Recently, I had an opportunity to teach on joy. This is the first of three meditations based on those teachings…
Usually, when people define joy, they think about happiness and it is usually tied to pleasant circumstances. But, the Bible paints a different picture. In Ecclesiastes, the author says time and again that the pleasures of this world are vanity… in other words, they are empty - pointless - they do not satisfy. And yet - so many folks think their joy is somehow tied to those very things. Actually, there is often joy in temporal things - but that joy is fleeting. It does not satisfy.
True joy comes from the Lord. It is a supernatural joy that non-believers can NOT access. Joy means to rejoice or be glad - to delight in something. It is a "delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure." It is a quality of life and NOT a fleeting emotion. Joy is ground in God Himself and flows from Him. (see Rom. 15:13)Believers can have eternal joy because it is based in the eternal inheritance that we have from the Lord.
Peter tells the believers in 1 Peter (1:1-9) that they can be joyful despite their circumstances because God, in His great mercy, has caused the believers to be born again to a living hope through Christ. AND, He has given us an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away and that is reserved for us in heaven! This is great cause for rejoicing!
We were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Did you catch that? Enjoy Him. Find our joy IN HIM. He is the source of joy. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:4) Joy is the proper response to the character of God and the work of Jesus Christ. As believers, it is our JOY that sets us apart. When trials come, and they do, do we act despondent like the rest of the world? Or, do we rejoice, knowing that the trials test your faith?
Really this is a perspective issue. Is the focus on us or Him? If it is on us, we will quickly run out of joy. If the focus is on HIM - He is the power source. Jesus said that this inheritance (eternal life) is "like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matt. 13:44) Why - because "in His presence there is fullness of joy" (Ps. 16:11) and all who take refuge in Him rejoice! (Ps. 5:11)
True Joy comes from:
- True knowledge and right-thinking about Christ.
- From our position in Christ.
- From abiding in Christ.
- From the Holy Spirit living in us.
0 comments:
Post a Comment