Jesus Joy!

“Jesus, you’re the center of my joy! All that’s good and perfect comes from You. You’re the source of my contentment, hope for all I do! Jesus, you’re the center of my joy!” Don’t you just automatically feel good when you hear Richard Smallwood sing that? If you’ve never heard it, I recommend you hit YouTube immediately! I remember belting that song away and really feeling it before I even knew to really seek relationship with Him. It was that perfect joy that he talked about, that Jesus joy and I connected with it. As I’ve looked around this week, I’ve seen a lot of people missing that joy. Churches don’t seem to have it and the world certainly seems to be lacking it. But where did it go? Today, God is challenging us to put Jesus back at the center of our joy. Truthfully, some of us just need to put Jesus back at the center and the joy will follow.

When the Lord put this in my spirit this morning, He immediately sent me to John 16. Jesus is talking to the disciples as His death looms before Him and He is trying to prepare them for life without Him. He explains the sadness that they will feel when He is no longer physically with them but then a “wonderful joy” will come.  ^“It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” (John 16: 21-22 NLT) Saints, we can have that joy right now! We already know that He has died and risen again with all power in His hands! So why do you not rejoice?! Why do you allow church folks to steal your joy? Why do your let co-workers drain you of your excitement? Why do you let the cares of this world dampen your spirit? It’s time to get back to the place where you live in the joy of knowing who Jesus is in your life. The Word says that no one can take that joy away from you.

So many of you are living in a sort of spiritual haze, trying to find your place, understand your purpose or answer your calling. I have been in that place and it’s not an easy place. But the Lord reminded me that Jesus is the star on the map. He’s the answer to every question. He’s the final stop and when you stop searching for answers and just tap into Jesus, the rest will follow. I love what Hebrews 12:1-3 says in the Message Bible about keeping Jesus at the center of your mind in order to make it. “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” This is the key, saints! Keep Jesus and what He did for you in the forefront of your mind. If you do, there is no way that you can’t find that joy!

I encourage you today to intentionally take your joy back! It’s time to put Jesus back at the center of your heart, your worship, your schedule, and your life. It’s not about the good deeds, or money, or even church because none of those things work without Jesus. From this moment on, it is no longer acceptable to just exist and survive. It is time to LIVE! It is time to celebrate Jesus in your everyday life and let that be reflected in everything you do. Richard Smallwood explained it well when he wrote, “You are why I find pleasure in the simple things in life, You're the music in the meadows and the streams. The voices of the children, my family, and my home, You're the source and finish of my highest dreams.” Remember the Jesus you fell in love with in the first place, the One that made you feel like that! If you do, I promise you will see & feel a joy that can never be taken away. AMEN