One more Time: For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future
and a hope. Then you will call upon Me
and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search
for Me with all your heart when you search for Me with all your heart”
(Jer. 29:11-13).
Hey Gang: Say after
me: “For you will go out with joy and be
led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts
of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands”
(Isa. 52:12). Did you say it aloud with
gusto? Come on, try it again – like you had
just been declared the winner! Now,
once again, connect it to the Scripture of the day and know God still has a
plan for you this very day and is waiting for your willingness and deep desire
to fulfill that plan.
Okay, I confess, I am trying to drive a couple Scripture
verses into your computer hard drives, for I do believe with all my heart we
are well established onto a road of woe and will need as much Scripture, filed
in our hard drives that will carry us through the coming very tough days. The secret is out- that has been my intention
all along- I wonder how successful I
have been.
I suspect it has been
an exercise much like the seed planting parable – some fell on rocky soil and
did not take root, some among thistle and were forced out, and some feel on the
road way and were trampled to death, but, I pray fervently that some fell in
good soil and has taken root and growing.
Picking up where I left off in the last blog; What say ye? Was Paul a man filed with joy? There are some who do not feel so but how
could you read Philippians and come away believing that he was not. As I read and reread the letter to the
Philippians, I am more convinced that Paul was `totally sold out to Christ” and
one cannot be totally sold out to Yeshua without being filled with ‘joy’. He did say, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
I believe with all my heart it is when we come to that point,
in our walk with the Lord, that we begin to understand the “bond-servant”
relationship with Jesus and we come into the “fullness of the Lord”.
Paul had come to the point where all believers must come –
if we are going to be followers of Christ we must surrender lock, stock and
barrel to Him. It is then, and only then,
that Christ is going to produce in us the glory that God designed for us.
As I read Philippians, one of the things that sticks out is
Paul’s reference to ‘joy’. I believe one
can say that is the focus of the entire book.
There is no question one of the baseline fringe benefits of the
Christian walk came into being when the veil of the Temple was rent from top to
bottom and gave each of us direct access to the Throne Room of God. Paul made
it clear that there is much joy in walking the Christ-filled walk.
In 1:3-4 Paul refers to the joy of Christian prayer: “I thank God in all my remembrance of you
always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you”.
In 1:18 He reminds us that there is great joy in Christ being preached. To Paul there was no greater joy than to “Go into all the world and preach the Good
News”. (Matt. 28:19-20).
In 1:25 he refers to “joy
in the faith”. There is the joy of
knowing that I am a ‘King’s Kid” and for “me to live is okay but to die and be
with the Father” is gain. Morbid? I
think not. Life on earth is short, and
then off to eternity. Is it not great
for our hearts to be filed with joy in the knowing that we will one day be in
His presence for all eternity?
In 2:2 Paul refers to the “joy of knowing that we are united not only with God but have the
support of the body of Christ around us”.
I believe there is a sadness in Abba Father’s heart when He sees such
disunity among those who say that are part of God’s family.
In 2:17 He declare that “even if I am being poured out as a drink offering….I rejoice and share
my joy with you all”.
In 2:28 Paul declared there was joy of receiving news of loved ones, and in verse 2:29 he gives thanks
for the joy of Christian
hospitality.
In 3:1 Paul refers to the
‘joy’ in being a man of Christ. His
creed, ‘rejoice always and continue to
rejoice’ no matter what the circumstances, that we consider it joy when we encounter trials and tribulations for, as
James tells us, we grow stronger and more prepared for battle through
experiencing stress in our lives. We
have God’s Word that “He will not let us
be tempted beyond that which we can endure”. ( I Cor 10:13) Is that not reason to shout
hallelujah.
And in verse 4:1 is the
joy of the man who won a soul lo Christ. He
referred to them as his “joy and crown”.
Well, my friends, this turned out to be a wee bit lengthy,
but it was time to wrap up the subject of joy
and rejoicing and move on. I pray my
time was well invested and the series opened your eyes and understanding of
being an overcomer. Keep in mind JOY is
a DECISION, and it is an irrevocable law of God – when we put the grungies to
bed and turn loose our joy – our spirits rise and soar!!
Blessings,
Gramps
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