Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Fullness of Joy, Strength for Today

I slept right through Husband's alarm early this morning, through running water and his dressing and kitchen noises. I stirred only as summer-morning light brightened our room, and in God's mercy, a string of Life-words came to mind first thing, unbidden:

"...the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10)
"Rejoice in the Lord always..." (Philippians 4:4)
"...in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11)

The God I serve is a JOYFUL God--and He invites me to share in His joy! By rejoicing in Him--choosing to rejoice--and embracing the joy He is and offers, I can have strength to "do hard things" today: to deny myself and love sacrificially, to engage with my son, to complete necessary tasks.

My pleasure-seeking heart will find the most possible joy in my Savior's presence. Pleasure and joy are not ultimately found in the mud puddles where I so often seek them--they are found in limitless supply in the fountain of Living Water! WHY have I hewn out for [myself] cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water?

O my soul, run to the Fountain today! Find fullness of joy in the presence of Emmanuel, God-with-us. Savor the pleasures of being at His right hand: the position you do not deserve and could not earn but enjoy all the same because of Jesus. Draw strength to walk faithfully in today's good-works-prepared-in-advance--planning and preparing food, playing and communicating intentionally with Elijah, changing diapers, cleaning dishes, hanging clothes on the line--from the joyful, happy God who welcomes you and wants you to glorify Him by enjoying Him forever.

4 comments:

Danielle said...

I love Psalm 16:11! I love thinking about that fact that God's presence provides true fullness of joy!

Rebecca said...

I *love, love, love* when I wake up singing a hymn or with a spiritual thought. It's obviously a gift from ABOVE and is such a treasure in the morning! That puts a smile on my face to hear that you woke up this morning to those verses!

Ashley said...

Thank you, Amy, for the reminder to seek joy and pleasure only in the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. How I needed that!

emily said...

thank you so much ... sweet words of Life and encouragement.
bless you!