The Joy of the LORD

I am willing to admit that there are times when I have, “One of those days.”  You know what I’m talking about, days when you just want to crawl into bed, pull the blanket over your head and wait until tomorrow to start again!  As a child I remember reading a book titled, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,”  That’s what I’m talking about, we all have those days that are just plain, terrible, horrible, no good and very bad!  And I’d be willing to say, it’s ok to have a day like that.  We live in a fallen world, therefore, not every day is going to be peaches and cream.  But lately, I’m afraid those days have been happening a little more often than not.  

I was praying this morning and asking God to fill myself and our home with the Joy of the LORD, but at the same time I was working on a bad attitude.  For me, it seems like I wake up with a song in my heart, the sun is shinning and I take off running through my morning routine when out of no where a brick wall pops up and I run face first into an interruption. (The dog needs to go out in the cold, firewood needs to come in, there are dirty dishes in the sink, the car won’t start, I’m having a bad hair day, etc)  Then all of a sudden, I find myself fighting a bad attitude that can easily stay around all day long.  If we are not careful this can happen day after day, after day.  We lose sight of the 15 positive things that happened that morning and we focus on the one negative thing, then it ruins a whole day.

John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”    Satan must wake up earlier than I do because as soon as I get out of bed, he has already set obstacles in my way to trip me up and to steal my joy of the LORD.  So Jesus came to give us life more abundant and Satan is working overtime to steal it, what is the key to staying on the positive side?

“Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.” Pr. 25:28  So many mornings when we get up, our lives are like cities with no walls around them.  They are exposed and wide open for an attack from the Devil.  If we think we can live our lives without a Spiritual wall protecting us then we are deceived!  Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”  The mercies of God are the bricks and His love is the mortar which builds the protecting walls around us.  But we must daily walk around those walls checking to see if there are cracks or holes.  We need to take time each day to dwell on the goodness of God so as to mend those breaches in the walls.  If we fail to start our day with the Father, then we are opening ourselves up for a “Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  But with the mercies of God surrounding us, even a bad day can be a great opportunity to praise the LORD!

I’m praying for you this week and may you know the mercies of God!