Thought for Friday, March 16th

March 16, 2012

If You’ve Got Joy – Then Let It Show

 

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

Esther 9:22 

Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

Acts 2:22-28

Quote of the Day

“Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness.  Once you make this all important discovery, you must embrace joy as a moral [and spiritual] obligation.” – Andre Gide

Today’s Thoughts and Insights

It seems in today’s world so many have lost the ability and capacity for expressing joy.  This truth seems to be even more evident in and among the congregations of so many of the local churches.   I find it amazingly distressing to note that in a place where folks have come together to praise corporately and to study God’s word collectively – so many folks have a countenance that bespeaks distress, despair, unhappiness and sometimes even apparent hopelessness.

Do we not realize that we have the hope of glory living in us?

Have we forgotten that we have been redeemed from death into life through Christ Jesus and we have much to give thanks and rejoice for?

If we have Christ living in us – we’ve got to have joy, because He is the source and giver of true joy: and thus if He is in us and His joy is within us – then should not that joy be evidenced outwardly?  I think it should.

Christians have so many reasons to be joyous that I often wonder when we fail to be so, if God doesn’t consider this an expression of ungratefulness for all His many blessings, on our part?

God is good all the time: and our joy in Him, by Him and for Him, should not be restricted by circumstances: but rather our joy should be evident in spite of circumstances.

If you’ve got the joy in you: don’t be remiss in allowing His joy to show through you.

 

Today’s Prayer

Father you are amazingly marvelous and gloriously awesome and I am so honored to be allowed to know you and experience your joy and your salvation.  May I be dutifully faithful to allow the joy you have brought to my life to be shared and evidenced by those I encounter

“Joy is not in things; it is in us.”

– Richard Wagner

“Let the poor man say
I am rich in Him
Let the lost man say
I am found in Him
Let the blind man say
I can see again
Let the dead man say
I am born again 
Holy Spirit come
Move in power“

- from ‘Let The River Flow’ by Darrell Evans