The Joy of the Lord

The joy of the Lord is my rock, He is my Savior and my Lord. How can I thank the Lord who created the heavens and the earth and who knows every hair on my head and every need I have beforehand? The only way I know how is by giving him all the praise. And, when we praise God, what naturally follows is a thankful heart.

The world is trying to weigh us down and watching the news is enough to depress even the most joyful. There is nothing that surprises the Lord and there is nothing, no event that He does not already know the outcome.  Throughout the history of mankind, we see the same mistakes made over and over again, beginning with the fall of the garden of Eden. Things have not changed significantly in the sense of people continuing to sin!

We read in  Psalm 92:4

Each day we have a challenge, and that challenge is to keep the joy of God in our hearts. Ask ourselves the following questions:

1. What can you offer the Lord today?

2. What can you thank the Lord for today?

3. How can you show the joy of the Lord to others?

Think about these questions and what is key is that whenever we are in the mindset of trying to please the Lord we are receiving blessings. We can not outgive the Lord. Try it. The Lord will not be outdone and we can see that as evidence in our lives. The disciples followed Jesus not because it was easy, but because there was no other way to light, truth, and love. Jesus was compelling, He drew them in with His unconditional love and forgiveness. They were transformed from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

How can we be transformed each day in our ordinary lives? Think about this? It is the theme of this podcast and that is to have the joy of the Lord in our hearts. We can study the Word of God in the scriptures, memorize scripture verses to help us when we are down, turn to God in prayer whenever we have a need or just because we want to praise and thank Him. We can be transformed by the everlasting love of God and the joy that thought brings to our hearts.

Have you gotten off course? We all go off course at some time in our lives. We feel that the Lord is too busy for our needs so we will go it alone. This is not the way to live life and when that burden seems to heavy to carry we will see the evidence in the fruit and that is the wrong path or the path of least resistance. Friends this is not the path we want to be on, we want to be on that narrow path that leads to God and that joy we talk about, the joy of the Lord.

Is there something that is weighing you down? If so, release it and give it to God. That is why over the course of the years I’ve asked you to try a journal, first a praise and thanksgiving journal because that is unbelievably helpful. The second is a prayer journal so that you can go back at some point and see all of the prayers that have been answered. It is truly a faith booster. I have one that I started in 2008 and that thing has pages that are bent and highlighted words and sticky notes. I keep it around to remind myself that while not all prayers were answered, the ones that were important were answered better than I can possibly imagine.

What is the end of this story? We need to keep the focus of Christ in our minds daily, to focus on the blessing we have in our lives, those simple things, the comforts of a home of a family of the blue sky and green grass or even a snowy vista…whatever that is that God brings to us in nature. Nothing can hold back an attitude of gratitude if we will it to be.

The joy of the Lord is my strength and I pray that for you today, and my challenge to you is to increase that joy in your heart with song and prayer, daily! May God be blessed! Amen, and amen.