FINDING REAL JOY
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
1 Chronicles 16:26-28 NLT
Thoughts:
We all want to have happy lives; we all want to feel fulfilled and joyful. Unfortunately life tends to throw us unplanned curve balls or leave us with only barely enough to sustain. Because of this we can fall into depression, sorrow and lose our hope. But, we have to realize that the world cannot give us true JOY. Sure, there are things that the world gives us that make us happy, but many times that happiness is only temporary, just like the changing weather. True JOY comes from a righteous way of thinking, putting all things in their proper priority.
JOY
So let us break down JOY. The first letter that makes up joy is J… which means our FIRST priority should be JESUS. Sometimes we have to be reminded that only Christ can give us the EVERLASTING Joy that we need to deal with life. Though we are children of God, He does not shield us from problems, trials, and tribulations, instead He gives us His strength, comfort through the Holy Spirit, and JOY through Jesus, so that we can face whatever life brings. For what God freely gives us, the world cannot take away. No matter what happens in life we must remember to keep Christ first in our lives, allowing Him to guide our footsteps, make our ways clear, and show us all that we need to do. It is only when we keep our eyes on Jesus, will we be truly blessed with a JOY that goes beyond all understanding.
The second letter is ‘O’ which means our next priority should be OTHERS. Remember that the angels rejoice anytime ONE soul is saved! So how much more should we be compassionate and willing to do what it takes to save more souls? When we use our time to help others, God sends others to help us (and our loved ones). You never know who He will use to touch you, or who you will touch. So we always have to be alert and willing to show the love of Christ. This also means doing our best in all of our obligations, from work, to ministry, to prayer, to any of our day to day activities. Everything we do, when done with our very best can be used by God to reach someone else. Remember, people are always watching us.
The final letter is ‘Y’ so lastly you can look to ‘YOURSELF”. We must keep ourselves last so that we always remain humble, and do not let ‘self’ come before God. While we are keeping our eyes on the J, and tending to the O, we are allowing God to deal with the Y, without letting ourselves get in the way. What greater JOY can there be then seeing God work through our lives for others and to turn back to our own lives only to see that all the things that we would have spent so much time worrying about, being depressed about or weighing us down, have been miraculously taken care of by our loving Father.
PRAYER
Lord we come to you today, praying that if our lives have veered in any way from your JOYful way of thinking, that you re-shape our minds and our hearts to line up with you. Let Your wonderful Will be done both in our lives and through our lives. We know that You desire so many great and mighty things in our lives but we can only receive it with a right heart and humble mind. Let your everlasting JOY pour through us and fill us where we were empty, and let nothing take it away from us. AMEN.
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God Bless
Till Next Time
Amanda of Astrialegends
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