Life Filled with Laughter and Joyful Shouting

[S] Psalm 126:2 --
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
And our tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
``The LORD has done great things for them."

[O] Wow!  This is a true picture of a true worship by the people recognizing how great God's works are in the midst of them.  Without this recognition our worship can easily be just a ritualistic events because God is left out of the picture.  God is left out when we do not see what He is doing and that leads to not rejoicing with laughter and joyful shouting.

[A] Every day, I need to "count my blessings" and to "rejoice over what God is working in and through" my life.  Without such a practice, my relationship with God will be dead.

[P] Dear Father, I gladly rejoice for what You are doing in my and my family members' lives.  You're continuously working to mold us and to prepare for future ministries You designed for us to participate in. May this laughter, joyful shouting of my tongue be the fuel for my spiritual life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

God's Word Dwell-o-meter

[S] Colosians 3:16-17 --
 ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

[O] One of the key indicators of how well the word of Christ dwells in me is how joyful I am with others around me.  The joyfulness can be measured by how I am high spiritually filled with hymns, songs, and thankfulness in my heart for knowing that I belong to God.  It also follows with admonishing one another, uplifting others.  Overflowing the love of God has for me to others seems like a good indicator for me to track as I interact at work, home, church, and many other places I visit.

[A] It seems like this passage was God sent after I sought after some wisdom on how to communicate some points with my children.  What it meant to me was more so than the concept itself, I need to do it with a heart full of joy and thankfulness so the word of Christ will overflow into them foremost.  Thankful heart + admonishing others around me indicate my richness in the word of Christ

[P] Dear Father, please continue to teach me how to follow Your footsteps of being a father.  How it is all about surrendering my rights for the sake of teaching the true love to my children.  Please grant me wisdom so I do not hinder that with all sorts of details.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Pro-actively Everlasting Love

[S] Jeremiah 31:3-4 --
    ³The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
         "I have loved you with an everlasting love;
         Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
    ⁴"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
         O virgin of Israel!
         Again you will take up your tambourines,
         And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.

[O] God's love for me everlasting.  I cannot even fathom what that really means because my love is so limited.  What does an everlasting love look like?  From this passage one of the key element I see is the pro-activeness of the one who loves with an everlasting love.  It is by setting an example this everlasting love is propagated.  God started this thread and I must also follow His footsteps of taking the pro-active steps to pass on this wonderful and everlasting love to as many people as I can.  As it says at the end of verse 3, it is this lovingkindness that will draw people to God.  Furthermore, in such environment the joyfulness from the rejuvenation of God permeates by dancing merrily in the Lord.

[A] As the one who received God's pro-actively given everlasting love bringing my life to joyfulness, I also need to be pro-active about passing that same everlasting love to others around me.  This is especially important for me in my workplace where I see how much of His love they need in their lives.  On the surface they are busy and have the skills to carry out the jobs, etc. but deep in the conversations we carry out there is the constant pull of pursuing something greater and better than others.  This is contrary to the message from this passage where the one with the greater joy and love desires to pass that on to  others without any reservation.

[P] Dear Jesus, Your going to the Cross to pass on that everlasting love for me is really the start of all this.  Unless You displayed this model to us, we would still be living in the ideal world of "what if" we can love others with everlasting love (and yet could never actually achieve that).  So I am grateful once again for Your everlasting love for me.  May my life be merrily dancing for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Carrier of Joyfulness

[S] Psalm 105:43-45 --
    ⁴³And He brought forth His people with joy,
         His chosen ones with a joyful shout.
    ⁴⁴He gave them also the lands of the nations,
         That they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor,
    ⁴⁵So that they might keep His statutes
         And observe His laws,
         Praise the LORD!

[O] This is describing the land of Canaan that God promised to bring Israelites into out of Egypt. They went through a lot (due to their fault) over 40 years of wondering in the wilderness and finally were brought into Canaan under the new leadership of Joshua.  The significant picture I get from verse 43 is the joyfulness.  Sure Canaan was special with fertile grounds, etc. but most importantly God brought forth joy in the people as they entered the land and they responded with joyful shout.  How joyful am I these days such that I'm shouting with JOY!  Until Jesus returns and takes me home to the final Canaan, I believe wherever I bring forth joyful shout is my Canaan on earth.

[A] Don't get bogged down too much with my chores but look up to God and receive the joyfulness He desires for me.  And respond with my own joyful shout.  Live my life displaying such a joyfulness.

[P] Dear God, no matter what I do please grant me to display Your joyfulness from inside out.  I know that's what you desire from me at all times not because of my "good" circumstances but because You are with me in all things I do.  I desire to be known as the carrier of Your Joy!  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

How To Smile More

[S] Proverbs 15: -- A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

[O] The contrast between joyful and sad heart is highlighted by their consequences.  Cheerful face originates from a joyful heart and I'm sure people like to hang around those with joyful hearts because they'd make the whole circumstance bright.  However a sad heart breaks even the spirit.  What a detrimental consequence!

[A] I've heard comments that I need to smile more because when I don't I look mad.  Well, since I don't carry a mirror in front of me at all times, I would not even know when I'm not smiling, etc.  But this verse tells me that by working on my heart to be joyful, the cheerful face will come automatically.  So, I've found a solution to my struggle!

[P] Dear God, please show me how to work on my own heart to sustain joyfulness.  I want to overflow with cheerful face which will warm up places I go.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.