by Max Lucado
Jesus said: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11 NIV).
The joy Jesus offers is unlike the one promised at the car dealership or shopping mall. It is not a joy that depends upon circumstance. Peter spoke of this joy. “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8 NKJV). Peter was writing to persecuted Christians. Adversaries took their rights, property, and possessions. But no one could take their Jesus. No one could take their joy.
Courageously joyful people have tethered their hearts to the foundation of God. Is that to say your life will be storm-free? Is that to say no sorrow will come your way? No. But that is to say your sorrow will not last forever.
God Made Our Brains. He Can Retrain Our Brains.
Stuck in your head? Hounded by regrets? Weighed down by worry? Change is possible! The thoughts that have characterized your past need not characterize the rest of your life.
In Tame Your Thoughts, Max explores three key thought-management tools and then applies them to the most common thought problems: worry, guilt, anxiety, and other types of mental quicksand that threaten to trap us. God loves us too much to let us lead a life marked by poor thinking. He has not left us alone in this battle of the mind.
shared with permission
