Have you ever heard God laugh? Do you want to?

Do you want to experience the sweet sound of utter delight that comes from a parent thoroughly in love with His child? You.

Or the fierce sound of a Warrior laughing in the face of His enemies when we dwell in the shelter of the Most High (Psalm 91:1)?

I’ve heard both. And I want to hear more. All the nuances of His humor. His delight. His pleasure with His creation. His pleasure in us.

The Joy

Or perhaps you struggle with the notion of God even having a funny bone. Finding humor in our humanness, just as we do when we watch America’s Funniest Home videos. Laughing until our gut hurts.

We are made in His image (Gen. 1:26). Laughter is part of who He is.

The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10). It is His joy that becomes our strength. Crazy, that! So, don’t you think it would be wisdom on our part to practice tapping into His joy?

How do you feel after a bout of stomach-clenching, tears-streaming-down-your-face laughter? I want to live in those moments (if my abs could take it).

We feel full. Filled. Satiated. Content. Like all the cobwebs of life have been cleared from our minds.

Don’t you think He delights in that? Created that?

He is joy and we get to live in that place in Him if we choose to. A spirit of religion (what the Pharisees of Jesus’s day had) focuses on all the things we haven’t gotten right. And when we focus right along with that mindset, we’re not going to be too joy-filled.

But we are going to want to be filled. So instead of stepping into the joy that God has for us (because we believe the lie that He is just as disappointed in us as we are in ourselves), we tend to reach for the object that soothes us and fills us at the same time. Food, shopping, soda, TV, porn. Anything that alleviates the sense of guilt and shame that comes from not measuring up.

The Journey

Wouldn’t it be better to find out just why He is so captivated by us? Why He so delights in just watching us?

Do you want to go on that journey? Do you want to learn how to step out of dark thoughts and into peace and joy?

Do you want to hear God laugh in sheer delight that you are His child?

He is not angry with you. He’s already dealt with your sin on the cross. It was nailed to Jesus. All of God’s wrath for every yucky thing we’ve ever done (or will do) was poured out on Jesus. So there isn’t any anger left over for us. He’s done with it.

Right now, He just wants to spend a lot of time filling you up with love. His love. The fullest, most delicious kind of love. The kind of love that makes you want to break out of your own skin and climb into His. You want to be that close to Him.

So how do we experience that kind of love? How do we go deeper?

The Encounter

Because we are so different from one another, we each get to discover our unique path to His lap, or His feet, or His couch.

I find that I connect with His heart most easily through praise and worship. I’ll go to YouTube and bring up some music from Bethel Worship or Jesus Culture or Hillsong. I’ll sing to Him (many videos post the lyrics with the songs) or I’ll sit in a chair or lay on the floor and just soak in His presence (Psalm 16:11).

Then I’ll talk with Him. And practice being still in His presence
(Psalm 46:10), resting in His presence. Sometimes I’ll get a word or a picture or a download of something from Him, but most times I just get recharged. Filled with LOVE. Like a cell phone on a charging unit. It may not look like much is happening, but juice is going into the battery preparing it for the day ahead.

Listen for the stirring in your heart. A small flutter of hope, the breath of Holy Spirit soothing your soul. Listen and start talking with Him. Honest talking. He can handle 100% you. He’s not threatened by how real or raw we are with Him. Realness is intimacy. Try it with Him. (Psalm 16:11)

If you want to hear a beautiful description of how much God loves you, click here to listen to Graham Cooke share God’s heart for you or watch here: http://youtu.be/dEisSxR2cps

Tell me what you think . . .

What part of God’s nature fascinates you?

Photo by Brielle Sand

Photo By Shane Gorski via StockPholio.com