A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (August 15, 2017)
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
As we look back on the steps my wife and I have taken since dedicating our lives to the Lord we can clearly see major turning points on our journey. One such turning point was when I ministered in a county jail in Mississippi. I had a friend in Memphis that went into jails and prisons on a regular basis and he asked me one day if I wanted to go. I said sure, not knowing what to expect.
When we arrived at this particular county jail in North Mississippi they immediately searched us and took us behind a big steel door that the guard slammed and locked behind us. In my mind, I thought we were probably going to be both led to a chapel so we could preach to the men while the guards protected us. Well, that didn’t happen.
What they did was separate my friend and me and put us in separate bullpens (no chapel). The bullpen they put me in consisted of one big room with bunk beds stacked around each wall three bunks high. This bullpen had about 20-30 inmates. The jailer escorted me into the bullpen and said, “have at it”, locked me in the room with 20-30 inmates, and turned around and left. It was just me, the Lord and the inmates.
This is where you get to find out if you really know God or you’re just playing a religious game. Prisoners can recognize a phony in about two seconds. I am happy to tell you that I survived and the men were ministered to. It might not have been eloquent, but it was really real.
When I left that county jail that day something happened to me that is very hard to explain. When I walked outside and looked up into the open sky I literally felt God smile. This is one of those things that you have to experience to understand because I never recall (at that point in my walk with the Lord) reading anything in my Bible about God smiling, but the following scripture took on a whole new meaning after that experience:
“for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)
This is one of those scriptures that we usually read very selfishly and thus miss a much deeper meaning. We usually interpret this scripture to mean that we are the ones that are joyous and not the Lord. Believe me, when God smiles at you, His joy will infuse you with strength. This is why it is so important to do the Word because when you do the Word the scriptures come alive and take on unselfish meanings we would have never thought about. It will change how you relate to, and how you love God.
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”. (Psalm 16:11)
“May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you”. (Numbers 6:25 (NLT))
“Let your face smile on me with favor. Teach me your orders”. (Psalm 119:135 (NIRV))
“Warm me, your servant with a smile: save me because you love me”. (Psalm 31:16 (MSG))
We went on after that first jail visit to minister in many jails and prisons in several different states. God taught us so much while we ministered to the men and women that were incarcerated. As you and I are willing to go, God will reveal things to us in His Word that you never would have even thought about.
