Oh for a heart that finds its joy only in the Lord!
So often I find myself lacking joy. I know lacking joy is a sin yet I still struggle to serve the Lord with gladness all the days of my life. My desire is to live a holy life and for God to receive glory from all my actions and thoughts. But, so often my actions are in service to him while my mind is not in alignment. My mind is sometimes resentful, sometimes judgemental, sometimes rebellious.
Psalm 100 says, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing!" As awesome as our God is, it seems like this would be easy to do. Why is it so difficult sometimes? The main problem with me is that my joy is sometimes wrapped up in earthly things. Then when earthly things dissappoint, the "joy" wanes. In reality, "joy" found in anything other than Christ is not true joy! Jesus is the only One who will never dissappoint. Joy found in Him never wanes. Trouble is, how can I find joy in Christ alone? "I" can't! God must grant it! So I pray as David did after he sinned against God by raping Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me...Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit." (Psalm 51:10, 13)
Psalm 100 says, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing!" As awesome as our God is, it seems like this would be easy to do. Why is it so difficult sometimes? The main problem with me is that my joy is sometimes wrapped up in earthly things. Then when earthly things dissappoint, the "joy" wanes. In reality, "joy" found in anything other than Christ is not true joy! Jesus is the only One who will never dissappoint. Joy found in Him never wanes. Trouble is, how can I find joy in Christ alone? "I" can't! God must grant it! So I pray as David did after he sinned against God by raping Bathsheba and murdering Uriah, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me...Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit." (Psalm 51:10, 13)
I delight in my Lord and He delights in me. I sing from dawn to dusk and when things seem rough I stop and say thanks to God for the lesson. Praise God on January 17th, 2007, for He is the same yesterday, today and FOREVER.
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Yes Linda, Praise God that He never changes! Praise God for those seemingly difficult circumstances that are evidence of His shepherd's crook holding us in the fold. We would all surely wander to our own deserved destruction if it weren't for His loving eye on us and His firm Hand holding us. Even we can't tear ourselves out of His mighty hand! (John 10:27-29)
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Yes, real joy is only found in Christ. Serving God from any motive other than gladness of heart is very dangerous ...
"Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you." - Deuteronomy 28:47-48
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