Happiness is in your hands
Elmo describes his experience of God’s love:
THE BIGGEST GIFT OF ALL
Because God loves me, He is never impatient with me.
Because God loves me, He doesn’t keep track of my sins that He has forgiven. He forgets about them.
Because God loves me, He never says there is no more hope for me. On the contrary, He works patiently with me and disciplines me in such a way that I can hardly understand how deeply He cares about me.
Because God loves me, He never lets me down, even though many of my best friends do.
Because God loves me, He supports me when I reach the point of desperation – when I see myself the way I really am – and compares it to his righteousness, his holiness, beauty and love.
In moments like these I can believe that God loves me. You, the greatest of all gifts, are God’s perfect love.
4 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!
When you are overcome with the love of God, it affects you. Elmo experiences it as follows:
· When you laugh, it’s as if your insides start jogging – your secret exercise programme.
· You have no control over the past, but you can destroy a fairly good present by worrying about the future.
· You can decide how happy you want to be.
· Enrich the lives of other people as much as you can and your own cup of joy will soon overflow.
· The best beauty regime is a happy heart and a joyful spirit.
· Hope for the best. Be prepared for the worst. Face everything with a smile.
· Spring is God’s way of saying every year: “Again!”
· Laughing spices up life – like salt on an egg.
· Pleasure is fleeting and can disappear in seconds. Lasting joy comes from the Lord and keeps on flowing through your heart like a deep river.
· The reason why Christians can be so full of joy is because Christ died yesterday, lives today, and will come again tomorrow.
A whole lot of truths that we should make part of our lives, because we belong to Jesus. That is why it has an effect on our lives.
Reflection
How much joy is flowing from you?
Is it hard for you to laugh?
How do you experience God in your life?
Prayer
Lord, I really need to laugh! My life is overfull, but still I want more. I want to laugh out loud again and let peace flow from me. I rejoice in You who were crucified for my sin. Thank You! Let joy overflow in my life. Amen
