Weekly Thought – July 22, 2025
Fred held the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the most high God. He always spoke in the most respectful language, never using flippant phrases. He taught his family to worship.
Responding to the Almighty
Someone asked me to define “joy of the Lord.” I think of it in four words: “awe, praise, thanksgiving, and obedience.”
When I sense the awe of God, I feel His reality. For example, when I read about DNA, the mind that created it evokes awe. Watson and Crick received the Nobel Prize for identifying God’s work. Think of the intellect that created all that is. When I consider He numbered and named each and every star, I am astounded.
He is worthy of our praise. When I lift up His name I am acknowledging His worthiness. When I think of His common grace, I praise Him for who He is and what He has done. When I praise I experience His presence.
Thanksgiving, to me, is more personal. It is not just giving assent to His worthiness but also giving an offering for His manifold blessings. I magnify His name for all He has done for me as an individual. Through our personal relationship, I feel His presence.
Certainly, in obedience I acknowledge His authority. In this area I truly experience His presence. When I respect the traffic laws, I recognize the presence of civil authority. In the same way, when I obey scriptural mandates I am recognizing I am in the presence of genuine authority. When I bow my knee to Him I am saying “You are sovereign and I am in your presence.”
When I think of understanding the joy of the Lord and what it means to be in His presence I go to Brother Lawrence: “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice it and experience it.”
This week think about: 1) How would I answer, “what is the joy of the Lord?” 2) Which of Fred’s four words has the greatest meaning for me? 3) Who needs to hear about His presence?
Words of Wisdom: “He is worthy of our praise. When I lift up His name I am acknowledging His worthiness.”
Wisdom from the Word: “The LORD strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.” (Psalm 28:7 NET Bible)