LBS: Joy Part 1: A Hunger for Joy "Making Room for Joy"

Joy is defined as "the emotion of great delight or happiness" caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying. A cartoonist once penned the words, "I feel like a tiny bird with a big son" That is a great way to describe joy and it is what the children of Israel experienced in the house of the Lord, eating at His table and fellowshipping with God's people. 

Ezra 6 14:22) The work had been completed and now the Israelites celebrated the fest of Passover with like-minded people of God in the rededicated temple that took 21 years to build after being in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. Notice where they were, what they were doing, and who they were with when they experienced this overwhelming, great joy. They were in the house of the Lord, eating His Passover, and fellowshipping with His people. (PS 122:1)

In all honesty do you feel joy bubbling over inside you because you know you're on you way to church, or when you are about to study or hear God's word, or when you are about to see His people?  There will be times, and they may last a wee, a month, a year, and even a decade or more, when going to church seems more like a duty to fulfill because others expect it of you; when digging into the Word in Bible study or personal time seems more like a drudgery; when fellowshipping is a hassle you would rather not deal with; and when everything almost becomes a ritual. The lack of joy comes when we lack the appetite for the authentic spirituality that comes with being at church, feasting on the Word through the study of scriptures and fellowshipping with like-minded believers. (Matt 5:6) To be blessed with great joy, there first has to be an appetite for these things. 

Find out the  rest of the story... at our next LBS.