Here is a review of the J.E.S.U.S. acronym!

J – Joyful

E – Exciting

S – Safe

U – Understading

S – Son of God

This lesson we are talking about the J is Jesus’ name. In this acronym the J stands for JOYFUL. Jesus is a joyful God, and we bring Him JOY. I think it’s important for littles to know that Jesus is Joyful, also being with Him brings US joy and we bring Jesus Joy. I like to use the word joy instead of happy. Happy can be such a fleeting feeling but JOY speaks to our hearts! And even if we aren’t “happy” we can still find JOY in things. Teaching this at a young age will help ground them in that Jesus brings us JOY because in this life and on this earth we aren’t always going to be “happy”!

There are plenty of verses in the Bible about joy.

Here are some Old Testament verses:

“…He will rejoice over you with signing” Zephaniah 3:17.

“…for the joy of the Lord is your strength” Nehemiah 8:10.

“…my soul rejoices in my God.” Isaiah 61:10.

“…I will be joyful in God my Savior” Habakkuk 3:17-19

And of course the New Testament:

“May the God of hope fill you with all the joy…”

Romans 15:13. “…fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…” Galatians 5:22.

“…you will fill me with joy in your presence” Acts 2:28

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I could go on! There are plenty more, but joy is a gift from God that no matter what we are going through we can have JOY because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross and how we have righteousness and freedom because of it.

Have fun with this lesson learning about joy, acting out joy, and dancing to some joyous music!