THE
SUPREME JOY OF BEING HIS
BREAD
8 And
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2
Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)
10 Now
he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and
increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
11 You will be made rich in every
way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your
generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (NIV)
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
7 You
have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine
abound. 8 I will lie down and
sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:7-8 (NIV)
11 You
have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me
with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11 (NIV)
4 May
he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 We will shout for joy when you are
victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests. 6 Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him
from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in
horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD
our God. 8 They are brought to
their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. Psalm
20:4-8 (NIV)
28 You, O LORD,
keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. 29 With your help I can advance against a
troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
Psalm 18:28-29 (NIV)
3 The LORD
appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
17 “The LORD your
God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he
will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah
3:17 (NIV)
16 “For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17 (NIV)
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of
this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We too
are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to
turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth
and sea and everything in them. 16 In
the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet
he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you
rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of
food and fills your hearts with joy.” Acts
14:14-17 (NIV)
3 But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful. Psalm
68:3 (NIV)
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52 (NIV)
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:52 (NIV)
BUTTER
“I realize that I am not used to the image
of God throwing a party. It seems to contradict the solemnity and seriousness I
have always attached to God. But when I think about the ways in which Jesus
describes God’s Kingdom, a joyful banquet is often at its center…This
invitation to a meal is an invitation to intimacy with God…Celebration belongs
to God’s Kingdom. God not only offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing,
but wants to lift up these gifts as a source of joy for all who witness them.” Henri
Nouwen
“Ecstasy and
delight are essential to the believer’s soul and they promote sanctification.
We were not meant to live without spiritual exhilaration, and the Christian who
goes for a long time without the experience of heart-warming will soon find
himself tempted to have his emotions satisfied from earthly things and not, as
he ought, from the Spirit of God. The soul is so constituted that it craves
fulfillment from things outside itself and will embrace earthly joys for
satisfaction when it cannot reach spiritual ones… The believer is in spiritual
danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the
love of Christ and savoring the felt comforts of a Savior’s presence. When
Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent
search of other lovers… By the enjoyment of the love of Christ in the heart of
a believer, we mean an experience of the “love of God shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given to us” (Rom. 5:5)… because the Lord has made
himself accessible to us in the means of grace, it is our duty and privilege to
seek this experience from Him in these means till we are made the joyful
partakers of it.” John
Flavel (1630-1691)
“Those who are ‘beloved of the Lord’ must be the most happy and joyful people to be found anywhere upon the face of the earth.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“The perspective he gives me in my low place has helped me see His love more clearly. Habakkuk had that view too. He said, ‘Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren… yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!’ (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NLT). We can rejoice when our perspective changes even if our problems don’t. Habakkuk didn’t rejoice because his problems changed; he rejoiced because his perspective changed. God lifted His lowly prophet to ‘tread on the heights’ with Him. (Habakkuk 3:19). And God will do that for you too. He will love you through your low place. If you find yourself in a low place, don’t assume it’s a waste of time, or a waste of your life or a waste of an opportunity. Instead, do what Habakkuk did – climb the watchtower of your faith, one wobbly step at a time and seek an answer from the God who loves you. If He doesn’t give you an answer – or an answer you want – it’s because He wants to give you something far better – a greater sense of purpose, time in His presence, and a new perspective. When you climb toward God, you see your life from God’s view. And, from that place, you may still see rubble, but, you may just rejoice at the sight knowing that God’s loving purpose is right there! ‘For He works all things together for our good.’” (Romans 8:28). Jennifer Rothschild
“What is your personal version of: this shouldn’t have happened. Frankly, dear reader, I’m sure something that “shouldn’t have” has happened to you. Because we live in a broken world. Therefore, since life as we know it is inherently flawed and culture is a poor conduit of true, soul-satisfying happiness, where does that leave us? Is it possible for happiness, sadness, and even ‘badness’ to coexist? And if so, how do we orient our lives to be authentically joyful while not ignoring or becoming immune to the calamity and chaos around us and sometimes in us? The key to hanging on to our happy—our deep sense of fulfillment, contentment, and delight—when horrible things happen is to recognize this: Real, God-imbued happiness is not the absence of sadness or badness. Rather, it is hanging on to the truth of His sovereign goodness regardless of what’s going on within or around us. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that happy and sad are not mutually exclusive. Delight and despair absolutely coexist. They ebb and flow like the tides. Grief may surge while happy hangs back a bit, and vice versa. However, in Christ, each wholly exists in the heart of mankind. Circumstances may prompt one to rise to the occasion and eclipse the other for a while. And our personality bent may compel us to manifest one more readily than the other. But the proverbial bucket that dips into the well of our souls has the potential to scoop up both genuine joy and profound sorrow.” Lisa Harper
“What
impression do you want to leave with others if the only thing they have to go
on is your countenance, attitude or expression? Sadly, for some of us the
message would be ‘unhappy home,’ ‘mad at the world,’ or ‘depressed and
downtrodden.’ As believers in Christ, we must not live there. Rather, our
lives should reflect whose we are. The Scriptures teach us in Psalm 68:3,
‘...may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and
joyful.’ If you're a
child of the King, then take on an attitude of royalty. Reveal God's
presence in your life. Hold your head high, greet others with genuine
hospitality and be careful to show loving-kindness to all people. By
doing these things, you will become a bold witness for Christ without ever
having to open your mouth.” Renee
Nail
HEART SAVOR
- · The joy of the Lord is our strength.
- · He fills our hearts with greater joy than anything worldly – it’s the diamond versus the paste gem. He alone truly satisfies the soul.
- · There is joy and peace in His presence.
