Hey Gang: Say after
me- “These
things I have spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and your joy
might be full” (John
15:11). Did you say it aloud with gusto? Come on try it again – this time like you were
at a football game and your team was winning.
Now, connect it to the Scripture of the day and know God has a plan for
you this very day and is waiting for your willingness and deep desire to
fulfill that plan.
AS I have been researching the word ”joy”,
I have found it is intricately
tied to the other attributes of the gifts of the Spirit. God has also made clear that each of the
gifts are equal in importance and, when we allow one of the gifts to erode, it
opens the door for the enemy to develop a fifth column within our hearts and soul.
Let me put some meat around that statement. I have come to the conclusion that failure of
a marriage relationship does not begin with lack of love- because love is a
decision. I choose to love you but I
have a far greater problem in liking you when you fail to respect me. One of the first danger signs of a failing
marriage is the lack of joy. This shows
in a lack of patience and peace departing the relationship. Gentleness, kindness and goodness follow
suit into the trash can.
I believe John Smalley addressed this very issue with his
Love Bank thesis: That, if we are not in
a constant depositing-mode into the Love Bank. When a hole begins to develop in any one of
the gifts of the spirit, there will not
be the assets in the bank to draw upon to quickly repair the damage. It is not unusual to find marriages that have
come unglued- not because of lack of love, but rather because there is no
gentleness, no self-control, no kindness or any one of the gifts of God’s
Spirit.
Well, I could go on for a day or two on this subject but
that is not where God seems to be taking me this morning. But one point that should be mentioned when looking
at the Love Bank thesis: when the alligators are rising and the rubber is
hitting the road, keep in mind that God can only pull out of you what you have
put in! The logo of the banking industry
“No deposit, No return” is certainly
true.
We live in a time of universal depression. More shrinks and counselors of various shapes
and sizes than we have preachers and teachers of the Word. More pills for depression are consumed than
vitamins.
Did you ever notice that the news broadcasters are
deliverers of doom and despair? I call them the ‘but brigade’. They report
the stock market went up today but
cannot leave it thee – they must add ‘but’
it is forecasted to go down. The economy
is good ‘but’ hang on folks for it is
surely going to come down.
We had the privilege of volunteering at a retirement village
for missionaries who had spent more than thirty years of their lives in
Africa. Many had broken bodies and their
strength had ‘got up and went,’ but there was a joy on that campus that
surpassed human understanding. They were all pray-ers! When one of the saints passed away, the Chaplain
made this comment, “The people here finish well”. I pray I will finish well.
As I close this epistle for the day, let me give you a
question to chew on. Do you think Paul
was a man of joy? When we read Romans
and Corinthians he is bold and even confrontive. In the epistles we find him in a teaching
mode. In Timothy and Thessalonians, he
becomes a prophet and paints a picture of the Lord coming in glory.
But interwoven throughout all his writing we find a message
of assurance that is ours in Christ Jesus.
His key to joy- “Don’t be
conformed to the world, but be transformed”. How? “By
the renewing of your mind”.
Why? “So that we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
I really like the picture of Jesus in the Eagle Village Chapel. It shows Jesus with His head back and
laughter fills the air. That is the Jesus
I believe the little children and I want to be around.
Gramps
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