Verse: Nehemiah 8:10
“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, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!””
Today's Prayer: God I pray that You would teach us the true meaning of joy. Holy Spirit unload the power of your presence on us in a way that trains us to be expectant of joy in all situations. Give us the strength to be joyful when we shouldn't. And the boldness to be joyful with everyone, even the people we don't really like. Let every breath be joy.
Today's song is everything I normally dislike about Christian music - on the surface I saw fluffy, wannabe pop with watered down lyrics by super famous TobyMac (at least super famous in the Christian world). The theme of an emotional high you get from God directly contradicts what I've been trying to learn recently with Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things and that the truth of God's Word supersedes how I feel. But then I heard an interview with TobyMac about the song on K-LOVE. He directly quoted Jeremiah 17:9 and said, "I get it, but when the Holy Spirit is just overflowing in you, you feel it, and you know He is there." In that moment the Holy Spirit told me, "Dude! Lighten up! Don't avoid my joy when it doesn't come packaged exactly like you like it. It's true that you can't let your emotions control you, but when I show up, you will get emotional!" So just enjoy...let it flow...feel it...and watch Nolan dance!
Today's Song: Feel it, TobyMac
