Release: My Journey Begins!

Happy New Year!  2018 has officially began!  The old has gone, the new has come!  For me, that means beginning this year with a fresh perspective on life, on love, on who I am in Christ and how to become a workman approved by the One who purposed me for this life.  So, my journey for 2018 begins with one word, a word I probably wouldn't have chosen for myself to challenge me or even give me a pep in my step.  I mean, come on, I'm known as "Joy" because that word has encompassed all I have tried to be since adopting it as a motto to live by in 2015.  But God has clearly given me this word for the year and I am embracing it and anticipating with great joy what He will reveal to me and how I can use it in my life.  The word is "Release." 

This word seems simple enough on the surface.  Just release those things that hold me back or from thoughts I have held on to.  Then boom!  I'm done!  On to the next word!  But I have spent the last few weeks researching and praying through this word and what God wants me to learn and take with me into this new year.  What I have found so far is release is a complex word not to be taken lightly.  The dictionary gives the definition as "a freeing from confinement, obligation, pain, or emotional strain.  To liberate from anything that restrains or fastens."  However, the Bible uses this word in many different contexts throughout, which lends this word to take on new meaning for me and is peaking my interest even more as to how this word will come to light throughout this year and beyond.  I will share more on that into the year as God reveals things to me.  But for today, this first day of 2018, I want to share what God woke me up at 4:30 telling me.  Buckle up!  It's good stuff!

As I begin this journey of "Release" in my life, God has revealed that there are three areas I need to concentrate on:  my physical release, my spiritual release, and my emotional release.  

To start the release process physically, I need to detox my body.  I am a true believer in being healthy mind, body and soul.  So it's only fitting that to get started on the right foot this year, I release all the toxins within me.  Those things within my body that are keeping me from feeling good, making me feel fatigued and those things keeping me from doing all God has for me.  "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own." 1 Corinthians 6:19  In order to become all God wants for me, I must rid my body of those things holding me back.  I will strive this year to become more physically fit for His service.

The next area of release comes within my spiritual walk.  Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.  For the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  One of the sins that so easily entangles me often is unforgiveness.  Unforgiveness of those that have wronged me and unforgiveness for those I have wronged.  I like to think I am a forgiving person.  After all, isn't that the whole basis for our walk with our Heavenly Father, the Creator of the universe.  Forgiveness!  He forgave us even when we didn't deserve it.  He sent His Son to take on our sin and pay the ultimate price by going to the cross.  Forgiveness should come easy for followers of Jesus Christ.  But, for me, it doesn't come as easy as I'd like to think.  As I prayed through forgiveness, God brought to mind some people that have wronged me and I realize I am holding on to feelings of disappointment, distrust, and resentment for them not apologizing to me.  The truth is, I have made it all about me and what I think should happen in these circumstances.  When really, it's not about me at all.  I may never receive a verbal apology.  Those wrongs may never become right.  I have to be ok with that.  Not because two wrongs make a right (which it doesn't!), but because Jesus forgave those that sent him to the cross, He forgave those that mocked Him and spit on Him.  He forgave me!  I am called to do the same.  The more I run with perseverance the race marked out for me, and fix my eyes on Him, the more I can learn to forgive.  This is a daily conversation I have with God.  The flip side is to ask forgiveness for those I've wronged.  Who wants to tuck tail and ask those they've wronged to forgive them?  How embarrassing, right?!  What if they don't accept!  What if it's something I did they didn't even know about and now I'm just telling on myself!  It's really hard to put yourself out there sometimes and humble yourself and ask forgiveness.  Satan would like for us to believe it is a sign of weakness.  But in reality, asking forgiveness releases you from Satan's hold.  It shows strength.  It shows that growth is occurring in your relationship with Christ as you take on His characteristics. 

