JOY

072 – AUGUST 2009

JOY

acrostic - def: a composition in which sets of letters, taken in order, form a word or phrase.

How ‘bout this one! JOY J = Jesus, O = Others, Y = You

Explanation? Simple! If you want to have “joy” in your life, you set your priorities of concern and focus in the acrostic order.

1. God – Deut 6:5 “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (The first commandment)

2. Others – Phil 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory: but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves.”

3. Yourself – Col 3:3 “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
Rom 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; …”

If you have no joy, if you lost your joy, or if you are never had joy in your life – you might discover that your acrostic is in the reverse order. That spells YOJ! I don’t even know what that means but it sounds awful … as though you might be a bit miserable or something.
You could have your eyes so cast down on yourself that you miss the wonderful blessings of a joyful heart that surround you. So, “Get outta yo’self!”

I think this acrostic idea is simple, wise, practical and profoundly powerful. You could push it aside and say “That was cute!” or you could take some time to really think about it, make some decisions and take some action about your life. If you need some joy!
Some additional joy! Any kind of joy! This could work for you!
Start loving God! Serve others! And, for Heaven’s sake, stop thinking about yourself all day long!

Mark 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these