Day 4 - Week 66 - John 15:11 "I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete."

Is your picture of Jesus a picture of joy?  It should be.  While Jesus took many things very seriously, I believe His inner being was full of joy.  Why wouldn't it have been?  Jesus knew where He was heading, He knew the end result of His mission, and He knew He had brought to the earth God's message of eternal love for man.  Not only was He full of joy, He brought with Him the reason for joy, and He was intent on giving joy to those who heard His words.

I realize that last paragraph used the word "joy" way too often to constitute a well-written paragraph...but then again, we're talking about...joy! 

I believe Jesus fully understood the seriousness of this life, and the troubles that come with it.  After all, He spent the majority of His ministry speaking to people who lived in an oppressive environment, Jews under Roman rule.  People who, for the most part, would have been considered in the very lowest of economic classes.  These were not people for whom life was easy and carefree.  And yet, Jesus wanted them to know joy.  He did not promise to change their earthly circumstance, but He promised to give them joy in spite of earthly circumstance. 

For just as I stated at the beginning, Jesus knew the outcome of His mission --- the restoration of relationship between mankind and God.  But He also knew the steps required for the accomplishment of that mission:  His painful death and the excruciating terror of His temporary separation from God.  Yet, in spite of His knowledge of what He would go through, He maintained an incomprehensible spirit of joy.  Because, unlike any other person on earth, up to and including Einstein, Jesus truly understood the theory of relativity.  Jesus knew that this life, relative to eternity, is nothing.  There is no pain, no trial, no trouble that we encounter in this life that can compare to the incomprehensible, undefinable perfection of life with God.

So the next time that you are in the middle of one life's valleys, recall that Jesus, even knowing that He would go through the deepest chasm of earth's darkness, kept His joy because He knew what was beyond the darkness ...the incredible, eternal light of His Father. 

And the next time that you observe one of life's truly beautiful moments, stop and really savor it.  Then recall that Jesus wanted you to have His joy, the joy of knowing that even the most beautiful moment here on earth will pale in comparison to those we behold in eternity.

Day 3 - Week 66 - John 15:11 "I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete."

The basis of Rick Warren's best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life" is that we all have been put on this earth by God on purpose and with purpose...our base purpose being to bring glory to God.   I believe that God has designed each of us uniquely and specifically for purpose right in the very spot that we have been placed.  Ephesians 4:11 talks about how God has appointed each of us for different purposes within the church body...."It was he who 'gave gifts to people'; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers." 

When Jesus talked about giving  us His joy, and that we would be able to have complete joy, and since He was speaking those words as a follow up to His words on complete obedience, what I hear Him saying to me is, "Be what I designed you to be...nothing more, nothing less.  Do what I lay before you to do...nothing more, nothing less.  Do it in my name, to my glory.  And you won't believe the joy you will find.  My joy will be in you, and it will be a completely satisfying joy."

So often we set out in life uncertain of who we are to be, what we are to become.  It is hard when you are younger to know which direction to take, and it is hard when you are older to know whether you've chosen the right course, or if you need to change your direction.  Many times we make choices based upon other people's opinions, upon status, and upon financial gain.  The older I get, and the more mature my faith becomes, I realize that those factors are exactly what we do not need to include in our life-path decisions. 

God calls us to bring our plans to Him, to ask Him for His guidance in our life.  He desires to be included, and He promises His wisdom when we ask for it.  (Remember James 1:5 that we discussed last week?)  He is ready to share with us exactly what He designed us for, the gifts that He has enabled us with to perform tasks that we are uniquely able to do, just where we are located, that need to be accomplished for His purposes.  Life can become extremely invigorating and exciting when you start realizing that God is asking us to partner with Him to accomplish His will on this earth.  His plans will take place...but we have a choice whether or not we participate.

Open your spiritual ears today to hear what it is that God has purposed for you to do for Him.  When that event takes place, and you know you have just brought glory to God, there is not a doubt in my mind that you will feel a joy like no other.  Jesus' joy...in you...complete.

Day 2 - Week 66 - John 15:11 "I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete."

What has Jesus just told His followers that imparts to them His joy, a full and complete joy?  What kind of joy are we supposed to have as Jesus' followers today?

In the verses immediately preceding our verse of focus, we hear these words:

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you."
"I am the vine and you are the branches.  If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit.  Apart from me, you can do nothing."
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."
"As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love."

And John 15:10 states...

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love; just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love."

Jesus knew joy...real, true, complete joy.  He knew the joy of accomplishing everything that God had designed for Him to do and to be.  He knew the joy of the full realization of being exactly who He was created to be to bring glory to God.  He knew that there was no greater joy....and He wants all who believe in Him to share in that joy, to come to the same point of complete and utter joy.

Jesus knows that kind of joy comes only through obedience and submission to God's will over our lives.  Just as Jesus had surrendered Himself to God's plan of salvation for humanity, He let's us know that we will also find true joy when we surrender our wills to Him, allowing Him to be the strong vine that allows the branches to grow and to bear fruit.

Jesus knows that obedience to God brings a greater realization of the abundant love that God has for us...that as we obey, our faith deepens.  Our love for God grows greater as we understand the greatness of His love for us, a love that is often demonstrated by the commands that He imparts to us to guide our lives into goodness.