The third part of the process for me is to release some emotional baggage I have been carrying around.  Wow!  Why do I hold on to things and let it weigh me down?  I picture myself carrying all of these suitcases around with different destinations written on them of places I've been and even places I haven't been yet.  Places like guilt, shame, pride, selfishness, envy, depression.  There are others, but let's leave it at those for now.  As God reveals, I need to work through them.  I have to open up each suitcase and take out the contents of each one and understand the cause and affect of each.  Then pray God takes those emotions away that hold me down.  I realize emotions come and go.  But sometimes, for whatever reason, I hold on to and pack away some emotions that weigh me down and keep me from being all God wants me to be. 

It appears I have a lot to work through this year.  I am excited and ready for the challenge of what God is revealing already and what He will reveal as this journey unfolds.  I pray that as I share with transparency of what God wants me to "release", that it will speak to others that maybe need to release as well.  If you are reading this, and you feel God is drawing you in that direction, hang in there with me.  It may be a bumpy ride, but I can assure you, God is at work and will prune those areas that are causing you to be stagnant in growth as I know He is already doing in me.

Blessings,

Angie Burkeen

Fog on the Mountain

Living in the mountains affords us some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.  Every season brings a whole new landscape of colors that affirms God's handiwork all around us.  Each morning I go through the same routine as soon as my feet hit the floor.  First, I let God know whatever He has for me that day, I'm all in!  Then, Murphy and I make our way to the kitchen and I let her out.  At that point, it is still dark outside.  Then I feed her and wait on my first of many cups of coffee.   I then go sit on the couch, with Bible in hand, coffee on the side table and Murphy curled up beside me for her morning siesta.  I enjoy the quietness of the morning as I talk and listen to my Heavenly Father through His Word and prayer.  All the while watching intently through the slats in the blinds waiting patiently for daylight to break so I can draw back the blinds and let the light come in where I get to see the first glimpse of God's beauty that surrounds me in the outside world. 

This morning was no exception to my routine! As the light started peaking through the blinds to give me my queue, I drew back the blinds and looking out across the mountains was the densest fog.  I could hardly see the peaks of the mountains.  The fog was overtaking the view that I long to see every morning!  The view of the massive beautiful mountains!  The view that serves as a reminder to me of just how big our God is!  The fog distorted that view and for a brief moment, I felt let down.  As if someone had just taken my last piece of chocolate.  And trust me, I love chocolate!  But then God brought something to my attention as He so often does.  As I looked out at the white puffy fog that was covering the beauty of the morning, He showed me that's what happens when the things of this world come into our life and gets in front of our relationship with God.  Our vision becomes skewed and it is hard to see clearly what is truth and what is false.  We find ourselves walking aimlessly in the fog trying to find and feel our way through.  It's like looking through a camera lens that is out of focus.  You just can't see things clearly!  Things become dark and fuzzy, lines are blurred, and sin ultimately sets in.  It happens so quickly and can blindside you if you are not prepared. 

In order to survive and navigate through this distorted world (the fog), as Christ Followers, first, we need to bathe our self in God's Word so it is planted deep in our hearts and minds.  Then, when the fog comes and things seem blurry through the lens of our life, we can recall His promises from His Word.  The promise to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).  Secondly, we need to trust the Holy Spirit to guide us through those foggy times.  Those times when you are struggling, when things seem to hard to handle, loneliness overtakes you, or bad news comes your way and you feel like your life is caving in.  Proverbs 3:5-6 reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Lastly and most importantly, we need to offer up all of our praise to our Lord and Savior.  For we know that during those hard times in our life, when we are struggling to feel our way through the fog,  joy will ultimately come!   The fog will eventually lift and we will see clearly His beauty and be able share our testimony with others that are still just seeing the fog.   "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  Hebrews 12:1-2

Authentic Faith

We had a group of college students serving with us a while back at Club 180 and they all showed an amazing example of being the hands and feet of Jesus.  They put their faith into action.  Terry and I was asked to lead a Bible Study time with them and one of the students shared her heart and where she is in her relationship with Jesus.  This is a young lady that has been raised in a Bible teaching church, got saved when she was seven years old, and serves in her church and college, planting seeds so others will know Christ.  She is struggling with her faith.  Is it real?  Have I really accepted Jesus in my heart?  This has taken over her thoughts so much, she has prayed the sinner's prayer more times than she can count.  She wants to be secure in her faith, however, she is stuck and can't move past her salvation.

