On Wednesday evenings I have been working through the book of Philippians. We have been looking at the subject of Joy and the need for inner joy in our life. I have talked at length about the source of this inner joy being the person of Jesus Christ! He takes up residence in our life and when he does we can't help but have a different perspective.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to speak the
supernatural qualities of Christian joy without saying at the same time that many
Christians fail to experience this joy, or perhaps other Christians lose it after the initial joy of their salvation. Often times circumstances bring us
down, and instead of the victory that Christians should experience, many will suffer
from depression.
It is a sad confession, and no doubt it is sad because
it is true of so many Christians. This should not be. Instead of deep
depression, there should be joy in the Lord that goes beyond our circumstances.
Do you know this JOY? Perhaps you are saying, “I know that I should have it,
and I would like to rejoice in the Lord always. But the circumstances still get me down. How
can JOY be sustained?” The answer is found in God’s word and we must follow it as we would a doctor's order. If you see a doctor about feeling tired and
rundown he prescribes exercise in increased vitamin B then you go down the
drugstore and buy vitamins, and you will carve out time in your day to
exercise. In the same way if we lack Christian JOY, than we need to adhere to
God's remedy.
One plus one equals two. That's pretty simple arithmetic. And to truly experience joy we have to put
into practice this spiritual math that produces the experience of Joy. In this life neither you nor I will ever
master all the great truths of Scripture. The word of God is inexhaustible,
like God himself, JOY is not dependent upon such mastery, if it were we would
never really experience it. Instead our joy depends upon our relationship to
God! Enter life with him today and your
life will be changed forever! If there
is to be the joy in the Christian life that there ought to be, there must be a
deep and growing experience of the basic truths upon which our life is founded.
There is a great deal of unrest in this world and there
will always be unrest for those who do not know Jesus Christ. Apart from him
there is no true peace, no real joy, and certainly no happiness. If you are
Christian tonight, let us determine to draw close to God, let us decide today
to feed on the Scriptures, and trust that God will “fill you with
all joy and peace as you trust in him” Romans 15:13
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