Joy Robbers / Kill Joys

Ezra 2; Ezra 3; Luke 8


Scripture

Ezra 3:10 "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD :
"He is good;
his love to Israel endures forever."
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Observation

Ever met someone that was a “Kill Joy” if you have then you know that they are no fun to be around. They can take the air right out of your sails. They can take the wind right out of you. Right in the middle of a time of celebration they start with their moaning, criticizing, complaining, poor mouthing, and the joy that is in the air suddenly gets hidden within the midst of their negativity. Nothing is good enough for them all they can remember is the good ole days. They compare everything to the way it used to be done or the way it used to be. This is what happened in this story. The new temple as glorious as it was going to be couldn’t compare to the old one. It didn’t matter to those complainers that there had been a Revival in the hearts of the people and that they were returning to the Lord. The complainers were more concerned with bricks and stones they weren’t concerned about the hearts of men. Some things never change!

Application

This week I plan to find folks that are doing good and let them know how much I appreciate them.


Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to be positive today. Help me to find things to celebrate. Help me not be a “Kill Joy”. Thank you for the messages this week. Thank you for the encouragement. Lord, I am proud of our people that took an active part in this weekend. Help me to focus on what you are doing through them and help me not to be discouraged by negative, and critical people.



Today’s "Life Journal" Daily Bible Reading can be found on Line. Click Here!