Oh Happy Day , When Jesus Washed My Sins Away , Oh Happy Day

Do you remember that day ? I mean the day that you "realized" that Jesus had washed your sins away.

I think that day is the day the "Joy of my Salvation" began. My quest has been to rejoice in the LORD alway , making it imperative that I remember that "day."

Actually for me I had several of "that day." I grew up believing that I had done something so horribly bad that no one would forgive me. The reason for this action ( I believed) was that I had a reprobate mind.

When God first revealed to me that I had believed a lie and that He would forgive me , I had a "happy day" for a few minutes. Peoples opinion was louder than God's and once again I became convinced that , I had done something so horribly bad , that no one would forgive me.

This light on , then light off , happened over and over in my life.
A friend came back into my life recently and she remembered me when , "the light was on".
She remembered how happy I was even though I had dire , dire circumstances. So it has kick started my memories.

I remember my "happy day" now. I remember how the Holy Spirit brought to my thoughts "who soever will may come." My thought was , "but what about the reprobate?" What made the light come on was this thought , " that a reprobate would not even want to come to God. "

That light lasted quite a while but it became dimmed once again by man's opinion. I have come to think of all of those times when "man's opinion" took charge of my emotions as trips to Doubting Castle, as in Pilgrim's Progress written by John Bunyan.

Once again I am leaving Doubting Castle, this time to believe that I can rejoice in the LORD alway and again I say, Rejoice. This time I have determined in my heart not to listen to opinions of others. Also I want to be a friend to others who have had a really rough time of it.

Better than giving them promises from God's word would be my belief in their "happy day."

That there actually was a day, that Jesus washed their sins away.

What Is The Coolest Thing God Has Done For You Today?

This was the question Francis Chan suggested his congregation ask each other. He was teaching on joy and pointed out that we are actually given this command in the Bible , "Rejoice, in the LORD alway. And again I say , rejoice." Phil 4:4

So many times when I give a word of testimony I share what I have to rejoice in. When I feel that the Holy Spirit has given me a scripture that I am to apply my life to, I rejoice in the moment . There is joy in the Holy Ghost . But so many times while I am so busy trying to live my life in light of this Word , that joy fades.

What is it that happens exactly ?

I begin to worry that I am not going to " pull it off " . You know , I begin to think , " wow, this is so important , I really need to do this, maybe I won't do this, and then , oh, look here I am not doing it. " Before I know it , I have no joy. I have no sense of God's power being with me.

Living my life expecting the Holy Spirit to enlighten my path with the word of God is a very joyful existence. Letting how well I am doing at walking in that light to be my plumb line for joy , explains exactly why my joy fades in and out.

In while the Holy Spirit brings me the word out while I try to walk in it.

Ah , but can I lose my joy if I "Rejoice in the LORD, alway. And again I say, rejoice ?"

Here is the catch. It will have to be the only thing I do. I can not be divided and say, "Well, if I seem to be walking in the word good, I will have joy in that. " No , you see that would not be rejoicing in the LORD.

I will have to determine to rejoice in the LORD , always. In the LORD .

Would you like to know about some really cool things God has done for me lately ?

My daughter has been given a promotion at work. Instead of having an unpredictable time schedule each week she will have the same eight hour shift each week and after a year a paid vacation.

A cool thing for me was when I realised that this ominous burden I put myself under to be able to love unlovable people would no longer need to be my problem. I have given that problem to God and I now trust that He will produce His love in me . So you 20 people out there that I have been praying for , my hope is that the love I have asked God to put in me for you will be evident the next time I see you.

Another cool thing God did for me and my daughter. Last night I was just kind of out of it. Not thinking I left a package of chocolate chip cookies on the table and when I came home I found that my daughter's Spaniel had eaten them all. When we looked on the Internet to see just how bad chocolate is for dogs it did not look good. We prayed and asked God to spare her the ill effects that chocolate usually have on dogs. She never did get sick. She is alive and well today. I think it is a cool thing that God did for us.

These cool things that He did I hope you find interesting. These events are not what I am rejoicing in though.

My word of testimony today is : Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.

Grace

How far ? How intimate ? How deep do I want to go with Jesus today ?

If only I would stay within the realm of " Grace Received ".

Grace like forgiveness is limitless . My ability to receive grace places for me boundaries. Now these borders can be enlarged but the attempt to do so must be guided by the Holy Spirit.

When someone councils me that "this is what Jesus would do, " the ability to do so can come no other way than but the grace of God.

I have found the council much more helpful if the individual has in fact received this grace to do as he/she suggests. Somehow hope , or maybe it is faith , perhaps it is love , floats over to me when a person who has received grace shares his/her testimony.

Grace received , reveals power being perfected in a weakness.

Lately I have found many things to not be thankful for. However, I would correct myself. " Be thankful for all things ", I would remind myself. As if I could prod myself on to do what is right without grace.

A new day and a fresh start , walking in "Grace Received " I purpose first of all to refresh my memory of the grace received to even want to be thankful for all things. My gift of grace to be glad for all things probably began when I would quote Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.

Knowing all things work together for good helps promote thoughts that promotes thankfulness. This has come from a grace given to me when I had a huge weakness of murmuring and complaining . The mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ is so rich that He will continue to grant me this grace even now. I know from experience that He will perfect His power within my weakness and I will be able to thank Him for all things , once again.

It is kind of like muscle building. When a person starts lifting weights they do not start with the 100 lb. on the bar. They start with what they can lift easily at first and then gradually put more weight on.

Because of my circumstances I see that I need to graduate up to a higher weight level. However , if I forget how I ever managed to lift the weights I have already , there will be no way that I increase my ability to be thankful for even more dire circumstances.

I praise God for the grace to desire to be thankful for all things.