Joy…Rejoice in what???
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 22: JOY”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Let’s play a little word association.
I say, “Suffering.” You say….
I say, “Trials.” You say…
I don’t bet much, but I think I would be safe to say that “Joy” or “Rejoicing” was not your first response.
Suffering and rejoicing seemingly stand opposed to each other.
Trials and pure joy seem as the opposite ends of a very wide spectrum.
But not when we have a Spirit-given perspective.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:2-4, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Or James says in 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
Odd right?
Unless we see the perspective God wants us to have as we go through trials and sufferings.
If we get caught with the wrong perspective, we will miss the blessing God is developing. Suffering leads to hope…with perseverance and character in between. Trials lead to perseverance of our faith.
These are blessings that cause rejoicing and are pure joy.
Rejoicing because God is working. Pure joy because our faith is being strengthened.
When joy moves me beyond the immediate difficulty of the trial or suffering, I begin to see the eternal perspective God is working in me.
No doubt suffering and trials are hard, but the blessing they bring causes rejoicing.
Apply: Maybe today you are in a period of trial or suffering. What is it? What are the possible blessings God is working in you and through you in this period? Are they reasons for rejoicing?
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the sufferings and trials in my life. Lead me to rejoice not because the suffering is easy, but because the blessing you are working is great. AMEN.
Joy…The joy of the Lord is your strength!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 22: JOY”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
The joy of the Lord is your strength!
“If you have a disappointment…take 24 hours to grieve or be sad. Then get back at it.”
“If you have a great victory…take 24 hours to celebrate. Then get back at it.”
This advice is my paraphrase of a teaching given by leadership expert, John Maxwell. His point was don’t let the highs or the lows paralyze you. Grieve or celebrate and then get back at it.
The highs won’t last as long as you like. The lows sometimes last longer than you like.
So is it just a matter of “getting back at it” or is there more that provides the constant to keep moving forward?
The people of Israel had just had a great success. The wall around Jerusalem which had been demolished was rebuilt in just 50 days! In spite of opposition and threats of attack, the people worked together to bring strength to their city.
It was time to celebrate. The city of Jerusalem was rising again.
But there was more. Not only had the physical wall crumbled around Jerusalem, but the spiritual condition of the people had crumbled. On the day of celebration, Ezra the priest, spent all morning reading from the Book of the Law and others helped him explain clearly the words he was reading. The people were weeping and rejoicing as they heard the Word.
The success of the wall was incredible – take a day or so to celebrate that.
But Nehemiah reminds them in Nehemiah 8:10:
Nehemiah 8:10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
The joy of the Lord is your strength! The wall wouldn’t last forever, but the power and promises of the Lord would. What was really being celebrated was the faithfulness of the Lord to his people Israel.
No doubt, there are days that are reason to celebrate and invite others over to do the same. Celebrate. But remember lasting joy is found in the Lord.
No doubt, there will be days we experience where it feels like the walls around us are crumbling and everything is going wrong. Sometimes you need 24 hours to feel sad and be with people to commiserate, but don’t let it linger. Nehemiah’s words apply again, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
In the successes and disappointments of life, the constant is the joy that the power and promises of the Lord give us. Our greatest joy comes from the contentment and certainty that we are loved, forgiven, children of God.
This will keep our hearts at an even keel…no matter what the day brings.
Apply: Think of your best day. Think of your worst day. How could the joy of the Lord be a constant in both?
Prayer: Lord thank you giving us your word of promise and your acts of power. May the joy they bring always be our strength…in good days and challenging days. AMEN.
Joy…Where do you find it when you lost it?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 22: JOY”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Ever struggle to have joy?
I know I do.
It’s usually because I have based my joy on my external circumstances or situation and forgotten that joy isn’t found simply in the condition of the externals, but in the work and words of my God.
Jesus wanted his disciples and us, for that matter, to have a joy that is complete. The word “complete” isn’t just “I’m done and there’s no more joy to be had” but rather “full joy,” in that you will have discovered and experienced all there is to know and experience about joy.
So where is that?
Jesus identifies two places.
- In his Father’s love
- Obeying his Father’s commands.
What is ironic about the setting of these two phrases is Jesus is about 24 hours from hanging on a cross.
Yet he’s finding joy.
Jesus knew his Father loved him. His baptism three plus years earlier and his transfiguration just a short time prior affirmed from the Father, “This is my son…whom I love…”
He knew the cross was before him, but he wanted “my joy to be in you.” Joy in going to the cross? Yep.
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus knew how much the Father loved him. He knew how much he loved his disciples. It gave him joy to express that love by giving up his life for his friends.
Lacking joy? Perhaps it’s time to go back to the love of the Father that gave his one and only Son to be your Savior.
Also ironic is that Jesus connects obeying his Father’s commands with joy. Usually we think of joy is being without commands, without limits, or without accountability.
Here’s what John realized and wrote in his first letter:
1 John 5:2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,…”
Our Father’s commands are not burdensome because the come from a heart of love. Because they come from a heart of love, the commands the Father gives are intended to be a blessing to us as we keep them. The Father isn’t in heaven just waiting for us to break a command and zap us for it, he is in heaven encouraging us to follow his commands because there is great blessing in it.
