John was the best friend of Jesus and from his
writings the scholars have declared him to be the disciple of love. However,
there is one subject that is a lasting companion with love. It seems that joy
is always around when love is present. One time John said that the Man who was
his best friend had revealed that He was life itself. John could hardly contain
the fact that his good friend was actually, life eternal. So he wrote to us and
said; We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. 1 John 1:4 (NLT) His love for Jesus became his
greatest joy in life and he wanted us to share in his joy. It is joyful to
realize that eternal life has been made available to mortals like us. When we
find this joy and love in our life we will want to share it with everybody. In
his second letter John says that he wants to get together and visit about the
truth that is contained in his friend Jesus. I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper
and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our
joy will be complete. 2 John 1:12 We may find other believers and talk
about the truth of Jesus and feel the joy that John said made him complete.
Peter also
loved Jesus very much. He was not able to express it the way John did but he
gave his life for the truth of the Savior. He was amazed that we could have the
love and joy that we have. This is what he said; You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see
him now, you trust him; and you rejoice
with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will
be the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9 (NLT) He observes that we can
have the same fantastic joy although we never saw Jesus while He was on earth.
It is not possible for us to feel this way about other men who lived 2000 years
ago. We are talking about a special feeling that is given to genuine followers
by the Spirit of God. Paul tells us how we obtain this reality; The Holy Spirit produces this kind of
fruit in our lives: love, joy,
peace… Gal 5:22 (NLT) He says that the Spirit actually produces this
special joy as we live out our life in his service. It is nice to know that we
can have something good generated inside of us.
Paul was
the follower of Jesus that had the most trouble. Maybe that is why he said so
much about the joy we can have when we are in trouble. For example, They are being tested by many troubles, and
they are very poor. But they are also filled
with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. 2 Cor 8:2 (NLT)
Many times when we represent Jesus to the unsaved world hateful things can be
the result. In spite of all their troubles these people were being blessed with
“abundant joy”. He said to another group; So
you received the message with joy from
the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this
way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 1 Thess 1:6 (NLT) It seems that
Paul was able to draw great joy from the fact that other people had joined him
in suffering for our Lord. It gives
us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. How we thank
God for you! Because of you we have
great joy as we enter God’s presence. 1 Thess 3:8-9 (NLT) Because of
his suffering we can believe that this man knew what he was talking about.
The “joy
unlimited” that these disciples were talking about is a feeling of well being
that comes from deep inside of our soul. It is not dependent on any outside
condition. When it rises up from inside we just feel like singing praise to
God. Where is this joy today? Everywhere we look there are people with unhappy
faces. Sometimes
even among the faces we see at Church on Sunday morning. This should not be
true. A Christian that is unhappy does not understand the wonders that the Lord
has brought into our life. One writer said it this way; “the Church suffers
because few believers today truly live as an heir of the Almighty God.” The new
Covenant, to which a Christian belongs, is so magnificent that we will never
understand all the potential wonders that it contains. Our joy will grow as we
begin to understand, and adopt as our own, the beautiful realities of our new
life. We can actually possess the Grace of God by accepting the indwelling
presence of the Spirit by our faith. Nothing we could possess will give us happiness
anything like the Grace of God. Let us seek this joy that the disciples talked
about.
One of the big problems with Christians today is the
fact that they do not spend time everyday studying the word of God. We could
say that the American Christian on the whole is starving themselves spiritually
to death. If we would spend time studying the New Testament every day, the
Spirit could give us the most wonderful explanations. Do we really want our
souls to be liberated from this world? It is possible if we maintain a lifelong
faith and devotion. It is really not that hard to be a devoted Christian. In
the book of Galatians Paul tells us that a struggle is no longer necessary in
order to please God. Following the Law has always been a burden that takes some
joy out of serving God. But now Jesus has provided a freedom from our sinful
nature that allows us to serve in a new and different way. The
(old) Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the
Gentiles to be righteous because of
their faith. Gal 3:8 (NLT) When we think about the hard work that is
required to keep the Law we should feel real joy that faith is all we need to
be righteous.
The nation of Israel had to carry a heavy Ark
everywhere they went because it contained their Law written on stones. It is much
more joyous to carry the Law of God written on our heart and adhere to it with
simple faith. When people try to follow the Law, and fail of course, and they
can easily become bitter or rebellious. But today we are made able to please
God and it gives our life joy and peacefulness. Another human response the Law will
produce is something we can sometimes see in other Christians but rarely in
ourselves. It is called pride and it is tricky. After the Lord has given us
victory over some of the problems in our life we begin to feel like we are good
enough to keep the Law. Of course, the irony is that anyone who does keep some
of the Law will naturally fall into pride. We must learn that true joy comes
when we humbly follow the Spirit that lives us. So I say, let the Holy Spirit
guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Gal 5:16 (NLT) It is obvious that without the help of the Spirit we will
have many worldly things interfering with our joy in the Lord.
Thank the Lord, our faith can allow us to
enjoy spiritual liberty by being devoted to the Savior. Paul said that he never
boasted in anything except the cross of Jesus Christ. If we follow his example,
our joy will certainly lift our spiritual life to another level.
Many Christians do not enjoy the
victory that Jesus won for them. Usually, something is holding them back. The
answer is easy. They are not completely sold-out or wholehearted with the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When we hold onto some part of our sinful
nature we cannot be successful in our spiritual walk. The fact is that turning
our entire life over to someone else is an act of absolute faith and it
frightens the natural person. If we compare the Old and New Covenant it becomes
obvious how much better the new one is. The believer under the Law had only their
flesh to accomplish their religion in an attempt to please God. They also tried
to be sanctified by doing righteous works. They did not have the power to succeed
and they failed. But we have been given a wonderful new way and it is called
“the Gospel of Grace”.
All that
is necessary for us is to surrender our will, by faith, to the Savior. This
will allow Him to direct our life. Of course, this means we must give up our
worldly desires. The Bible says; Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and
crucified them there. Gal 5:24 This verse says we must nail our old
nature to the cross of Jesus and we should let it die. Most of us are willing
to admit that we cannot be godly in ourselves. No matter how hard we try a
collapse is just around the corner. Our failures are never joyful when they
have played themselves out. The very next verse gives us the answer for the new
power we need; Since we are living by the
Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Gal 5:25
(NLT) If we look at the teachings of the Spirit through Paul’s writings we
will see him teaching about this power many times. Living in the Spirit of the victory,
which Jesus won on the cross, is the ultimate in joyous living.
Surely we
want to live this great life of faith that is available to believers. The
Scripture assures us that; In his favor is
life: weeping may endure for a night, but
joy cometh in the morning.
Psalms 30:5 (KJV) This joy of life comes on the morning that we are
resurrected with Jesus Christ. People could never have a clean conscience under
the law. But we can if; Our guilty
consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean Heb 10:22
(NLT) This is the peace that Jesus said He would leave with us and it can
fill our life with a wonderful joy. When the Spirit of Jesus is the lawgiver
living in our heart, all we need to do is surrender to His leadership. He can
produce holiness in our life and it will sometimes surprise us. The joy of
being successful in the Gospel of Grace will last a lifetime. The life we can
gain allows us to walk in joyful fellowship with our creator. Now that is the
kind of joy we do not find anywhere else. What an exciting life is available
for those who will yield totally to the will of God. If we are 100% for Jesus
our joy will be like that of the disciples.
When
you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s
commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that
you will be filled with my joy. Yes,
your joy will overflow! John 15:10-11 (NLT)
