2020~Maybe The Best Year Yet💖

Anyone else feelin this….?👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

“Sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Had as much of you as I can take.
I’m so done-so OVER being AFRAID.
I’ve gone through the motions~
I’ve been back and forth
I know that you’re thinking you’ve heard this before~
I don’t know how to say it, 
So I’m just gonna say it…”

FEAR, YOU DON’T OWN ME.

“For God has NOT GIVEN us a spirit of FEAR, but of POWER, LOVE, and a SOUND MIND.” 2 Timothy 1:7

👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼

If I had to pick a life verse this would DEFINITELY, without a shadow of a doubt, be it.  And that song by Francesca Battistelli, yeah, she nailed it too.👌🏼💘

Let’s look at that verse again, in a different version…don’t check out, stay with me…💞

“For God did not give us a spirit of TIMIDITY or COWARDICE or FEAR but, (He has given us a Spirit) of POWER and of LOVE and of SOUND JUDGEMENT and PERSONAL DISCIPLINE {abilities that result in a CALM, WELL-BALANCED MIND and SELF–CONTROL}.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP).

Read that again. No really, if you’re not catching my excitement, read it again. 😍I want it to click for you like it did for me. What this verse is describing is a person who is filled with the Spirit….which you already are. It is you.❤️ It is me.❤️

 Like, seriously???

Um…me, please‼️🙋🏼‍🙋🏼‍🙋🏼‍

If it seems like I’m screaming, I am…at myself‼️😂😯😂

Anyone else besides me want their life to actually exemplify the TRUTH of this verse??

So why do so many of us, including myself, let FEAR take us captive and hold us back from basically everything in life?

I’ll say it again…

FEAR-YOU DON’T OWN ME. 

God said so. God said He didn’t PUT fear inside of us, period. 

I’m not sure it could be anymore straightforward than what Timothy says. He says that being TIMID, COWARDLY, and FEARFUL IS NOT WHO WE ARE. 

Because that’s NOT who the Holy Spirit is.

Instead, He says God gave us a Spirit of POWER, LOVE, SOUND JUDGMENT, PERSONAL DISCIPLINE…and there’s more…a CALM, WELL-BALANCED MIND, and SELF-CONTROL. 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

Because that’s who the Holy Spirit IS.

I am who He says I am💛
He is who He says He is💛
I’m defined by all His promises💛
Shaped by every word He says.❤️

This verse in Timothy has been my ‘go-to’ verse more than any other scripture in the Bible. I’ve quoted it numerous times, scrutinized it in all the different versions, screamed it in the devil’s face. 👿 👹

And my favorite author from my favorite book~The Shack~says this:

“You can manage FEAR in one of two ways: CONTROL, or TRUST. ~W. Paul Young

Basically, you can let IT control you, OR you can Trust Him with IT.

Easy to say “I choose to Trust…” Not so easy to put into practice.

FEAR, YOU DON’T OWN ME.

👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

“There ain’t no room in this story.
I ain’t got time for you telling me what I’M NOT
like you know me~well, guess what⁉️

I KNOW WHO I AM. 💜

I’ve got my own identity, thank you very much.

This being said, you might have a good idea of what my #1 New Year’s Resolution will be…

But first let’s talk about January for a second. ❄️☃️🌨🌩

It’s never been one of my favorite months. Mainly because of the let down after the the hustle and bustle of Christmas. 🎄The sights, sounds, and smells of the most magical season fade into memories, and we’re ‘back to the grind’ in a sense. 😕

 It sometimes brings bleak and dreary weather. ☔️

And then there’s the process of getting the back-to-school routine going again. 😧

But like it or not, it also brings a New Year. Another opportunity for a fresh start. The chance to make a change. I wonder at this start of 2020, how many of us have gotten more chances than we ever thought we would at this point in our lives? Did some of us wonder if we’d live to see 2020? The God of second chances. And 3rd chances…and 4th, 5th, 10th, 16th, 99th…and infinity more amounts of chances. ❤️

So, January is a symbol of new beginnings. Some of us know our track record, so we didn’t even bother making resolutions this year. If that’s you-you’re probably smarter than the rest of us 😉 

Because statistics show that New Year’s Resolutions only last about two weeks, average.

