Ministry Monday Your Joy Will Be God Missionary

"The joy of the Lord is your strength."-Nehemiah 8:10.My mother got me a beautiful cookbook for Christmas, and I was thrilled to find Scripture, little passages,and thoughts mingled throughout the recipes. One of the passages that leaped off the page was quoted from Charles Spurgeon. It was as follows:Send out the heat of piety into your house, and let all the neighbours participate in the blessing..... "The joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off." The joy of the Lord should be observed throughout our neighbourhood, and many who might otherwise have been careless of true religion will then enquire, "What makes these people glad, and creates such happy households?" Your joy shall thus be God's missionary.This passage got me curious, and I began to search the internet for more on this subject by Mr. Spurgeon. The quote was actually taken from a message he preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in 1876.This is the Scripture that Mr. Spurgeon used for that sermon:"And the singers sang aloud, with Jezrahiah their overseer. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off."-Nehemiah 12:42-43.Notice:1)The "singers sang aloud". In other words, "let it rip, tater chip":) They didn't try to hide their joy, but made it known. How can we make our joy known today? They offered praises to God. 2)God was their source of joy, "For God had made them to rejoice with great joy". Are we daily going to the Lord and His Word to have that great joy renewed? Mr. Spurgeon put it like this, "Do you know what it means-to walk with God-Enoch's joy; to sit at Jesus' feet-Mary's joy; to lean your head upon Jesus' bosom-John's familiar joy? How I need that joy that only Christ can give!" My friend, things of this world do not satisfy, but oh the joy of a satisfied heart settled upon the Saviour.3)The joy spread to their families...."the wives also and the children rejoiced". How is your attitude in home and around your family? The Lord has really been working in my heart lately. As I homeschool, am I joyful and enjoying the job that the Lord has given me, or am I just "getting it done"? Sure, I can just "get it done", but soon all those precious days will be over, and the influence in my children's lives will be done. My opportunity will pass. May the Lord help me to be joyful each day, and truly enjoy the task at hand. 4)Finally, "the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off." Do my neighbors, and those behind the till in Walmart, know about the joy that is in our home? The joy that only Christ can give through a changed heart? through putting their faith in Him? We live in a small town here in Alberta. It is a town of about 10,000. Granted, most people know that we are not originally from here-as soon as they hear our southern drawl. It is becoming common knowledge that we are the new pastor's family in town. Everywhere we go, it seems as if others are watching. May the Lord help us to have a joyful testimony in our home and around this town. May they see something different in our lives. May God's joy be our missionary!Many times you see Christians that have such sour faces... why would the world want that? What a joy to be around fellow believers that are truly happy in the Saviour! It is contagious! How we as Christians need God's joy in our lives! Are we fulfilling this ministry of joy in our hearts, homes, neighborhoods and beyond? We can all be missionaries, and let the Lord Jesus Christ shine through us to this dark world.To read the wonderful sermon given by Charles Spurgeon visit this link http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/1027.htmIt's long, but I promise it will be a blessing to you. I'm not quite sure how to put this link in-so I hope it worksPosted by: Kristy@ http://canadianchronicles.blogspot.com