Share the Joy! - September 27, 2009

Good Sunday morning! We have a freeze warning for tonight. Is autumn over already? What is your joy dependent upon? This morning, I heard a sociologist put forward the point that our joy is dependent upon sharing that joy with others. What if you and I are not feeling any joy at the moment? First of all, we may not be feeling happy, but joy is not a passing feeling. You may be feeling sad, and I may be feeling depressed, and Joe Bob may be feeling a little irritated, but all of us need to share our joy with others to feel the good feeling that joy brings into our lives. Joy can bring happiness, contentment, and above all, more joy! However, we cannot get more joy unless we share the joy God has already given to us. Our container of joy can dry up from a lack of use, but it can never be emptied through sharing. As we share, God pours more into us; our cup of joy will literally run over!

I found that to be true in my devotional writing. Some of you will know that this summer I went through a time where I did not write on the weekends. The reason was that "they" are all going to church anyway... said the man who has trouble going to any meeting of more than a dozen or so. Yeah, not very good reasoning there. I may have listened too closely to the suggestions of someone else in that case, a certain adversary of ours. Sharing this devotional helps me to have joy, on the weekends and the weekdays. Without sharing you might say that I set myself up for a weak day.(ouch!) It isn't my place to say who is going where or whether this will be read or not; it is my place to share the joy and the Good News of Jesus Christ!

The only way to make sure this will be read by everyone on any particular day is to make some outrageous gaff; not something I want to do. :-) It's much more fun to share some insight or joy that God has given me on a fine morning. I will let the Holy Spirit worry about who is reading the e-mail or blog. I'm sure that pastors feel like they are preaching to the air on some Sundays, but that doesn't steal their joy. Our joy is based on Jesus, not on how we feel. You may feel down one day, but don't let that be a reason for not sharing your joy in Jesus!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Bucky