Hosanna Restoration Church

We all have different things that make us feel good. We all have different things that will make us laugh. However, we often spend time longing for some certain thing that we think will finally make us really happy, only to find that it does not bring the happiness that lasts.

There are different things that give us a certain amount of satisfaction, and these are often very simple things. But when it comes right down to it the things that make us truly glad, the things that really touch our hearts, are the glimpses of love. Things like the open arms of a little child wanting to be held, or the sweet little “I love you”; these are the things that you cannot put a price on and yet they mean the most.

Well, if these things make us glad, don’t you imagine that they make God glad as well. We are His little children and our love makes Him glad. God has so many things to say about joy and happiness. He says that a merry heart does good like a medicine. There is no heart that is merrier than one that is in love.

Scripture also says that God gave us wine for a merry heart, not to make us drunk. As I thought about this, I was reminded that Jesus gave us the new wine of a new and better covenant. This new wine changed the way that we could approach God. This new wine transforms our hearts so that we have the capacity not only to receive God’s love, but also to love Him back.

I know that there is no feeling in the world that can ever replace that feeling of loving God. I do not mean what we feel when He does something for us. Even when God does things for us, the feeling only lasts so long. People can be sick and praying for long periods of time, but as a rule, once they are healed the thanksgiving is over in short order. Think about it. How many of us rejoice everyday and give thanks for our salvation, and that is the greatest miracle of all.

The point I am trying to make here is that no matter how good it is, or how good things are, no thing is as great as the creator of all things. Keeping God before us keeps our love for God fresh. Loving God keeps the windows of heaven open, but what comes out is not as important as who it comes from. It is interesting that things can continue to roll along even as our love goes cold. We can do all the right things and ignore that our hearts have not been glad for a long time. Sometimes people try to emphasize that you cannot go on feelings. I say you cannot go on without them.

So I ask. Is your heart glad? Can you rest in hope? Stir up your love for God. Just thinking about it should start a little bubbling in your heart. Can you feel it?