On Being full of Joy!

Wow! I know some of you don't believe it, or even think it is silly to believe God has you somewhere for a reason, or even to believe in God period, or that He may be interested in you. Others of you know it to be totally true that God cares for you and wants to bless you. I didn't want to move back to the east coast, but God has abundantly blessed us by moving us here.
Today we had another great sermon at our church here in CT. In Sunday school we talked about true joy and again in church. No thing (money, car, material good or possession) brings us true joy! We can fill our lives with these things and they may make us happy for a season but everlasting Joy comes from above, from God. To truly wrap yourself around Christ and live for him can bring you so much joy that it is unspeakable. Many will go through their lives searching for joy and never finding it. But Praise the Lord, he sent His son to die for all! All who will believe Him, all who will accept Him, all who will put their trust in Him. To truly tap into that joy our roots must be so wrapped up in him that our heart and soul can continuously feed on Him(He is the living water!) Many don't want to believe on him because that would mean they would have to change things or give up things. In fact, many of us who do believe and are Christians still have trouble giving up things and totally being wrapped up in Him. Speaking for myself(April) as well. I will be transparent here- it is hard for me not to be wrapped up in myself, what I want or think I need and more what people think of me. Gratefully I am learning to try to let that go every day. I fail alot but in order to serve the Lord with pure Joy - we all have to try to give up the things that build our pride. Why b/c it isn't about us, about what someone said about us or our families, or what they think of us, or how others portray us to be. It isn't about the past. Our pastor preached today on not focusing on the past. People will hurt you, let you down, treat you unkind, why because they did these things to Christ first and He was the King of Kings. Anyhow we can pray for those people who have let us down, but we must look forward to the mark, focus on finishing the race and keeping our eyes on Christ. Today matters NOW matters. If we are so focused on what has happened rather than what can be done for Christ we can easily become ineffective for Christ. This is what Satan wants and we can name things that have caused that to happen, but we are letting it happen if we let the past hold us there instead of strengthen us for the future. I share this with you because I needed to hear it. I share it with you to hopefully encourage and remind you that through God we have Victory and strength. If we are wrapped up in Him then we can go about His business and not our own in -clearing our name- or proving someone wrong- or just focusing on things we may have done in the past that can hold us back....instead we can look forward! Focus on the mark and live a more abundant life.
Okay I really just wanted to share that b/c I really just felt like the Lord wanted me to. I will try to commit my works unto the Lord so that my thoughts will be established. And Challenging you to be full of Joy(only with excepting Christ in your heart can you have full joy). I hope this shares an insight on what I received from the Lord today and needed. Wishing you all Joy Unspeakable!