It’s A Part of Your Heritage

Okay, so you’re living life with an attitude of joy and you receive a bad report… maybe even a very bad report.  What do you do?  Do you fall apart?  Do you give into the worry and fear that is attacking your mind?  No!  You take the pastoral advice of James and “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”  (James 1:2 NIV)  He goes on to say that trials are tests of your faith and if you hang on and “grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift” (Romans 5:17 – The Message) as we talked about on Wednesday (See: “Cop An Attitude” 4-11-12), you’ll take even more ground and find yourself being more “mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  (James 1:4 NIV)

So now you can see that there is no excuse for a Christian to not be full of joy!  You could say it’s in your blood!  And you know… it is!  I always joke with people that since I am 100% Italian, that when I cut myself I don’t bleed blood, but instead pasta sauce!  You see I am an Italian and I just love pasta, and Italian foods, (people think that I am weird because I don’t care for Mexican food even with the abundance of good Hispanic restaurants in California!) and I like to wave my hands and arms when I talk.  It’s just a part of my heritage.

As Christians our heritage is found in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and all that He accomplished and has provided for us through His sacrifice on the cross.  We now have His heritage of victory that we can depend on in our daily lives.  Remember Romans 8:2 declares that “The standards of the Spirit, who give life through Christ Jesus, have (past tense!) set you free from the standards of sin and death.” (God’s Word – parenthesis mine) His ways are just a part of who we are, and you can choose to reject them and be just like everyone else or embrace them and live with that perpetual smile on your face and that hop to your step!

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” (Joshua 24:15) and live our lives with the gusto and strength that only His joy can bring. (See: Nehemiah 8:10)  How about you?  What decision will you make - or have already made?  Hey, joy is a part of your heritage.  Don’t fight against it, but go with the flow of His current and enjoy the waters of His blessings!  Have a great weekend, stay in tune to His word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting to experience as a part of my heritage today?”