Love – Page 2 – Joy Skarka

Dating Is Not Fully Satisfying

/ Christian Dating, Love, Singleness, Singleness & Dating, Surrender Life to Jesus, Your Story / 3 Comments

Yes, dating is amazing and fun. Yes I love it. But it’s not fully satisfying. We can’t live life hoping to find our satisfaction in our relationship status.

You’re single – you want to be dating. You’re dating – you want to be married. You’re married – you want kids. You have kids – you want more free time. You have free time – you want more to do.

Do you get what I’m saying?

I’ve met countless women in all stages of relationships and none have told me that the status she is in has left her fully satisfied. I have a married friend who has struggled with infertility. She tells me she often cries out to God in pain. Her husband tries to be there for her and comfort her, but she said his comfort is never enough. (more…)

Experience Freedom from Shame

/ Freedom From Sexual Sin & Shame, Healing, Love, Rape, Relationship with Jesus, Sexual Abuse, Surrender Life to Jesus / Comments Off

I’ll never forget how I felt the first time I looked into the mirror after being date raped. I stood there naked, alone and ashamed. I began to question God and his love for me. (more…)

Singleness: When Patience Seems Impossible

/ Knowing God's Will, Love, Singleness, Singleness & Dating, Your Story / 7 Comments

“What if I lack patience and want a guy now?” asked a reader. Girl, I understand. I’m impatient. I don’t like waiting. I’m a planner and I have a beautiful plan for how I want my life to go. In my mind, this plan is perfect. We have to remember, our plans may not be God’s plans. We cannot let our marital status dominate our thinking and focus.

When our lives aren’t going according to our plans – we ask God, “Why won’t you do things our way for a change?” I thought I would find my husband in college and get married after graduation. God’s plans did not align with my plans. We expect God to love our plan even when we reject his. Have you rejected God’s plan and decided that your plan is better? (more…)

A Letter To Any Woman Who Has Been Sexually Assaulted – A Man’s Perspective

/ From a Man's Perspective, Guest Posts, Healing, Love, Sexual Abuse, Your Story / 18 Comments

As a woman who has been sexually abused, I’m thankful for men like Sam Eaton. Men that proclaim the message that we are not forgotten, not damaged and loved more than we can comprehend.

If this post touched your heart, make sure to send him a Tweet or Facebook message and thank him for his guest post. JP Ministries loves you Sam!

Love, Joy

I was a painfully stupid 19 year-old.

I was insecure and made a lot of stupid jokes. It was a cold Iowa winter’s night, the type of night where normal people hibernate indoors. Not us. We were young and invincible as we made our way back from the sketchiest of bars. All you could see in the 2am sky was the cloud of smoke rising from the warm breath of our huddled, slightly intoxicated pack.

The group went their separate ways as I hung in the hallway with a girl I was proud to call my friend. As we stood chatting, somehow as a drunk guy and girl passed us in the hallway, an inexcusable joke escaped from my lips; a joke about rape. (more…)

Why Follow God in College?

/ Christian in College, College, Devotional, Love / 2 Comments

The transition from high school to college can decide who you are, who you will become, and who you will follow. You must decide now, before you enter college, if you’re going to follow God in college.

With the start of the new semester, many women will leave home and move to a new place to begin their college years. I’m so excited for you all to begin this new journey! When you go to college, big parts of your life will change. You’ll experience more freedom than you had while living at home. With this freedom, you may be challenged in your faith. (more…)

#DADDYISSUES Unveiled and Truth to Set You Free

/ Devotional, Healing, Love, Your Story / 5 Comments

In today’s world the phrase “Daddy Issues” is so common and popular that the hashtag #daddyissues often trends on social media. It is heartbreaking that our culture has reached a point of acceptance of this problem and even makes a joke out of it. I understand why – it is easier to laugh than talk about our hurting hearts. But this problem needs to be addressed.

The reality is that the way you see yourself now, was shaped early in your life by the words and actions of your father. No matter how much you deny that statement, it is the truth. You can’t do anything to un-do your childhood and you can’t change your father, but you can pray that the love of your heavenly Father will be enough for you and would satisfy your every longings. You can pray for healing and surrender to God your hurts and your pains.

