Devotional

Devotionals Archive

Happy Smiles

Sep 08, 2020

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord. – Psalm 144:15

When I was a little girl, my mom would often read to me bits and pieces of letters she received from her family in New
York. Whenever my mom would send a picture of us, a letter always came back saying how impressed they were that every picture was filled with smiling
faces. Each time, I would wait for this part of the letter to be read, and then I would ask my mom, “Why are we always smiling in our pictures?” My
mom would chuckle and say, “It’s because we love Jesus, and He is our Savior.” As I grew older, and the comments about our smiling family still came,
I realized what my mom had told me as a child was true—Jesus does give a smile.

A few years back I received a card from my bank. I puzzled over the envelope before opening it. My birthday had already passed and Christmas was months
away. When I opened the card I found this special note, “Thank you for being a smiling, happy customer. It’s people like you who make my job great!”
It brought back memories of my mom’s letters.

As Christians we have something very special to smile about. We have God’s wonderful love in our hearts and His peace and joy flowing through us. Sometimes,
though, things will happen to take away our smile. During these times we need to turn our focus to things we can praise the Lord for. We can all find
things to be thankful for if we look back through the pages of our lives. Jesus has an abundance of joy and happiness ready and waiting to pour out
on all who are in need. If we bring Him our thanks, He will flood our souls with love.

How is your smile? Has it been absent for a while? Just praise the Lord and rest in His loving presence. Soon a smile will start to grow inside that will
be a testimony to the world of the difference Jesus has made in your heart.