Are You Joyful?

It is so not Autumn weather here!! We're still in the 80's and 90's, ugh!! We did so enjoy having the windows open for a few days, oh well, the Lord's Will be done. I shouldn't complain (no matter how much I want cool weather!!), He is in Control.
Anyway, yesterday was our second Membership Class, it was lovely. I am just so thankful for our Pastor!!!
We are going through a kind of stressful time right now and as the days go by that this carries on it gets harder to deal with. Although it is difficult I am reminded to rest in Jesus. There is no other source of joy, peace, rest, love, or anything like His Arms.
People may think they've found joy in money or romance or whatever, but we all must understand that this "joy" is WORLDLY "JOY". True and pure joy ONLY comes from GOD!! Whatever we have on this earth will pass away, seriously, nothing on earth will remain forever, everyone WILL die, the world WILL come to an end and all that lies therein. Think about it, nothing we have is anything without God, we are nothing without God. If we don't have Christ, we don't have anything worth living or dying for, our lives are meaningless without Christ! If Christ is not the Center of our lives then, I ask, what do we have? We cannot have True Joy, Peace, Love (for God is Love 1 John 4:7-8) if God is not in us.
I must say, it sickens me the way people obsess over money (don't wanna sound perfect here, I'm guilty of it too and I sicken myself in the process), but it's like we think if only I had more money or if only I had this or that, I mean, what's the point? Yes, we do need to money to buy certain things, but not all the money in the world will buy our way into Heaven to spend eternity with Christ, no, no, no, it's not ever gonna happen!!!!!! Christ is all that we need and if we trust in Him, He will provide our needs. God knows what we need before we even think about needing something, yes if God is Willing, He will provide. I myself struggle with that, but deep down I know and there is not one time that I can think of that He didn't provide us with what we needed. He is Awesome! Praise Him, Love Him, Adore Him, He Alone is Worthy of all Praise, Love, and Adoration!!
Alive because of His Blood,
Bekah