"The joy Christ gives is for time and eternity, for soul and body, for adversity and prosperity." - William A. Swets
This is the "always" that Paul refers to...Christ's joy is an always kind of thing. As Christians, we have it now - we will enjoy it for eternity. Our souls rejoice, as do our temporal bodies. We can rejoice in good times, and we can praise God in thankfulness even in the bad times, because we know He knows, and we know His promises of faithfulness. We can thank Him for trials, knowing that He is working good things inside of us, producing character within us that we would not be able to have in lives of 100% ease.
Is this a "Pollyanna" kind of attitude? Are we people who go around with the bluebird of happiness constantly sitting on our shoulder floating through life ignoring it's problems? No, I don't think so, I don't think so at all.
Our ability to rejoice in all circumstances doesn't mean that we fail to acknowledge that there are times that are nothing more than, in lieu of a better phrase, pretty darn crappy. We experience disappointment, hurt, pain, emotional upheaval. And we don't shut our eyes, slap a smile on, and say everything is great when those times come. When the world sees people do that, they do not see anything except, at best, ignorance, at worst, hypocrisy.
In contrast, as Christians with knowledge of the joy that the Lord is able to give us, we are able to open our eyes and stare those times squarely in the face. We are able to say, along with Paul, that when the hard times come that are beyond our ability to endure, we know that God is with us, bearing us up through His supernatural strength. The knowledge of that companionship, the awareness of the power of God that He makes available to us in our times of need, gives us reason for joy in the worst of times. Not because we enjoy being miserable (now there's a profound statement!), but that we can rejoice in the Lord because of His love for us, made apparent by His power exhibited in our lives.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..."
(Mr. Swets was an Associate Pastor who worked with Dr. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Both Mr. Swets and Dr. Kennedy are now experiencing the joy of eternity!)
This is the "always" that Paul refers to...Christ's joy is an always kind of thing. As Christians, we have it now - we will enjoy it for eternity. Our souls rejoice, as do our temporal bodies. We can rejoice in good times, and we can praise God in thankfulness even in the bad times, because we know He knows, and we know His promises of faithfulness. We can thank Him for trials, knowing that He is working good things inside of us, producing character within us that we would not be able to have in lives of 100% ease.
Is this a "Pollyanna" kind of attitude? Are we people who go around with the bluebird of happiness constantly sitting on our shoulder floating through life ignoring it's problems? No, I don't think so, I don't think so at all.
Our ability to rejoice in all circumstances doesn't mean that we fail to acknowledge that there are times that are nothing more than, in lieu of a better phrase, pretty darn crappy. We experience disappointment, hurt, pain, emotional upheaval. And we don't shut our eyes, slap a smile on, and say everything is great when those times come. When the world sees people do that, they do not see anything except, at best, ignorance, at worst, hypocrisy.
In contrast, as Christians with knowledge of the joy that the Lord is able to give us, we are able to open our eyes and stare those times squarely in the face. We are able to say, along with Paul, that when the hard times come that are beyond our ability to endure, we know that God is with us, bearing us up through His supernatural strength. The knowledge of that companionship, the awareness of the power of God that He makes available to us in our times of need, gives us reason for joy in the worst of times. Not because we enjoy being miserable (now there's a profound statement!), but that we can rejoice in the Lord because of His love for us, made apparent by His power exhibited in our lives.
2 Corinthians 1:8-10
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us..."
(Mr. Swets was an Associate Pastor who worked with Dr. James Kennedy at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Both Mr. Swets and Dr. Kennedy are now experiencing the joy of eternity!)
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