I was talking to a friend the other day of her struggles that she has been having and was trying to just encourage her to keep pouring out into her work and her relationship with God. We all have been through rough times and we all have been in crappy moods and they are never fun. But at the same time we have a great God that died for us and forgave us of our sin and gave us something we do not deserve which is salvation and a personal relationship with Him. And even without anything else in this world, we should be FILLED with joy and love because of the gift that we have. Even when you are at the point of death from starvation or being shot at in a war, we should still be filled with joy because of God. The sole purpose of our existence is relationship with our Creator and if we have that, then we should be in awe! There are no words to describe the amount of happiness we should have!
But we have a good God who LOVES to bless us and comfort us. That’s why we can be blessed with family and friends and food and everything that we find happiness in. But that is NOT what we should find joy in, it is NOT the reason we should be happy. Even without these things, we can still be filled with joy!
Even Jesus, gave up food for 40 days just to pray and be in relationship with God! I believe Jesus was making a statement that we don’t even need the basic necessities in life to be happy; we don’t need anything else at all EXCEPT God’s love. When you are struggling with problems in your life whatever it may be, do you need anything besides God’s love? Where do you seek for comfort, where do you seek for love, where do you seek for happiness, where do you seek for meaning? The only answer should be God!
Don’t get me wrong, family and friends and even food are important and I’m a firm believer in all these things. What I’m saying is that all these are blessings from a great God who loves us. And all these things can make us love God even more! But the only thing we need in this life is God, nothing else at all.
This is something that I am challenged by every day. I wake up and if I didn’t get enough sleep my entire day is ruined or if I even I made a fool of myself in front of a girl it trips me out for days! But really, why is that? Is that where I seek my approval from? Do I seek my joy from this world? Because if I do, then I’m not living the way I should be. I need to change my priorities and it’s a daily challenge. But I encourage all of you to do this with me, let us find our joy in Jesus because that is all we need! And let us thank God for all the extra things he gives us! Let’s be happy!
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be know to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7
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