(Psalm 100:1-5)
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
2 Serve the Lord with jubilation;
Come before Him with rejoicing.
3 Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courtyards with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
We are to worship, thank and serve the Lord, not because we have to, but because we want to. This is actually not based on a feeling, because it isn't our joy that we are talking about, it is about us embracing the Lord's joy. So, we can CHOOSE to be joyful and thankful!
Like, when we make the effort to drag ourselves to church, to worship and to serve. It is very important to add this to our efforts: that we do so with the motive of God's love and joy, choosing to be thankful for everything He has done, is doing, and is going to do for us... The Lord will bless us in these efforts. And out of that, we will then FEEL, or rather BE joyful and thankful.
From my personal experiences, any time I didn't feel like going to church or doing something that God has called me to do, but I did it anyway, I'm always so glad that I chose to listen and follow through, in God's strength, love and joy, all to His glory!
And this applies to all areas of our lives: when we dread going to school or work; when we are sick or hurting; when we have to do dreary house chores; even when we are trying to reconcile an issue with someone and the other person is not willing but you have done everything you should... I'm not saying that it will always be easy, but it helps and it is always worth it.
Jesus, the Lord, is God! As verse 3 says, we can know this and believe. There is only one God and He created all of us, so His salvation is for everyone in the world of any age. Who He is, what He does and everything He says in His word is true, timeless and relevant! And we can fully and confidently embrace this with His joy and thanksgiving, and desire to worship and serve Him, because the Lord is good!
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