JOY IN JESUS

John 15:11
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

With the holidays being past us now, and the post-Christmas sales tempting us to buy for next year, the one reoccurring word that I continue to see in the stores is the powerful little word JOY. What is joy? Webster defines it as, “exhilaration of spirits: gladness: to rejoice or be glad.” As I have pondered this word over and over in my mind, a feeling of God’s presence swells up in my soul. As followers of Christ, we know that true JOY can only come in the person of Jesus Christ. He is our joy! Gladness comes from having a personal relationship with Him. When one reads John 15 and comes to verse 11, one has to ask the question, “What things has Christ told us in the preceding verses so that we know how to have His complete joy?” The answer is found in a repeated phrase He uses over and over in the first 11 verses, “Remain in me.” It’s that simple. If we truly want the complete joy of Christ within us then we must make a conscious effort to remain in Him moment by moment in our day. How can we do this in practicality? Well, I am still learning how to remain in Him on a daily basis, but for now it all begins by starting my morning soaking in His presence through prayer and meditation on His life giving Words. After I have enjoyed time alone with Jesus, I continue to practice His presence by consciously talking with Him through out the day.

However, at times personal pain and problems can distract me throughout my day in to thinking that I can’t have joy during a difficult or challenging time, but the truth of the matter is that we all can have the joy of Jesus within our souls even during the darkest of times. Why? Because Jesus is joy. He is our life. He is our peace. He is our burden-bearer. He is our comforter. He is our strength. HE IS OUR EVERYTHING! So if any of you are going through a trying time and have lost the joy you once had, focus all your energies on Jesus and who He is. Spend extra time in the Word. Claim His promises. Rehearse them through the day. Remind your self that it is okay to have uncertainties. But trust Jesus to be enough for what ever you are facing. Know that as long as you have Him as your main focus, His joy will be constant in your soul, even though things might appear to be falling apart on the outside!

I love surprises from God and today He had a good one! My daughter, Carrie, kicked me out of my own house today to host a group of employees from Water Street Rescue Mission for a retreat day. I knew that I needed to work on this ministry update so I grabbed my lap top and headed to Panero’s Bread to meet my son, Josh, for lunch. The plan was to eat lunch and then to stay at Panero’s and work on the ministry letter.
The place was so crowded that I was worried I wouldn’t find a place to sit. There was only one place that was open and that was a small table sandwiched between two other tables. There was a man at each table and I felt kind of stupid to move in between them but I had no choice. The one man was working intently on his lap top and the other man had just sat down to eat. Even though I did not see any food in front of this man it appeared that he was bowing his head to pray for a blessing over his food. I couldn’t help but be excited that maybe we would have the opportunity to talk about spiritual things should a conversation open up. However, as it turned out, at closer examination, the man was not praying but typing on his blackberry! So there went that idea down the tubes. Josh showed up shortly after that observation, and he offered to pray over our time of food and fellowship. He prayed the sweetest prayer and I couldn’t help but wonder what these men might be thinking since we were practically sitting in their laps! Not that it mattered, it’s just you want your life to shine for Jesus and to bring Him glory and to see a young man praying in a public place speaks volumes in my mind. Now here is the surprise, as soon as Josh finished praying, the man who had been working at his computer commented that he couldn’t help but over hear Josh’s prayer and he preceded to let us know that he was of like mind, a follower of Jesus Christ, and he really appreciated Josh’s prayer. Since Josh prayed over my ministry, he asked about my ministry. This led to the discovery that he was a man with a ministry as well. Turns out that the man sitting beside us was none other than Dr. Walt Mueller, President of Center For Parent/Youth Understanding! I have heard him numerous times on the radio and have always appreciated the way his ministry serves the body of Christ. Josh and I both felt blessed by this surprise encounter. The things that impressed me the most about him in our brief encounter was his humility and his stand for the truth of God’s Word. As we both spent the rest of the afternoon working at our lap tops each trying to accomplish goals we had set out to do that day for our prospective ministries, I couldn’t help but thank the Lord for the way he takes each of us with our particular passions and uses it to help encourage and serve the body of Christ. We need each other! May God fill us all with His Holy Spirit, anointing us and empowering us to each to do our part in impacting our own world.

Well, I had better get to the ministry update!

Youth Quest,the Brethren In Christ conference for teens across America, was held in Washington, D.C. Dec. 27-30. My husband, Paul, and a volunteer, Kay Risser, traveled with me in preparation for a new adventure and I was so grateful for their prayer support. We were one of 10 workshops that the 800 youth could choose from. Praise God for the 140+ youth that felt drawn to our workshop. Many youth and leaders came up to me afterwards to thank me for the encouragement the workshop had been to them. Two young men emailed me later with the following messages:

From Canada:
“Hi! I met you at Youth Quest and I sat in on your seminar. It helped me and today I started the 21 day challenge. I had a friend who quit reading her Bible. I found this out on Dec. 24. I wrote her a letter to try to get her back into reading her Bible. She started reading her Bible before I came home from Youth Quest. I asked her to do the 21 day challenge and she has accepted the offer so thanks…”

A few days later he sent me another email wondering how he could get me to Canada to minister to his youth group! Praise God for the many young people who have a true passion to know Christ and want to grow in their relationship to Him and help others as well.

