Joy! Joy! Joy! And, Some Laughter, too!

"Now the God of hope will fill you with all joy and peace in believing." Romans 15:13 KJV

Dear Friends~

I hope that everyone enjoyed a bit of silence in your prayer time with our Lord, Jesus Christ this weekend.  I can not thank you enough for your comments.  Your comments not only encourage us, but they often give me something to think on.  Something to look at a bit deeper.  And, I hope you all had a joyful weekend!  Did you sing to the Lord?  Did you laugh at all over the weekend?

I am certain that this is the topic He wants us to discuss today...JOY!  I woke up and read a bit, and JOY was the topic....then I watched a Pastor on TV tell us how important laughter and JOY are in a Christian's life.  How it pleases Him! How it keeps us healthier, takes some of the stress out of our lives...things like that.  He also said that it is a great way to help people be receptive to you.  Now, this would not work for me.  I am the worst joke teller in the world... I must be!  But, I have over the last 15 years re-learned to enjoy laughing...making a bit of noise even. (I used to just close my mouth and keep the laughter inside.)  He talked about how it came naturally to us as children...and somewhere along the line...some of us become more self-conscious, we tone down our laugh...and sometimes, like with me, it just disappears. Well, I have found my JOY in the Lord!  And, it fills me more than anything else could! Hallelujah!

"Behold, God is my Salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

 For the Lord God is my strength and song,

And He has become my Salvation." 

Therefore you will joyously draw

water from the springs of Salvation." 

 Isaiah 12:2-3 NASB  



I think that will be my Scripture to memorize this week.  It is perfect for me.  Imagine joyously drawing water from the springs of Salvation...Wow.  I challenge you to find something to laugh about today...you may see children playing in a sprinkler and have a giggle, maybe you will hear a good joke, maybe you will just force a laugh out to meet this challenge, and while doing this "forced" laugh...you realize it becomes real!  Try it!  You may like it!

"Sarah said, God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."  Genesis 21:6 NIV

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

 Job 8:20-22

Next, I came to the computer to write the post for today, and I always check my email first to make sure there aren't any urgent prayer requests...well, in my inbox is this wonderful column by Dr. Jack Graham. I am a bit behind in my email...it is from April, what a joyful blessing it was that I didn't read it until today.  Guess what it is about?  JOY!

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Oh, and by the way, Happy National Scrapbooking Month!  I hope you will all make at least one scrapbook page this month.  It doesn't have to go into an album...frame it.  I know they have a scrapbook challenge over at Our Daily Bread Designs every month...with a prize! This month's challenge should start this week.  Today they are having a HUGE Blog Hop with lots and lots of prizes! Please check it out, and tell them you heard about it on the He IS Able blog!

"We need to recapture the power of imagination;  we shall find that life can be full of wonder, mystery, beauty, and joy."  Sir Harold Spencer Jones

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Back to Dr. Jack Graham's column.  I have been given permission to use the column in it's entirety by crosswalk.com.  Thank you, Dr. Graham!

Letting the Joy of the Lord Shine Through You      April 29, 2011

"Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,                the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,                              the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,               yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation."

Habakkuk 3:17-18

I remember back when my friend, John Bisagno, went to be the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houston. He was talking about one Wednesday night around Christmas time when a few members of the church had gathered in the dark sanctuary and were singing a hymn called “Day is Dying in the West.”
“That wasn’t all that was dying.” he said. “Most of the people in the congregation looked half-dead already!”

So after the service was over, he left the church building and went outside. As he walked the streets of Houston, he saw people on the corners ringing bells along with tinsel and lights everywhere. So he popped into a jewelry store to buy a gift, and he saw people talking, singing, laughing, and having a wonderful time.

As Bisagno reflected on that, he said, “You know, neither the church nor the jewelry store gave an invitation that night. But had they given an invitation, I would have joined the jewelry store!”

When the world looks at you, do they see the joy of the Lord? I’m not talking about a joy you have because things are going well, but the kind of joy that transcends life’s circumstances. That’s the kind of joy God wants for you!

DESPITE LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES, THE JOY OF THE LORD SHOULD ALWAYS BE IN YOUR HEART. SO LET GOD’S JOY SHINE THROUGH YOU EVEN IN THE BUSYNESS AND STRESSES OF LIFE!

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There are so many Scriptures about JOY.  I have one more I would like to share with you today.  I hope you will try to catch yourself laughing.  If you want, tell us how it went for you in the comment section!  Was it unusual, easy, a real challenge, did others join in...did it seem to be contagious?  I hope that your laughter will be a result of His filling you with JOY...a joy that runs so deep!  Thank you so much for continuing to join us here at the He IS Able blog.  We appreciate you.  Please remember, leave a comment about anything before Tuesday 8pm EST, to be eligible to win a fabulous "Card of the Week" made and donated by Joan, our Prayer Team Leader,...winner to be announced Wednesday! I apologize that I could not get your wonderful card onto the blog, Joan.  It is amazing.  There is something not working between the camera, the computer and the blog.  Trust me, whoever receives this card will be blessed!

"The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to Save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

Have a blessed, joyful and laughter filled day!

He IS Able!

Traci S.