Claim the Gift of Joy

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  Regardless of our circumstances, joy is ours to be claimed!  

            When we “claim” something, we accept and declare ownership. I claim my husband, my children, my grandjoys! I claim the house I live in as MY home! I claim MY faith! Many material things I claim as MINE.  We all declare ownership of certain things.  But are they truly “ours”?  The Psalmist says of God in Psalm 89:11: “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them.”

            The bottom line is: GOD OWNS IT ALL! Our bank account, our relationships, our abilities, everything! And we are prideful if we think we’ve done anything to make it “ours”. In the words of Randy Alcorn: “God doesn’t just own the universe.  He owns you and me. We are twice His—first by creation, second by redemption.”  

           

            God is good and generous to allow us to be caretakers of His assets.  We must be wise in our management of those things He has entrusted to our care.  We should see our responsibilities as privileges…our obligations as opportunities to honor Him. In John 15:11, he reminds us that even our JOY is His joy in us!

            Thank God for ALL His blessings.  Because of His graciousness, we can receive and share the gift of joy.