Hosanna Restoration Church

“I am so glad that the Lord saved me.” Are you familiar with that Chorus? It goes on to say, “If it hadn’t been for Jesus, what would I be? I am so glad that the Lord saved me.” Do you ever shudder to think what life would be like without Jesus? Do you consider just how fortunate you are to be His child? Do get a smile on your face just thinking about it? If you consider it long enough does it make you want to just shout out loud?

God brought His people out of Egypt with Joy. They were glad to be free, and really excited about taking the wealth of Egypt with them. They had no problem seeing that they were slaves who were now free. They new they were poor, but now they were rich. They were excited! Of course we know that it did not take them long to change their tune. When things started to look a little grim, they forgot all about God and began to complain. They lost their Joy, because they lost their focus.

There are a couple of things we all need to consider. Did we come out with joy? If so, have we kept it? I think some people come to the Lord with the feeling that a change might be nice. They don’t necessarily come out with joy, because they don’t see themselves as all that bad. They are just looking to improve themselves. Therefore there was not that much excitement because there was not that much that needed changing in their eyes. Consequently they can’t see what all the excitement is about.

I believe we are all guilty of letting go of our joy. We let it go when we quit thinking about the Lord. When we fail to consider what He has done for us and what He can do in any given situation, our focus shifts to the problem we face, and joy and rejoicing go right out the window.

We can look at Israel and see how foolish they were to doubt, but we often have a hard time seeing that we are doing the same thing. We were slaves, but God set us free. Whether we have any money or not, we are still in poverty without Jesus. Only the blessing of the Lord can make us truly rich. David went to God and asked Him to restore the joy of his salvation. We need to recognize when we have let our joy go. We need to learn to laugh out loud at the things that the enemy tries to use to destroy us. We need follow that cloud and fire and see where the Lord will lead us, and expect to see His promises manifested daily in our lives.

Just as the Lord transferred ownership of the land and the harvest of crops that they never planted, He also has answers to prayers we have never prayed and blessings we never imagined. These are the things that He wants us to think on. Philippians 4 verse 8 tells us to think on what is true and honorable and right. Our focus should be on pure, lovely, and excellent things that are worthy of praise. This will keep our focus on Jesus, and where Jesus is, there is Joy and rejoicing.