God Promises Joy
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me
with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”1
When
we consider moments of joy in our lives, we might think of our wedding day, the
birth of our children or grandchildren, a long-awaited vacation, a
well-deserved promotion or the purchase of a new home or car. There may be
countless other reasons that have caused joy in your life. But in every
situation, eventually, that joy begins to fade. We may still feel happy, but
the initial joy we felt is replaced by a feeling of contentment or
satisfaction.
However,
when we come to Jesus, and seek to walk with Him daily, God promises that we
will be filled with joy " not the passing kind, but the eternal kind that is
only found in His presence. It took me years to learn what it means to be in
the Lord’s presence. I have spent time in prayer and reading God’s Word; I have
sung along to worship songs, and not felt much difference. During these times,
I had spent time with the Lord in my head, but not in my heart. When we come to
the Lord with our whole heart, soul, and mind, we find ourselves in His very
presence. The Holy Spirit fills us with His joy, and we experience the
pleasures that God has in store for us. When I allow myself to fully submerge
in my time with the Lord, whether it be in my own personal quiet time or in
Sunday worship, I rarely come out with a dry eye; tears of joy overcome me! The
joy I feel being in the Lord’s presence is so powerful that I can’t contain it
" I have to let it out! That joy is
contagious, too. The disciples spent time with Jesus, intimately, and people
knew that they had been with Him. Even their enemies recognized that they were
different. What they didn’t understand is that the disciples had been in the
very presence of the Lord God!
The
Holy Spirit leads us to the path of life, which is Jesus; Jesus then fills
us with joy when we spend time in His presence; allowing us to enjoy eternal
pleasures in the Kingdom of God. Spend time in Jesus’ presence today, He
promises to fill you with joy!
Suggested
Prayer:
Dear
God, in a time when everyone just wants to be happy, we allow temporal things
to satisfy us. But you promise an inexplicable joy that never ends if I only
spend time in your presence. Thank you for that promise, grant me the desire to
seek you with my whole heart and fill me with your joy, so that it may spread
out to others in reflection of your goodness. Joyfully, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Psalm 16:11.
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