Thursday, December 24, 2015

Devotional 134 - Joy


If you have no joy, there's a leak in your Christianity somewhere.
    Author: Billy Sunday

Joy, not grit, is the hallmark of holy obedience. We need to be light-hearted in what we do to avoid taking ourselves too seriously. It is a cheerful revolt against self and pride.
    Author: Richard J. Foster

The aim of God in creating and redeeming us is the delight He Himself enjoys in seeing His creatures delight in Him. In other words, the purpose of the knowledge of God is the enjoyment of God because "God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him."
    Author: John Piper

Joy is the serious business of Heaven.
    Author: C.S. Lewis

Psalm 4:7 "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound."
Psalm 21:6 "...You make him glad with the joy of Your presence."

The sun is out today as I write this. I make note of it because we have had several weeks of cloudy, dreary weather. I have had more than one person express their low spirits because of this. Rhett sleeps poorly and this affects his emotions. Charissa has some pressures with insurance companies and medical bills and this momentarily affects her happiness. I fret about past mistakes, and the ones in the future I have yet to commit, but know they are just around the corner.

But none of this is a good enough excuse to be joyless. Because weather does not give me joy. Good sleep does not give me joy. Material wealth and health do not give me joy. Sinless perfection does not give me joy. The Bible teaches that joy comes from the Lord. It comes from being loved by Christ and treasuring Christ. It comes from His glorious and wonderful presence in our lives.

Jesus told us right before He went to the cross that if we obeyed His commandments we would abide in His love, and that love would fill us full of joy. John 15:10, 11.

My prayer for you and me is that we would be so aware of our Savior that joy spills out even in our imperfect lives.