August 24, 2016

PRAYER THOUGHT:  "We all know the value of joy.  It alone is the proof that what we have really satisfies the heart."  Andrew Murray

John 16:22b NKJV - "...I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."

Commentary:

Dear Glorious Heavenly Father,  My heart is filled with the joy that only Jesus can give!  I thank you for filling my life with your Presence and with the gladness of the salvation I have found in Jesus!  I ache so much, Lord, for my readers and the people of your church there in Mt. Ephraim.  I want each one of them to experience your joy in their own lives as I'm overflowing with that joy tonight!  I can't keep this to myself but I also can't easily give it away.  You have to bring such satisfaction in each heart of the work You've done at Calvary!  Only then will your people have a solid reason to rejoice and give thanks and sing!  You are our Joy!  Joy is found in You, Lord Jesus, and the closer one gets to You and the more they experience You in their lives the more they will come to have Your joy as well. 

Just as it happened on the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell fresh on each believer they were ignited with the love of Christ and the joy of their salvation!  People came running from all over to find out what caused this outpouring of "heaven on earth!"  The disciples were filled with the Spirit and they spoke freely of their Savior.  And even if they didn't speak, their very lives were SHOUTING GLORY to all who saw them!  They couldn't confine their joy inside!  It had to burst out and people couldn't miss the evidence of God in these people. 
O Lord, may You bring that kind of Joy to Your people here.  Let Jesus shine through their lives as they gaze on His beauty.  Like the hymn we sang on Sunday, "May His beauty rest upon me as I seek the lost to win; and may they forget the channel, seeing only Him."  And Lord, help us all to realize that the Presence of Jesus Christ in our lives will be most evident in our love and joy found only in Him!

God, my heart is asking You, over and over and over again that those who read this today will experience that joy, and as our Daily Verse says, "...your joy no one will take from you."  I pray this in Jesus' Holy Name, Amen!!