When we are in a relationship with Jesus, He is the One planting seeds in our gardens. Seeds of peace, love, joy, hope all planted in our heart gardens by Him. When we are in a relationship with the world, we and whoever or whatever else we let plant in our garden plants seeds. Seeds of doubt, fear, comparison, judgment, unforgiveness, and etc. Whatever seeds are planted is what blooms in our heart gardens.

This week, Scripture tells us that it is in His presence that that is "fullness of joy." Take a moment to think about that idea of fullness. When you hear that word what comes to mind? When I read it the words that came to my mind were complete and absolute.

This led me to the question, Kirsten what have you trained your eyes to see? Jesus or the storms? Am I always so focused on what is going wrong in my life (the brown stuff in the room) that I don't even see the blessings (the red stuff in the room?)

Basically it boils down to this. As Christians we draw our joy from Jesus, not our circumstances. That joy stems from our relationship with Jesus which enables us to hold on to joy in the midst of difficult times.

There is no "bad" in Jesus! And He doesn't give us bad things. There are bad things here on earth because we live in a fallen world. Not because of anything Jesus did, but because of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden.

I was like, "You don't put eye to peephole, when someone is silently standing outside and ominous music is playing. That's like jumping into the ocean when you hear the Jaws theme. come on, everyone knows that!"

While we might feel like we are puny creatures, unprotected in this world with no shell to hide in when the enemy comes for us. That is a lie. We have the strongest armor in the entire universe, God's armor.

Sometimes in our woundedness we believe we have become a different person in order to protect ourselves or to get some relief from the pain we feel. I became an addict to avoid the pain of being me.

Today's message comes with a warning. I am about to share something that I don't think I've shared with anyone. I debated about sharing it here, but Jesus has totally redeemed that old part of my life. And I truly believe what the Word says in Revelation 12:11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and this is a huge part of my testimony.

Worry is a lot like those smudges on my glasses. It distorts how we see what's in front of us. It distracts us with its blurriness. It keeps us from seeing clearly what the Lord is doing in our lives.