Showing Joy In the Lord

When the heart is full of joy, it always allows its joy to escape. It is like the fountain in the marketplace; whenever it is full it runs away in streams, and as soon as it ceases to overflow, you may be quite sure that it has ceased to be full. The only full heart is the overflowing heart.  Charles Spurgeon

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is about David.  David had been made King and he was bringing the Ark of the Lord home.  David was so joyful that he danced in the streets. 

One of my great joys is dancing.  My husband and I love to dance.  When we dance it is like we glide.  We are so in tune with each other that we understand what step the other is going to take before we even take it.  One of the things we have in common is the same taste in music.  Throughout our marriage we have often been talking about music and one of us will turn to the other and say did you hear that song on the radio.  The other will say, yes I love that song.  It isn’t always the words that touch us; it is often the music behind the words.  When you have danced as long as my husband and I have, there is a certain beat to a song that is conducive to shuffling which is the type of couple dancing that we enjoy. 

When my husband and I got married we played a song that we danced our first dance to called “Oh What a Thrill”.  Through all the times we have shared there is still that thrill that I get when we are dancing.  It is a joy inside that just makes me smile because I don’t even have to think when I am dancing with him.  It is just instinct that we move together. 

This morning I was listening to the radio and the first song that came on is one of those songs that just make me want to jump out of my car and start dancing and singing at the top of my lungs.  The song is called “Beautiful Day” by Jamie Grace.  One of my favorite verses in the song says,  

“And ooh there's something 'bout the way Your sun shines on my face
It's a love so true, I could never get enough of You
This feeling can't be wrong, I'm about to get my worship on
Take me away, It's a beautiful day” 

I love those words “I’m about to get my worship on”.  It makes me think of David and how joyfully he danced for the Lord worshipping his Creator.  I want to wake up every day with that kind of joy in my heart.  So for now I am going to “go get my worship on”.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there is a place in my soul where music resides.  I often feel closest to You when I am singing or dancing.  When there is joy like that in my heart it just flows out of me.  It can’t be contained.  Thank You for giving me the blessing of music so that I can express my love for You through it.  I praise Your Holy Name.          

Scripture:  Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.  2 Samuel 6:12-15

Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord.  And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight.  But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor." 

Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.  2 Samuel 6:20-23

An Abundant Life

abundant  1. present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient: an abundant supply of water.

By a matchless parable our Lord there taught us that all believers are branches of the Living Vine, and that, apart from Him we are nothing and can do nothing because we have in us no life.  A.T. Pierson

What do you consider an abundant life?  Do you have or live one? 

When I looked up the definition of abundant the phrase that struck me was “oversufficient”.  If you look at that from a worldly perspective, most of us have an oversufficient life.  We have a home, plenty of food to eat, cars to drive and sometimes we have multiples of some things in our life. 

If we look at it from Jesus’ perspective we have an oversufficient life in things that are not important.  Jesus came so that we would have an abundant life but His coming wasn’t so that we could have more stuff.  Isaiah 55:1-3 offers a definition of what an abundant life means from a heavenly perspective. 

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Isaiah 55:1-3

If I am living my life from a worldly perspective instead of a heavenly perspective, I will never see the abundant life Jesus offers.          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You promise that I can have an abundant life, yet too many times my idea of an abundant life is very different from what you intended. I thirst for You and You promise Living Waters.  Thank You for Your Son who died so that I may live abundantly, not with the satisfaction of life here on earth, but the satisfaction of a life with You in Heaven.      

Scripture:  Jesus the Good Shepherd

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  John 10:7-10

Win or Lose

How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.  G.K. Chesterton

I went to my nephew’s football game last week.  There was a particular play that occurred during the game and several coaches from one of the teams took offense at a call from the referee.  Three or four of the coaches went onto the field to protest the call the referee made, and continued to harass the referee from the sidelines.

Our society has become one of winning at all cost.  Losing is not an option and many parents ridicule their children for not winning.  Parents want their child to be the best in whatever sport they play or activity they are involved in, and when they don’t win the parent belittles or puts the child down for not winning.  It doesn’t matter to the parent that God may not have given their child talent in that area.  Too many times you see parents trying to live vicariously through their children.  They want their children to be what they never were in life.

When I was a sophomore in high school I tried out for Jr. Co-captain and guess what.  I didn’t make it.  Was I disappointed?  Yes.  Do you know what my parents did?  They didn’t belittle me for losing and instead they encouraged me to try again the next year.  They encouraged this shy introvert to step out and try again.  So when I tried out for Sr. Co-Captain the next year I won. 

What did this lesson teach me?  It taught me that I was good enough and that I will not win at everything in life.  It taught me perseverance and determination.  The irony of the whole thing is that losing taught me how to win.  That is an amazing piece of wisdom. We should spend more time teaching children how to lose.   

