Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

I know this sounds nuts.  How can suffering bring us joy?  I mean, we suffer when we suffer, right? Not as Christians. God even redeems our suffering, so great is His reach. The Bible tells us over and over, in various Scriptures, to rejoice in our suffering and trials.  Why?  Because it brings about character and hope in us, lasting spiritual fruit and maturity. And character and hope bring us the good stuff - the joy that does not disappoint. Some of the most precious times I have felt the Lord's Presence the most were in times of suffering.  Remember, He is near to the brokenhearted, to bind up their wounds. He is near to us in our weaknesses. He comforts us in our sorrows. It's not like we need to seek out pain and suffering!  The Lord knows the perfect dosage of suffering to mete out to each of us to bring us into His joy more deeply, awareness of His Presence, so that we grow into His likeness.  Too little, and we get "flabby" and lazy in our growth.  Too much,

So years ago, I sat down to write an old-fashioned style hymn.  This is what the Lord inspired in me. I just sat down to sing it and whenever I do, I can't make it through with dry eyes. It is such an awesome truth and Reality that we will one day see Jesus face to face.  It is such an awesome Reality that we will be there in His glory with Him, though we have done nothing to earn a place there.  Out of His mind-blowing grace, we will be allowed to enter in where the streets are made of gold.  We will reign there with Him.  We will wear crowns. To imagine the next life in comparison to life as we know it on earth, well the difference is unfathomable. In Revelation 1:17, the apostle John says,  "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man." God is that awesome and holy.  So falling at His feet when we see Him as He is is a Reality.   If any of you grew up singing the great hymns of old, the chord progression of my song will make sense to you.  It may even be comfort

No other gods before Me.  That is what Jesus tells us to do - to put no one or nothing above or before Him in our lives, hearts, and minds.  Why does He want this of us?  It certainly isn't some ego trip on His part - He has no "need" of our allegiance, but He desires it not for His own satisfaction, but for our good.  For our best. He knows that nothing can or will ever, ever, ever fill us up in our souls like Him.  As we put Him first - worship Him, desire Him, seek Him - we are satisfied in our souls.  Why?  Because we were created for this.   Eden was perfect not only because there were no weeds.  Eden was perfect because Adam and Eve walked with God in uninterrupted communion.  Bliss indeed. Before sin entered the picture, Adam and Eve worshiped God freely.  Nothing came between their intimate relationship with God. That's what Jesus came for!  So that sort of closeness to God could be restored!  I can't imagine life without it!  We can experience a bit of he