How can JOY be a sacrifice?!!

"I will offer sacrifices of joy..."

Psalm 27:6

This morning as I went downstairs to spend some time with the Lord,

the "Not About Me" challenge that was given to us by Laura of

Brag on God Friday was on my mind.

I didn't have to wonder long about what God wanted to show me.

My Bible opened up to Psalm 27,

and my eyes immediately fell on verse 6 as quoted above.

God had spoken to me before about the

"sacrifices of praise" mentioned in Hebrews 13:6 that says,

"...Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God,

that is, the fruit of our lips,

giving thanks to His Name."

And now here it was again.  Was it the same thing?

 God had previously shown me that when my life with its situations

and challenges seemed out of control, they would come under His control

when I would praise and worship Him.

He would give me His peace as I placed my thoughts on Him,

and He would work out all things for my good.

Looking at notes in my study Bible, I read that although we

no longer have a need to bring the thanksgiving sacrifices to God described

in the book of Leviticus, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices.

According to Hosea 14:2, we do this by "taking words with us",

and using our lips to speak His praise outloud to Him.

So, to me it looks like the "sacrifice of joy"

and the "sacrifice of praise" are really the New Testament version

of the "sacrifice of Thanksgiving".

How appropriate is that for this season?!!!

As we praise Him for WHO HE IS

and celebrate the blessings He has given us,

He fills us with His JOY and STRENGTH!

In giving up my rights to pout, be discouraged,

or nourish negative feelings, it is a sacrifice.

I have a right to feel that way if I want to dwell on it.

But what a trade-off if I let go of it and praise God instead!

When I praise Him, I take my hands off my problems

and give Him room to work.

JOY instead of self-pity!

JOY instead of gloom and doom!

I don't know about you, but today I choose JOY!

And that's my JOY4TODAY!

To see Names of God on rocks,
hop on over to my ROCK4TODAY blog!


Linking with Women Living Well Wednesdays,
Brag on God Fridays,
and
Spiritual Sundays.

Joplin - 5 months later

It had been about two months since we were in Joplin, and as Gary and I went back last week, it was a very encouraging visit.  The last time we were there, I could not bear to look at a lot of the damage.  (The Joplin tornado came soon after we had just seen the flooding devastation along the Mississippi River and the tornado destruction in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.) 

I'd like to share a few pictures with you of this visit, and pass on a story of survival that was shared with us.

 

Piles of rubble were evident on many parking lots

that were in the process of being cleared. 

The trees, although having put out new growth,

still looked mishapen and showed signs of trauma.

Evidence of new construction abounded with multiple port-a-potties

being one of the good indicators at most building sites!

Rows and rows of FEMA trailers gave credence

to the number of people that had lost their homes.

Someone  told me that FEMA furnishes the trailer

rent free for 18 months to give them time to get re-established.

In contrast to all the rubble and construction,

a newly opened Wendy's stood out like a shiny new copper penny.

The manager shared this story with us.

On the evening of the tornado as the sirens were screaming

the warning of the impending disaster,

she spoke to her employees by phone.

Her gut instinct instructed them to huddle together

in the men's bathroom, instead of in the walk-in cooler which

was the usual designated safe place.

She was praying to God for His protection 

as she and her husband drove to the restaurant.

A semi-truck/trailer lay on its side

where the dining room had been.

The only part of the building that remained

was the men's bathroom which contained

seven frightened employees - none with serious injuries!

Truly God had protected them.

Of course, no town in America is replete without its Walmart Store!

The motto on this trailer sums up what we saw in Joplin:

"Rebuilding Together"

A couple of Bible verses that seem appropriate
are from Jeremiah 31:3-4 where God says,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness,
I will build you up again
and you will be REBUILT..."


To see some names of God from A to Z,
check out my Rock4Today blog!

Linking with Women Living Well Wednesdays, Alphabe-Thursdays, Brag on God Fridays, and Spiritual Sundays.