"May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy."
Psalms 126:5 (NRSV)
Prodigal Thoughts: Today marks the third Sunday of the Advent season which represents joy. In my house, we often use the word JOY as an acrostic for how to live in relation to others. The "J" stands for Jesus. The "O" stands for Others. The "Y" stands for Yourself last. This is what my wife and I are teaching our kids. No matter the action, this is how I hope my children will live. Serving Jesus first, then others, and ourselves. This also applies to the time we spend, how we focus our relationships, and so much more. I forget too often that it is very difficult to be so full of sorrow when I am serving others. It is easy to remember when I look at what I own that there are others who have needs greater than mine. More importantly, it is so easy for me to get so down and depressed about the past griefs or pains to lose hope when there are so many in this world that have no hope in Christ because I’ve been focused on myself and haven’t taken the time to tell them about Jesus. It is a wake up call. I’m not saying that grieving shouldn’t happen. Grieving is part of a healing process. In fact, if we allow Him to, God will show us the hope we need through any situation so we can come to shout for joy in the right time. Serving God can help lead us to being joyful. He will lift our heads and take the burden from us if we will invite Him into our life situations. Then, we will be free to serve.
Prayer for today: I pray that we would be a joyful people. That in our times of difficulty that we would invite God into the situation to shine His light and fill us with His joy. Joy that cannot be snuffed out like a flame. May we serve God by serving others. May we glorify God by encouraging others and I am sure that we would find that the very God we serve will encourage us and grow the joy in our hearts to continue to serve and encourage others.
If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.
God’s grace on you…
Prodigal Thinker 