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Thursday, August 23, 2018

Authentic Joy


            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  God’s recipe is authentic and does not need changing!

            Though we say we would NEVER worship “false gods”, let’s ask ourselves this question: Do we sometimes try to create a different picture of God, made in our own image?  Rob Renfroe calls it a “you-friendly” image. He writes: “A ‘you-friendly’ god is a god who’s not bothered by the mistakes you most often make or the practices you don’t want to give up.  With a god like this, remade in your own image, you don’t have to sweat that stuff. Your new god will be particularly impressed with the good that you do.  What matters most to this god is not so much what you do or don’t do, but just that your heart’s in the right place.”  

            That punches some of us right in the gut, doesn’t it!?  Let’s consider what Renfroe is saying. In his book, The Joy Stealers, the author explains: “This method of getting rid of guilt comes right out of the Bible.  When the Israelites made their exodus out of Egypt, they came to the promised land of Canaan. The people who lived there, the Canaanites, were strange folks, and they had some bizarre practices. But one thing they didn’t have was a problem with their consciences. Why? Their secret was creating a god in their own image!” (A false god)

            Do we do the same thing today…just in a different fashion?

             Let’s examine our faith today and ask God to help us see clearly His face….authentic, real, and radiating with pure, genuine joy.



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