Serious Business
Joy is serious business! It is the natural state of the soul. Joylessness is like a toothache, which indicates an internal cavity -- or worse.
When we discover that the joy has evaporated -- it's time to do some inner heart examination. Where did the joy go? What poisons have entered my soul, resulting this negativism? What do I need to do to re-capture the joy? Leaking seems to be a part of the human condition. We're all a bunch of "joy leakers!"
One lady tearfully prayed, “Please fill me with joy again!" Her husband, overhearing her request, prayed, "Don't do it Lord! She leaks!"
It might be a good idea to patch up the holes. Perhaps, a spiritual root canal?
Holding a wrong perspective towards life will drain the joy right out of your heart. As the hero in Red Badge of Courage stated, "elfin thoughts made cowards of us all."
The ancient desert fathers spoke of "logismoi", the dark thoughts -- the false thoughts and desires that lead us to despair.
If you want to rekindle the joy, you have to declare war on "logismoi!" What false thoughts have been hammering your mind? How have dark thoughts clouded reality? The truth will set you free!
Gordon MacDonald, in "Monday Morning Restoration", spoke of the "Seven Deadly Siphons. These are the things that drain our positive energy, faith and joy.
1) Words without action.
2) Busyness without purpose.
3) Calendars without a Sabbath.
4) Relationships without mutual nourishment.
5) Personality without self-examination.
6) Natural giftedness without spiritual power.
7) An enormous theology without an adequate spirituality.
From such things, Oh Lord, deliver us, and help us plug the leaks!
When we discover that the joy has evaporated -- it's time to do some inner heart examination. Where did the joy go? What poisons have entered my soul, resulting this negativism? What do I need to do to re-capture the joy? Leaking seems to be a part of the human condition. We're all a bunch of "joy leakers!"
One lady tearfully prayed, “Please fill me with joy again!" Her husband, overhearing her request, prayed, "Don't do it Lord! She leaks!"
It might be a good idea to patch up the holes. Perhaps, a spiritual root canal?
Holding a wrong perspective towards life will drain the joy right out of your heart. As the hero in Red Badge of Courage stated, "elfin thoughts made cowards of us all."
The ancient desert fathers spoke of "logismoi", the dark thoughts -- the false thoughts and desires that lead us to despair.
If you want to rekindle the joy, you have to declare war on "logismoi!" What false thoughts have been hammering your mind? How have dark thoughts clouded reality? The truth will set you free!
Gordon MacDonald, in "Monday Morning Restoration", spoke of the "Seven Deadly Siphons. These are the things that drain our positive energy, faith and joy.
1) Words without action.
2) Busyness without purpose.
3) Calendars without a Sabbath.
4) Relationships without mutual nourishment.
5) Personality without self-examination.
6) Natural giftedness without spiritual power.
7) An enormous theology without an adequate spirituality.
From such things, Oh Lord, deliver us, and help us plug the leaks!
You, my dear friend, can make the FUNNIEST faces when you want to.
ReplyDeleteYou do some have some funny faces. Dare you to walk into a service with that face some Sunday:)
ReplyDeleteYour face would fit right in at our church. I think someone told our leaders that they are supposed to look that way to show authority and keep control.
ReplyDelete