Related to how you might define living a great life, what are the three characteristics that would be most important to you? Assuming that you’re a reader of my book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live, my blog, or website you won’t be surprised when I say that for me they include:
Peace
Joy
Fulfillment
Those would be my big three. Why so? Let’s look at each based on Thesaurus.com.
Peace
Antonyms
Disagreement
Hate
Discord
Agitation
Disharmony
Distress
Fighting
Frustration
Worry
Synonyms
Accord
Friendship
Love
Reconciliation
Unity
Joy
Antonyms
Depression
Misery
Sadness
Sorrow
Unhappiness
Discouragement
Synonyms
Amusement
Bliss
Charm
Cheer
Comfort
Delight
Elation
Humor
Satisfaction
Wonder
Fulfillment
Antonyms
Dissatisfaction
Failure
Forfeit
Disappointment
Frustration
Unfulfillment
Synonyms
Achievement
Attainment
Contentment
Gratification
Perfection
Realization
I think it’s that simple. Do you want Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment as defined by the above synonyms or the opposite as indicated by the antonyms?
I know what I want and I know how to get it…which I share in my book, my blog, and on my website. If you want more information on how to get there, please contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com. Please also feel free to send me your comments, questions, concerns, challenges, or prayer requests.
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
This is the 14th and last week of our program, where we provide Lesson #14, on True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment.
We’ve started several of these lessons with some questions. How about this one? What’s preventing you from experiencing what I refer to as the “Big 3” in your life:
Peace
Joy
Fulfillment
If you’ve hung with us through the first 13 lessons, you know that the primary culprit to not achieving the above three is being overwhelmed. Practically everyone experiences it and in fact very few ever figure out how to overcome it. As explained, the source of us being overwhelmed begins when we’re young…we grow up believing that we have to earn the love of others. That “conditional love” most often turns into lack of self-love, which always leads to fear, preventing us from being, doing, and trying all that we’re called to. As such, regardless of fame or fortune, no matter what the successes, very few of us meet our full potential.
Believing what the world tells us, although our experience indicates differently, we try to fill the god sized hole in the center of our chest with what is never going to make us happy. I refer to them as the 4 Ps, prominence, possessions, pleasure, and people. Overwhelmed and on the hamster wheel of life, we try to make it go faster and faster, pursuing these things that will never bring us peace, joy, or fulfillment.
Photo by Simon Matzinger from Pexels
God is Our Only Answer
The ONLY solution to the above is to understand and internalize God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. This is accomplished through conversion, which begins when we determine that life can be better with Jesus as a part of it as opposed to not…when we turn away from ourselves and towards Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
It’s ONLY when we understand God’s unconditional love, that we come to know three things:
The unimaginable is achievable
We can live Heaven here on earth
There is a distinct Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
It’s the combination of several thing that allow you to come to this place…understanding God’s love, embracing your purpose, exercising your God given talents and desires, knowing you’re made for greatness, and surrendering all to God’s Will. You do these things and you’ll be fulfilled. You’ll experience true peace and have a joy that you’ve never experienced before.
Suggested Actions
So, here’s my suggestion for this week:
Go back to Lesson #1, which was emailed to you Wednesday, May 6th. Read and reflect on it, in addition to Lessons #2-14 (emailed every Wednesday) in sequence. Do it in one sitting or over the course of a week.
What most speaks to you?
What applies to your life’s experiences?
During your morning prayer routine this week, think about three things:
How have you been overwhelmed in your life?
What would it feel like to live a life of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment?
What needs to happen for you to decide to do the latter?
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.
Thank you for joining us on this 14-week journey. We sincerely hope that you got a lot out of it. If you have ideas on other information or resources that we could offer, that would help you in going from Overwhelmed to Fulfilled, please let us know.
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph
Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed Week #2 – Earning the love of others Week #3 – Lack of self-love Week #4 – Fear Week #5 – False gods, False happiness Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments
Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You Week #11 – Path to Peace Week #12 – Finding your Purpose Week #13 – You were made for Greatness Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
This is the 12th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #12, Finding Your Purpose. Have any of the following questions occurred to you, as they had to me:
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What is life really all about?
What mark do I want to leave on this world?
In talking to folks, although we may arrive at this place at different times, possibly not asking the specific questions above (there are many others), most of us seem to reach a point in our lives, where we come to believe that life is about more than what we’ve been doing to date.
For those of us on this Christian walk, that “purpose” most often has to do with our faith, what we feel God is calling us to do. I know that was very true for me. Having had my conversion in 2006 and growing in faith since, I felt a call to combine ministry with career in 2012, when I joined the Conference Office of Franciscan University of Steubenville. Recently appointed Vice President of Outreach and Evangelization, I absolutely love the direction of the University, the people I get to work with, and my job. Not sure what retirement looks like, they’ll have to kick me out of there.
Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels
Living Your Faith Doesn’t Mean that You Have to Work for the Church
Don’t misunderstand me. I often say, “you don’t have to be in ministry to do ministry”. Although that was my direction, it doesn’t have to be yours’. In fact, in most cases, I’d suggest that you can accomplish much more outside the Church…in sharing our faith, the love of Christ, than you can in working for the Church.
Why do I say the above? In objectively looking at our massively secularized society, with all of its challenges as spelled out in the first 7 weeks of these free lessons, people are starving for peace, joy, and fulfillment in their lives. As you and I know, the only true path is through Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
You have that opportunity, we all have that opportunity, in all that we do, with all who we encounter, to share the love of Christ and change lives forever. That doesn’t mean hitting people over the head with the Bible, but loving them, caring for them, being compassionate…and present to them. As a friend who spent years and years in ministry would put it, “spending the necessary time to earn the right to share the Gospel”. And as I like to say, “people don’t care what you know until they know how much you care”. In my book and the online course that we’re launching this fall, I detail a process on how to zero in on your God given purpose by identifying and praying through your talents, desires, and needs. That said, I decided to dedicate today’s blog to what is universal to the individual and unique purposes that we’re called to. That is to love, love, love our brothers and sisters, sharing the love of Christ with all who we encounter.
Suggested Actions
So, here’s my suggestion for this week…something that could possibly become a norm going forward.
During your morning prayer routine this week, think about two things:
Those who the Lord puts on your heart for that day, praying through how you can serve and love them….tangible things
Given your talents, desires, and needs, what is God calling you to? Listen for His voice, which will lead you to your God given purpose.
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.
Please join us next Wednesday for Week #13 when we talk about how You Were Made for Greatness. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph
Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed Week #2 – Earning the love of others Week #3 – Lack of self-love Week #4 – Fear Week #5 – False gods, False happiness Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments
Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You Week #11 – Path to Peace Week #12 – Finding your Purpose Week #13 – You were made for Greatness Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
