Stuff and Fluff

You may recognize my friend this Friday. Her name is Joy Greene. She founded Joytime Ministries in 2012 and began writing "Joytime." "Joytime" is an upbeat, one-minute Christian radio segment that now airs on over 150 radio stations worldwide! Not only is she a writer/speaker, but she also has her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. She serves as a Professor of Pharmacy and the Assistant Dean for Experiential Education. She’s a brilliant, beautiful friend, and even better, she truly loves Jesus! I hope your encouraged through her words today.

When I was a little girl, I was…well….let’s just say that I was not the most organized child on the planet. This picture is not an actual photo of my bedroom as a child, but I can remember days when it looked similar to this! I did not keep my room as nice and neat as my Mom preferred, but I did have a cleaning method that I used when I needed to clean my room in a hurry— “stuff and fluff.”

I was really good at it too! I would take everything that was on the floor and shove it under my bed. Dirty clothes would end up in my drawers, or stuffed in my closet. My room could go from disaster to spotless in under 10 minutes!

There was one major problem though—my Mom was a lot smarter than me and she knew exactly what I was up to. She always found my mess. I know the state of my room must have aggravated her, but she never fussed. Instead, she would help me drag everything from under my bed and in my closet and she would declare it “Clean Joy’s Room Day.”

Once all the items were exposed in the middle ofthefloor, boy was it a BIG mess! Mom would help me throw away the crinkled up papers, food wrappers and old toys and then she would help me neatly organize the things I needed to keep. Three or sometimes FOUR hours later….voilà…things were back in their right place and it felt so good to have things back in order.

Once my room was nice and neat, Mom would leave my room and a few minutes later, she would knock on my door. I would open the door with a sense of pride and she would smile in delight of how wonderful my room looked. She would act like she was seeing it for the first time. She would go on and on about how neat and orderly it looked and I remember feeling so happy and accomplished.

My Mom had a way of not shaming me about my disorganized mess. Instead, she would help me get things cleaned up and give me a fresh start.

Sometimes in our walk with the Lord, we act as if He does not know about all of the mess in our lives. But the truth is, we are sinners. We do things that are wrong and against His will. We have thoughts that are displeasing to Him and we may go days, weeks or even longer without confessing our sins to Him. On the outside, we look pretty good, but on the inside, we are a dirty mess.

My friend, you and I can be assured that even though we do a pretty good job at hiding our sins from others, God sees it all.

“My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.”
~Jeremiah 16:7

There is nothing hidden from the God of The Universe, but you know what? He loves us in spite of our sins and He wants to help us clean up our mess. He is the answer to our mess and I am thankful that He is patient and kind with me.

Do you have sin in your life that you are trying to hide? Is there a bad habit you know you need to confess to God? Remember my friend, just like my Mom knew I was shoving all of my mess under my bed, God knows each and every sin you and I commit. We cannot hide it from Him.

God urges us to get right with Him. Over and over again in His Word, He tells us to confess our sins and turn back to Him. He desires for us to live righteous lives. We are not saved by what we do. We are saved through faith in Jesus. But, we are to live our lives according to His Word and to seek after righteousness.

“Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” ~Proverbs 21:21

What do we do with the mess in our lives? The best thing you and I can do is confess each and every sin, ask God to help us turn away from our sins and ask Him to help us get things in line with His will.

If you have sin you need to deal with, ask God to help you get rid of the mess so you can get busy living out His will. He’s got a plan for you! Don’t miss it!
Grateful for you!
~Joy

Joy Greene is a Carolina girl! She grew up on a farm in Albemarle, North Carolina and married her high school sweetheart, Bryan. They have been married for 21 years and have two children, Ellie and Sam. Joy is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree. She works at High Point University in the Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy where she serves as a Professor of Pharmacy and the Assistant Dean for Experiential Education.


It was through teaching pharmacy students that God ignited a passion inside of Joy for ministry! She is quick to tell you that she has a fire inside of her that she cannot ignore! She absolutely loves to speak to groups of women and encourage them with God's Truth!


In 2011 God called Joy and her family to sell their dream home, leave North Carolina and move to Jackson Tennessee. There, she was invited to be a guest on the local Christian radio station. The general manager liked her enthusiasm so he offered her an opportunity to do a daily devotional on air. With the support of her husband, Joy moved forward with this opportunity and knew God was calling her to start a women's ministry. She founded Joytime Ministries in 2012 and began writing "Joytime." "Joytime" is an upbeat, one-minute Christian radio segment that now airs on over 150 radio stations worldwide! Since 2012, Joy has had the opportunity to speak to groups of women, nationally, and encourage them as she discusses REAL life issues! Learn more about Joy, read her blog and listen to "Joytime" at www.joytime.org. You can also connect on Facebook at www.facebook.com/joytimeministries or Instagram @joygreene17.