{"id":783,"date":"2019-01-14T14:07:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T14:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=783"},"modified":"2019-01-25T15:17:04","modified_gmt":"2019-01-25T15:17:04","slug":"philippians-4-challenge-day-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-11.html","title":{"rendered":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 11"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"www.unsplash.com\"<\/a>
www.unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HABIT #1: Choose to be joyful.<\/b><\/p>\n

READ IT<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cRejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!. . . . and the God of peace will be with you.\u201d <\/i>(Philippians 4:4,9)<\/p>\n

When you think of ways to get closer to Jesus, you probably think of typical ways like: read your Bible, pray more, serve others, sin less, give more. (By the way, those are all great ways and habits you should develop).<\/i><\/p>\n

But did you know that choosing to be joyful can bring you closer to Jesus (one of the main goals of the Philippians 4 Challenge)? Earlier in the Philippians the Bible tells us \u201cYou must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had<\/i>\u201d (Philippians 2:5). Jesus\u2019 life was characterized by joy (Luke 10:21, Hebrews 12:2). Remember joy is an attitude, a mindset, something we can control. Joy is not a feeling or emotion, something we cannot control. When we choose joy over bitterness, joy over grief, joy over anger, we\u2019re leaning into the divine nature inside of us. We\u2019re choosing to give space for the God of all joy to fill us with more of his presence, which in turn leads to more joy.<\/p>\n

Joy begets joy. Joy brings you closer to the ultimate author of joy. Choose to be joyful and grow closer to God.<\/p>\n

WRITE IT<\/b><\/p>\n

Share in the comments below<\/a> and answer this question, \u201cHow will choosing to be joyful today impact the way you interact with others today?\u201d<\/p>\n

PRAY IT<\/b><\/p>\n

Jesus, I choose joy today. I choose to reject the temptation of bitterness, anger and jealousy. I choose to be joyful and develop the mindset you had. Give me strength to choose joy today. Amen.<\/i><\/p>\n

LIVE IT<\/b><\/p>\n

Like you\u2019ve done previously, work on catching yourself before you go negative and indulge emotions that can kill your joy. In that moment of decision, verbally say to yourself \u201cchoose to be joyful\u201d and choose joy. Make this habit second nature in your life.<\/p>\n

Use #phil4challenge<\/i> to spread the word about the Philippians 4 Challenge!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HABIT #1: Choose to be joyful. READ IT \u201cRejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!. . . . and the God of peace will be with you.\u201d (Philippians 4:4,9) When you think of ways to get closer to Jesus, you probably think of typical ways like: read your Bible, pray more,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[365],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phil4challenge"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilippians 4 Challenge: Day 11 - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Day 11 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 11 - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day 11 of the Philippians 4 Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2019\/01\/philippians-4-challenge-day-11.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-14T14:07:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-25T15:17:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/mtvpastor\/files\/2016\/01\/Philippians-4-Challenge-300x181.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Philippians 4 Challenge: Day 11 - 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