GreaterSample

START UP THE PARTY

Did you know that the Bible commands you to rejoice? God is so serious about joy He sent His Spirit to produce it in your life! The joy that filled you the moment you were saved was not a once and done thing—it’s meant to be the gift that keeps on giving. Happiness is different from joy, and sure, the ups and downs of life can affect our moods more than we’d like to admit. But joy comes from inside, not outside, and the source of the internal joy that we can celebrate every day is our new life in Jesus. If you’re living day by day less than excited about the race set before you, it might be a sign that you are relying too much on your own abilities to get through it all and not God’s grace. That’s a quick way to fade the joy of our salvation straight into apathy and misery! To go through the race of life with a joyful heart, remember often that you were dead and now you’re alive, you were a slave, and now you’re free, and that you were blind, but now you can see! 

If you’ve ever seen kids run around, you know they flail all over the place with reckless abandon because to them, there is joy in running. Adults run more often as an obligation—as just a means to an end, like fitting into last summer’s clothes. Kids run until they collapse on the grass, totally drained of all the energy they started the day with. That’s a great picture of the joy with which we’re meant to run our race. Let’s use everything God gave us, have nothing leftover when we cross the finish line, and be excited about the opportunity to be here. Collapse on the grass because you ran your race with perseverance and remembered the joy of your salvation every single day. God’s will for your life includes that you would have joy, and to instantly create those feelings of joyfulness, all you have to do is rejoice!

To learn more about the worship album, Greater, and other resources from Central Church Worship, visit: http://central.live/resources/