GET YOUR JOY BACK - JOEL OSTEEN

Get Your Joy Back
TODAY'S SCRIPTURE
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy"(I Peter 1:8, NIV)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Have the pressures and circumstances of life taken away your joy? Today is the day to get it back! It's time to get excited about your future and learn to enjoy each and every day.
If you don't make the conscious effort to keep your joy, year after year you'll get more and more solemn. Not only will the enemy rob you of the joy that belongs to you, but he'll rob your family and friends of the gift that you have to give them. When you have joy, you can use that joy to influence the people around you for good. Joy is strength, and when you have joy, you can offer strength to the people God has placed in your life.

Today, draw the line in the sand and say, "That's it. I'm not going to live another day negative, discouraged, sour and grumpy. I'm going to put a smile on my face. I'm going to live my life happy." Choose to let your faith in Him fill you with inexpressible and glorious joy so that you can be a blessing everywhere you go!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, thank You for Your love. Thank You for choosing me and molding me into Your image. Today, I invite You to fill me with Your inexpressible, glorious joy so that I can be a blessing to the people You have placed in my life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

PART TIME CHRISTIANS?

Yesterday I attended service with my mom at Fellowship on the South Side of Chicago led by Pastor Jenkins.

A part of his sermon inspired me to write this blog, Part-Time Christians. Pastor Jenkins stated that as many know church attendance rises on Easter Sunday. Alarmingly though only 50% of people will return next Sunday. Is it enough to just attend church on CME? Christmas, Mother's Day, and Easter? Who determines what a part-time Christian is and who sets the standard for what followers of Christ should behave like?

Of course the answer is God.......Hebrews 10:25 tells us "25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Matthew 18:20 "20For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Now the church is our physical bodies and not a physical building so do people have to attend a physical building to attend church service? Are those who attend church regularly truly living for God or are they just going through the motions? Is it possible to have a better relationship with Christ if you pray regularly, fast, tithe, and have gatherings in your home or amongst friends than someone who attends the physical building?

I believe it is important to attend the physical building as there is something about the gathering that ministers to my soul, there is always a word spoken that speaks to me and gets me through the day and the week. However, that is what works for me. As a Christian it is not my responsibility to impose my beliefs on anyone. I would love for all to believe and confess that Jesus is the son of God, he died and on the 3rd day he rose again yet I cannot force it.

I also believe that Christians need to be less condemning and more compassionate, less judgmental and concerned more with what is just.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

FAITH FRIDAY'S - HE'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew 20:17-19 Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"

"The angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.'"
Matthew 28:5-6a (NIV)

He's Alive Lyrics
Performed by- DeAndre Patterson

He's alive and I know it.

Jesus died and he rose again.

Got up out of the grave

power in his hands

He's alive, he's in my hands and my feet.

He's alive, I can feel it all over

Make me wanna raise my hands

Make me wanna jump and shout

Be a blessing and be blessed,

Epiphany Essentials

ESSENCE SERIES: TEACHING OUR CHILDREN

These are excerpts from the Essence April 2010 Article....this is definitely DEFINITELY a must read.....

The nations schools are failing our children. Black students already lag behind White students on the 1st day of kindergarten - a disparity that is as evident among suburban middle-class children as their inner-city peers. But Black parents, are finally paying attention. No longer waiting for schools to get it right, we are taking action - from the way we talk to our children to the experiences we offer them - to create higher achievers. For part two in our education series, ESSENCE spent a year exploring how Black parents can take responsibility for our children's success.

A 2009 report from the National Center for Education Statistics found that Black students scored an average of 27 points lower than their White peers on fourth-grade reading, and 26 points lower on eighth-grade reading. On math tests, Black students trailed their White counterparts by 26 points in the fourth-grade, a gap that rose to 31 points by the eighth grade. The results, based on tests administered in 2007, revealed an achievement gap in almost every state in the union.

With the education disparity breaking stubbornly along such racial and ethnic lines for the past three decades, it is almost impossible to overstate the economic and social consequences.

The study found that Black and Latino children are two to three years behind White children of the same age when it comes to academic performance, with White students significantly outperforming Black and Latino students regardless of the income level of their parents.

As early as the 4th grade, the study claims, academic performance is a powerful predictor of a students projected future earnings.

Others are encouraging their children to become mentors to under performing Black students, reversing a pervasive culture where making good grades is seen as not cool.

Black parents are radically rethinking the roles they can play in their children's school lives.....they are enrolling their children in foreign language in elementary school, and forgoing trips to theme parks for travel to historic sites and nature reserves.

Research by Ronald F. Ferguson shows only 47% of college-educated Black parents read to their kindergarten-age children daily, compared with 60% of similiary educated White parents.

Even if your child is doing fine in school you should be looking for extracurricular activities to accelerate your child, because that's what the rest of the parents your child is competing with are doing.



Medical experts agree that the years from birth to 3 years are critical for child development and future learning.



We have to think about their brains as a computer system that is not wired yet and it is waiting for us to wire it.



Even upper-and middle-income parents sometimes will work really hard to move into the best school system in the area, and then watch and wait for the the school system to turn their kid into a great student, not understand that a lot of the work is still theirs.



"Too often we teach our children to be passive and obedient, and they are getting destroyed. In the year 1908, if you were Black and you were not passive and obedient, you could get killed. Now, if you are passive and obedient about education, you will die." Ronald F Ferguson.



