Are you ready for a shot of joy-truth? Don’t we need it? Election season in America is hardly a laugh-fest. I’m thankful I’ve been overseas and in the air for most of the last month——so I’ve missed the warfare, the media gore-fare, the blood and the fists.

But that’s not one of the secrets to joy during the elections. (That will just be a bonus one.)

(Yes, stay informed, but don’t swim too long in the swampy media-miasma——or you’ll look and feel like this:

Here they are. And I KNOW there are many more! I’ll count on you to add yours at the end.

1. Rejoice and count—-not votes for your “side”—-but all the ways God is opening his kingdom in our neighborhoods and around the world. Where are people being fed, freed, taught, encouraged, loved? Wherever it’s happening, join in!

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 2. Rejoice that we are already fully and perfectly represented! We’re represented by Jesus who hears even our whispers, our fears in the dead of night. He brings them before the throne of the Father, and we are heard. Every word!

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3. Rejoice that we can stand strong and live peaceful lives even when surrounded by doomsday shouts spouting fear, bitterness, and a coming war. We don’t fear the “end of the world” and huddle in the cellar. We plant grapes, make cupcakes and share our wine, for the times and means are His, not ours.

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4. Rejoice that we’re not called to judge others and to separate the “sheep” from the “goats.” That’s His job. God gives us the vision to see our neighbors through the wide lens of love rather than the narrow lens of labels. What a relief!

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5. Rejoice that we can turn off the media news anytime and not miss the good news that breaks every morning we awake: that God is on His throne today and His purposes shall stand!

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6. Rejoice because our real enemy is not a political party, a government or even a person. Our true enemy is sin and death and Jesus crushed that battle 2,000 years ago. We’re free!

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 7. AND———The greatest Rejoice of all: REJOICE! Because nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, not persecution or famine or sword or poverty or politics or elections nor demons nor all the powers of hell, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

 Friends, what did I miss? Would you share one of your sources of joy this election season?