Category: Joy

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The Purest Joy

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Gal. 5:22 ESV

Joy is that deep, supernatural fulfillment that comes in knowing that we are experiencing and expressing the one who is true satisfaction, Jesus Christ. Joy begins with acknowledging that we are unconditionally loved, graciously forgiven, and eternally kept in Christ. Joy is released in our lives when we cultivate Christ’s conscious, constant presence.

Joy is not produced by emotional highs: supernatural fulfillment is imparted by obedience to God’s commands. Joy is not dependent on pleasant circumstances, but it is the fruit of finding and meeting Christ in the midst of all our life’s circumstances both pleasant and painful. Joy is renewed by worshiping the risen Jesus and by sharing him with others.

The purest joy in the world is joy in Christ Jesus. When the Spirit is poured down, his people get very near and clear views of the Lord Jesus. They eat his flesh and drink his blood. They come to a personal cleaving to the Lord. They taste that the Lord is gracious. His blood and righteousness appear infinitely perfect, full and free to their soul. They sit under his shadow with great delight. . . . They lean on the Beloved. They find infinite strength in him for the use of their soul — grace for grace — all they can need in any hour of trial and suffering to the very end.”

Robert Murray M’Cheyne, preaching on Psalm 85:6, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

HT: Ray Ortlund

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A Joyous Delight

Supernatural Fulfillment 

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

Delight is a genuine joy that wells up within our inner being knowing that we can bless God’s heart by obeying his commands. A believer’s delight is found in their motivation: pleasing, knowing, and loving God brings them great joy. Delight is found in the face of God as we enjoy his constant, conscious presence. In the mist of the stresses, trials, and tribulations of everyday life, Christ’s presence fills our hearts with supernatural satisfaction.

The stronghold of the Christian faith is the joy of God, not my joy in God …. God reigns and rules and rejoices, and His joy is our strength.

Oswald Chambers, Run Today’s Race: A Word from Oswald Chambers for Every Day of the Year, electronic ed. (London : Oswald Chambers Publications Association, Ltd., 1968).

Oh the joy of that life with God and in God and for God! It takes a sharp discipline for many of us to learn that “my goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself my God.

Oswald Chambers, God’s Workmanship, electronic ed. (Hants, UK: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1953).

 

 

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Joy that Springs Forth

 

Joy: A Heart Fulfilled in Christ

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Col. 3:16  NKJV

Joy is that deep, supernatural fulfillment that comes in knowing that we are experiencing and expressing the one who is true satisfaction, Jesus Christ. Joy is knows that we are unconditionally loved, graciously forgiven, and eternally kept. Joy is released in our lives when we cultivate Christ’s conscious, constant presence.  Joy is not produced by celebration or emotional highs: supernatural fulfillment is imparted by obedience to God’s commands (1 Thess. 5:16-18).

The loss of joy does not make the world better — and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the courage and impetus to do good. We have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and receive good news.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth (San Francisco: Ignatius Press,), 36-37.

All our life is like a day of celebration for us; we are convinced, in fact, that God is always everywhere. We work while singing, we sail while reciting hymns, we accomplish all other occupations of life while praying.

Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215 A.D.)

HT: Christian History Blog

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Deep Supernatural Fulfillment

Joy in You

These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:11

Joy is that deep, supernatural fulfillment that comes in knowing that we are experiencing and expressing the one who is true satisfaction, Jesus Christ. Joy begins with acknowledging that we are unconditionally loved, graciously forgiven, and eternally kept in Christ. Joy is released in our lives when we cultivate Christ’s conscious, constant presence.

Joy is not produced by celebration or emotional highs: supernatural fulfillment is imparted by obedience to God’s commands. Joy is not dependent on pleasant circumstances, but it is the fruit of finding and meeting Christ in the midst of all our circumstances both pleasant and painful. Joy is spontaneously experiencing the risen Jesus and sharing him with others.

Joy is not happiness, joy is the result of the perfect fulfilment of the purpose of the life. We never want praise if we have done perfectly what we ought to do; we only want praise if we are not sure whether we have done well. Jesus did not want praise; He did not need it, and He says “that My joy may be in you” (rv). The joy of Jesus Christ was in the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice of Himself to His Father, the joy of doing what the Father sent Him to do—“I delight to do Thy will,” and that is the joy He prays may be in His disciples.

It is not a question of trying to work as Jesus did, but of having the personal presence of the Holy Ghost Who works in us the nature of Jesus. One of the consolations of the way is the fathomless joy of the Holy Ghost manifesting itself in us as it did in the Son of God in the days of His flesh.

Oswald Chambers, So Send I You: The Secret of the Burning Heart (Hants UK: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1930), 98.