For those in the Chicago area check out the Black Star Project. http://blackstarproject.org/action/


Parents you are your child's first teacher. It is up to you to instill at an early age of love of learning, exploration, and critical thinking with your children. It




Be a blessing and be blessed,

Epiphany Essentials

THANK YOU JESUS: NEVER FORGET

Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12

The Lord’s Suffering Servant

13 See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. 14 But many were amazed when they saw him.[d] His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. 15 And he will startle[e] many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.[f]

Isaiah 53
1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows[g] that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away.[h] No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.[i] But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. 12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

TRUST ME!

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5&6, NIV).
What is God saying to you today? Sometimes God’s message is surprisingly simple.
When I think of the future and see the unsettling changes in the world, I hear God saying:

TRUST ME! “I am the sovereign LORD: my purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:10, NIV).

When I think of my children living on three continents and facing all sorts of challenges — without me! — I am tempted to worry. Again, I hear God saying: TRUST ME! I am the good Shepherd and I take good care of my sheep. “All your children will be taught of the LORD and great will be your children’s peace” (Isaiah 54:13, NIV).

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

HOW TO ENHERIT THE EARTH

How to Inherit the Earth
Whitney Hopler

Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Scott A. Bessenecker's recent book, How to Inherit the Earth: Submitting Ourselves to a Servant Savior, (InterVarsity Press, 2009).

Jesus promised that the meek would inherit the Earth. But meekness isn't an attractive quality in our world, and developing it requires going against tremendous pressures from our sinful nature. If you do learn how to submit yourself to God and others, though, you'll help to change the world for the better.

Here's how you can inherit the Earth:

Become downwardly mobile. Jesus chose the ultimate downwardly mobile life by leaving heaven to live and serve in our fallen world. He deserved more than anyone to be rich, famous, and powerful, yet He chose to be a picture of perfect meekness. Ask God to help you overcome pride and become more humble so you can follow Jesus' example. Be alert for opportunities to reach out to poor, lost, and broken people. Be willing to help people who can't advance your status or power or repay you in any material way. Decide to use whatever personal power you have to help others rather than to exalt yourself.

Submit to God and other people. Living according to your own agenda will end up enslaving you to sin, but learning how to submit to God and others will free you to grow into a stronger person and experience God's peace. You can't learn what it means to live successfully in God's kingdom until you learn to die to the world's definitions of success. So be willing to submit to anyone who God is leading you to submit to - not just smart or wealthy people, but also those such as the developmentally disabled or the poor. Ask God to help you dethrone your selfishness and desire to control so you'll be better able to follow wherever He leads you. Pray for the strength you need to submit to others God wants you to respect, even when you disagree with them.

Let go of the money and possessions God wants you to relinquish. Hoarding wealth when God wants you to use it to help others reveals that you're not trusting God enough. Repent and ask God to help you overcome fear and greed so you can become a generous person, just as Jesus is generous with you. Pray for the faith you need to fully depend on God each day to provide all of your needs.

Stop comparing yourself to others. The paths Jesus will ask you to follow are often not the same paths that He will ask others to follow. So don't justify avoiding a task by pointing to someone else who didn't have to do it or comparing yourself to someone who did the task but who seems more qualified than you. Don't feel as if you're entitled to indulge a certain privilege just because someone else got to do so. Stop measuring yourself against other people's lives and listen for the ways that God is uniquely speaking to you.

Get rid of a sense of entitlement. Pray for the love you need to set aside your rights and privileges so you can serve others however God leads you to serve them. Remember that Jesus said those who truly love Him will follow Him by serving others sacrificially. Instead of following selfish ambitions, aim your ambition toward doing your best to answer God's calls faithfully and serve other people well. When you encounter a need and sense God leading you to help meet it, do so without pride or grumbling, letting love motivate you. Be willing to help at the cost of your own comfort or well-being.

Choose obedience over independence. God designed people to follow His authority and exercise benevolent authority over each other. People were never meant to rule themselves. If you try to run your own life without answering to any authority, you'll only end up in bondage to sin. But if you choose to trust and obey God and work respectfully with other people in positions of authority, you'll be free to experience the best life possible. So don't leave your marriage if you and your spouse disagree; stay and work out the issues. Don't leave your job when you're asked to do something that you don't want to do at work; do your duty and learn from the experience. Don't stop listening to friends who bring up topics that make you uncomfortable; talk with them and consider how you can grow as a result.

Lead as a follower. Always keep in mind when you're leading other people that you're a follower first. Seek to follow Jesus faithfully so you can lead faithfully when He calls you to do so. Leading with meekness involves love above all else, so you won't need to coerce others into following but can inspire them to voluntarily join you in service to God.

Adapted from How to Inherit the Earth: Submitting Ourselves to a Servant Savior, copyright 2009 by Scott A. Bessenecker. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., http://www.ivpress.com/.Each year Scott Bessenecker helps send more than 2,000 college students to nearly every continent on earth as the associate director of missions for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. To prepare for his work spreading vision and mobilizing resources, Scott got a degree in Business Administration and a masters in International Development from William Carey International University. Scott has written from a holistic Christian perspective for publications like Relevant and Mission Maker magazines and edited the book Quest for Hope in the Slum Community. His active weblog is at http://www.thenewfriars.com/.
Original publication date: March 25, 2010

Be a blessing and be blessed,

Epiphany Essentials