From the states:
“I really loved your seminar at youthquest!!!! I’m going to start your 21 day challenge plus use the notebook!!!"

After receiving these emails, I was so excited that I printed them out and went out to my kitchen to share it with the 8 teens/young adults who were playing Uno around my kitchen table. The reason I wanted to share these praises with them is because I was under such heavy mental attack from the enemy while doing one of my sessions that I could only sing God’s praises that He could work through me in spite of what was going on inside of my mind! After sharing with them I asked if they would remember to pray for JoyShop Ministries and for me personally that I would continue to have the energy and zeal that is necessary for ministry as well as stand firm against any attacks from the enemy. Specifically I asked for their prayers in that I desire God to continue to anoint the words that proceed from my mouth for His glory and exaltation. What a blessing to have my daughter, Shelly, speak up and suggest that they all gather around me right then and pray. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by these godly young people, as they laid their hands on me and prayed to God on my behalf. Another surprise gift from God!

On Sunday, January 4, I began my ministry at Hempfield Brethern In Christ Church. I shared my testimony during the morning worship hour, grateful for the opportunity to reach those who might not attend the workshop in the evenings. Now the challenge before me was that Sunday night was my first session and I was in competition with the big Eagles game. But I knew that God is larger and more powerful than football, and He did not disappoint me. Seventy people showed up that night! One man even showed up wearing his Eagles jersey!There is so much I could share with you that God did during the three nights I was there serving, unfortunately I can only mention a few.

Received these messages from teens through facebook:
"Thank you so much for coming to my church. It was my first time seeing you and I loved you. I have started the 21 day challenge and I do it at night but I wake up
when I am out at my bus stop. I am praying until I get to school and spending time with God.
Thanks soo much! You have blessed me and have helped me to search for God more than I use to…and the past couple of days have been great since I have been seeking God.
Also thanks for caring so much about all of us teens. God bless!”

From a male teen:
"Anita, I just wanted to thank you so much for doing your joyshop at my church these last two days! I'm so glad that you are here and I think this will have an amazing influence on our church as whole. Thank you! You are such an encouragement to me!"

What blessed me about the above email is that this young man and his sister had already attended a JoyShop when I did it for their school retreat yet he and his sister wanted to do it again! In fact they found JoyShop so helplful that they invited their grandparents to come and they attended all three nights. I only know this because the grandparents told me!

Praise God, there was even a sweet little 10 year old girl who attended the JoyShop with her father, who came up to me to thank me. She loved my story and the points I made. She attended with her father two of the three nights. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to share a message that is simple enough for a 10 year old!!!!

The testimonies we receive are such a blessing! Yes, we love hearing how the Lord is using JoyShop Ministries to impact lives but the part we love best is knowing that the participants will fall deeper in love with Jesus if they choose to practice the principles set before them in the JoyShop. Sometimes I struggle with sharing some of these testimonies because JoyShop Ministries does not want any glory. It is all for Him. He is the one who anoints and empowers a ministry. So we boast in Him alone!

Please continue to pray for upcoming JoyShops this month. We will be at Riverhill Evangelical Church in Shippenville, Pa, which is four hours away the weekend of January 17-18. Paula Frey will be traveling with me for this event. Then on January 31, we will be at Heilelberg Church in Slatington, Pa., for a one day JoyShop.

Recently, a pastor from the Harrisburg area strongly suggested that I continue to build a larger prayer base around this ministry. We all know that the enemy of our souls stands apposed to any ministry that encourages intimacy with Jesus Christ. It is Christ in us that changes this world and Satan would like nothing more then to keep the world in darkness and depression. If you feel a quickening in your heart to pray for the work of JoyShop Ministries please contact Deb Risser at deb@joyshop.org and she will forward your name on to our prayer coordinator, Twila Shertzer. You will be put on our prayer team and will receive reminders to pray for upcoming events as well as any specific emergency needs as they arise.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am blessed to have so much support. The JoyShop Team consists of many volunteers that give of their time and I want to publicly thank the following individuals who gave of their time this past week in helping to assemble the JoyShop binders for future events: Kay Risser, Deb Risser, Twila Shertzer, Gene and Sherilyn Schock, Jill Shenk, Brenda Longsderff, and my parents, Gerald and Lucille Wingert.

I encourage each of you to continue to set your heart on seeking a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ so that He can use you to be Christ to those around you.

Our God is an Awesome God!

Anita K.