Jesus told his disciples that if anyone desires to come after Me, deny himself, take up the cross and follow Me. The biggest irony of all is that Jesus lost (died on a cross) to save us so we could win (eternal life).  The most important thing we can teach children today is to deny themselves and follow Jesus. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I thank You for my parents who taught me how to lose with grace.  Learning how to lose taught me a great lesson.  I pray for the children of this world who are under so much pressure to win at all costs that they never get to see that the most important thing they need to learn is to lose.  Losing my life for Christ means I win.  Thank you for providing a way for me to win for eternity.        

Scripture:   Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:24-26

Instant Christianity

In Jesus Christ on the Cross there is refuge; there is safety; there is shelter; and all the power of sin upon our track cannot reach us when we have taken shelter under the Cross that atones for our sins.  A.C. Dixon

I was baptized many years ago when I was twelve years old, and I had an adolescent view of what a Christian should be and how I should act.  I had always been told that when you were baptized, your sins are washed away.  I believed that but the problem was when I sinned after I was baptized, I had this picture in my head that there was no way I could get back to God because of my sin.  So imagine a twelve year old thinking that I would never get to heaven.  It was like being told you had no hope of living. 

As I grew into adulthood I had this hopelessness that God never intended.  If we are to love God we have to believe that he wants us to live a sin free life.  The problem with life is that throughout our lifetime we will sin over and over again. Jesus was the only man who ever lived a completely sinless life.  He never had to go back to God the Father and repent of something He did in his life. The difference in us is that we are sinners and it is a necessary process for us to have to return time and again to Him to repent of the sins that we commit after our baptism.    

The following is an excerpt from a Billy Graham devotional that speaks of God’s great forgiveness. 

“There is a certain amount of sorrow involved in repentance that we don’t see much of today. That word means moaning and even groaning. I don’t mean that we have to have a great emotional experience, but I do believe that we need some tears of repentance. We need to be sorry for our sins, and to say, “Oh, God, I have sinned against You, and I’m sorry.” I am not an emotional person. I don’t know why, but I don’t cry easily. But of the few times I have cried in my life, some of them have been over sin that I committed many years ago.

The night I came to Christ, I didn’t have any tears. But later I went home and I looked out my window at the North Carolina sky and I cried over my sins. I said, “Oh, God, forgive me.” And the most wonderful peace swept over my soul. From that moment on, I’ve known that my sins were forgiven.” Billy Graham         

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my attempts at living a Christian life are feeble at best.  Through Jesus Christ you saved me and I am redeemed.  Because of Jesus I can come to You on bended knees and ask for forgiveness.        

Scripture:  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  Romans 12:1-2

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  2 Peter 3:9

Come-Along

Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender, and loving. If we, His stupid and wayward sheep, really want to be led, we will without fail be led. Of that I am sure. Elisabeth Elliot

Have you ever used a come-along?  Maybe I should first ask, do you know what a come-along is?  A come-along is a small portable winch that consists of a cable attached to a hand operated rachet; a mechanism that allows you to lift or pull something in one direction. 

When we were kids we had several cows.  Bertha was our prize milk cow.  She was this big lumbering bovine.  Once all the animals were fed we would let them out into the pasture or the woods behind our house.  Bertha would do what I guess most cows do every day; she would wander around eating grass. At the back of our property was a bayou.  If you are not from Louisiana you may not know what this is either.  A bayou is a slow moving body of water that is normally a small branch of a larger river. 

Our particular bayou had an alligator or two. We knew they were there but we seldom saw them.  One evening we were feeding the animals and Bertha didn’t show up at the barn.  Cows are creatures of habit, so when one of the animals didn’t show up to eat we had to go wander the woods looking for them.  We finally found Bertha.  She had gotten a little too close to the bank and being a big lumbering bovine she lost her balance and fell down the incline and got stuck in the mud at the bottom.

When you live around animals you always need to be prepared for the unexpected.  So what do you do with an overly large bovine, stuck in the mud with the potential for an alligator to come along looking for its next meal?  Plus, there is no way to get a vehicle to this part of the property to try to pull her out.  You run back to the barn and get the come-along.  You hook the cable to the cows harness and attach the other end to a big tree.  Bertha was no skinny cow.  We needed leverage to get her out of the mess she was in.  It felt like it took hours to hoist her out of the mud.  She protested quite loudly but I am sure she wouldn’t have appreciated the alternative. 

As I was thinking about this story, it reminded me of how we can be just like Bertha.  We wander away from God and get stuck in messes of our own making.  Cows are not the brightest bulb in the ceiling and sometimes we aren’t either.  We will often do things that are against everything God tells us do, and then we wonder how we got into it.  I like to think that God has a sort of spiritual come-along.  He knows when we are going to do something that will get us off track and often He will send in a “spiritual come-along” such as a friend or family member to pull us out of the mire we have gotten into. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often get into trouble and many times it is of my own making.  Often it is because I think like Bertha, that the grass is greener on the other side and when I get there I find myself disappointed.  I praise You for sending friends and family who will speak truth to me so that I can get back on track.  Thank you for Your patience with me when I get mired in the sin of my own making.         

