Smiling's My Favorite!

Daily Reading: Isaiah 51

Scripture Focus: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 51.11)

Devotional Thought: Because he often displayed a sour disposition, a journalist once said of President Calvin Coolidge, "The only trouble with Coolidge is that he was weaned on a pickle."  How often are we guilty of being downcast when we should be rejoicing in the Lord?  God has done so much for us, but we go about as if we were weaned on pickles!

I have heard preachers ask something like this, "Are you blessed in your soul today?"  Then, after a brief pause go on, "Would you mind telling your face?"

God expects something different from "the ransomed of the Lord":

·       They shall return.  The people of God had been in Babylonian captivity, but they were coming home.  Nothing makes me smile quite like coming home.

·       They shall come to Zion with singing.  Zion was the place of worship.  When we worship God in spirit and truth, we can't help but sing!

·       Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.  Our joy is not like worldly happiness which is fleeting.  We have everlasting joy!

·       They shall obtain gladness and joy.  A joyful attitude is not simply a matter of disposition.  It is obtained, received as a gift.

·       Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  Invaded with the optimism of heaven, all our burdens fade away.  Eternal joy chases away the blues of earthly sadness.

There are times when I need to remind my face of all the blessings of God in my life.  Then I need to say with Buddy the Elf in the movie Elf, "I just like to smile.  Smiling's my favorite!"

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that in you, I have "joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of [my] faith, even the salvation of [my] soul" (1 Peter 1.8, KJV).  Amen!

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 78.56-64

56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies,

57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

59 When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.

60 He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind,

61 and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.

62 He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.

63 Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song.

64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.