Renewing Our JOY!

David shared some powerful statements about joy in the Psalms. Joy is the part of the fruit of the spirit and a necessary attribute for a Christian. We are supposed to live a life that is psyched, jazzed and juiced!
Do you remember when you first embraced the fullness of your relationship with God? This was a time of great joy within our lives, we had accepted the gift of salvation and embraced the relationship of oneness we have with the Father through Christ.

What happened to that joy? Is it living in a world that it is just mundane? Is it being in a church that worship is a noun instead of a verb? Is it sin that is a part of our lives? Whatever the issue, it is something that you have to access for your own life.

For David, that which caused him alienation from his relationship with the Father an absence of joy was sin. Sin is defined as anything that takes our hearts, affections, desires, allegiance and the like away from the Father. Sin in the Greek is a missing of the mark. Sin is "wrong thinking" that leads to "wrong action" in the same paradigm as righteous being "right thinking", that leads to "right action". Perhaps, like David, we have sin that we struggle with that is placing a spiritual blockade between us and the Father and the JOY of His Salvation.

The key about sin is that it is not something to be preoccupied with. It is something just to repent from (repentance is to "think again", it is to "turn away from"). The fundamentalist will beat the Hell out of you by reminding you of your sin and having one to feel guilty. All a person has to do is to "Think Again"! "God is faithful and just to forgive us of all unrighteousness..." However, unrepentant sin creates a barrier from fellowship with the Father and JOY!
My friends, I encourage you to assess your life and thoughts and repent--"THINK AGAIN!"

The JOY the Father has is not transient, it is not based upon others actions, it is rooted within His love for us. I pray that we would embrace the reality of His JOY!

Living with Faith and Power and Creating a Phenomenal Life!

Bishop Keith Russell Lee
Hoffman Estates, IL and Los Angeles, CA

Spiritual Prayer Treatment

Father, we repent from thoughts, words and deed that
does not center on you.

We seek first your Kingdom and Righteousness.
We align our thought, words and deeds with your
Holy Spirit.

Father, we place you first in our lives.

In the Name of Jesus and Through His Power!
Amen! And so it is!