Joy Gems

Create a Festival of Joy

2 Chronicles 30:23, 25, 26a The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully.

The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel, including the aliens who had come from Israel and those who lived in Judah. There was great joy in Jerusalem.

All because King Hezekiah invited people to come to celebrate the Passover again, as they should, and he urged the priests to consecrate themselves to their ordained service.

Because they praised and worshiped God, they all were blessed and grew happier and more unified. What a lovely bond praising God creates. Joy just wells up all around!

I wonder if I can instigate more praise? I can do more of it in my devotional times, but maybe I can suggest it when among friends too. When on committees at church, I can suggest celebrations of praise to God at our public events. There should be some angle in almost every situation where I can suggest we do it formally, or I can just exclaim, “Praise God! look at what He did for us!”

What do you suggest? Can you think of ways to extend a happy festival by giving more time to thanking and praising God? In fact, anytime we become joyful enough to publicly give God the credit for the good He has been and does for us - we get a sense of a festival, don't we?

And joy is contagious.

PRAYER: Thank You, Lord God, my Father and my Saviour. You are worthy of all our praise, and I'm grateful for the ideas that are now churning in my mind for instigating more praise in my circle of influence. I love the feeling when a number of us are all praising You at the same time with similar fervor. If that's a festival then I want such festivals often!

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