Page 142 - First Steps 2023

Session 9: Living Joyfully

Devotion As a Jesus Follower

1
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have
plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and ev-
ery situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty
or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength”
(Philippians 4:12-13).

Call it your “happy place.”
It’s that spot that, when you’re feeling stressed or unhappy, you pic-
ture in your mind so you can step back, take a deep breath, and carry on
without hurting yourself or others.
For you, what’s that location? Is it a place...time...person? And why
does it calm you down and bring you a measure of peace?
Jot the location and the reason it’s a happy place in the space below.

Devotion

2
But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowl-
edge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled
in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (2 Corin-
thians 8:7).

Some say that if you want to experience joy, you have to be doing

something for others. That it’s in the giving of yourself that you best find
that combination of satisfaction and happiness that could be labeled,
“joy.”

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