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Thursday, April 1, 2010 Email Email   Facebook Facebook TwitterTwitter   Print Print
 
Bring Back the Joy
by Charles R. Swindoll

Proverbs 15:13, 15; 17:22 

Rules, regulations, and statutes aren't meant to be amusing, but at times they are. Maybe it's because they are supposed to be so all-fired serious that I find some of them downright hilarious. Some examples?

A San Francisco ordinance forbids the reuse of confetti. In Danville, Pennsylvania, "fire hydrants must be checked one hour before all fires." In Seattle, it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon of more than six feet in length. An Oklahoma law states that a driver of "any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in death shall immediately stop . . . and give his name and address to the person struck." A piece of noise-abatement legislation was passed in the village of Lakefield, Ontario, which permits birds to sing for thirty minutes during the day and fifteen minutes at night.

Furthermore, we preachers are an incredibly funny lot. And when I study the faces and read about the lives and lifestyles of the pulpiteers of yesteryear, I confess I often chuckle. Many of them—deep down—were wild 'n crazy characters.

Such humor is not making jokes out of life; it's recognizing the ones that are there.

Now, I'm not suggesting that everybody start reading the comics or watch all those mindless sitcoms (frankly, most of them aren't even amusing) or tell a lot of silly jokes to each other. That's external, superficial, and shallow. I'm suggesting a project far more significant: developing a lighter heart that comes from a confidence in the living God, the loving Creator, the sovereign Lord who gave us humor and who smiles every time we enjoy His gift.

In the insightful words of Elton Trueblood: "The Christian is joyful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate. . . . The humor of the Christian is not a way of denying the tears, but rather a way of affirming something which is deeper than tears."¹

Yes, a few things in life are absolutely tragic, no question about it. First among them, a joyless Christian.

A truly cheerful face comes from a joyful heart,
not from a lack of concern for life's tragedies.

 

1. Elton Trueblood, The Humor of Christ (New York: Harper and Row, 1964).

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

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The Only Way to Not Waste Your Life

 

The Lord of Heaven and Earth has much to say about what He has designed for each of us. He has the optimal operating range for us to live within. He has created us and loaded us with all the options that He knows we need to operate and fulfill His plans.

 

As believers, God says LOVE, GLORIFY, and OBEY Him.

As men, husbands, and dads God says LEAD, MODEL, and LOVE.

As women, wives, and moms God says FOLLOW, MODEL, and LOVE.

As young men, brothers and sons God says OBEY, HONOR, and LOVE.

As young women, sisters and daughters God says OBEY, HONOR, and LOVE.

 

And where do we find the details on how to do all those things? Of course - in God's Word!

 

 

I have found that in my life all the above challenges are distilled down into one verse of God's Word. Please open with me to the center of your Bibles and find Psalm 16.11.

 

Psalm 16:11

You will show me the path of life; LEAD ME

In Your presence is fullness of joy; FILL ME

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. KEEP ME

 

o    LEAD ME: If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can rest in His arrangements for your life. "You will show me the path of life"

o    FILL ME: If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can enjoy His companionship through life. "In Your presence is fullness of joy;"

o    KEEP ME: If you will listen to the Lord speak to you through the Word you can rest in His authority over your life. "At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore"

 

 

Remember this: we can never have a Word Filled Life without reading the Scriptures regularly because you cannot be deeply influenced by that which you do not know.  When we are filled with God's Word, our life can then be informed and directed by God - our domestic relationships, our child-rearing, our career, our decisions, our interior walk with God. The only way to a Word Filled Life is time in God's Word!

 

Let me ask you today to inventory your promises, commitments, or decisions that you have (or perhaps haven't) made for the Lord in the past - and renew them!

 

Born again believers - will you say to the Lord: LEAD ME, FILL ME, and KEEP ME? Right where you are, if you are born again and know the Lord, whisper to Him from your soul to your Creator, ask HIM -- LEAD ME, FILL ME, KEEP ME!

 

To continue this message in its entirety please copy and paste this URL into your browser bar: http://www.dtbm.org/sermon/the-only-way-to-not-waste-your-life/

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Thursday, April 1, 2010 Email Email   Facebook Facebook TwitterTwitter   Print Print

 

April 1
MORNING

The fruit of the Spirit is joy.

Joy in the Holy Ghost. -- Unspeakable and full of glory.

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; ... exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. -- We glory in tribulations.

Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; ... for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. -- These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be fuIl. -- As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.
 
Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. -- The joy of the Lord is your strength.

In thy presence is fulness of joy: at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. -- For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
     
GAL. 5:22.  Rom. 14:17. ‑I Pet. 1:8. II Cor. 6:10;7,4. ‑Rom. 5:3. Heb. 12.2. -John 15:11. ‑II Cor. 1:5. Phi. 4:4. -Neh. 8:10. Psa. 16:11. ‑Rev. 7:17.

EVENING

Jehovah‑shalom: (The Lord send peace.)

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

Behold, a greater than Solomon is here. -- Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. -- My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; when it shall hail, coming down on the forest ; and the city shall be low in a low place.

He is our peace. -- This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.

JUDG. 6:24.  I Chr. 22:9.  Matt. 12:42. -Isa. 9:6. ‑Isa. 32:18,19. Eph. 2:14. ‑Mic. 5:5. Rev. 17:14. John 14:27.

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