And hopefully we all realize that January 1st is actually no different than any other tomorrow on our calendars that we make a plan for and don’t follow through with.😵

👉🏽According to U.S. News & World Report, 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February.😩

👉🏽About 65% of us make them. So when approximately do these New Year “promises” get broken? According to professionals, January 12th is the day most people ditch the resolutions.😐

👉🏽Just for fun…see if your New Year’s resolution is on the top 10 list…

1. Exercise more 🏃🏽‍
2. Lose weight 🍭 
3. Get organized ✏️ 
4. Learn a new skill or hobby 👩🏼‍🌾
5. Live life to the fullest 🤔 
6. Save more money / spend less money 💰 
7. Quit smoking 🚬 
8. Spend more time with family and friends 👭
9. Travel more ✈️ 
10. Read more 📚 

Did you see yours? So we launch full force into the New Year with great intentions~pumped & newly motivated to conquer the world. But there’s only one problem. By day 10 or so we’re already defeated. We throw in the towel just like that. Dismayed, we find ourselves shoving that same doggone food in our mouth that we vowed never to eat again in the new year because we know it’s killing us. We also find ourselves yelling at our kids again-this time more in frustration that we’re still yelling than we even are at the actual offense. Because that was something we were going to change too. 😕

 We go back to our ‘survival’ kit which can be anything from drinking our problems away, to maxing out all our credit cards, to watching and reading the same trashy material, popping continuous pills to numb our emotions, scrolling aimlessly for hours and feeling empty from the weight of comparison….😔and the list goes on.

So why does this happen? The problem is definitely not the New Year’s resolutions themselves, because they are all attainable. The problem is that we haven’t changed the way we go about them.  Motivation, willpower, and self-discipline are all great things to carry with us into change. 

But, they can’t and they won’t sustain us. 

They will carry us for a little while, but because their source of power is self...and self has no power on it’s own, they will be short-lived and will not last. Most of us cave at the first sign of difficulty anyway, which is exactly the reason why most of us give up by day 12 of the new year. 😰

Self-discipline, motivation, and willpower are all works of the flesh, so we don’t even stand a chance to be successful…and it’s only a matter of time before we cave. Anything we try to do on our own works from the outside in. The Holy Spirit works from the inside out. Two completely different scenarios.

My New Year’s resolutions look a lot different this year than the above list. Nothing wrong with the list, in fact-yes to every one of those too. ✅

But this year I determined to make different changes that will have a lasting impact, more so than just one fad diet after the next or more self-help books that don’t seem to be helping. Things that are a little less self-driven. Things that~if I can get my act together~will be game changers.

So I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now…

My #1 New Year’s Resolution for the rest of my life…👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

FEAR, YOU DON’T OWN ME.

Yep. GOODBYE FEAR. 👋🏽 👋🏽 👋🏽 

You’ve been a bad friend. 

And I’m done with you. 

We’re breaking up. 💔

Peace out. 

Oh-and take insecurity with you.👋🏾

Because those two are explosive 💥 (in a bad way) when paired together. A lethal combination but also weirdly the same thing. 

Because let’s look at that verse one more time:

The verse mentions FEAR, TIMIDITY, COWARDICE.

Here’s a shortened list of synonyms for JUST the word fear.

What exactly IS FEAR?

Anxiety
Dread
Despair
Panic
Suspicion
Uneasiness
Worry
Agitation
Distress
Fright
Foreboding
Trembling 
Phobia

He also mentions God didn’t give us a spirit of TIMIDITY or COWARDICE either, so if you find yourself struggling with any of the following, that’s not who you are either.

Embarrassment
Inhibition
Skittishness
Indecision
Indecisiveness
Alarm
Apprehension
Discomposure
Aversion
Distress
Angst
Doubt

And Timothy plainly states that God did not put a spirit in us that exhibits any of those characteristics.

Did you know you are none of those things? That could be huge.💪🏽🙌🏽

Let’s look at the words in the verse that Timothy tells us we ARE: POWER, LOVE, SOUND MIND. 

And did you catch that? That we ARE. Not GOING TO BE, MIGHT BE, etc. We already are.

What exactly does Power, Love, and a Sound Mind include?

