Be Cheerful!!!

In the book the "Greatest Salesman in the World", one of the scrolls tells the salesman to greet each day with joy. I recently spoke to a salesman who swears by that particular book to help them become a success. He was touting what great advice it is to meet the day with. Paul in his letters echoed the same sentiment, only he expanded it out by saying, "Be Cheerful no matter what, pray all the time; thank God, no matter what happens." MSG 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17. As I read those words my first fleshly thought was "wow, easy for a super apostle to say, but as I paused and let the Holy Spirit work, I realized that "That was a hard thing to say, based on what Paul had to go through in spreading the gospel." Prison, beatings, shipwrecks, being bitten by a snake, and all the other things that would normally cause a person to quit, he just kept going. 

What caused him to be cheerful no matter what, the secret to this is found in where he looked during the entire ordeal. Throughout his ministry Paul would reference the cross as the centerpoint of his message. He would look at what Christ endured and thought this is nothing compared to that so, he remained cheerful. That being said, as we go through life with our disappointments, (the gap between our expectations and our reality), sickness, and the other curve balls life throws at us, we need simply to remind ourselves that Christ suffered that and much worse on our behalf, so cheer up, we aren't being publicly executed, for all the world to see! 

Allow this truth to make its way into your spirit, God is watching over me, Christ lives in me, I am clothed in the Spirit, so no matter what happens I'm not alone, not powerless, and not without a companion to help me speak directly to the Father and the Father can speak directly back!!! So why not be cheerful, knowing to whom I belong and what He is capable of!

Grace and peace be multiplied to you. CHEER UP!!!

Eric