Friday's Joy Juice: Serve the Lord with Gladness and Joy!

            Have you had your JOY JUICE today?  After drinking your personal serving, share some with others.

            There is one aspect of joy that we often forget.  It’s found in Psalm 100.  “Serve the Lord with gladness!”

            The psalmist was pouring out his heart in thanks and gratitude to God.  He obviously had discovered that serving God brought much joy into his life.

            So often people desire for others to serve them….rather than them being the servant.  But if we are earnestly seeking to become like Christ, we must learn to serve others, joyfully.  Matthew 20:28 tells us that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”   If we follow Jesus’ example, instead of expecting others to serve us, we will look for ways to serve them.

            Beginning today, let’s be sensitive and look for ways that we can serve. Don’t wait to be asked. Anticipate someone’s need; take the initiative and step forward like a faithful servant.  You will then understand the JOY that the Psalmist was speaking of in Psalm 100: 

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.  Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.  For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”

       Serve the Lord by serving others. Your heart will overflow with gladness and joy.