#154: The Joy of the Father Over Your Writing

As kingdom writers, we often need encouragement just to keep going and to do what God is calling us to do. Cj, why don't you just share an encouragement from God's Word for us?

You bet. Yesterday evening, Shelly and I were at one of our church services. We have this thing called First Wednesday of every Month. And it's just an hour of. Of worship, singing, and some prayer. And one of the pastors got up there and he was mentioning a video that he had watched. And some of you may. May have seen this video on YouTube. It's this little girl that's up on stage.

For her recital. And you can just tell she's very. She's terrified and she's scared. She's crying. She is wondering where her family is. And eventually her family gets her attention. And she looks over, and when she sees her family and gets that glimpse, she all of a sudden just lights up. She just gets excited. There's my family. And this just feeling of joy just washes over her. And anybody that's watching this feels the joy as well. You could search it on YouTube. Just a little girl looking for her family on stage, something like that. And it's just a short little clip, but it became viral as people began to see this. And our pastor just reminded us that every one of us, in a way, is that little girl up on that stage. We're going through life in many ways. We find ourselves at times terrified, wondering what's going to happen next. And we're desperately looking for those who would give us approval, who would show us unconditional love. And I want to use that just as a little springboard into a verse tucked away in Nehemiah. And so in chapter eight, we see that the. The wall has been repaired. There's been a whole lot of stuff that has happened. The people are getting organized. They're meeting together. They're hearing the law of God being read to them by Ezra, by other Levitical priests. They're being having this word of God explained to them what it means for their lives. And they find themselves weeping. They find themselves in a spot where they're just almost terrified based on what they're hearing, because they realize we're falling short. We're not living up to God's standards. And it almost just brought a weeping over them, a spirit of repentance. But in verse 10 of chapter 8 of Nehemiah, it says, and Nehemiah continued, go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing Prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad. And here's the key phrase for this morning. For the joy of the Lord is your strength.

And our pastor was reminding us that just like that little girl up on stage who all of a sudden had this joy envelop her when she saw her family, when she got a glimpse of them and knew that they were there supporting her, they were in her corner. Just like that, we can know that our Father in heaven is out in the crowd saying, great job, Ellen. Great job. Val, Shirley, I see you. I'm here. Don't worry. I'm in the crowd. And. And I am your biggest fan. I am your biggest support system. Some of you have felt like, oh, my goodness, there's been so much that's happened in my life. There's been rubble removed. Walls have begun to be rebuilt. Some of you are now serving in your writing as people that help rebuild a wall of protection, help bring stability to a people looking for it. But what I want to challenge us all to remember today is that the joy of the Lord is our strength. That means.

God is finding joy in what's been accomplished in your life and mine. And now we can rejoice knowing that he's not frowning upon us. He's not saying, you just need to get your act together. You just need to, you know, rise up to this level. He's saying, I am happy with the progress that you've made. You're going in the right direction. I know you're not there yet. I know you're not perfect. I know there's still a work in your life just like that wall was being constructed. You and I are a work under construction in our lives. And so I want to just encourage us all to say, you know what? As we come together in prayer here this morning, we can pray from a place of finding our joy and our strength in the Lord and knowing that he is looking upon us and he is pleased with us just as a proud parent in terms of what you've accomplished, the direction you're heading with your writing, the call that you've answered in your life, and he's pleased with you, and he wants you to continue on that path, and he's going to lead and guide you. The people were not completely there. Yes, walls had been rebuilt. Things had been removed. Rubble and houses had been restored, and the city was being built back up and the temple restored, and all of the different things were happening, but they weren't completely there yet. They were Still a work in progress. And you and I are the same way. And yet God says, I'll work with you right where you're at. And you can find your joy and your strength in me right here, knowing that I'm in the crowd watching you. And so I want to encourage us from that point. I think it'll make a difference in how we pray. And even just thinking of that vision of a proud father that we spot in the crowd, and all of a sudden joy comes over us as we spot our father in the crowd.

Yeah, I love that. So, cj, why don't you just pray over us right now, just with that encouragement that you've given us.

Oh, Father, we thank you so much that we can.

Find.

The joy of the Lord as our strength. Yes, I thank you, Lord, that each person here is on a journey. They are under construction. They are a work in progress. They're books, they're writing each of our lives. And yet we can know that you're out there cheering us on. And what joy it brings us to see the approval on your face, to see the love that you have for us, regardless of any past failures, things that we've fallen short in. And we certainly have. And yet we thank you for your grace. We thank you for the joy that you instill in us that rises up from within us. We thank you for that, Lord. And I ask, Lord, that as we pray this morning, that each of us would be encouraged, would. Would feel that joy welling up from within us. And may we pray from a place of joy and strength, knowing that you are right in our midst. You're leading us, you're guiding us in the call that you have on our lives. And we ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen.