" The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!"
Joy.
It's a word in which we tend to water down, in my opinion. We (American Christians) tend to substitute the word JOY, the word that means filled with great pleasure and enthusiasm, with the word happy. Happy is a great word, don't get me wrong, but it means contentment. It means NOT being angry or sad. You can be happy without showing enthusiasm. You can be happy without being grateful. You can be happy but not FILLED.
When you are filled with joy, there is no room to settle for contentment. TO be filled, means that you are completely occupied by something. To be filled means that there is NO room left. Filled with Joy.
As we begin back tomorrow night with our Mid-Week studies, I can say confidently that I want to show our kids what filled with joy means. What does it look like to be occupied, consumed, completely filled with the hope, love and mercy that Christ has given to us? I'm not sure myself, but, as a group we will dig into it and these kids will challenge us and teach us what all consuming joy looks like.
We will talk about how our response to God's goodness and faithfulness should be Joy. It should always be joy! In the midst of doubt, or confusion, the Lord has done great things for you- let's celebrate. Let's be filled together. Let's learn how to serve the Body of Christ, according to our giftedness, WITH joy as a response.
If you don't have passages of scripture you are talking about with your children this week, discuss THIS one from Psalm 126. It's a passage in which the writer reminds the people of Zion of God's great mercy and provision for Zion. They could hardly believe the goodness the Lord gave them upon their fortune, crops, families and fruitfulness. The writer literally refers to it as a dream. "Their mouths were filled with laughter and mouths with shouts of joy." Psalm 126 is asking the Lord to restore, strengthen and increase their production ON top of what has happened thus far. This Psalm doesn't say they want restoration because things were destroyed, or they were terrible, or nothing was being produced. Sometimes you just need restoration for energy, for clear vision, for clear hearts.
Let me tell you, my heart is in the exact same place as this author's. Last year was awesome. I can hardly believe the ways in which the Lord provided for the kids and how much laughter echoed through this building. It's like a dream how perfect it was- and how much fruit was produced! But, I'm on my knees asking for Christ to strengthen the faith of our children, the faith of our families, for MORE fruit to be produced and to overflow all of us with JOY.
Here's a good start to seeing Joy- a lunch date I had with Amelia this summer. This picture FILLS me with JOY! I can hear the giggles...
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