WHAT EXCITES YOU AND GIVES YOU JOY?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest,
has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he
was as zealous as I am for my honor among them,
so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.”
(Numbers 25:11)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever been in a worship service and felt so excited that you
wanted to applaud, raise your hand in the air to celebrate, or just
shout out? Do you ever have the same type of enthusiasm that you
have when you are in a stadium watching your favorite team score
a much-needed touchdown?

What could make someone feel that way at church? Isn’t it the
Spirit within you connecting with the Spirit of God? We can all
experience a new joy whenever we allow the Holy Spirit within
us to have free reign of our thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and
actions – in essence, to have control of our entire being.

Some of us may never experience that ‘connection’ because we
suppress the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Whenever
the Spirit wants to burst out with excitement, we squelch the
enthusiasm with thoughts like,
    “That wouldn’t be appropriate”
  or
    “What would others think?”

Of course, if everyone vocally expressed their feelings, there would be
sporadic outbursts which could disrupt the message God is delivering
through His servant. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t have
that type of excitement quietly within ourselves.

We can ‘store it up’ and release it whenever the congregation is singing,
or at other times within the service that would not interfere with God’s
message. As Christians, each of us should ask ourselves,
    “Do I have ‘any’ excitement and enthusiasm?”
    “Is the Spirit of God active in my life?”
    “Does the Spirit of God stir my inner feelings?”

Do we still get excited about worshipping God, or is it just another item
on our weekly ‘to do’ list? Do we plod our way to church with thoughts
like:
    “How long will the service last?”
    “Where will we go for lunch?”
    “If it weren’t for church, I could be doing other things”.

Or, are we excited about joining others to praise and worship the
Lord? Are we enthused about how God ‘scored a touchdown’ in
our own lives, when He gave us salvation? Does it still mean as
much to us as it did when we first committed to following Jesus?

We can maintain our loyalty to our favorite team even when it is
having a bad season, but how many of us have developed a kind
of dullness in our relationship with the Lord (even though we
know that He continues to bless us every day)?

What causes us to lose our passion for the Lord? At the root of our
dullness is Satan, isn’t it? There is a constant struggle in our lives
between Satan and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to draw
us closer to the Lord, while Satan wants to drag us away from our
fellowship with Him.

It may not seem like a ‘big deal’, but if Satan can dull our enthusiasm
for the Lord, then he has gained a foothold in our lives. Whenever he
gets a foothold, he uses more of his tactics to distance us from a close
fellowship with our Savior.

This is how Satan can deceptively impact our lives. Sure, he tempts
us to do things we know are wrong, but he also strives to alter our
attitudes and emotions in preparation for tempting us even more.

It’s interesting that the world accepts and embraces enthusiasm in every
area, except the spiritual realm. The world wants us to believe something
must be wrong with us if we show excitement regarding our relationship
with the Lord, and if we are enthused and grateful for how He has blessed
us.

The influence of the world (fueled by Satan’s schemes), can cause us
to wonder about ourselves:
    “Have I gone too far in expressing myself internally or externally?”
Can we ever go ‘too far’ in our enthusiasm for worshipping the Lord?

The next time you’re at church, look around and see if there are
some people who seem to have a special glow. They may not be
an ‘openly enthusiastic’ type person, but their countenance tells
you they are thrilled to be there. Then, compare their feelings
and appearance to yours. What do others see when they look
at you? Can they tell you are glad to be there?

Phinehas was a man who allowed the Spirit within him to connect
with the Spirit of God. He had a zeal about his relationship with
the Lord, and when God saw the genuineness of his spirit, He
changed His plans for the Israelites.

Did you catch that? God changed His plans as a result of the
enthusiasm one man had for the Lord. Would He change His
plans based on our own excitement and appreciation for Him
and His blessings in our lives?

Some have allowed their own selfishness to kill their enthusiasm,
and it has caused them to replace their eagerness to spend time
with the Lord with other things.

How fulfilling are our efforts to find delight in other places? Sure,
we might find what seems to be pleasurable at the time, but after
a while, we tire of one pleasure and start looking for something else
to satisfy our desires.

When we find pleasure in spending time with the Lord, our joy
doesn’t decrease, it increases. It’s not a temporary happiness
that lasts for a short time and then fades away; it is a delight
that grows the more we enjoy it.

ACTION:
If your enthusiasm for worshipping the Lord could be shown
on a meter, where would the needle be pointing? Would it be
pointing to Low and barely moving to the next level, or would
it be ‘pegged out’ to the Highest level on the meter? How are
others impacted by the level of your delight in spending time
with the Lord?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me and for blessing
me abundantly. Forgive me if I have not adequately expressed
my appreciation for who You are, and how You have impacted
my life. Thank You for the life changing experience I enjoy as
a result of my encounter with You. Remove any dullness I have
allowed Satan to develop in me, and create a renewed enthusiasm
in me for spending time with You, as my heavenly Father. I pray
that I can be a witness to others by merely showing the joy I have
in knowing You. Restore in me the excitement I had when You
first saved me, and guide me as I re-dedicate my life to You, with
complete abandonment!”

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