Scripture:  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.  Psalm 1:1-6

Doubt

Now, I find a great many people who want some evidence that they have accepted the Son of God. My friends, if you want any evidence, take God's word for it. You can't find better evidence than that. You know that when the Angel Gabriel came down and told Zachariah he should have a son he wanted a further token than the angel's word. He asked Gabriel for it and he answered, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Lord." He had never been doubted, and he thundered out this to Zachariah. But he wanted a further token, and Gabriel said, "You shall have a token: you shall be mute till your son shall be given you."  D.L. Moody

One of the things that I find interesting in our human nature is our need for proof.  We want proof of why something happens or exits.  We expect God to do something great to convince us that He exists and that He is who He says He is. 

There are stories in the Bible over and over again about people not believing what He says.  Remember Sarah who laughed when God said she would have a child.  Can you imagine laughing at God and having Him tell you, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 

Then there was Zacharias whose wife couldn’t have children and God sent the angel Gabriel to tell him his wife would bear a child.  Zacharias didn’t believe what the angel told him so he questioned their ability to have a child because they were both advanced in years or in other words “old.”  Gabriel fixed him for that one.  Through God’s power he made him mute until the child was born. 

If you think about it, we question God every day.  We don’t believe in His power or that He will make all things good for those who trust in Him.  So we go through life questioning why God allows us to become ill or lose a job and we continue to go on questioning Him and asking ourselves if He really does know what is best for us.  We are really continuing the pattern that began centuries ago in questioning God’s every move.

God gives us hundreds of examples of how He works but we continue to require more proof.  If we put ourselves in the place of Zacharias and his encounter with Gabriel, being mute for 9 months might not be such a bad thing.  It would give us plenty of time to thank Him for being merciful.                

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often question why things happen in my life.  I have seen over and over again how you have made good come out of the disappointments in my life.  You know what is best for me and I praise You for showing me who You really are in my times of trouble.         

Scripture:  But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.  And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.  But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.  But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless. Luke 1:13-22

Fishing

Our Lord said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." It is evident, then, that a true disciple is a soul-winner. It is possible to sit on the shore discussing the signs of the times when we ought to be driven by the signs of the times to launch out into the deep and let down our nets for a draught. Vance Havner

I love to fish.  There is something about fishing that relaxes me.  Maybe it is the sitting still or as when I was a kid with my Grandpa, watching and waiting for the cork to bob up and down.  As soon as the cork goes under the fight is on.  The bait I used made a difference in what kind of fish I caught or if I caught anything at all.  The majority of the time we fished with worms or minnows and sometimes crickets, although I hated fishing with crickets because you had to stick your hand in the container that was crawling with crickets.  I didn’t like crickets crawling on my hands.  Now that I look back on it, the crickets probably didn’t appreciate me sticking my hand in there either.  Then there is the whole cork thing.  With cane pole and worm fishing you have to guess how deep the water is so that you set your cork just right.  Otherwise if your hook with the worm sits on the bottom of the lake you probably won’t catch anything.

My husband loves to fish too but his fishing is quite a bit different than mine.  He is a bass fisherman.  It’s all in the wrist.  You throw out a lure with no cork and you start reeling in slowly jerking a little every once in a while to catch a fishes’ attention.  Jerry’s way of fishing is a lot more complicated.  You are using a fake lure to entice the fish to take the fake bait. Some of the lures are elaborate with feathers and shiny silver with pretty colors and some will have dots painted on them.  The more your lure looks like something good to eat the better your chances are of catching a big one or as Jerry tells it a Lunker.  For those of you who are not fisherman, a lunker is an extremely large game fish and in most cases a record setting game fish.   

Just as there are different ways to catch fish there are different ways to be fishers of men.  God created each person with talents that are to be used to search out lost souls.  Your technique may be different from mine, but we are all called to be fishers of men. It is just as important to use the right tools because this fishing expedition will be the most important trip of a person’s life.  Eternity.  I love the story about Jesus telling Simon Peter to cast out his nets.  We need to prepare for the fishing trip of a lifetime.  How we prepare will make the difference in what we catch.  Will our nets be full or empty?          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You call each of us to be fishers of men.  If I don’t study Your Word in preparation for my fishing trip, my nets will come up empty.  How I prepare for what could be the most important conversation in someone else’s life can make the difference in saving a life or losing one.  Help me to be prepared and trust in You to fill my net.      

Scripture:  Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.   Luke 5:1-11