{ JOY }

I absolutely love how God works!

This might get lengthy,  because I'm not good at making a "long story short", so here goes.....

So, if you follow me on Facebook, you know about my visit to a local Wal-Mart, one that I don't normally visit.  This particular Wal-Mart was extremely crowded and I don't do too well in crowds. As part of our Ladies Bible study at church, Fight Back With Joy, I decided to just smile at everybody I saw. Y'all, out of about 20 people I gave a smile to, there were maybe 2 who smiled back and needless to say, my joy bubble somewhat fizzled. A couple of people left comments that helped me to put the situation in a better perspective, that maybe later on they thought about that old gray-haired lady smiling at them and it brought them some joy (those weren't the exact words of my friends....😉).

Now fast forward to this morning.....

I was driving back from Jefferson City and turned the radio on just in time to hear the last part of a message by Dr. David Jeremiah.....

and you know what it was about?

JOY, Y'all!

(here's the link)

One of the things brought out in our study yesterday was that we need to will ourselves to celebrate in spite of the situation we're in.  Now, I realize that's not the easiest thing to do, depending on what's going on in our life.....

and at times it just seems impossible.

But here's a statement Dr. Jeremiah made that hit me like a ton of bricks.....

"Joy is contagious and to catch the infection you have to expose yourself to the virus and become part of the blessed epidemic. Find joyful people, hang out with joyful people, become a part of the  epidemic, catch the virus. Get infected with the joy of Jesus Christ."

Prior to that statement, he spoke about how we NEED each other, we need to be around other Christians. Now, I'm going to ask you to back up with me to this morning because I have a friend who is struggling with life....with their faith. I sent them a text during my Bible time this morning telling them practically the same thing.  My words were "you NEED to have Christian  believers around you for you to feed from."

Y'all, that ain't even the end of this novel.

When I got home and checked my e-mail, I had a refund from Wal-Mart for an on-line purchase I made because the product was a cheaper price in the store.  I just felt like God was smiling on me whether those other folks did or not!

Ain't God Good?

Oh, yes He is!!!