The next time you wake up in the morning may I challenge you to ask yourself the question: How can I bring joy to Jesus today? While Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, and from eternity past has enjoyed wonderful fellowship within the Trinity, I believe He created you and me, not because He was lonely, but because He wanted to lavish His amazing love on His creation. And while I don’t know all the reasons He created mankind, what I do know is that I have the incredible privilege to enjoy fellowship with Jesus and in so doing experience great joy. And through this relationship I can bring joy to Jesus in return. What an awesome thought that I, a mere mortal, can through obedience to the commands of God, cause Jesus to experience joy through my actions!
I absolutely love the way Ole Hallesby described this relationship: “Jesus is moved to happiness every time He sees that you appreciate what He has done for you. Grip His pierced hand and say to Him, ‘I thank Thee, Savior, because Thou has died for me.’ Thank Him likewise for all the other blessings He has showered upon you from day to day. It brings joy to Jesus.”1
Putting on a heart of thanksgiving by telling Jesus how much you appreciate everything He does for you, is the perfect way to show Jesus how much you love Him. And while you are at it why not spend time each day praising our Lord for who He is. (Psalm 150:2) tells us: “Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!” And His greatness is so awesome praise to Jesus should be an important part of our daily devotions to the Lord.
When our hearts are full of thanksgiving and our voices full of praise to Jesus, I firmly believe we put a smile on The Lord’s face, and fill His heart with joy. And in return we also experience great joy knowing that we get to glorify Jesus and enjoy His presence since He delights to share intimacy with those who delight in Him.
And may I close with one of my favorite verses of Scripture that shows us just how fabulously special we are to God and how we should respond to Jesus when we understand just who we are in Christ: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9). My friends, at the beginning of this devotion I asked you: How can I bring joy to Jesus today? I think this verse from (1 Peter 2:9) gives us the answer. When we fully realize just how precious we are to Jesus and how He translated us from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light, how can we not want to continually praise Him. And this act of worship not only glorifies our Lord, but yes, brings Him great joy!
How to Bring Joy to Jesus Without Turning Devotion into Cotton Candy…………from the Desk of the Auditor
By the numbers we go:
1: Gratitude and praise are not “nice religious sayings”. They display allegiance.
Curt’s center of gravity is simple and sharp. Jesus is “moved to happiness” when we actually appreciate what He’s done, and we say so to Him, plainly, repeatedly, like people who mean it.
Thanksgiving is not spiritual small talk. It’s a confession: “You saved me, You sustain me, I’m not pretending I did this myself.” That’s why praise belongs in daily devotion, not as mood music, but as truth spoken out loud… slowly…often.
If my prayer life has a bigger budget for complaints than for thanks, I’m not “being authentic,” I’m being spiritually insolvent.
2: Fellowship with a skeleton looks and feels like obedience, not sentiment.
Curt doesn’t frame “bringing joy to Jesus” as emotional flattery. He frames it as a relationship that produces obedience: “a mere mortal… through obedience… cause Jesus to experience joy.”
That hits modern piety right where it lives, because we love “intimacy” as a word, but we prefer it without commands.
Yet Curt connects intimacy to delight: Jesus “delights to share intimacy with those who delight in Him.”
Obedience here isn’t earning love, it’s returning love. It’s the difference between saying “I trust You” versus acting like you do.
If your “relationship with Jesus” never changes what you obey, congratulations, you’ve invented a devotional hobby.
3: Identity turns worship outward, into proclamation.
Curt closes with the big identity verse: chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, His special people, with a purpose clause that refuses to stay private, “that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
That’s not therapy-talk. That’s mission. Praise becomes public truth-telling: God rescued me, therefore I speak.
Here’s our Acts anchor: Acts 2:46–47 shows this pattern in motion. The early believers shared life, ate together “with gladness,” and were “praising God,” and the result wasn’t a cozy cul-de-sac of spiritual feelings, it was witness with fruit: “the Lord added… day by day” (Acts 2:46–47).
So, if you want a clean answer to Curt’s opening question, it’s this: you bring joy to Jesus when your gratitude becomes praise, your fellowship becomes obedience, and your identity becomes proclamation.
Not because Jesus is needy, but because love is meant to be returned, and worship is meant to be real.
If your “devotion” never graduates into thanksgiving, obedience, and witness, it’s not intimacy, it’s spiritual entertainment with Christian branding.
Thanks Mr. Blattman