Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

I think the reason I struggled to write about contentment in a previous post, is that we designed for more than contentment, we are designed for “joy”.   Being content allows us to rest but we need joy in order to motivate us to move.  Joy is the proverbial carrot on the stick of life that motivates us to serve the Lord, knowing that Lord will reward us with joy for our service, just as ‘the joy set before Him” was Christ’s motivation.  Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  And the joy that is set before us is that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever.  We will have have the fulfillment of joy when we are with Jesus, in our new resurrected body, able to see Him and touch Him and hear Him.  And this blessed assurance of our future joy, fills us now with joy for the journey.

Plain 1 (the body):  You receive joy by satisfying the desires of the body and the belly.  Finding joy along this plain of existence is easy and it is blessing from God to enjoy the goodness of His creation.  Unlike what many Baptist want to believe, Jesus did drank wine and He enjoyed having a good time.  He changed the water into wine at the wedding and by enjoying the celebration of a wedding and other fellowship events.  Jesus set the example of how to have joy amid the sorrows of the world, while he walked along the road of suffering on His way to the cross.  1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  Actually, that is one of my favorite things about Jesus, after His resurrection when He met the disciples on the shore, He puts fish in their net and has a fire ready to cook them on … nice.   Rev 3:20  “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”

The deception and problem comes when we put the joy of our body above the duty and responsibility we have in Christ.  For in the Bible it says “he who is not willing to work, neither shall he eat” 2 Thess 3:10.  So there is balance in life, a time to celebrate, a time to morn, a time to rest and a time to work.  Jesus was anything but a one dimensional person.  This is why many people misrepresent Jesus, they take a specific aspect that they like and make a Jesus in that image.  This is why some called Jesus a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners (Luke 7:34).  And today many people argue that Jesus is only concerned with forgiving people, like He forgave the adulterous woman but they conveniently forget that Jesus is also concerned about living a life free from sin because He told the woman to go and sin no more (John 8:11).

Plain 2  (the mind):  You receive joy by satisfying the desires of the mind to be esteemed.  Laboring for the Lord and trying your best to do a good job should bring joy.  And it is a good thing to be recognized and appreciated for what you do such as winning a race, getting a bonus a work, preparing a dinner for your family or just staying married each year.  And if you are Christian who protests when others recognize your achievements, beware that this can be a form of false pride, in that you are acting like a martyr for your sacrifice and labor instead of seeing it as a privilege to be used by God to do His will for His glory.  The point is that we are not supposed to labor in order to please men or be recognized by men for our accomplishments.  We are to serve the Lord, and the Lord has prepared good works for us to do.  God is both the giver of the task and giver of the power to do the task.  You might receive recognition among men for what you do, enjoy the recognition and use the platform to give God the credit and the glory.  Those who look for the praise of men in this world receive their reward in this world only but those who faithfully labor unto the Lord will receive  joy and peace to live for today and they will receive rewards in heaven that one day will be joy beyond unimaginable.  Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”

Plain 3 (the spirit):  You receive joy by knowing that Jesus is the author and giver of joy.  And because He lives, we, as His born-again children, live and receive His joy.  The danger here is that we tend to complicate what brings us joy and wander away from our source of joy,  the joy of our salvation, which is also our strength that enables us to serve Christ with joy.  Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.”  Our tendency as born again Christians is to revert to our old sin nature and think that we have to “control” something in order to enjoy it but just the opposite is true.  Just like we trusted Jesus with the destiny of our eternal soul, we need to daily trust Him as we walk in this world of unknown and unfolding events, knowing that in Him we not only have life but we have the “best” of life.   Turn your eyes upon Jesus and like Peter you will be able to walk on water, above the stormy circumstance of this world.

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known god. –  Corrie Ten Boom

Another way to remember joy is by spelling it:

J – Jesus
O – Others
Y – Yourself

– Rogersings

0

0