As we think the rest of this year about salvation and God’s plan for us, let’s go into it with a heart seeking Him throughout our struggles. Sal and I are praying for you.
Quick, answer this Bible quiz question: “Who taketh your joy from you?”
The context (John 16:22) is Jesus said this soon before he died on the cross for our sins. His disciples would see Him again when He rose from the dead. We have the same joy if we focus on the fact He rose from the dead.(Rom. 10:9) We don’t worship a dead leader. He is alive, working in our hearts and lives. He is our friend who will never leave or forsake us. Kids often guess “The devil” but the right answer is “No man.” He’ll keep you in perfect peace when your mind is focused on Jesus. (Isa. 26:3) He is the Prince of Peace.(Isa. 9:6)
We often think joy and happiness are the same, but happiness comes and goes. Joy lasts forever. You can go through a sad time but still faith in Jesus will give you joy. It might be hard, but remember that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Fruit doesn’t just instantly appear on a tree, right? It has to grow. We’ve seen how we can grow those fruit by drawing close to God – He is the light of the world and living water, and those are 2 of the 3 things you need to grow a plant, right? (We are the soil He plants it in when He comes into our hearts.)
Think about why people say Thanksgiving and Christmas bring joy. Most of that is really happiness, because it doesn’t last. That will be even truer this year, because a lot of the things we look forward to aren’t here due to Covid19. But, one thing is.
That one thing is Jesus. He is still the babe born in a manger who held the world together while He was still in the womb. He is God in flesh. All the good things we connect with the birth of Jesus are still true. Some people tried to boost their happiness by playing Christmas songs or other things way before December. But we have a reason to celebrate all year.
The next wonderful thing about joy is that we have so many fun, clean ways to share it. Remember Philippians 4:8, and the things Jesus tells us to think on? We don’t need the world’s entertainment. We can have fun with wholesome things. Next week, I hope to have an Abbott and Costello routine in with my devotional that you can perform as a family or a one-person pay, and even record it and e-mail to others. It will involve some silly plays on words and things like they would do. But, it will also have a good Biblical message. It's just like Sal and I have always done. We use the fun to get people in to hear the Bible.
Remember, too, that the joy we share comes from that memory aid – Jesus, Others, and then You. Putting things in that order helps us get the most joy out of life because we ahave the right priorities in our lives. Many times, people don’’t have joy because they have poor priorities. They think money is the top thing, and then they keep needing more. Or, it causes them to ignore more important things. This can cause others to be hurt by their poor priorities. Whereas when pleasing God is our top priority, other things fall into place. He has the perfect plan for our lvies which will bring us the most joy – even if it isn’t always happy..
When we get to Heaven, joy will be complete. But, that’s because we have a flesh nature yet. We keep wanting to do things that rob us of our joy. Sometimes God uses the fun things we do for good, like if I write a story and it leads someone to trust Jesus to save them because I shared the Gospel in it. At the same time, though, if I spend all my time writing and never do anything for God, I can miss other chances to feel His true joy.
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