PERSONAL DISCIPLINE
CALM
WELL-BALANCED MIND 
SELF-CONTROL
DEVOTION
DELIGHT
PASSION
RESPECT
ENJOYMENT
CAPABILITY 
POTENTIAL
SKILL
TALENT
EFFECTIVENESS
QUALIFIED
LOGICAL
REASONABLE
RATIONAL
INTELLECTUAL 
INTELLIGENT
WISDOM
UNDERSTANDING 
SENSIBLE
SANITY
PRUDENCE
DETERMINATION
NON-INDULGENT
PATIENT 
RESTRAINT
SERENITY

I’d much rather this list describe me than the previous ones!

THESE are the things WE ALREADY ARE friends. 

And I could go on. I usually do. 😵But there’s too many more!

So my point? When are we going to wake up and realize WHO we are? Once we realize it, we’ve got to pull up our bootstraps and CLAIM IT. 

And yes, it’s a process. And no, it’s not easy.

But is it worth it?

There’s no life without it.

We can cruise through life for a while distracted enough that we don’t realize what we’re missing. But at some point life WILL slow down and come to a screeching halt. Recent studies show that people will do almost anything to avoid being alone with their own thoughts. Why? They might come face to face with the gaping emptiness that’s left a hole so big that just seems to get bigger. No amount of distractions, activities, Bible studies…whatever we attempt to fill it with, will dull the ache. 😕

It will never go away until you realize the TRUTH of who you really are.

Who are you?

You are Loving.❤️ Joyful.💛 Peaceful. 💚Patient. 💙Kind. 💜Good. ❤️Faithful.💛 Gentle.💚 And you actually do have self-control.💙Galatians 5:22-23

How do I know this? 

Those are all fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit God has ALREADY given us. And you don’t have to go through any process or formula to obtain that Spirit. That’s a lie that has likely kept some of us in chains.

So here’s my 2020 list…and it ain’t gonna be easy, because in many ways it goes against everything that’s become natural to me.

💚Live in the Grace of each day. Don’t get ahead of one day. Don’t live for tomorrow, only today. We are not promised tomorrow.
💚Become a child again~Learn to live with no expectations.
💚Believe that God is Good all the time, and therefore understand that nothing is ordinary. In fact, if I believe in a God who is ALL GOOD~then everything is extraordinary.
💚Understand the TRUTH of who you are. Know and CLAIM your one and only identity.
💚Ask the Holy Spirit to help me begin wrapping my mind around the fact that I am loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, & self-controlled.

Sound crazy? Probably. But I promise, if you begin to grasp these things with the help of the Holy Spirit, you’ll understand what I mean.❤️

And…once we understand these things, and we trust the Holy Spirit to lead us through the process, we will be able to CONQUER everything on that list and any other list we’ve made.💪🏽

So as I work on believing and claiming that above list, I’ll be more than able to tackle this bad boy of a list👇🏽

💜Return texts/calls/messages/emails in a timely manner-because when you don’t it might mess with people😰
💜BE the friend I want to have. I’m looking for REAL people, so I intend to be real. This is especially hard when it seems you’re the only one making the effort.
💜Compliment people. Tell them they’re doing a good job at whatever it is that they’re doing. You can find something, I promise.
💜Encourage more people. Speak life-giving words to them. Words matter. Words shape the way we think about ourselves, and what we think about God.
💜Spend way less time on my phone and more face-to-face time with the people most important to me. Guaranteed~if they think I can’t live without my phone, they’ll think they can’t live without it either. 
💜Stop being a perfectionist.😩
💜declutter my entire house 🏠
💜Try out some dang new recipes. 🍴
💜Go to bed earlier🙄
I had to throw some normal ones in there…🤓

Now…do I have all of this down to a science? Heck to the no.

That’s why my blog is called “Chasing Joy”.

It’s a process, friends. 

But I’ve come such a loooonnnngggg way from where I was, and I’m mainly talking about the chains of religion. And if that’s you too, we’re at a disadvantage and it’s time to start unraveling and clearing some things up. I sincerely believe that FEAR is the culprit of every single struggle we deal with as human beings. And everything else manifests itself through fear.

Get ready to make some game-changer changes.👊🏽

And repeat after me as many times as you need to.💜💚❤️

FEAR-YOU DON’T OWN ME 🙌🏽