Having Joy in our lives

The joy of the Lord is my strength. I look at this phrase and apply it this way. When I’m not feeling connected to God and the cares of the world begin to overwhelm me, this is usually a sign that I need to get closer to God. My ultimate joy and state of well being comes from my relationship with him. Pleasing him.
When I try to fulfill the word of God in my life and minister the word of God to others, joy and satisfaction of living comes. I try to live my life as close to the word of God as possible. How do I do that? I take the commands of God and try to find away to perform one or more of them every day. I purpose in my heart to try to do these. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m premeditated in my efforts to make a difference in my life, someone else’s life, my neighborhood, my work place, my church, etc.
I look for opportunities and then premeditatedly act. I know I’m probably still not making it clear. My joy comes from seeing God move in other people’s lives. I know people pray for God to move in our services at church and he can and will. But I want to see God move outside the church, out in the world that he created, for the people he loves and desires to come to him or to come closer to him then they are. You know, you can’t get too close to God.
The motto of our church is to love God and love people. A great motto only if we do it. The Boy Scout motto was “Be Prepared”! Another great motto, if they really practice it.
Jesus said that the Law and the Prophets was fulfilled in two Commandments: “Love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. The second commandment is like unto it: “Love your neighbor as yourself”.
Now think about the ways that you can love God and write them down. Then think about the ways that you can love your neighbor as yourself and write them down. Now purpose in your heart, that everyday your going to try to perform one of the things that you have written down. I guarantee you that when you start fulfilling these things in your life, that your joy will be full. Oh! I almost forgot to tell you one important thing. There are at least 24,000 different ways to love your neighbor as yourself. So lets go out and get some joy in our lives.