How many of us question our salvation?  How many of us at some point in our walk with God question the validity of our faith?  It seems too easy sometimes when we consider all He asks of us is to believe in His Son and confess with our mouth that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.  Too easy!  But in reality, it's probably the hardest thing for our human instincts and desires to do.  You see, we all are born into the world with a sinful nature.  We want to be number one of everything.  At an early age, parents instill in their children that they can be the best if they try hard and focus on the task.  I'm guilty of that.  We just want our kids to have a positive self-esteem and realize their potential.  Then when they get older and begin to set out on their own we tend to give them advice on setting their goals high and working hard at what they do so they will have job security, money, and hopefully a nice retirement plan.  These are all good things, don't get me wrong.  But sometimes I think we miss the mark.  We're questioning our faith and don't even realize it.  If we're not instilling in our children first and foremost a passion and desire to trust God in everything, how will they grow and mature in a relationship where they give Him their whole heart.  We are essentially telling our kids, to trust themselves and their skills before anything else.  Even before God.  Wow!!!  I just stepped on my own toes.  Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says it all.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."  These truths apply today just as they did thousands of years ago.  God's word hasn't changed.

True salvation begins in your heart.  Once you have established that, move on.  God doesn't want you to be stuck in your faith.  He wants you to grow and live out your faith.  Once you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, love Him with all of your heart, your soul, and your strength.  That's what authentic faith is all about.  It all begins in the heart.  Then it oozes out to every area of your life so you become so in tune with what's on God's heart that everything else becomes second fiddle.  Remember, we are not placed on this earth for earthly pleasures.  We are purposed for God's work and pleasure.  Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  The word delight means to "have joy" or "take great pleasure."  When my thoughts and focus is on the joy and pleasure I have in my heart, knowing I am eternally secure and my relationship with Christ is built on the grace and mercy He has given this poor wrecthed soul, my life becomes more about the desires that is on His heart.  Did you catch that?  My desires become His desires!  Wow!  Shouldn't we be instilling that into our children and our children's children?

The young lady that was here questioning her salvation, is saved.  There is no doubt.  Her life is a testimony of her faith.  Sometimes that seed of doubt is planted and if we are not careful, it will grow because our focus on Christ is muted by other things in our life.  If our hearts desire becomes anything other than loving Him with all that we are, then Satan will find our weakness and begin to try to dig in.  Listen, if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you are His.  Period!  John 10:28 says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hands."  When I feel discouraged in my faith, I love to read the Psalms.  It is so encouraging and reminds me of how great our Father's love is for His children.  It restores my focus and renews my passion.

There is a quote I have written in the front of my Bible that sums up what authentic faith is and how we should continually live out our faith.  "Believing God is not for the weak at heart.  It's only for those who want to discover the rich blessings of walking close enough to God to hear the constant drumming of His heartbeat. Thump-thump, Thump-thump, Thump-thump." - Lysa Terkurst.  Authentic faith all starts with the heart.  Loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul and strength IS my desire!  I so desperately want to hear His heartbeat.

His Humble Servant,

Angie Burkeen
Club 180 Ministry
503 Main Street
Cumberland,  KY  40823
http://www.club180ministry.com/

A Life to Live

Before I came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Before I knew and truly understood the promise He gives us in John 10:10 that says, " I have come to give you life that you may have it to the full."  Until I really understood what this meant, I "lived to have life."  You see, there is a huge difference between "living to have life" and having a "life to live." 

God knew us before we were even formed in our mother's womb.  He knew every hair on our head.  He knew every imperfection of our fleshly body.  He knew everything about us before we were even thought of by our biological parents.  Knowing who we would be, knowing the bad parts of our life, knowing that throughout our lives we would disappoint, disobey, and even break His heart as we choose the ways of the world instead of His perfect plan for us, He chose to bring us into existence anyway.  He loves us unconditionally and we are His greatest and most precious creation.

