more than positive thinking to survive in this world. You need hope. In 1 Peter 1, the Bible offers five reasons you can have hope through Jesus Christ. • God chose you before you chose him. • God always treats you with grace and mercy. • God has secured your future. • God’s power will protect you. Finally, you can have hope because God is preparing you for eternity. God is using everything in your life—the good, the bad. Once you understand this, life begins to make sense. You stop saying, “Lord, why is this happening?” because you know why: He’s preparing you for eternity. The Bible says, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus

“My heart rejoices in your salvation.” Psalm 13:5 (NIV) If you’re a follower of Jesus, joy should be a way of life. Why? You’ve been completely forgiven. There’s no longer a reason for guilt or shame. The Bible says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV). Romans 8 was originally written in Greek. The word translated “no” is the strongest possible negative in Greek. That’s important—because one of the biggest reasons people lose their joy is guilt. Guilt and shame have the power to steal your joy. All of us make mistakes. But God doesn’t want you to live in self-condemnation, constantly telling yourself, “I should be better.” So how does God want you to handle your guilt? By coming clean and confessing your wrong. Go to God and say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” And then he’ll wipe away your sin. Jesus Christ died on the cross so your sins would be forgiven and you’d no longer have to live with guilt! And he didn’t just die for t

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” Romans 8:31 (NLT) Psychologists have identified hundreds of fears that people can have. Fear is a universal problem—and it takes away your joy. But here’s the good news: You don’t have to be afraid. You have God on your side! The Bible reminds you, “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NLT) With God on your side, you don’t need anything else. Satan uses all of these fears to rob you of joy. He knows what will make you joyful, so he creates fears to oppose those things. For example, Satan knows that obeying God will always bring you joy. So, he makes you afraid of what other people will think if you do the right thing. He makes you worry more about your popularity than pleasing God. Satan also knows that one of the greatest sources of joy in life is when you share the love of Christ with an unbeliever. So,

And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation.” 1 Peter 1:5 (NLT) Hope matters. In a world that often looks bleak, you need to understand that God’s best is yet to come. Sometimes we all find ourselves in situations where we feel hopeless, helpless, and powerless. But the truth is, that’s a lie. You’re not hopeless, helpless, or powerless when you have God’s Spirit in your life. God says that his mighty power will protect you. The word “protect” in 1 Peter 1:5 literally means you’re continuously guarded by God’s power. God is watching over you every moment of the day, just as a sentry or bodyguard would. Everything in your life is Father-filtered. He uses even the hard things caused by your sin or others’ sin for his good. What’s your role in all of this? It’s really simple: You trust God. You are surrounded by an all-loving, all-powerful God, and you can always have hope, knowing that his power will protect you.

There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.” Acts 20:35 (GNT) When it comes to generosity, one of the best ways to learn is from the examples of others. The Bible offers another great model of generosity: the church in Macedonia. Here’s what the Paul said about them: “We want you to know what God’s grace has accomplished in the churches in Macedonia. They have been severely tested by the troubles they went through; but their joy was so great that they were extremely generous in their giving, even though they are very poor” (2 Corinthians 8:1-2 GNT). Notice how the church in Macedonia had their own problems to deal with. They were “severely tested” because they lived during the Roman Empire, when Nero was emperor. It was a time when being a Christian could lead to a death sentence. The Macedonians were not only being persecuted for their faith, but they were also extremely poor and maybe in need of financial assistance themselves. But because “their joy was so great,” their dif

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV) An amazing transformation takes place when you live generously in every area of your life. The grip of materialism starts to break, and your heart grows bigger. But something even greater happens: You become like Jesus. What is Jesus like? One of his characteristics is his outrageous, lavish, and radical generosity. Everything you have—the air and water, your brain and heartbeat—is a total gift of God’s generosity. In fact, without God’s generosity, you’d have nothing. Jesus is the master example of generosity. The Bible says, “You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9 The Message). What does that verse mean? Jesus Christ is God. He had all the splendor of heaven, but he gav

All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” Acts 2:44-45 (NIV) No one sacrificed like the early church. The Bible says in Acts 2:44-45, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (NIV). These early Christians didn’t give just their money. They were generous with everything they had. They were radically generous. God doesn’t just give you resources for your own enjoyment but to make a difference in the world around you. God never blesses you just so you can sit on what you have. He blesses you so you can bless others. Here are four things you need to remember as you use your blessings as God intended. Your blessings should flow to others. “Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand” (Philippians 2:4 The Message). This is the first law of blessing: It must flow outwardly. How do you bless others? By meeting

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.” Romans 6:6-7 (NLT) God gives us the freedom to do what is right. Most people think freedom means no rules, no limits, and no regulations—but that’s a very limited view of freedom. Instead, freedom is the power God graciously gives you to say “yes” to the things that are good for you and “no” to the things that are harmful. The Bible teaches, “For you are a slave to whatever controls you” (2 Peter 2:19 NLT). Here, exactly what we all need: someone to free us from ourselves. Paul voiced this tension in Romans 7:24-25: “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (NLT). Why is Jesus Christ the answer? Jesus promises, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15 (ESV) The truth is, life rarely goes back to “normal” after a difficult season. Hard times change people—and not just people but also the world around you. To resume life successfully after a difficult time, you’ll need to make some adjustments. Expect to feel mixed emotions. God’s people felt mixed emotions when they returned to Jerusalem after being held captive in Babylon for 70 years. Their city was in complete ruins, yet the first thing they did was rebuild their house of worship. As they finished laying the foundation, some of the people shouted thanksgiving to God, while others wept loudly. Ezra 3:13 describes how their emotions mingled together: “The people could not distinguish the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people were making so much noise. Maybe you too have experienced conflicting emotions when easing back into life after a period of suffering or loss—the loss of a loved on

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (GNT) You and I do foolish things from time to time. We make mistakes. But nothing you’ll ever do is beyond the capacity of God to use. You may make mistakes, but God doesn’t. The Bible says it like this in Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose” (GNT). When you make a foolish mistake, God promises he can use it for good. The promise is for people who come to God and say, “I want to live for your purpose. I don’t always get it right. But I want to do the right thing. I want to trust you, and I want to follow you That’s a reason for joy. But, you’ll still make bad decisions. You’ll still mess up. But God can fit it all into his plans. There is no plan B for your life. God knew all the mistakes you’d make before you were born. He al