What makes you happy?

On Tuesday night I had the fantastic opportunity to attend the Carlton Best & Fairest which was held at Crown Casino's Palladium room. It was a wonderful evening, great food, awesome company and towards the end I took the opportunity to take a few photos with a few of my favorite players from the team! I went home with a big smile on my face!

Last night I was doing my Bible reading, and i was going over a few chapters from Psalms. For those that are unaware, the book of Psalm is basically a large collection of songs that sing praises to our Lord. For example the Psalm 101 starts as follows:

I will sing of your love and justice;
       to you, O LORD, I will sing praise.

While they are beautifully written and a great words of praise to our heavenly father, sometimes I feel myself gloss over these as they can become repetitive.

But as I read through Psalms last night, I started reflecting on the attitude of the Psalmist, how much joy they had in the promises of God, the love that He has shown for us time and time again. Then I started to think about how much joy this brings me...or simply...how does the love God has for me impact my emotions.

Sometimes such trivial things have such a major impact on my feelings and emotions, while the things that really matter, they dont have the same impact. I lose sight of the big picture and the insignificant becomes more important.

But as I read through Psalm, I felt that great joy for what God has done and continues to do in my life. When the things of this world fail me, I know that my Heavenly Father will never fail me.

The particular chapter that I was reading at the time was Psalm 103, and I felt compelled to write this Psalm and put it up on my desk at work...for when I feel discouraged, I can recite this powerful chapter and remind myself of whats really important. When work is getting me down, I only need to reflect on the amazing blessings God continues to pour out on my life. For it is when my focus moves away from insignificant things, that I cant help but smile for the wonderful things of the Lord and praise His mighty name!

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits-

who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

(Psalm 103:1-5)