Mid-Week Message - Ask for Joy

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing..."  Romans 15:13 (ESV)

Once I was approached by a young believer and was asked several questions about life. One of the things this person said was that he woke up every morning trying to find a reason to get out of bed.  He wanted life to have meaning.  I think this is something we all face from time to time.  My answer to him was simple. Would Jesus wish us to have lackluster or mediocre lives?  Would He want us to struggle to find a reason to get out of bed every day?

John 10:10 (KJV) says this in the second part of the verse, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  Read that again.  He came that we might have life.  Not a boring, humdrum life of trying to find meaning, but that we can have life that is abundant.  To me this means that He wants us to have full, joyful, enjoyable lives.  And meaning?  What greater meaning is there than that we were created by the Almighty because He desired us?  He created us to love us!

So, how do we have that life?  I am convinced that the main ingredient of an abundant life is joy. That three letter word carries such weight.  Without joy, life can seem empty. Without joy, it is difficult to have hope and without hope, we lose our reason for continuing on in life.  Joy doesn't mean that we laugh through everything in life.  It means that there is a warmth in our heart that keeps it alive, that keeps it moving forward.  We can find reasons to praise even if things are difficult.  

How is your supply of joy?  When I told my young friend to pray for joy, his response was that he didn't want to bother God with his petty requests.  My friends, our Lord delights in us!  He loves when we come to Him with our requests, when we ask in accordance with His will.  Joy is a part of that abundant life Jesus died to give us.  What a wonderful thing to ask Him for.  I can just see Him smiling and hear Him saying, "Ah!  Finally!" 

Ask Him for joy this week, even if you feel you already have it.  Abundant means "more".  We can always stand more joy in our lives.  May God bless your week.    

  

Mid-Week Message - Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

 "Don't let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust also in me."  John 14:1  (NLT)

Turn on the news.  Read a newspaper.  What do you see?  Heartwarming stories on the front page?  Acts of kindness and goodwill?   Article after article that encourage hope?  No.  Far from it.  We read about shootings, robberies and murders.  We get information on new taxations, inflation and the power grab of the government.  We are left with doubts about our safety and our future.  

Can you relate?  The last two years especially have been filled with one crisis after another.  Anxiety grows as we attempt to cope with the issues in our own personal lives coupled with the ever-changing world around us.  We stress over our children's education and whether we can trust what they are being taught.  We worry over decreasing paychecks and increasing bills.  In addition, we have health problems, relationship difficulties, depression and questions about the direction this world is headed and what our offspring will have to confront as they grow older.

I joke about asking Santa Claus for a magic wand for Christmas.  Unfortunately there isn't any such thing but I wish there was sometimes.  Just think how handy it would be to wave that wand and make problems dissolve.  Snobbish co-worker?  Easy fix.  Just wave the wand and that person will be the nicest one on earth.  I wonder if any of us could be trusted with such power.  Probably not.  

Thankfully, we do not need magic wands and we do not have to rely on ourselves in times of struggle or woe.  We serve  Almighty God who sits on His throne and oversees all that happens on this orb in space.  He created the world and He created each of us.  There is never a time when He is unaware of what is occurring in any of our lives.  He sees the big and the small and cares about each and every moment.  No matter what we encounter, He is there with us to direct our paths, to have His hand on our shoulder to reassure us that we are not alone.

There are days when we wonder why we should continue in this life.  We see fruitlessness, despair, and hardship.   It seems that there is no turning around for this world as we watch deceit in our leadership and the downfall of moral character.  

So where is our hope?  Right where it has always been.  Jesus came that we can have life and have it more abundantly.  He tells us in John 16:33, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world."   

Beloved, this world was not created to be eternal, but we were.  We know through Scripture that one day this planet will be destroyed but, if we have placed our faith and trust in the Lord, then we will be with Him forever.  There is our hope.  We may not be able to see it with our eyes, or hear it with our ears, but we can rest in the Truth and He will enable us to calm our anxious hearts 

My prayers are with each of you as you navigate your way through what each day presents.  I urge you to fix your eyes upon Jesus, spend time with Him in reading your Bible and in prayer and allow Him to encourage you when you begin to worry about the future.  He is in control and the battle has already been won.  God bless.

Mid-Week Message - Ask for Joy!

I was approached by a young believer this week and was asked several questions about life.  One of the things this person said was that he woke up every morning trying to find a reason to get out of bed.  He wanted life to have meaning.  I think this is something we all face from time to time.  My answer to him was simple.  Would Jesus wish us to have lackluster or mediocre lives?  Would He want us to struggle to find a reason to get out of bed every day?

John 10:10 (KJV) says this in the second part of the verse, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  Read that again.  He came that we might have life.  Not a boring, humdrum life of trying to find meaning, but that we can have life that is abundant.  To me this means that He wants us to have full, joyful, enjoyable lives.  And meaning?  What greater meaning is there than that we were created by the Almighty because He desired us?  He created us to love us!

So, how do we have that life?  I am convinced that the main ingredient of an abundant life is joy. That three little word carries such weight.  Without joy, life can seem empty.  Without joy, it is difficult to have hope and without hope, we lose our reason for continuing on in life.  Joy doesn't mean that we laugh through everything in life.  It means that there is a warmth in our heart that keeps it alive, that keeps it moving forward.  We can find reasons to praise even if things are difficult.  

How is your supply of joy?  When I told my young friend to pray for joy, his response was that he didn't want to bother God with his petty requests.  My friends, our Lord delights in us!  He loves when we come to Him with our requests, when we ask in accordance with His will.  Joy is a part of that abundant life Jesus died to give us.  What a wonderful thing to ask Him for.  I can just see Him smiling and hear Him saying, "Ah!  Finally!"   

Ask Him for joy this week, even if you feel you already have it.  Abundant means "more".  We can always stand more joy in our lives.  My God bless your week.