Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Do you find yourself wondering how bad it is going to get? Have you stopped listening to the news because it is just too depressing? What about people you trusted that turned out to be corrupt? Is it troubling that you don’t send your children out to play on carefree, safe streets any longer? Do you avoid certain locations because of lawlessness? Times have changed, so where do we go to find joy?
The secret in finding JOY so is simple. We stop thinking of ourselves as citizens of the earth and begin seeing ourselves as citizens of heaven with a mission to do to grow that Kingdom. These times give us greater opportunity to bring people to the Lord and add to the Kingdom as people are looking for peace and stability. These things can only be found in the heavenly Kingdom. The song says, Things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. The King is coming. In this we joy!
He told us ahead of time that things on earth would get bad before His coming. Like labor before the birth of a baby, the harder labor gets the closer the baby’s birth is. So with our circumstances on the earth. The worse things get, the closer we are to His coming. We have to change our perspective from getting our joy from earthly pleasures to the joy we have as kingdom citizens. This is eternal joy. This joy cannot be taken from us. We look forward to the joy of seeing Him come and set up His Kingdom on earth. What could give us more joy? This is what the whole earth, all the prophets, the apostles and all the believers who have gone before us have longed for. We are experiencing the birth pains of His coming Kingdom. In this we take
Joy. He is coming! Look Up!
The One who hung the sun and the moon in the sky still reigns in the heavens. The One who created you with purpose and abilities is trusting in you to go out and use those abilities to fulfill those purposes. The One who covered the earth with grass and trees and flowers and untold beauty is still the One causing each flower to bloom and each food producing plant to produce. The One who has taken care of you all the days of your life is still the One who will continue to take care of you. In all of these things we can find reason for Joy.
We can sing! We can praise Him always! We can talk with Him all day long! We can look forward to every day, as He is the One who creates it! No ruler is greater than He is! Nothing is out of His control when we are in Him! We can speak His Word right out loud! All these things and so many more give us joy!
*Zephaniah 3:17 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.
HE IS NOT SITTING IN THE HEAVENS WRINGING HIS HANDS! HE IS NOT WORRIED – HE IS SAVING US – HE IS REJOICING OVER US! THAT IS CONTAGIOUS! NOW IT IS UP TO US TO TURN AROUND AND REJOICE IN HIM!
