As promised, my personal focus for 2009

John 15 describes a life connected to Jesus, one that results in joy that comes from Jesus Himself and fills our life. As I reflected on 2008, and thought about my life, I felt that joy was NOT a characteristic that I experienced a lot of. What is joy exactly? Here's something I've been thinking - it's connected to "peace", yet different; they go together, like ice and tea, like peanut butter and jelly. This is obviously not a theological defintion. But joy seems like the overflowing expression of peace and contentment. It's an extra step above and beyond that is supernatural, not based on everything workig out right.

So, how do you get that kind of joy? It took me back to John 15:1. Jesus is the true vine. I started thinking about staying connected to Him who is "true", rather than those things which are "false". How often do I try to find life in what is a mirage, a phantom, and not the true life-giving Vine? What are those things? And the result when I do - Not real joy, but all too often a dependence on things working out right.

Here's a list of stuff I plug in to thinking it might bring me life -
-Getting more informed about the world around me
-Getting my inbox emptied out, my work all done
-Being liked and understood by everyone, and all that pushes me to do
-More money, fewer problems, almost anything, except a life totally connected to and immersed in the life and heart of Jesus.

So that will be my focus for the year. To uncover and name those false vines, and to relinquish them as false suitors, hopeless fantasies of real life and joy. And then to connect to Jesus, as a branch stays connected to the vine, and bears much fruit...including a whole bunch of joy.

The fruit of life connected to the true vine will produce the kind of joy that will rise above the ebb and flow of good circumstances. That is the kind of life I want. So that is my focus for the year