For example…
There is great blessing in respecting human life and seeking to preserve it versus demean and seek to end it.
There is great blessing in putting the best construction on people’s words and actions versus being condescending and judgmental about it.
The list would go on.
Every command is given to be a blessing. When we enjoy the blessing of God we find joy.
So if we are lacking in joy, perhaps its our loving Father’s call to come walk in his commands and find the joy and blessing of doing so.
Apply: Which of these causes you to lack joy the most often? A) drifting away from the Father’s love? B) Drifting away from the Father’s commands?
Prayer: Father, thank you for the great love you have shown to us by sending Jesus for us and by giving us your commands to walk each day in your blessing. When we drift from joy, lead us back to your heart of love and your gift of commands to experience the complete joy you gave to your Son Jesus. AMEN.
Joy…Even on a Monday?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 22: JOY”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Psalm 118:24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
This verse was a mainstay in our home. My dad would often send us on our day with this verse as a reminder. While I don’t remember every day, this verse still comes to mind.
However, I have to admit, and perhaps you do too. To rejoice EVERY day is tough.
Not every day is easy. Not every day is pleasant. Not every day has good news. Not every day is filled with amazing adventures or interactions.
But yet, the psalmists makes a universal statement that is true about each day:
“This is THE day the LORD has made.”
Which yields the response:
“Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
The very fact we are blessed with another day from the Lord is reason itself to rejoice…to have joy.
Yep…even on a Monday!
But what exactly is joy? What does it mean to rejoice? What are the blessings in having joy each day? This week will unpack some of those questions. (If you haven’t listened to Sunday’s message, do that today as well to gain a wider scope of joy.)
Perhaps we have to start with a definition of joy. Here are three components of joy:
- Joy is an inner condition of contentment, good pleasure and happiness which creates in outward
Joy leads to rejoicing. What is happening on the inside of a person leads to the outward expression…even though what is happening on the outside often feeds the inner condition.
However,
2. Joy is dependent on who the Lord is and what he does rather than on who we are or what is happening around us.
Joy is a constant. The Bible talks of joy as something that exists no matter what the external circumstances. It also connects joy to the words and work of the LORD. When I realize that the Lord is working in and through and around me, it feeds the joy in my heart.
So, we realize too that…
3. Joy is a gift of the Spirit of God
“The fruit of the Spirit is … joy.” (Galatians 5:22)
Nehemiah 12:43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy.
Joy is a gift of God based on the work of God that affects our heart which leads to outward expression.
So since today is a gift of God…it is a day the Lord has made…
We can rejoice and be glad in it…perhaps it’s just taking time to focus first on what God IS doing in your life today…what opportunities he is presenting…what love he is showing…what blessings he is giving…what promises he is keeping…and much more…will give us reason to rejoice!
Apply: Take time to reflect on the above phrases. What reasons do you have today to rejoice?
Prayer: Lord thank you for today. Lead me to use the gift of joy you have given to me to spend the day rejoicing! AMEN.
Love…Let Others See God!
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 21: LOVE”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
When am I ever going to use this?
How many times in grade school, high school or college did you ask this question? Perhaps it was while you were studying for a test on the French Revolution, trying to understand Shakespeare’s writing or trying to formulate a proof for geometry class. What’s the purpose?
Perhaps we had a case. Researchers found that an average high school student in adulthood forgets 40% of what they were taught and uses about 37% of what they learned. So almost 2 out of 3 hours of learning have dropped by the wayside.[1]
Without trying to play educator and propose an alternative curriculum or learning style, the point is this: When we invest in something, we want to see a good rate of return on our investment.
We can also say the same thing about the Lord. He wants to see a return on his love for us!
So is the ROI on God’s love about 37%?
Maybe another way to look at it, when given the opportunity to show love do we fail 2 out of three times?
Perhaps this is hard to measure, but the reflection is valuable.
If we are benefactors of God’s love…which we are. He has shown us that love so we might put that love into practice by loving others…not just 37% of the time, but 100% of the time.
Why?
1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Loving others is a primary purpose God gave us his love. Yes, he wants us to enjoy the sacrificial, unconditional, forgiving love he has for us. But…he ALSO wants us to take the love he has shown us and show it to others.
For what purpose?
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
God becomes visible. When we reflect the love of God to others, it is a visible representation of the love that God has shown to us. We can’t see God…but can realize his presence in us and others see his presence through us when we love others.
God’s love becomes complete in us. When we love others, we answer the question, “Why do we need God’s love?” Yes, we need it for our forgiveness, life and salvation, but we also need it so we can love others. When we love others (even ones who have wronged us, hurt us, or stand opposed to us), the completeness of God’s love grows inside of us. We experience the impact of sacrificial, unconditional love as it is extended through us to others. We see the power of God’s love as it restores a broken relationship. We marvel at the significance of God’s love as enemies become friends or hurts are healed.
God doesn’t want his love to be like unused facts once learned in high school. He desires his love to be learned, taken to heart, and shown every chance we get…100% of the time!
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Apply: How have you more fully experienced, known or appreciated the love God has shown to you as you have shown that love to others?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving me 100% of your love. Help me to love others 100% of the time. AMEN.
[1] https://www.studyfinds.org/survey-americans-use-37-percent-knowledge-learned-high-school/