BE JOYFUL

Locally speaking, “IF CAN, CAN! NO CAN, NO CAN! IF CAN, WHY NOT BE JOYFUL!” That is right, being joyful is a priceless thing for all of us while we are living on this planet. Don’t you agree with me? Some people feel acquiring wealth makes them full of joy, some people feel watching their grandchildren growing up make them joyful, some people become joyful by going to work, some people make themselves joyful by going fishing or hunting. There are many other joyful things we can do. There is nothing wrong with that, as I mentioned above, if it is done where no one will get offended or hurt, I truly believe God would approve it.

For me, the most joyous moments are to please the Lord Jesus and write His topics, even if it takes me between 5 to 9 hours to complete it. I am not saying that I am perfect or something special, I AM NOT! I am the same as everyone else in this world except I truly believe in praying to the Lord Jesus everyday even it is a short prayer. I always ask the Lord Jesus to forgive me for all my sins and protect my family and myself in Jesus Mighty Name. Remember, “THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH IN OUR LIFE.” Without it, don’t you think this world of ours would be a much unhappier place to live? I truly believe it would be. I am not saying to neglect any of the things that I mentioned above. Okay? What I am trying to say is to Pray; Focus your Mind and Heart to the Lord Jesus everyday, while we are living on this planet, because He will be with us here and in Heaven.

Now let’s discuss about money; in this world as we were growing up, we were taught the value of money and it became much more valuable within our lives and sometimes we seem to forget about God. WE MUST NEVER FORGET GOD! WE MUST ALWAYS PLACE GOD FIRST! then everything else will follow. Don’t you agree with me? Every one of us is a sinner in God’s eyes as written in Psalms 51:5. For I was born a sinner-yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. How can we break this curse today? through your prayer and giving tithes to your church. Read Malachi 3:8-15 and you will see how important it is for all us to be obedient to God. Even as a Pastor, I always give my tithes to any Christian Church even when I am on a cruise ship for a vacation. I will find the Chapel of that ship and give my tithes to God. In my mind, I am giving to God, not man and that is what really counts. It doesn’t matter where the money goes after that. If God’s money is misused, then that person will have to answer to God. Not me! No one is exempt! Does it make sense to you? If this makes sense to you, say Amen!

In my opinion, the right word is called “MAMMON”, a Greek form of a Syriac or Aramaic word for money, “riches,” “property,” “worldly goods,” “or profit.” Let’s see what is written in (NLT) Luke 16:8-13, The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are. 9 I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. * 10 Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches in heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be trusted with money of your own? 13 No one can serve two masters. For you hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Don’t you think these are powerful scriptures written above? Right? First of all, we all came from heaven with nothing, but we must all return to Heaven with something, not money, but with the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

I always pay my respects to the deceased person by going to his or her funeral service for those I have known. Besides the beautiful casket, I have not seen any wealthy person taking his or her wealth up in heaven. I pray that while they were living on this planet, they believed Jesus Christ is the Son of God and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Don’t you all agree with me? Say Amen!

Many, many years ago, I didn’t know the Lord Jesus or any other religion at all; briefly let me explain how I got started. A friend of mine approached me one day and said; Jimmy, how would you like to work where no one will complain of anything? I must admit it got me very curious, so I told him, Okay! He took me to a Memorial Mortuary Park and when we arrived at the Park, he stopped his car and opened his car door and said look at all the people in the graves, they are not complaining at all. They are enjoying the sunshine, wind and rain with no complaint at all. At that moment, I felt he was right. I worked for the company for a year or so, and an opportunity came to me on the Big Island of Hawaii, I was hired and worked as Sales Manager for the park, selling cemetery plots, niches and so on. Every so often, because of being short handed in the park, I cremated the dead bodies and I had to do cremation services for the deceased persons’ families. Today, as I recollect, I truly believe this was all in God’s plan for me. In the Mortuary business, I learned to be Compassionate, Understanding, Humble, Patient and many other things for the deceased persons’ families. Well so much about the Mortuary business, let get back to joyful. Amen! Today I believe, I am very Joyful and Honored to do the Lord’s work, such as doing House Blessings, Weddings, Deliverance and etc. Amen!

The moral of this message is to be Joyful. Remember: THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH IN OUR LIFE!”

From Pastor Jimmy Nishimoto and Chris Eliason