Sorry I missed my W.O.W. yesterday! With the long weekend, my days have been mixed up all week. Anyway, here's my W.O.W. a day late...
Nehemiah 8:10- "...for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
Job 8:21- "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."
Psalm 33:1- "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him."
Psalm 66:1- "Shout with joy... all the earth!"
Psalm 90:14- "Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days."
Psalm 126:3- "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
Romans 12:12- "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Galatians 5:22- "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy..."
1 Thessalonians 5:16- "Be joyful always"
Genesis 30:13- "Then Leah said, 'How happy I am! The women will call me happy.'"
Proverbs 15:13- "A happy heart makes the face cheerful."
Galatians 4:15- "What has happened to all your joy?..."
James 5:13- "... Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise."
Psalm 68:3- "But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful."
Are you happy? Are you joyful? Sometimes it is so easy to get caught up in being a "good" Christian that we forget to proclaim the happiness and joy that we have in knowing the Lord!
My husband, Zack, has been in Texas for the past eight days. He has met many people and made some friends. He has been hanging out with one particular individual who Zack says is, "One of those guys that you sometimes envy and want to be like. He always seems so happy and carefree. He is always laughing and playing around, having a great time." Well, Zack found out last night that this guy is an atheist. Wow. Isn't it so sad that someone who not only doesn't know the Lord, but has turned his back on Him completely, seems so happy and joyful that a Christian notices!? Now, I am NOT saying that Zack is not happy or joyful or has not been an example of God's true joy. But we know that this guys' happiness and joy is only temporary and totally artificial. (My sister actually knows this guy, and knows that he is really very unhappy and has lots of problems in his life right now.) It just made me start thinking. Others around him, who don't know his personal life, just see this self-proclaimed atheist and how happy he seems- someone who always has a smile on his face, always doing something funny, always has a joke to tell, always having so much fun. Do people see me and think how happy I am? Do they say, "Wow, she is full of joy, always smiling and having fun!"? I am truly joyful, but do I show it? I want to make heads turn and be so different from the world, because I have the true joy of the Lord! From all the verses above (and more), God tells us to proclaim His goodness, shout with joy, and be happy! Let's show the world what a joy it is to have Christ in our lives!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Word on Wednesday...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Thanks for WOW, a day late!
This is a great post Amy. I have felt convicted lately about walking around with no joy because of my circumstances. Instead, I should find my joy in Christ alone! I really liked this verse: Romans 12:12- "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Thank you so much for sharing what God has laid on your heart.
Thanks for the reminder. Joy is truly something many of us struggle with. We get so caught up in our little problems we forget to trust in the Lord. You just can't have one without the other.
I definitely need to be more joyful in my actions. My heart aches for Zack's new friend. I can't imagine completely turning my back on God--very sad!!
So glad Zack has had the opportunity to meet this new friend- I'm sure Zack's walk with the Lord will be something this young man notices and, hopefully, something that makes a lasting impression.
Amen! and Amen!! The Lord HAS done great things and I am filled with Joy!!!! Isn't JOY such a wonderful emotion to have!! I love reading all these verses!!
Colossians 2:6&7
Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and OVERFLOWING with gratitude.
It's hard to "overflow", but it comes from the fact that we have already received heaven...eternal life not that we are trying to "acheive" it. Joy & gratitude go hand in hand. I'm sure that man is covering for his emptiness. Trying to fill up with whatever, what is truly lacking.
Post a Comment