From the moment we are born, we become selfish.  Early life is a selfishness built into us for survival.  The only way to communicate with our caregiver is by crying.  As soon as we realize this gets us what we want, "Katie bar the door!"  It's on!  Then as we grow older our selfishness is rooted in believing the lies of Satan.  We think we somehow deserve everything we can get.  Whether it's the best clothes, the best cars, the best paying jobs, the best relationships.  We begin to do whatever it takes to make that happen.  We end up "living to have a life."  Don't get me wrong.  Goals are great to have.  But when the goals of our life begin to super-cede the life that our Creator has planned for us, we become that toddler in the sandbox who refuses to share the toys that he thinks are his.  We become self centered and self absorbed, thinking we need "things" in our life to make us satisfied, so we do whatever we need to do in order to make that happen.  What a hamster wheel that can become!  God never intended His greatest creation to live this way.  If He takes such detail in making sure the birds of the air have food to eat.  The amazing fact that if He gives us beautiful flowers that put off fragrances that are so enjoyable to our senses it brings a smile to brighten any day.  If He does that, don't you think He has plans for our lives that we cannot even begin to fathom.  Wow!  Chew on that for a while.

So why do we continue to be so defiant in our lives?  Why do we continue to search so hard for things that we think will satisfy us, only to leave us searching for more?  I read a book recently written by Lacey Sturm, lead singer for the band Flyleaf.  She had a life changing, life saving encounter with God and when that happened, she said her eyes were open to a life she never knew could exist.  She began to see people through the eyes of Jesus.  This absolutely changed her dying life where she thought, if this is all there is, I don't want it - to a life worth living!  A life where every one she saw, she saw them the way Jesus sees them, beautiful!  Where every sunrise and sunset, every snowflake that falls, every colorful leaf on the trees, every part of creation is a part of His beautiful Masterpiece.

That's the difference between "living a life" and a "life to live."  I want a life to live, not by my own selfish desires, but I want that encounter with God every day, so my life reflects His loving grace and the beauty of His creation shines brightly in everyone that crosses my path and everything I see .  I want to live with the love that overflows from the life He has given and given in abundance.  I want to live in such a way that my heartbeat is in tune with His heartbeat.  Life is beautiful and the plans God has for our lives is an amazing tapestry weaved together to become this beautiful life He intends for us to enjoy.  A deep rooted joy and peace for life that can only come through an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  When we fully surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, we become full of life and love!

You can choose to "live a life" or have a "life to live!"  The choice is yours!

Much Joy,

Angie Burkeen

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11 

What if Our Bibles Were Taken Away?

Have you ever stopped and just reflected on God's Word.  The Power it carry's.  The Privilege it is to be able to open it up and read the incredible promises from our God who breathed life into each page.  We have friends that are serving as Missionaries in a foreign country and they have to hide their Bibles for fear of their very life.  The people they witness to and come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ have to be careful who they talk to about their faith for fear of their lives.  Yet, they are willing to take that risk because they understand the urgency to spread God's Word and the Power it gives the Believer.

You are probably thinking, wow!  I need to pray for those Missionaries.  They must have it rough.  Yes, they do!  Yes, prayer is always, always needed!  However, think about this.  We live in a Country founded upon God's principal's and Christian values, yet, we are so far from that now.  As Christians, our voice has become so small that we have allowed prayer to be taken out of schools.  We have watched as the Ten Commandments (the very laws given to Moses directly from God) have been ordered, by law, to be taken down from courthouses.  We are not allowed to pray before Graduations or football games.  Teachers can be fired from their job by just mentioning the Bible or Jesus Christ. 

