Our guest pastor has preached on mighty encounters and being filled to overflowing with Jesus. When we have an encounter with God and we allow him to fill us completely with his love and joy then we can not help being an explosion of light for the rest of the world. We live in a society of people who are empty. everyday I see stories of people who are lonely and hurting. They try to fill the void in their lives with a whole variety of tangible things (drugs, alcohol, relationships, etc) but non of it lasts. The lies that society has implanted into our minds are sickening. Society says that wealth, popularity, jobs, relationships, nicer houses, cars, even things that are good for you such as exercise and eating right will make you happier, provide you with a better life. It's not true. These things are only temporary. When you are dead what will it matter how much money you had? How many people you knew? where you lived? what car you drove? All of that will be forgotten in less time than you lived.
Universally, I think its safe to say that "Happiness" is considered to be the greatest life goal. However, happiness is only on the outside. How many stories have you read about someone who everyone said was "the happiest person they knew" and yet their name is in the paper after they have taken their own life? Happiness is an emotion that we can choose to have. It may push back the pain that we feel or at least disguise it but still happiness won't fill the hole in our lives. This is where an encounter with God comes in. God can fill us with not just happiness but JOY and when he does its not just half way or even to the top! its overflowing! Can you imagine being so filled with joy that you cant even contain yourself? That is what being a christian is all about! being so filled with God's joy that you walk into a room and immediately everyone not only can see the difference but wants it too! While happiness is simply an outer emotion, God's joy consumes your life and ignites a fire in your soul that burns yet never diminishes.
I don't know about ya'll but I want this joy, I want to to be filled up and overflowing all day everyday. I want to be able to share it with others. Listening to the pastor this week has encouraged me in ways that I can't really explain. I can come to church with a headache, feeling exhausted but as soon as he starts speaking about God's word the room just seems to start filling up with energy until I'm so excited I can't stop smiling and all I want to do is sing and dance. I'm no longer content with just happiness,
I want JOY. and I think its time that we as Christians start sharing this joy with others so that we might see less of those "disguised happiness" stories in the newspapers.
So, how do we have one of these "encounters with God"? How can we be filled with this JOY? The answer is, through a relationship with his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus told the disciples in John 10:10, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
when we seek a relationship with the son of God and strive for his will in our lives, then he will overflow us with his Joy so that it spills out into everything we do, everything we say, everywhere we go. The ground we walk becomes holly and we literally become the body of Christ. Therefore, happiness is not the true ultimate goal in life, but instead to be bursting with God's JOY!
"You are the light of the world. Like a city on a hill that can not be hidden."
Matthew 5:14
No comments:
Post a Comment