Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing! ~Psalm 100:1-2 (AMPCE)
Everyone is headed somewhere in life, but unfortunately many people are not enjoying the journey. It would be such a tragedy to arrive at the end of your days here on earth only to realize that you had not enjoyed every single one to the fullest. Jesus said we gain life by losing it. That means we "upgrade" in life and learn real living when we get ourselves off our minds and put the Lord at the forefront. We do that by spending time in God’s word and experiencing His presence more and more in our lives. Many people believe the greatest blessings are financial gain and the world definitely backs up that belief. But the truth is the greatest blessing we will ever receive is a relationship with our Father in Heaven. When we come to know Him, He helps us put the rest of our life into perspective and we find that the two greatest commandments…loving God and loving each other…is the only way to live! We tend to take those greatest gifts for granted because our thoughts are not focused correctly. God's word gives us the directions we need to enjoy our lives telling us to focus on God’s word and it will choke out the world and the worries and concerns it brings, just like focusing on the world chokes out God’s word and the peace and joy that it brings. Jesus tells us in Mark 4:19 “all too quickly the attractions of this world and the delights of wealth, and the search for success and lure of nice things come in and crowd out God’s message from their hearts, so no crop is produced.” (TLB) The crop Jesus is referring to is our harvest of peace and joy in the Lord. We have no peace when we are working 60 hours a week to pay for things we don’t even have enough time to enjoy. Having nice things isn’t what costs us; it’s the nice things having us that will cost us by causing us to lose focus on the greatest blessings in life like healthy relationships and peaceful days!
Take a look at your life and identify what’s choking out God’s word and His presence. Is it worry? We all have cares, but what does the Lord tell us to do about them? He tells us in 1 Peter 5:7 to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (NIV) Does an unhealthy attitude about money steal joy from your life? Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (NIV) Make sure you have your money and your money doesn’t have you by using it to “refresh others”. God promises in Proverbs 11:25 “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (NIV) God wants us to love Him, He wants us to love others and He wants us to love our life. What puts a smile on your face? It should be when you are being a blessing to people. Spend your day encouraging, complimenting and giving of your time and resources from your heart. Get your eyes off of you and on any and every need you are able to meet. Now that is truly living, and it will keep your heart full and a smile on your face all day long! Your grand smile will support your testimony and be a witness to the world of what an awesome God you serve!
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ~Philippians 4:4 (NIV)
What puts a smile on your face?
Write an answer
Write an answer
Comments