Friends, we are not very far away from becoming like those countries where the very building we congregate to worship will be obsolete.  Where Bibles will be confiscated if seen in public.  Where the very mention of Jesus Christ could land someone in jail or be killed.  It's hard to think that could actually happen.  But did you ever think that the aforementioned things could happen?  Satan is out to kill, steal, and destroy.  He wants to make a mockery out of our Savior and wants to silence our Faith so no one else will come to know Christ.  God's Word tells us that this very thing is coming.  In Jude, verses 17-21, "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.  They said to you, 'In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.'  These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.  But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

I will be the first to admit that I take God's Word for granted.  I serve in Ministry where everyday God allows me the opportunity to witness or minister to someone.  Yet, I fall short on hiding His very Word in my heart.  I tend to let the busyness of this world get the best of me.  I even use the excuse that as I get older, it's hard for me to memorize scripture.  Truth is, I barely even try.  How many of you can say the same or even have other excuses.  Bottom line is this:  As individuals, We are free to open God's Word and read it!  We are free to go out publicly and proclaim His name!  We are free to Worship corporately as Believers!  But for how long?

I imagine if you were to ask those in other Countries that are having to meet in secret to talk about God's Word, if they memorize scripture, I'm pretty sure the answer would be, Yes!  I'm sure they memorize and hide His word deep in their hearts not knowing when their written Word will be taken from them.  Living in a poverty stricken area, I can relate to this as I watch those that have nothing, and I mean nothing, be given the opportunity to get free stuff.  They take and take and take like there's no tomorrow.  Not because they are greedy.  But because they don't know when or if they will get those items again.  It is a survival technique.  Isn't that how we should be with God's Word?  Shouldn't we be taking in all we can get?  Shouldn't our desire be to hide His Word in our heart, the very Word He Breathed into life for us?  The very promises our entire Faith hinges on? 

I challenge you as I challenge myself, memorize His Word.  Ask God to give you the capacity to retain it and the wisdom to understand it.  There are verses that I learned as a child, that even today God brings to mind when I need them or when someone else needs to hear it.  It's amazing how He allows my mind to pull scripture from a place hidden long ago in the deep places of my heart.

I love opening God's Word.  I love the beautiful promises within the pages that He has given to those who follow after Him.  His Word never gets old and never is outdated.  It is relevant to past, present and future.  We can learn from it, find any answer to any problem in our life, and revel in the victory that is to come!  What JOY fills my soul to think about eternity with my Lord and Savior!

Blessings!  Have a JOY filled day!

Angie Burkeen

Singing Praises of JOY

I really enjoy praising God through song!  There is something that just wells up inside me when I listen to or sing songs that lift up the name of Jesus or give praise and honor to our Savior.  Psalms 95:1-2 says, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song."  I will never forget one particular Sunday morning during a worship service at our home church of White House First Baptist, the choir sang a special song during the middle of the service.  It was a song called, "Move Mountain Move." This song gives declaration to moving the obstacles within our lives that keep us from the sweet communion with God that we need.  Things such as: addictions, financial struggles, marital problems, abuse, lack of self worth, etc.  I was singing in the choir that morning and when the music began and we started proclaiming the words of the song, we literally saw mountains move!  It started a Revival within our church right then.  People got out of their seats, walked to the alter and let go of sins and baggage they had been holding on to for a long time.  It was amazing!  I had never been part of a worship service that incredible.  God's overwhelming presence enveloped everyone that morning and the JOY of the Lord overflowed within the congregation!

Music and words can have a powerful impact on people!  Working with kids and teens, we are constantly challenging them to make sure the music they listen to is pleasing to God.  Good or bad, music speaks to our head and our hearts.   

I love what the Psalmist David says in Psalms 28:7, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."  Part of having true JOY leads to an overpowering urge to worship through praise.  Giving God the honor and esteem He so deserves.  Exalting God and rejoicing with hands lifted high and hearts wide open!  As Jesus rode into Jerusalem in his last days, before taking our shame on the cross, and came to the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began JOYFULLY to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.  They were singing praises to the King of Kings!  The Pharisees asked Jesus to make them be quiet.  Jesus' reply was, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)  If we fail to praise the very one who gives us JOY, we miss the incredible blessing of peace in our life.  We open the door for distrust and unbelief.  We start trying to take back the things in our life that cause us to pull away from God.

