Live God Adventures

“Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees;

then I will keep them to the end.

Give me understanding, and I will keep your law

and obey it with all my heart.

Direct me in the path of your commands,

for there I find delight.

Turn my heart toward your statutes

and not toward selfish gain.

Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

preserve my life according to your word.

Fulfill your promise to your servant,

so that you may be feared.

Take away the disgrace I dread,

for your laws are good.

How I long for your precepts!

Presrve my life in your righteousness!”

Psalm 119:33-40

God is so faithful. This week has been amazing. We have had an evangelist at my church, Pastor Tedd Shuttlesworth Jr. I’ve pretty much only been home to sleep (late), it has been wonderful! I wondered what that would mean for the blog this week. I figured I would share a testimony, a scripture, and hope that you all would be understanding. : ) The above portion of scripture is something I read daily and pray over myself. As I’ve been reading it this week I’ve felt led to share it with you. I planned on sharing it as a facebook post but never could quite get there. Now I see why.

Last night the service was about joy!

I am going to share some thoughts from last nights services and some quotes from the commentary in my Bible.

“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty.” Jeremiah 15:16

How does joy come?

We can generate our own joy!

“When Your words came”… “I ate them”… “THEY WERE MY JOY!”

Get in the Word! Read your Bible! Spend time with Jesus!

• True joy does not increase or decrease depending on our feelings or circumstances because it is based on the solid foundation of what Christ has already accomplished for us and on His eternal unchanging Word!
• Joy does not come automatically but is experienced only as we remain in a growing, personal relationship with Christ.
• Our joy increases as the Holy Spirit gives us a deep sense of God’s presence and nearness in our lives.
• Jesus taught that complete joy is directly connected to knowing and remaining in God’s Word, obeying His commands, loving others and being set apart from the evil in the world (John 17:13-17).

Joy comes from the comfort and delight of God’s nearness and His gifts of forgiveness, spiritual salvation and an eternal relationship with Him. True joy cannot be destroyed by pain, suffering, weakness or difficult circumstances.

Joy provides the highest motivation and strength for serving God and fulfilling His purposes for our lives.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

When the giving of God’s Word comes to hearts that truly desire to obey it, the result will be a true, heartfelt joy. We experience the Lords strength when we deliberately choose to recognize the joy that is already ours because of how much God loves us and what Christ has done for us.

Friends, what is taking your joy? If your joy is found in the Lord, in His Word. What is taking time away from you doing the very thing that will give you strength? I’ve heard a quote before that I want to share with you “If you don’t have time to pray and read God’s Word, you are busier than God ever intended you to be.” What have you picked up (to do) that God didn’t ask you to? What is taking your “free time” that could be better spent reading His Word and spending time with Him? I encourage you today to evaluate your time, choose Jesus, give your time to Him. You won’t regret it!