August 19--More on Joy

It wasn't long after the laughing joyful dream, that Rick and I were out at Bethel Church in Redding, Calif. for our annual attendance at the Leadership Advance meetings.  It's always a wonderful time that we look forward to all year long, but the content and what the Holy Spirit does during those meetings is different from year to year.  I had no expectations of what would be done or what I'd come away with, but I was expecting good things. And then during one of the beginning sessions, there up front was one of the speakers (I really don't remember which one) saying that the Lord had been speaking to the leadership of Bethel about joy for awhile.  And they were exploring what that means....what is the joy of heaven like? 

My ears certainly perked up!  Had the Lord prepared me especially to receive this word?  What was He up to?  About that same season, Rick had been out in Kansas City and brought home a video of the report of a vision that one of the staff experienced.  Many of you have seen that video here at Wellspring.  She stood before the audience telling the story of seeing Jesus working on his poor, sick Bride's heart. Jesus told this staff member, "I'm a glad worker.  I'm glad to do this work!"  And as she told the story, she could hardly contain her laughter.  Everytime I see that video clip, I also break out laughing....it's hard not to. 

Recently we had Steve and Wendy Backlund here at Wellspring.  Part of the message they carry is about joy.  I loved the concept that Steve shared with us about laughing at the devil's lies and other troubles.  "Let's just laugh about that", he would tell us.  That was a new idea to me and I've thought of that many times since.  I've even tried it a few times.  And it works! 

There have been other encounters with the joy message many times since my initial dream.  So what is God up to?  What is he trying to tell me?  What is he trying to impart to all of us?  Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  NIV  That's pretty amazing--Joy is a characteristic of the Kingdom of God.  I suppose then, the converse would also be true--if we're not living in and experiencing joy, we must be missing the Kingdom of God in some way. 

I feel like Father God has given me a pretty neat assignment--find out what living in Joy is about.  Find out how I can live in Joy.  Find out what the Joy of heaven is like.  Discover more of what He wants me to learn and how He is inviting me to live. 

I invite you to that discovery, too.

~ Debbie McKinniss