Discipleship - September 2007

Grace

Delighting in Grace

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil.  My cup overflows.”

                          Psalm 23: 5

Bath time!

Question?  How joyful are you?

Joy is at the heart of God Himself.

His sorrow and anger will be gone the day there are new heavens and a new earth.

Revelation 21: 4

God is the most joyful Being in the universe. If Christians would understand and reflect this then people would be drawn to God a lot more easily. We need to reflect God’s joy.         John 15: 11

“Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again.  Rejoice!” Philippians 4: 4

“Be joyful always!”             1 Thessalonians 5: 16

Joylessness is a serious sin.

How many people have been put off God because of you, judgmental, sanctimonious, soul-wearying people who claim to be Christians?

 “The joy of the Lord is your strength”    Nehemiah 8: 10

 Christians need to celebrate more    Deuteronomy 16: 9-15

Rate your opinion on a scale of 1 to 5

1 = Strongly Agree    5 = Strongly Disagree

“This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118: 24 - Context?  Verse 22

Each time we gather there needs to be celebration Psalms 149 & 150

Of course there are difficult times and times of sadness and heartache Ecclesiastes 3: 4

But how much of our lives do we spend waiting to live, believing that joy will come someday when circumstances change.

How realistic is  1 Thessalonians 5: 16-17

Joy in the midst of pain, frustration, suffering?

“He always spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive.”        (About  Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Joy in this world is usually joy in spite of……it is a joy that holds fast to the belief that God has not yet written the last great chapter and that when He does joy will be uninterrupted. This is the day for bath time fun!