Restoring & Keeping the Joy
Devotion 9 - Restoring & Keeping
the Joy
"God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in Him."
John Piper, a Reformed Baptist pastor, coined this
term in his 1986 book, “Desiring God” as he summarizes the philosophy of the
Christian life.
Thus, if we sincerely
desire to glorify His Name in our lives, we must first learn how to be
satisfied in Him, and how to have the fullness of His joy in us! His glory and our joy are not incompatible, or mutually
exclusive as many had thought, but congruent.
Jn 15:11 - “These things I have
spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
It is important to note that in this passage, Jesus
was speaking to His disciples, to Christians. Hence, He was basically saying
that even though they had been with Him for almost three years, there was a
possibility that they would not have continual joy in their lives. So how do we
get such full joy?
In His presence is Fullness of joy
Psa 6:11 – “You will show me
the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures
forevermore.”
There seems to be a
proposition in this verse - The path of life leads us into the presence of God
which fills us with fullness of joy. Hence, if we are not enjoying the fullness
of joy or worse, if we had lost our joy, then, maybe we are on the wrong path
of life. And from this verse, we also learn that there are degrees of joy, with the fullness of joy found
in the presence of God.
If we want to enjoy the fullness
of joy in God, we need to examine our lives, and path we are on. We need to
repent of all the "wrong turns" and return to God's path of life. The
way to secure our joy - to keep it for all eternity - is to spend time in the
presence of the Lord. How do we come
into the presence of the Lord?
Thanksgiving – The
Gateway into His Presence
Psa 100:4 – “Enter into His
gates with thanksgiving, and into
His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him and bless
His name.”
The
“courts” and ‘gates” in this text refer to the temple, the Old Testament place
of worship where God would meet His people. Therefore, thanksgiving is
the first door into the presence
of God, the path of life to God’s mercy, grace and favor.
There is a great connection
between thankfulness and joy. Thankfulness is based upon awareness. It is not
blind thankfulness or forced thankfulness. Rather it is keeping our eyes opened
to see what God has done and is doing, and responding with declared gratitude. Hence,
“thinking” and “thanking” are related. Before a
person can thank properly, he or she needs to think properly. Those who think
and count their blessings will be moved to thank Him who graciously gives all.
Our God is the living source from whom all
blessings flow. We are completely dependent upon God for life. Everything that
we are and have is a gift of God’s goodness and grace. “For in Him we live and move and have our
being” (Acts 17:28). To get more specific, in our day-to-day lives, it is
through Him that we continue to enjoy our food, health, family, career,
country, etc.
Thanksgiving
is not denial of the real problems we face, or to be hyped up in hypocrisy.
Rather, it is the result of right thinking, i.e. recognizing that we serve a God who is
above all circumstances and believing that He can work together all things for
our good!
1 Thess. 5:18 – “In everything
give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Finally, Paul exhorted us to give thanks in every
life circumstance because it is the will of God for us. No exceptions, no excuses, nothing is outside those
parameters, but in everything give thanks. We are to be thankful because a heart of gratitude is not derived from
life circumstances but rather from the source of life itself. We give thanks
because God is sovereign, God is love, God is faithful, God is good, etc. In
other words, we give thanks because we believe in the nature and character of
God. Thanksgiving is basic Christian living and attitude.
The overarching principle that
sets this all in place is Rom. 8:28 "And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose.” Even if the issue is not good, God will take what is bad and
turn it to a good purpose for our good and our eternal glory. If we truly
believe that God is at work, sovereignly controlling all of the
contingencies of life, blending them all together, each component to
lead to a sovereignly designed goal for our good and glory, then we can be
thankful because we know whatever befall us fit into His ultimate plan!
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