My Joy Comes In The Morning
Read Psalm 30
Do you have real joy in your life? Not the fleeting sense of emotion, not the exhilaration of love or happiness. I mean real joy? Something that can't be taken away from you in the hardest times of your life.
Joy comes from knowing Christ, walking with Him daily, and cultivating a series of habits that grow you closer to Him each and every day.
My name is Landen. I'm the founder and creator of Devotable, a daily devotion project. I haven't always had this joy. Even when I accepted Christ as my savior, I was forgiven and had a rush of emotions, but true joy didn't come until many years later when I learned how to develop habits in my life that drew me closer to God.
I'd love to share with you several things you can do each day to achieve real joy and peace in your life no matter what events or circumstances you find yourself in.
I used to buy into the reasoning that whenever you have time for Bible study, worship, and prayer is when you should do it. You don't have to get it done first thing in the morning. We're all busy people, so just do it when you can.
I lived most of the 20's like this and suffered for it. My relationship with God suffered, my connection with others suffered, as did my knowledge and faith in the Lord.
You see, there is something special about starting the day off right that only worship, Bible study, and prayer can achieve. Starting off with that powerful trio sets to mood and tone for the rest of the day.
I'd like to give you 5 practical tips for starting your day off right and how you can experience joy throughout your life with just a few simple alterations to your morning routine.
For years I overlooked the importance of worship in my daily devotion and study time. The reason that worship is usually done at the beginning of a church service is to place your attitude and heart toward God. It's an emotional time that is meant to get your spirit and mind in the right direction and focused on God.
I'd heard this before but never realized the power of worship in my personal study and devotion. Now, before each Bible study and devotion reading in the morning, I listen to praise and worship music. This sets the tone of my study and devotion time.
If you don't already, I encourage you to try and start your morning off with a song. Pick your favorite artist or songs. Put them into a playlist, wake yourself with them or play them in the morning while you're getting ready. You will be amazed at the power of praise to start your day off right.
The psalmist realized this and so should we. We should sing praises to Him and give thanks. Even if you can't carry a tune in a bucket, lift your voice up, or maybe just hum quietly. You'll be amazed at what singing praises to Him in the morning does to your attitude.
If you've accepted Christ into your life, you have the ultimate conclusion for your life yet to be played out. Whether we rise in the second coming or we die, we have nothing to fear. Death cannot defeat us, for we have eternal life secured by His sacrifice.
The psalmist celebrates because the Lord didn't let his foes rejoice over him. He cried to God for help and God answered his cries and healed him.
Just like the psalmist, we need to rejoice and praise God each morning for what He's done for us. He's given us eternal life. He's brought us through so many trials and tribulations and we only need to look back a short way to realize His blessings.
Has He healed you or a family member? Praise Him! Has He saved you and your family? Praise Him! Has He given you food in your pantry, water from the spout, a warm bed and a roof over your head? Praise Him!
Christians, we are among the richest nations ever to walk the earth. We are so blessed yet so many people feel empty inside and bored with life. That's only because we don't realize just how good our God is to us. Start the morning with praise to God for all He's done and it will soon bubble up and over, creating unfathomable joy in your life.
As a child, I can remember a time when I was in the mall with my mom. She was shopping around and I was playing, probably being annoying or doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. Usually, I liked hiding in the clothing racks.
But this time I let my guard down too much and for a few seconds, I looked around and couldn't find my mom. She wasn't too far away but being small, I couldn't see around all the racks of clothes. I frantically begin to call her name. The whole scene probably only took 15-30 seconds but seemed like minutes to me. As I called, and she didn't answer, I began to increase my volume. Eventually yelling for her like only a scared child can; voice trembling and shaky.
After that horrible 30 seconds was over, and she finally found me and answered, it was a relief like no other. I wasn't lost after all. I called out to her and she heard me and found me.
As the psalmist cries out to God, begging for help, asking for mercy and needing to hear from God, it reminds me of my childhood. This is how we should call out to God.
We desperately need His power in our life. We urgently need His guidance and protection. Without it, we are as lost children.
But our joy comes when we cry out to him in prayer each morning, asking for these things and He hears us. Just as comforting as the familiar sound of my mother's voice, God's voice should be abundantly more warming.
We need to hear from Him in our lives daily, and we won't unless we cry out to Him. Make it a habit each morning to go to Him in prayer, asking for your needs, and begging Him to show His will to you each day.
There are a lot of songs that use the lyrics "mourning into dancing". But those lyrics ring out especially clear when we finally see an answer to our prayers. Especially the ones where they turn out to be answered prayer as we anticipated.
Has God answered your prayers before? I'm sure He has! Every day, if we look close enough, God answers our prayers. He protects us as we go to work. He provides our health. He gives us the strength to endure. He blesses us financially and physically. He helps us delight in our family. He has given us His inspired word.
There are so many ways He answers our prayers. But sometimes they're especially poignant when He answers the "big ticket" items. Maybe you've been healed of cancer. Maybe you've seen a lost family member receive Christ, or ushered back into the fold. Perhaps He's provided a child, a grandchild, or an adoption. Praise Him for all these answered prayers.
When we step back and really take a look at His answered prayers and provision, we can't help but be overwhelmed with joy.
The psalmist ends with "I will praise you forever". We get to praise God forever and ever. That's a humbling thought. In this life, it's really difficult to grasp the concept of eternity. Everything we know has a beginning and an end. It's so difficult for us to wrap our minds around the concept of eternity that when we sit and think about it, we can't really put it into perspective.
When I meditate on God's word in the morning, when I sing His praises, and when I read His eternal word, I realize that when this life is over, I will get to be in His presence and give thanks to Him forever.
Can you imagine? Sitting around the throne of God, praising His name forever! It's hard for me to grasp that thought, but it's so true. Whether you're a believer or not, your life is finite, but your soul is eternal.
I hope you will choose today to live that life in Christ and experience what it will be like to praise his name forever!
This psalm continues to be an inspiration to me and how I develop my daily habits. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't truly start to experience real joy in my life until I became adamant about praise, prayer, and daily study. That's exactly why I created Devotable, to help others experience this each and every day.
Devotable is a group project where we have over 100 authors who write inspired and uplifting Christian devotions each day. They expound on scripture, apply it, and use it to both challenge and uplift Christians in their daily walk with God.
I use this as a tool in my daily routine and I have a deep desire to help people experience the true joy of Christ with it.
You can learn more about Devotable on our website. I'd love to have you join me in daily worship, reading, and prayer as you help yourself experience the real joy only Christ brings!
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