Where Is Your Joy? Part 2

 

 “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, spare us, O Lord” ~ Teresa of Avila

Are we sour-faced saints?

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.  Matthew 15: 18-20

Yesterday we talked about negativity, and what we should fill our hearts and minds with. In the verse above, Jesus tells us it’s not about the ritual; it is about what comes out of our mouths from our hearts.

So, what do we do about our heart condition? We must become true disciples of Christ and allow His joy to be our joy.

Adrian Rogers tells the story of a little girl who asked her mother how big God is. Her mother replied that God is bigger than anything; bigger than the earth, than the universe, and even bigger than that. The little girl replies to her mother, “Well, if God is that big, and I am little, when I ask Him to live inside me, then He can’t help but stick out”.

Does Jesus stick out in your life?

Do you radiate His joy?

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation - Habakkuk 3:18

These things I have spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full - John 15:11

As Jesus prayed for all believers:

And now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves - John 17:13

Jesus tells us that it is His joy that must remain in us, and be fulfilled in us.

Oswald Chambers says: “To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God’s interests in other people. ‘That ye love one another as I have loved you…’ The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but God-likeness”.

God-likeness. Not sour faces.

But we think we can’t do it! Life is too hard! The bills need to be paid! Life’s circumstances fill our minds, trickle down into our hearts, and then the excuses come out of our mouths.

And this shapes our attitudes and makes us sour faced saints.

We have an example to follow.

Hebrews 12:1-3  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Joy? Endured the cross? These words don’t seem like they go together. The word joy in this passage is from the Greek word chara, which means “cheerfulness, calm delight”.

Jesus had such a joy set before Him that He was willing to do suffer for us. For you. For me.

What was the joy that was set before Him? The finish line. To be set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What is our joy? To follow His example, and travel this Journey called life, with our eyes looking toward Heaven, to one day be face to face with our precious Saviour.

How can we do this? Matthew Henry says:

“What is our duty with respect to this Jesus. We must, [1.] Look unto him; that is, we must set him continually before us as our example, and our great encouragement; we must look to him for direction, for assistance, and for acceptance, in all our sufferings. [2.] We must consider him, meditate much upon him, and reason with ourselves from his case to our own. We must analogize, as the word is; compare Christ's sufferings and ours; and we shall find that as his sufferings far exceeded ours, in the nature and measure of them, so his patience far excels ours, and is a perfect pattern for us to imitate.”

And rejoice!

1Peter 4:12-13  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

We shouldn’t find it strange that life is hard; the Bible lets us know that if we are Christ followers, things will be difficult. The path is narrow. But we must continue to walk the way He showed us, and follow Him to glory.

With His joy in our hearts.

And remember that He is the author and finisher of our faith: we might have to fight some battles, but Jesus has already won the war.


Jude1:24-25  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Imagine the day when Jesus can present us to God faultless, because He was our sacrifice and our example, His blood blotting out our sins. He will joy in this; and we should look to the finish line and live our lives in His joy.

Knowing the ending should make us smile.

Get rid of the sour faces.