Worship Wednesday - JOY!

When I was in high school, one of my youth leaders did a simple teaching that has stayed with me for lo these many years. He was teaching about joy, and he suggested that, in order to find true joy, we should think of the word as an acronym:

J - Jesus first
O - Others second
Y - Yourself last

If you keep that perspective, you'll find joy. But, if you get it backwards, then all you have is YOJ, and who wants that?!?

I don't know about you, but I occasionally go through times in my life where I have a little too much YOJ and not enough JOY. That usually means that my spiritual gas tank is getting low and needs to be filled up - which in turn means that I need to spend a little more time in worship, focusing on Jesus, and a little less time feeling sorry for myself and thinking about my problems.

Psalm 100 reminds us of the goodness of God and encourages us to enter into worship with joy. May the words of this Psalm help to refill your joy tank today!

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations."