January 26, 2021 – “The Joy of the Lord!”

     What is Joy, and where does it come from?  I overheard a teacher once say! “I haven’t had any fun lately. I think I will go to St. Louis this weekend so I can have some fun again.”

Then I read, Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. I Peter 1:8.

I thought about what makes me happy, not for pleasures of taste or new things, or a new story to read or watch.  It isn’t long until we can’t eat any more. New clothing wears out and stories lose their appeal.

Then I camped on the word I found in Psalm 37:4. Delight yourself in the Lord.
And He will give you the desires of your heart. Delight. A dictionary definition: ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstasy.

         When Jesus told His Disciples, He would soon be leaving. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 14:26.

The Holy Spirit, Who lives within us, gives us Gifts. As I read the list of nine gifts, I am amazed by the beauty of all that The Holy Spirit provides for our living for those who say Come, Lord Jesus, into my heart.

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25.

Love is the first one, and when we love like Jesus loves, all the rest are ours as well. The second is Joy. It is when we walk with Jesus with our thoughts, our attitudes, and our actions, we will have Joy.

Does Joy ever run out? Does Eternity ever end? When I wonder if there is more I am missing? Phillip wanted proof of who Jesus is – Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:8-9.

Whenever I am tempted to complain or play the ‘pity game’, I look for the dawning of a new day! God is faithful. O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them. Psalm 89:8-9.

Awareness of God is watching for tiny nudges of thoughts and lessons from the scripture that strengthens our faith and our trust in Him and His Only Son, Jesus.

Just the other day I asked the young man who came to the door, and I asked why he seemed so happy. His reply astounded me, “I am alive, Praise God!” His face lighted up with his inner joy. His faith and joy made my day! Then I remembered how often God made me aware of the glory of God. It began as I watched Mom’s Mennonite family on their knees to pray one Christmas Eve. Being curious, I peeked and saw the circle of bowed heads and feet fanned toward the center of the room.

It happened when we visited our daughter and her family. We visited the ocean, and I waded into the ocean. I felt the power of waves pulling at me, and I knew it to be God’s power. The power of all God has created.

Once again, I felt it certain I would not see our older son as he left in the car after a visit. I wanted to hug him once more. Less than a year later, he died.

Between God’s nudges and the awesomeness of His Creation, I learn His Love changes things. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8.

Am I perfect? No, but I have learned to have faith and trust in the Word that tells me of our One God and His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Comforter. From the moment that I was born, I wanted His Love. A bouquet I have, a flower is bowing down. It knows that it’s time to bloom will soon end.

         He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11.

My son read the Call to Worship one Lord’s Day. “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.” Nehemiah 9:6-7.

The ‘Why’ of obeying God and following Him comes from I Corinthians 8:6. Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

The ‘Why’ of Joy comes from living our lives to please Him. Then our Joy is made complete. Not our way, but His Way.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55: 8-9,12.

The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers. Proverbs 10:28-29.

That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. I John 1:3-5.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law, he meditates day and night. Psalm 2:1-2.

Our Joy is the Presence of the Lord in our hearts.