Hello again! This month I am excited to share with you the beautiful Joy. Peace. Jesus cycle, which is another way of living with Jesus in order to become more like him from my book, The Rachel Effect, which is coming soon. In the book, we get down to the root of comparison, accept who we are, and learn how to live with Jesus in order to become more like who he has created us to be! As always, I am thankful to my sweet sister Desiree Taylor for allowing me to share this and more with you. Praying you laugh, learn, and love in this beautiful life Jesus died to give us!

Cycles are a part of life. God, in fact, created them. They keep order. God is a god of order. There are cycles in the weather and in the seasons. Science shows us many cycles, like the carbon and oxygen cycles. I won’t belabor this point. Simply put, cycles are everywhere, created by God to keep order, which brings movement and life. To define it cycles are a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order.

I have experienced some series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order; however, they have not all brought movement and life. Some of the cycles I have been on and continue on seem to bring frustration and, oftentimes, destruction.

I have been on a diet cycle. That has led me to starve myself, lose weight, binge eat, gain weight, and repeat. Series of events regularly repeated in the same order.

I have been on a burnout cycle. That has led me to overlook, overextend, overcompensate, and be overwhelmed and repeat. Series of events regularly repeated in the same order.

These cycles I have just mentioned, and there are many more, are a part of a works-based cycle. If I try, try hard, and try again, I will succeed in attaining the desired result.

They don’t work. But it’s a cycle I can’t seem to get off of. The crazy part is that I keep trying, all the while expecting a different result. That’s another definition…that’s the definition of insanity. So why do I keep trying? What’s the other option?

Surrender

Oh, I don’t like the sound of that.

Let’s take one step back before we talk about surrender. What is the desired result I’m trying to attain in this cycle? Is it my plan, design, or desire? If so, then surrender can absolutely be a terrifying word.

If the desired result I’m trying to attain is God’s plan, design, or desire, it doesn’t sound so scary. After all, He knows the end from the beginning and would know what series of events need to be regularly repeated in the same order.

First, let’s take the broad and somewhat overwhelming idea of what God’s plans, design, and desires are. He states this simply in Matthew 28, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

God’s plan… to make disciples of all nations. He has already saved us by His death, burial, and resurrection. He desires that all will believe and be saved. He does this by using His body, His church, those who believe in Him. He was talking to His disciples in that verse, but He’s also talking to us now, those who believe.

God’s design…teaching them to observe all I have commanded you. We are to do what Jesus did. Become like Jesus and live like Him.

Although it may look different for all of us, the instructions are the same.

In order to have God’s plans, designs, and desires fulfilled, what cycle do I need to be on?

I call it the joy-peace-Jesus cycle.

Isaiah 55:12 says; “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.”

Let me explain this a little more. The prophet Isaiah was speaking to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen race. They had been doing things their own way. Their cycle looked a lot like this. Do their own thing. Experience frustration and destruction. Prayed to God. Get bailed out. Repeat.

God was tired of this cycle. He was speaking to His people in this Chapter about a new cycle. He said in verse 2, “Why do you not spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Then in verse 3, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”

He was talking about Jesus. A covenant of grace, which we were not only saved by but empowered by.

Remember verse 12? “You shall go out in joy and led by peace.” What does that actually mean?

Go out of bondage and be led forth in a life with God in peace. Of course, our bondage is sin. The all-encompassing sin that Jesus’ blood washes white as snow. However, once we believe and we are saved, we still have what look to be sin cycles that remain, and He is continually leading us out of those cycles in joy and bringing us forth in peace as we lay down our flesh. Our flesh can take shape in our own plans, designs, and desires.

One plan, one design, and one desire at a time. Little by little. Over our lifetime. We lay them down and take hold of His.

He leads us out in joy and brings us forth in peace to look more like Jesus. Then again, leads us out in joy and brings us forth in peace to look more like Jesus. A series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order. A cycle that produces movement and life. A cycle that brings newness and freshness not only to us but to the world around us.

The big Christian word for this is sanctification. I like to call it Joy. Peace. Jesus.

His creative and miraculous work is continuously being revealed as we surrender and go about in a world that so desperately needs to see Jesus in you and in me.