Opening Prayer: Lord open up our hearts and minds, help us to listen as you seek to teach us deep things. Help us to get past our preconceived ideas or misconceptions, and to see what you have for us this day. Amen!
INTRODUCTION: I want to give a warning up front, the hearing of this lesson may not leave you feeling joyful. Through this lesson I want to work to correct some thinking regarding Joy, including my own.
Over a week ago as I was creating your question sheet for today, I took the time to answer the questions for myself.
9. In the past week, what one thing in your life most brought God glory & joy to you?
My answer: The struggle & privilege & honor of being able to teach His word. It is hard, requires a great deal of time & effort, but it is not "wasted". I sometimes can't believe that God is allowing me, a broken mess of a human, to teach His Holy Word.
I am nothing without God, I know that, I am fully convinced of that; without God working in me I'd be hopeless. I am also fully convinced that God can do something in & through me, despite my brokenness & failings, because He is able.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual Joy is rooted in confidence in God
Read Psalm 121. Psalm 121 teaches us that God actively watches over us, He never slumbers or sleeps, He helps us & protects us, He keeps us from harm (Spiritual harm - most of Jesus disciples were martyred). It is this confidence in God, confidence that He is on our side & watching over us, that gives our hearts courage to work out His will in this world.
I. Joy in the midst of Suffering
Spiritual Joy is not the same as Human Happiness. Last Wednesday I had what I would call a "dark" day. Our class meets on Tuesdays, and typically my in-depth study for the next lesson starts on Thursdays. I give myself Wednesday as a day to "catch my breath", to absorb what Gad has been teaching me through the previous lesson, and to prepare my heart for the next lesson. Last Wednesday was a day of deep discouragement & tears, a day of crying out to God, a day of deep realization of my own unworthiness.
If I am truly doing God's work, and not simply expending my own energy & exercising my own intellect, then I may have been under Spiritual attack - I don't honestly know. Perhaps this was one of those Romans 8:28 moments when God was taking something in my life that seemed bad and making something good come of it - again I don't know. This I do know: despite my feelings of worthlessness, in this dark & bitter hour, I knew Joy. This was not happiness, not even remotely; rather this had everything to do with knowing my security in Christ. As I wept bitterly & longed to be at home in heaven in the arms of my Abba Father I still knew Joy - the assurance that I was loved & safe in God's hands & for this reason had Hope.
A couple passages that affirm this:
John 10:27-29 - tells us we can't be snatched out of Jesus hands, or out of the Father's hands.
Romans 8:35-39 - tells us we can't be separated from God's Love.
Sometimes when I read the list of Spiritual Fruit, and I get to Joy, I feel like a big fat failure - I feel guilty or inadequate because I'm frequently not experiencing "feelings of joy". But that isn't what the Spiritual Fruit of Joy is all about. Don't get me wrong, Spiritual Joy can and should bring "feelings of joy", but even when we don't "feel joyful" we can still experience the Spiritual Fruit of Joy.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual Joy is not based on feelings but on Hope that comes from trusting God
Read Luke 2:9-10: The news of the birth of Messiah was good news, news of hope not just for Israel but for all people. This brings Joy to the world, that a savior came to rescue sinful man. But this news didn't make Mary & Joseph's lives easy, in fact they had to run for their lives. Yet if we look further along in the passage, to Luke 2:19, we see that Mary treasured these things & pondered them in her heart - they gave her Hope from God.
Read Hebrews 12:2-3: Jesus had Joy "set before him" and thus was able to endure the cross - that joy was the hope of salvation for the world. The cross was horrible, even the most graphic depictions aren't enough for us to understand the pain this caused - the Son experienced being forsaken by the Father, we can't even contemplate the weight of this event. This passage tells us to consider this & take courage from it, to not grow weary & loose heart. We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, keep focused on God's greater plan, and to take Joy that He has made us a part of His plan. (See also Romans 8:18)
II. Joy for Today
Joy comes from answered prayer: in John 16:24 Jesus tells us that as believers when we ask according to the will of God we will receive - and when we get those answered prayers our joy will be complete.
Joy as a source of strength: in Nehemiah 8:10 after the people had heard the teachings of God's Law & could potentially have been grieved, Nehemiah encouraged them not to grieve but to find strength in the Joy of the Lord. A heart that is grieved & repents can know Joy in forgiveness & be strengthened by relationship with our Loving God.
Joy in the filling & refilling of the Holy Spirit: in Luke 6:38 Jesus tells us that the more we give out of ourselves in service the more we will be filled up in order to keep giving. From my experience, and the experience of others, I can claim that when you serve God you receive unexpected blessings. Many times feeling as if you were blessed more than you were able to be a blessing.
Joy as an outflowing of the Holy Spirit: in John 7:38 Jesus says that believers will have rivers of living water flow from them. The Holy Spirit works in us, but also works through us. The Holy Spirit speaks to people through us, serves people through us... we are simply the conduit, it is His work; however, anyone who's witnessed a changed life will tell you it's the most thrilling thing you can experience.
PRINCIPLE: Spiritual Joy is experienced when God works in & through us
Let's pray for God's will to be done, let's pray for hearts & lives that are sacrificed for His names sake. Let's continue to lay down our lives for our Lord who laid His down for us, let us serve unselfishly & give without hesitation. Let us be bearers of the gospel to a lost and dying world. In doing these things we will experience Spiritual Joy.
Read Hebrews 13:5-6. God is with us if we have entrusted our lives to Him, we should be living fearlessly for Him.
III. Joy in Eternal Hope
We not only have God's promises for today to bring us Joy, we have God's promises for eternity as well. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, God loves us and wants our hearts to be encouraged & strengthened - to experience joy - because of our Eternal Hope. This is based on God's promise of eternal life for the believer, a promise God made (Titus 1:2) before the beginning of time.
PRINCIPLE: God's Joy is experienced when our hearts are encouraged & strengthened.
Earlier we read Psalm 121, it spoke of God watching over us, and verse 8 stated that God watches over us now & forevermore - He will keep watch over us for all eternity, I Like That!!
This might sound a bit morbid, but the greatest hopes & dreams of the believer are fulfilled in death. Once we shed these mortal bodies for immortal, and are free from corruption, we will finally have hearts that are whole and satisfied. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 tells us about this, how we will be changed, freed from sin & victorious. It is then that we will be in the presence of God & fully comforted from the pain of this world. There will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain (Revelation 21:3-4).
CONCLUSION: A few weeks ago as I was reflecting on God's care for me, and I was touched by His tender Love. In response I wrote a little poem:
Sing for Joy little Sparrow as I cup you in my hands...
breathing my Spirit into you & shielding you from harm...
you are safe now...
After I jotted down this poem I went to scripture to see if this was just wishful thinking on my part, and I found that the words above were supported by scripture - Matthew 10:29 & John 10:29.
I've re-read this little poem to myself a few times since I jotted it down, every time I do I sense God's tender love for me - and that makes my heart rejoice!
Closing Prayer: Lord help us to experience Your Joy, to be firmly planted in you & have our Joy in you be our source of strength. This world can be a dark & difficult place, keep our focus on you as the source of Hope & Joy in our lives. Amen!
