joy

the presence of God in your life.

church in amparo - a long time ago i told the pastor i didn't see a lot of joy in our church. he said people came but they were always expecting miracles. before christmas i bought a nativity scene for the church and the pastor said some people had approached him and said it had to go. it was idol worship. we talked about it and both felt that they were like pharisees, living under the law of moses and not knowing the joy of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

last night in church as we were worshiping i noticed a man with his hands in his pockets. i wondered why he was there. i didn't sense any joy about him at all and wondered how can you worship God with your hands in your pockets.

later at club 365 scott talked about joy. it was wonderful last night. you could see and feel the joy. and i have to add, except for 1, i knew all the songs by heart and could sing them all. it was awesome.

actually that's why i wondered about being a christian. joy. a friend i had known for 30 years had become a christian and she always seemed so joyful. i wanted what she had. i asked her how she got it and she said she had just prayed about it. well not having a clue as to how to go about it i went to a couple of churches. found one i liked better and started attending regularly. the people were very warm and welcoming. the church bulletin had an email address for the pastor. i started emailing him about all the crap in my life and a barrage of questions - how did you get that joy, how did you become a christian. i was new to the internet and thought i was completely anonymous. not! little did i know. then one day in church he called me by name and i just about fell over. omg he knew all this stuff about me. thankfully now (in a way) he has bad memory so he wouldn't remember any of it.

thank you scott. for telling me about joy and helping me to find it. God is my life saver but you threw me the life-line.

joy - in case you missed it - it's the presence of God in your life. it's an intimate love relationship that fills your being. it doesn't matter whatever else may be happening in your life, if you have this relationship with God you have joy. He is internal and eternal. everything else is external and is not what gives you joy, happiness maybe, but that doesn't last.

you know Christ as your Lord and Saviour but don't have joy? what is coming between you? to have this joy you have to be in a right relationship with God. it's agony to have unconfessed sin in your life and feel separated from God. nothing is more important than to restore that relationship with God. nothing can compare to know the joy again of being in that right relationship.

if you don't have it and don't know how to get it ask God. He loves you so much He wants to have that relationship with you. He wants you to know the joy of loving Him and being loved by Him.

nothing else in life is more important.