Good Morning Friends,
Scripture in Psalm 30 about the dedication of the Temple, David says that joy comes in the morning, which I think is a prophetic reference to the power of the Holy Spirit in the Resurrection of Christ too. Regardless as living stones in Christ’s Temple today, I am pretty sure joy can come anytime God is being Glorified. You see, when things appear bleak, God responds in amazing ways. In one of Paul’s most discouraged moments, as people were plotting to kill him, the Lord Jesus appeared to him and told him to cheer up. We should be buoyed by the same command and encouragements. When Paul was in jail, he was joyous. So too Jesus as he was about to be betrayed, knowing he would soon be crucified, prayed for unity and love for his disciples and us, essentially encouraging us all in the joy of glorifying God. Maybe you are feeling down. Maybe you are sad. God has an answer for the problem in the word of the day. The gloom can turn to sunshine. For there is a connection between our being filled with joy and glorifying God. So, Are You Ready To Be Joyful?
Scripture: Since he wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them. When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three.) Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks. That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”
Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 (NRSV)
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:20-26 (NRSV)
I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”
John 16:33 (NRSV)
I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalms 16:8-11 (NRSV)
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 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 be guided by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25 (NRSV)
I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!” You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Psalm 30 (NRSV)
Message: What a tremendous example Jesus sets for us. He even shows us how to deal with impending doom. He shows that the peace of his presence can cap any chaos. The sentiments expressed in the John 17 prayer reveal the intimacy and union Jesus enjoys with his Father and that we are to share in the Spirit. You see there is a connection between our act of glorifying God and the joy found in the Trinity. The Spirit of encouragement and joy here is eternal. It puts wind in our sails to move our being to action in a reality where the boundary between time and eternity is gone. Jesus is on his way to the Father, a sort of spiritual ascension long before the physical one. The prayer is saturated with a sense of urgency, that is not of Chronos time, historical time, but of Kairos time, salvation time. This scripture is designed to give us both an intimate knowledge of God and enjoyment of God’s character and nature in the Spirit of love and joy and glory. Here we consider the eternity of our heart. Here we see what God is like, what God likes and what God would like us to be and become and believe. And the nature of this prayer is an intercession that does not cease and will not until all is completed. It was being prayed before the foundation of the world, is being prayed right now. And here love, Jesus’ favorite way of describing the name, character, essence of God, supersedes the idea of unity. That we may be one, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, becomes that we may be joy as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are joy…that we might be love in a way that glorifies God. By focusing on Christ and our relationship in Him, abiding in Him, we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of God’s Love. For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And when others see God’s fruit in our lives they will see and taste that God is good. As we abide in Christ His will becomes our will, and His words become our words, so that we can ask what we will and it shall be done, causing God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Joy here empowers us in the Spirit to move and have our very being. Like wind in our sails joy turns our attention to the Captain to direct us on setting the course and to anchor us in a middle of a storm.
And So, there are things that God has called us to do, and at the top of the list is to glorify the Lord. The beauty is that we as Christians we have been anointed to do the things we have been called to do. And get this, the same anointing that was on Christ is on us and in us. We are to bring the good news of the gospel, to heal the brokenhearted, to set people free from bondage, to comfort those who mourn, and to bring the oil of joy, in the Holy Spirit, to replace despair so that the people can put on the garment of praise to God. All these things delight and glorify God. You see, the glory of God is the manifestation and revelation of His Love to people that turns ashes into beauty and mourning into joy. We do not honor God by ignoring the truth. The thing is that
increasing our knowledge about God does not decreases God’s mystery. The majesty of God is not magnified by repeating how little we know of God. If we profess, to follow in God’s way we cannot be so vague and speak about mountain tops we cannot see. The implication here is about joy and the massive place it holds in scripture because it belongs to the very nature of God. Indeed, God is joy and especially so when we contemplate the Trinity and the relationships of purposeful fellowship. So, get this. The Holy Spirit is God’s Joy in God. To be sure, the Holy Spirit is so full of all that the Father and Son are, that the Holy Spirit is a divine person in his own right and more than just the Joy of God expressed in relationship one with another. And this is because all the admiring, delighting, exulting love has been going on from the beginning of time. It is Joy eternal. And this means that Joy is at the heart of the reality we are to live. Yes, God is Love, means most deeply, that God is Joy in God. To be indwelt by the Holy Spirit in this reality is to be indwelt by the Joy of God in God. To be full of the Holy Spirit is to be overflowing with God’s Joy in God. We are not left to our own limited personalities. We are given divine assistance to enjoy what is infinitely enjoyable. God the Spirit is our indwelling ability to enjoy God who is supremely glorified in our joy. And that is true encouragement.
Pray we experience the joy of the Lord. Pray we realize that joy of the Lord is our strength. Pray we not loose joy by grieving the Holy Spirit. Pray we experience a union, communion, communication, intimacy, and shared life with the Lord. Pray this concentration of truth, empowers us to enjoy life even when it is horrible and to live richly with God even when our circumstances seem impossible. Pray we understand this intimacy means unity, and that glory means the hidden presence of God made manifest in us through love. Pray we learn to love and be loved. Pray we realize that we are already one in the presence of God. Pray we realize that God is always present. Pray we experience the divine presence and mutual indwelling revealed to us as a way of knowing God not from the outside but from the inside through the heart of Jesus.
Pray we have a
relationship with God that allows the Holy Spirit to continue His work in our lives and restoring our joy in the Lord. Pray we delight in the presence of God and in the joy of God’s words. Pray we experience the joy of a clean heart and of being thankful even during times of tribulation.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 