Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself: I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews: Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. (Acts 26:1-3)

Thought For Today:

Have you ever had someone say to you, "Why are you always smiling?" Or maybe they said, "What's so funny?" You see when you are smiling you are saying, "I have joy on the inside and no one can take that away." The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength (Isaiah 12:3), and that in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalms 16:10), and the fruit of the spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). With this much joy, shouldn't all of God's children have a smile on their face and a bounce in their step. Shouldn't they be elated with every church service and shouldn't they arise every day saying, "This is the day that the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it?" Paul told King Agrippa, "I think myself happy." The Greek word for happy here is Makarios: mak-ar'-ee-os; which means to be supremely blessed, fortunate, well off, and happy. So Paul, knowing that Jesus was always with him, counted himself the same as I do, "Blessed and highly favored of the Lord." And as one song writer said, "There ain't no devil in hell gonna steal my joy." Oh' how I wish that more people would think themselves fortunate, well off, and see themselves blessed and think themselves happy.