Joy of the Lord #1

I am avoiding grading papers. Once I get started, it isn't too bad, but boy, the anticipation of it is terrible. So, I thought now would be a great time to blog!! =o)

We recently talked about the joy of the Lord at church. I was in desperate need of that message and need to get the CD! It has really had a great impact on my life in the last week. One of our youth pastors, Trey Bollinger, shared with us.

Jesus was anointed with the "oil of gladness" which is why so many followed Him. He gave us 6 steps to receive joy. I guess I'll cover them one at a time so this doesn't get too long.

1. Be Thankful

Psalm 100: 4 tells us to Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. No matter what our circumstances are, we can still be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. Did you wake up today? Do you have food to eat? Are you thankful for your family? God has already done so much for us that we can't let present problems overshadow our thankfulness. After all, Paul rejoiced in his chains. We may not FEEL like being thankful, but it's the key to get out of our "funk".

There is the story of when Jesus healed the 10 lepers. They all went off to show themselves to the priest to be declared clean. Afterwards, only 1 of the lepers came back to thank Jesus. How many times has God fixed something for us....something just "happened" to work out....and we didn't even think about thanking him? I personally don't believe in coincidences. I know when I get to heaven, I'm going to be able to see everything He did for me, protected me from, etc. , and I didn't even realize it.

One thing that I am working on is even being thankful in the midst of the "unfun" stuff. Today, on the way to church, we blew a tire. Instead of getting aggravated about it, I chose to be thankful that it happened AFTER we got off the interstate, and we were right by an empty parking lot. I bet an angel was holding his finger over that hole so that when it blew, we weren't going 70 mph (ok, 65 because Josh was driving). We were safe, the kids and I were only 15 minutes late to church, and the van now has a nice, new, safe tire.

Tune in tomorrow (or the next few days) for step #2.

Ok, I've procrastinated long enough. I guess I must continue on with the never ending laundry (Thank You, Lord, that we have PLENTY of clothes to wear) and the non-stop grading (Thank You that I have a job). Have a blessed week!!