The point of this post is not to make you feel bad about your life, or to point a finger at our earthly dads’ mistakes. The point is for us to realize that even when our earthly dads fail, our heavenly Father will never fail. I pray that this Father’s Day, if you are struggling with a daddy issue, that this post will comfort you and start you on a road to healing. (more…)

God is Love + Random Journal Day

/ Love, My Guest Posts / 6 Comments

Take a peak into my journal as I join Random Journal Day, hosted by Enthusiastically, Dawn. This month I got the chance to be the Featured Journal Keeper and share 8 simple steps explaining how to journal scripture. You can read the post here and link-up your own journal entry.

Our journals are filled with beautiful stories of God’s redemption in our lives. I fill my journal with prayers, God moments, and scripture. Want to know why you should journal? Read more here.

Let’s peak into my journal!

Read how I journaled through scripture, specifically 1 John 4:8, to better understand God’s love. (more…)

Never Give Up On Unbelievers

/ Bible Study, Christian in College, Devotional, Friendship, Love / Comments Off

Do you ever wonder if God cares about the people who don’t love him? While being a college student, I wondered this daily. I questioned, “Jesus, will my classmates ever know you?” I recently read through Psalm 62 and found encouragement, hope, and some answers.

The main point of the passage – we can never give up on others because God never gave up on us. (Tweet this!)

(more…)

You Can Dance With God – What I Learned in Puerto Rico

/ Love / 11 Comments

A few weeks ago, I went on the trip of a lifetime to Puerto Rico with my friend Alexandra. We had an amazing time exploring the island and visiting all the tourist attractions. I expected to have an amazing time, but something happened that I was not expecting. God brought me to Puerto Rico to show me a deeper glimpse of his love.

I’m sorry that this photo is blurry, but salsa dancing is a fast moving activity! In Puerto Rico, everyone loves to dance. Edgardo, pictured above on the right, told me that salsa dancing is as vital as walking.

I barely knew what I was doing, but Edgardo led me through the motions of salsa dancing. He took my left hand and placed it on his shoulder and held my right hand with his left hand. As he led me through the steps, there were a few mistakes, but mostly I spun around confidently. Every now and then I would step on his foot, we would laugh it off and keep dancing. His leadership and guiding hands were so gentle and sweet. I had a blast and felt like a cherished dance partner.

After a night of dancing, I asked God, “Why can’t I dance with you? I want to experience these feelings with you God. I want your love to lift me off my feet and spin me in a circle. I don’t want to just know you love me, I want to experience your love.”

I went to bed that night wondering why I couldn’t dance with God. That is when I remembered a Psalm that I had read that very morning. I got up, opened my Bible and read exactly what I had read that morning.

“and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.” Psalm 18:35-36.

To me, those words sounds like dancing. When dancing with God, my feet would never slip and his right hand would support me just like Edgardo’s right hand. God showed me a glimpse into his gentleness during that salsa dance.

One of my college friends always said what she looks forward to most about heaven is getting to dance with Jesus. I never understood what she meant until this moment. I can’t wait to dance with Jesus face to face, but I can still experience him now. I can experience his support, gentleness, and guidance, as if we were salsa dancing and he was the leader.

Take God’s hand. His hand is there for support.

Take God’s hand. His gentleness can make you great.

Take God’s hand. Your feet will not slip.

Take God’s hand. Join him in the dance.

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6 Scripture Passages about God’s Love

/ Book Review, Love / 2 Comments

God’s love for us is complex, fascinating, and beautiful. His love for us could only happen through the death of Jesus. It is hard to comprehend that we humans are so sinful that another person had to die for us in order for a perfect God to love us. Jesus had to die for us, and his death was God’s largest act of love. As this Christmas season is approaching, I wanted to share scripture that explains God’s love.

Here are 6 passages that show us a glimpse into the amazing love of God:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” – John 15:12-16.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39.
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” – 1 John 3:1.
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” – 1 John 4:9-12.

As Christmas draws near, ask God to reveal his love to you. Ask him to show you his love in a powerful and personal way.

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Archive of ‘Love’ category

Let’s peak into my journal!

The main point of the passage – we can never give up on others because God never gave up on us. (Tweet this!)

“and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.” Psalm 18:35-36.

For updates on blog posts, be sure to subscribe below.