Joy

I'm writing this at 3:00 AM on Saturday, August 24, 1996.

I am tired.

I need some sleep.

My eyes hurt.

But God wants me to tell you something, so here it is .........

The last few weeks I have experienced a lot of joy in my life. I mean LOTS. Not just a little, but a lot of joy. I tell people that "I'm flying with the Holy Spirit" or "God is blessing my socks off" or something like that. I'm not sure if they catch what I'm saying or not.

I have felt joy in my life before, but never for this long of a period of time. How I wish that all of you could also feel this joy.

I hear on the news that Mother Teresa is sick right now. She has written about JOY. It is a joy that comes from helping the people that no one looks at or cares about. God called her. God is calling YOU!

God wants you to experience the joy of Heaven while you are alive here on the Earth. I watched the sunrise at 6:44 AM yesterday from a point at BoysTown in western Omaha. I want you to set your alarm clock and get up early to see a sunrise soon. Watch the changing colors and see the blue sky and hear the birds flying around and feel the coolness of the air and watch the ever brightening spot where the sun is just below the horizon. I feel God's presence in a sunrise. I'm not sure how to explain it. I probably sound crazy to you, but check it out. See for yourself. God is alive. He is there. He is not dead. He is there. He is all around you.

So what does it take to experience this JOY? All's you have to do is do the will of God. Do what God wants you to do. Do not do what the world tells you to do. Do what God wants you to do. And what does God want you to do? 3 Things...........

#1 LOVE GOD

Love God. Give praise to Him. Thank Him. Worship Him. Sing songs of praise to Him. Tell Him that you love Him. I'm singing a song now "Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name in all the Earth". "Sing your praises to the Lord", as Amy Grant would say.

#2 LOVE NEIGHBOR

Do nice things for those around you. Be thoughtful. Like last night I went to a Steve Green concert here in Omaha. Steve is a Christian singer. He believes in Jesus. I had 4 tickets to the concert and could only use 3, so I gave one away to someone else as we came in the doors at the auditorium. They wanted to pay for the ticket, but I would not take their money. I think I said "This is a blessing from God to you" or something like that. They replyed by saying "God Bless You" and God has! That is an understatement. God has blessed me to pieces. (I have tears in my eyes now. It is getting a little blurry.) I can't believe how much God has blessed me. And God will bless you. (As I'm typing this I stop every once in awhile and FTP this message of "Joy To The World" with the command "put joy.html". Cool! That is neat! Alleluia! Praise you Jesus! That is really something.) (If I misssssspell a word or two, please forgive me.)

#3 BE A CHILD

In the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 18 it says that you must become like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven. I'll give you an example of what this is about. On Saturday, August 17 (a week ago) I was in my car pointed north on 114th Street at Dodge Street here in Omaha and waiting for the light to change. It was a beautiful sunny mild day and I had the windows open to my car. Next to me on the left was a pickup truck with 3 little girls in the back. They were maybe 3 or 4 years old. They said to me "Hi Mister" and I said "Hi" back. They made me smile. The world says "Mind your own business" and "Don't bother anyone" and these 3 little girls say "Be a friend" or "Everyone is your friend" or however you say it. It is the simple things in life. It costs you nothing to be friendly to people at work or school or at the grocery store or driving along. Another example was when I was driving to Kansas City on Tuesday, August 13th. This is just over 3 hours south of Omaha down Interstate 29. I was going to Worlds of Fun with 3 of my nieces in my car. There was about 6 "Hell's Angels" motorcycle types passing us on the left and the world says to "Be scared" or "Watch Out" or "Be on your guard", but these 3 kids gave the bikers the Peace Sign. Cool! And most saluted back or gave some friendly reply. We have so much to learn from kids. (That is an understatement.)

Like I said, I'm tired and so I'm going back to sleep.

Hey... God Bless You this day!

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Dan Boeckman's e-mail address: dboeckm@csealumni.unl.edu