There have been so many times in my life where I get so desperate and try to take control and make things happen on my own.  Those times are very exhausting and usually don't end well!  Yet, more times than I would like to admit, I do this.  It's in these times that God reminds me of one of my favorite passages of Scripture, "I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5  As long as I stay connected with my Father and allow Him to have control, the JOY that can only come from Him will allow me to move any mountain that comes my way!

My encouragement to you is to give your whole heart to God.  Allow Him to permeate your entire life and His JOY will give you strength to move obstacles you never thought or even realized you were clutching so tightly.  Matthew 17:20 says, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."

I will end this Blog with the song Move Mountain Move.  I pray God speaks to your heart through the words of this song  and if there are obstacles, big or small, give them to Him once and for all.  Allow His JOY to overflow from your life and prove victorious to conquer any mountain!

 

Much Joy!

Angie Burkeen

Finding JOY in Our Journey

I'm not big on flying in an airplane.  Although to ease my mind, others tell me, "Don't worry, it's much safer to fly than to drive a car!"  Good and true advice!  But I still can't seem to wrap my brain around how this huge piece of aluminum can stay in the air.  It just doesn't make sense!

My husband, my daughter and I, just got back from an amazing trip to sunny Southern California where we had the privilege of speaking at a church.  I am overwhelmed at how God blesses us and puts the most intricate details in place.  The church we spoke at just happened to be 60 miles from where my sister and brother-in-law live.  Coincidence - I don't think so!  First of all, I have never traveled west of Missouri, but have always wanted to, and second, I never dreamed I would get the chance to visit my sister while they are living in California.  But God is so good!

I was very excited about the trip, and the weeks and days leading up to it, I thought of all of the things I'd like to do and see while there.  But as soon as I boarded the plane, my excitement turned to anxiety and fear.  All of these thoughts started flooding my mind.  All of the "what if's?"  Anything and everything that could go wrong with plane came to mind.  Isn't that silly?  As I tried to distill those thoughts it made me start thinking about how all of the "what if's" affect our daily lives.  How many times have you found yourself saying, "What if I'm not qualified enough?"  "What if I'm not smart enough?"  What if I'm not pretty enough?"  How about, "What if I'm not worthy enough to be used by God?"  All of these "what if's" can paralyze us into believing the worst things about ourselves and can keep us from doing extraordinary things that God has planned for us.

But God, with His divine mercy and grace can give us JOY for our journey.  As a child, I learned a church song that now cracks me up when I sing it, but it so relates to finding that JOY.  These are the words:
     Give me umption in my gumption, help me function, function, function.
     Give me umption in my gumption I pray.
     Give me umption in my gumption, help me function, function, function.
     Help me function till the break of day!

I'm not real sure what an umption or a gumption is, but I still understand the message.  Only through emptying ourselves out and letting God fill us with His JOY and peace can we accomplish all He has for us.  We can't do anything without Him.  Philippians 4:13 reads, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."  Psalm 29:11 says, "The Lord gives strength to His people, the Lord blesses His people with peace."

Finding JOY in our journey means relying on the peace He gives us while doing those things that we may not like or want to do but is necessary in order to get where God wants us to be.  It means clearing our mind of all of the lies that Satan tries to sell us.  All of those "what if's" and clinging to our Father's sweet promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.

As I sat on the plane that beautiful sunny day and began emptying my mind and letting God fill me with thoughts of His peace and love, I began to focus on the beauty I saw as I looked out into the depths of His creation.  I realized that flying was part of the journey to get me where I needed to be.  As the plane carried us across the U.S.,  I praised God for His incredible blessings and basked in His presence as His calming peace filled me with JOY on my journey!

Much JOY,

Angie Burkeen
Club 180 Ministry
503 Main Street
Cumberland,  KY  40823
www.club180ministry.com