Oh, Joy!

Once, while teaching the “Under 5” Sunday School class, I found myself having a hard time getting the kids enthusiastic about the lesson. Finally, I pulled out the hand puppets, which brought smiles to most of the faces. Except one. I said to the student, “Don’t you like the puppet show?” The two-year-old shot back, “I don’t want to like it!”

Too often, we fall into the trap of believing that people or things can make us happy. “If I only had this,” we tell ourselves. Or, “If this person would only do that.” People and things can be a lot of fun, but they are not the key to our happiness. Happiness is something that starts from the inside. And we alone are responsible for our own inner joy.

I once heard a pastor explain that the word “happiness” is directly correlated to the word “happenstance.” A happenstance is something that occurs in a fleeting moment. He then pointed out that most often, the Bible uses the word “joy” which suggests something eternal. He encouraged the congregation to stop looking for ways to be happy and to instead find joy.

Joy is something that God wants for His children. And ultimately, we find that very joy in Him. When we turn our lives over to His will, we are blessed with an inner joy that cannot be explained. Even through the tough times. It's like an internal smile that can never be wiped away. When we put our trust in the Lord, we get more than “happy.” We find true joy.

“…The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

This Is the Day

“Thank God it’s Friday!” is something people say quite often. But how often does one hear, “Thank God it’s Monday!” How many folks jumped out of bed this morning praising Him for yet another Sunday? Yet, isn’t our God the creator and author of all our days?

One of my favorite “go-to” verses is Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” One of my best friends even gave me a mirror with that verse inscribed on it. It’s a gentle reminder that no matter what the day of the week and regardless of the circumstances, we should be thankful for it.

 “This is the day that the Lord has made…” Let us keep in mind that God knows our situations and cares about every one of our needs. He created each day specifically for each and every one of us. And we can trust in Him to see us through each and every day of our lives.

“…We will rejoice and be glad in it.” No matter what the circumstances, we must give God the praise. Even in the midst of a trial or tragedy, acknowledging the awesome power of God and giving Him praise will confuse and confound the enemy. You may be amazed by what happens next.

Truth is, we never know how a day is going to turn out. Due to planned events or expected interactions, we may anticipate what’s coming. Yet, instead of approaching them with fear and trepidation, those are the days in which we should draw even closer to the Lord. Only He knows what is really going to happen—and only He can get us through.

 “Every day is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” Praise God.

(Happy?) Mother’s Day

Today is the day we celebrate the special women in our lives. We send cards and flowers to our moms. We give our grandmas a call or pay them a visit. We may even take the special ladies in our lives out to dinner. But do all the fanfare and purchased displays of gratitude do the holiday any justice?

According to the Wikipedia, the founder of the Mother’s Day observance in the United States was a woman named Anna Jarvis. She helped establish the holiday as a time that people would set aside to show honor and respect to their mothers. But before her death, she regretted her achievement.

The over-commercialization of the holiday had become overwhelming to her. She resented that the holiday was nothing more than a superficial display of affection. Instead of the heart-warming celebration of love she envisioned, it became a cash cow for many businesses. Even this weekend, you may have found it hard to escape the “Mother’s Day” sales at the mall, restaurant specials, and even discount oil changes!

Does any of this make your mom really happy? Sure, she may appreciate not having to prepare a meal one night in the year. Or she may enjoy the day of lavish attention spent on her. She may even really like card you made—or spent extra time in the pharmacy picking out because it said EXACTLY what you would have written.

But a mother’s true joy comes from her children. Knowing she is raising, or has raised, people who have personally rewarding lives can give her a feeling that a thousand Mother’s Day bouquets can never achieve. And for Christian moms, being escorted to church on Sunday morning is a nice Mother’s Day gesture. But knowing that her children have internalized the spiritual lessons she’s taught and that they have followed Christ the way she has encouraged them—that’s a gift that never fades.

A happy Mother’s Day isn’t a once-a-year event. And I would believe that’s what Ms. Anna Jarvis would want us to remember today. So as we recognize our moms, grandmas, aunties, and other influential women in our lives today, let us truly honor them with how we live our lives each and every day.

May your father and mother be glad;

may she who gave you birth rejoice!

                                                (Proverbs 23:25)

Happy Mother’s Day!

Stoopid Christians

Is there a direct correlation between faith and intelligence? There seems to be an underlying movement to prove that there is. And in some very recent studies, the results are not flattering to those of us who are believers.

Last year, a number of news headlines asked, “Are You Smarter Than an Atheist,” after a landmark study by the Pew Research Center found that atheists were more knowledgeable about world religions than Christians. More recently, articles have begun to appear suggesting that “Being Christian Harms Your Brain” due to a report in the Scientific American suggesting that people who claim to be Born Again Christians were more likely to have brain atrophy (shrinkage).

There certainly appears to be an agenda behind these “findings.” The world loves to portray Christians as narrow-minded, ignorant dolts. By doing so, it belittles the religious beliefs and practices of those who follow Christ. And by proclaiming, “The more intelligent you are, the less likely you are to be religious,” the world writes off Christianity as an archaic form of mind control, reserved for those who are too stupid and unsophisticated to think for themselves.

If you think about it, attacking the intelligence of Christians is a pretty subtile move—because how can we really defend many aspects of faith with facts? For many people, this type of discouragement is enough to force them to “keep their religion to themselves” or shy away from Christianity altogether.

But be encouraged—this type of attack against our faith is not new! In fact, in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he acknowledges, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) The very nature of our belief is supernatural—above the human experience or understanding.

Our faith is not based on the analysis of a collection of data. It is through the Spirit of God that we became believers. And we understand that in following Christ, we have nothing to prove to the world—our goal is to please the Creator of the universe.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

I’d rather be stupid for Jesus than wise in the eyes of a sinful world!