In the movie The Troll’s, there is a group of characters who are called The Bergen’s. The Bergens are sad, negative people without any joy in their lives. In their minds they think if they eat a troll they will get the joy that seems to be in the troll’s life and then it will make them happy. With the Bergens on a rampage so many Troll’s had lost their lives until the Trolls revolted and left Bergen Town to live in freedom in another part of the land. But the Troll’s become sloppy and begin to party too much and too loud and the Bergens invade their new land and capture some of the Trolls. This compels Poppy Troll, daughter of the chief, to go and free her troll friends from the Bergens.
At the end of the movie the Bergens see that eating Troll’s won’t make you happy, but what you feel on the inside is where true happiness comes from. And they all live happily ever after in harmony. It is amazing how many people resemble the Bergens in the way they lives, act, and respond to others. The Bergens were miserable people without any joy or hope of it. Much different than the Trolls who loved to have fun, party, and give each other hugs every 30 minutes. As Christians we should be more like the Trolls than the Bergens. The trouble with the Bergens is they want to live off others joy without making any effort to realize any joy themselves. In scripture the Pharisees and Sadduccees were The Bergens. They wanted to rain on Jesus parade at every turn because they believed in their own impressions of God’s Word and wouldn’t listen to any other. It was their way or the highway and their lack of joy was compounded by their desire to control everything. Jesus’ followers were like the Troll’s in the movie as they skipped along sharing the good news of salvation in Jesus and loving everyone they met. Once they accepted Jesus they could not contain their joy anymore and that joy was contagious and the Bergens (pharisees) could not figure out how to get that joy without having to make some major changes in their thinking and they were not going to make those changes.
When building the wall around Jerusalem Nehemiah was in change of getting it done and part of that effort took a good positive outlook. They had so many things working against them and those things had to be dealt with on a daily, if not, moment by moment basis. In Nehemiah 8:10 he says, Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
What…what???? They were expected to get their physical strength from the joy of the Lord? YES!!! So are we!!! It is time to realize that the joy of the Lord IS our strength and when we rely on God’s provision we realize victory.
It’s time to give up the Bergen’s way of thinking and just live in the joy of our relationship with Jesus. Our true strength comes from Him and Him alone. Below is something to think about….
A person who calls himself frank and candid can very easily find himself becoming tactless and cruel. A person who prides himself on being tactful can find eventually that he has become evasive and deceitful. A person with firm convictions can become pigheaded. A person who is inclined to be temperate and judicious can sometimes turn into someone with weak convictions and banked fires of resolution . . .
Loyalty can lead to fanaticism. Caution can become timidity. Freedom can become license. Confidence can become arrogance. Humility can become servility.
All these are ways in which strength can become weakness.
Where is. your strength and where does your joy come from? Look deep inside and see if Christ is there and if He is, ask Him to come alive in your life and then hang on cause its gonna get awesome from there on.
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren
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