I want the kind of joy that Jesus had...that Jesus has.  For truly, Jesus' joy is absolutely complete as He sits at the right hand of God the Father, in His rightful place of honor and glory.  The place created for Him and the place that He is so anxious for those who believe in Him to see.

"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."

John 17:24

Day 1 - Week 66 - Let's look at another joyful Scripture!

We are starting the 66th week of our journey.  It just amazes me how fast the time is going and just how many Scriptures we have already looked at.  Along the Appalachian Trail, we are now somewhere around Williamstown, Massachusetts.  Can't you imagine being in this picture on this early June morning?  Absolutely beautiful, isn't it?  But just because I throw in pictures of these beautiful places along the Appalachian Trail (which I'm using as a metaphor for our long trek of 100 memory verses), I don't mean to take away from the beauty of exactly where I am today, or where you might be.  Every place that God has placed us on this earth has some element of His beauty to behold, I really believe that.  Everywhere we can see His hand in the creation process.  Not far from where we live in Amarillo, Texas, is the beautiful Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States.  Whenever I view it, I picture God's hand of creation carving out the canyon walls and causing the most beautiful colors of rock to be exposed.  I know that scientists explain that the canyon has been caused by thousands of years of water erosion, but that doesn't take the thought away from me that it was God's hand directing the waters in just the right manner to create a place so beautiful.  And, even though geologists would probably scoff, I still have the thought that maybe God just made it that way from the start!

So, let's review and start again down our trail....

Obedience (10)
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:11 Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord.
Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
Romans 12:18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.
2 Corinthians 9:7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (NKJV)
Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 15:1 "A gentle word turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath."

The Holy Spirit's Role in our Lives (6)
Ephesians 5:18 "And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in to the Lord in your hearts."
Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
2 Timothy 1:14 "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you...guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us."

Joy: God's Kind of Happiness (12)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:5 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you will be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

Diverting just a bit from Robert P. Morgan's trail to add John 15:11.  I love the verses that come straight from Jesus' mouth, don't you?

John 15:11 "I have spoken these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete."

Can't wait to talk about this one as we journey down the trail beside each other!  Have a beautiful Sunday!!

Day 4- Week 65 - James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

In Robert J. Morgan's book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, he would have us follow these verses up with next week's verse being James 1:5.  It is another great verse, but I feel we need to continue in our study of joy and will substitute another verse.  But....I do love what Morgan says about the linkage between James 1:3 and James 1:5 (which is exactly where we are!)...

This verse is a link in the chain connecting our worries (v.3) with God's wisdom (v.5).  When facing trials of various kinds, we shouldn't view them as bad luck or as random misfortunes.  They may be consequences of regrettable decisions or unavoidable debacles.  They may appear as tragic accidents or be sent by Satan.  But there is a Savior who embraced all our struggles while stretched on the crossbar of Calvary.  He not only redeems our souls from sin but our circumstances from despair.  He promises to wrest everything into conformity to His will and turn all things for good in our lives.

Now those words cause me to have great joy!!  When I can look at my current situation, no matter how good or how bad, and know that no matter what comes, God is on my side working things together for my good, then I have no reason for discouragement. 

I say, "no matter how good or how bad" because sometimes when things are going so very well, we have a tendency to become apprehensive about what might be around the corner.  We've lived long enough to realize that good times don't last forever here on planet earth, so anxiety can set in about what may lie ahead.  But we have no cause for anxiousness when we trust in our God for His provision and His care. 

I also love the phrase that Morgan included above, "He not only redeems our souls from sin but our circumstances from despair."  We always hear that while God forgives, He does not always lift the consequence of our sin, that there are results that have to be reckoned with.  But He redeems those circumstances from despair when we can see His hand working through those consequences to mold us into a more Christ-like being, learning from the consequences and circumstances that we are going through, and knowing that "next time" we will not fall for the same ploy of Satan to pull us off God's designed path for our lives. 

We have cause for joy because we have a God who loves us through thick and thin.  He uses our mistakes to grow us when we lay them at His feet and ask for His forgiveness.  He brings to us His wisdom when we ask for it.  For that's what James 1:2, 3 & 4 lead us to...James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him."

James tells us that when we bring our brokenness and our ignorance to God and ask Him, "What do I do now?", He is ready to answer us with His absolute wisdom, without criticizing, (don't you love that!), ready to set our feet on the solid ground of His path for us.   Working our way through the circumstances and consequences of wherever our path of error has taken us, we know that He is walking right beside us, encouraging us to stay strong and to endure, and to keep walking home.

Day 3 - Week 65 - James 1:3-4, "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

From Charles Spurgeon's sermon on this verse:

Look at the weather-beaten sailor, the man at home on the sea.  He has a bronzed face and mahogany-colored flesh.  He looks as tough as oak and as hardy as if made of iron.  How different from us poor landsmen.  He can go out to sea in any kind of weather; he has his sea legs on.  How did he come to this strength?  By doing business in great waters.  could not have become a hardy seaman by tarrying on shore.  Now, trial works in the saints that spiritual hardihood which cannot be learned in ease.  You may go to school forever, but you cannot learn endurance there:  you may color your cheek with paint, but you cannot give it that ingrained brown which comes of stormy seas and howling winds.

Isn't that a great word picture?  Can't you just see in your mind the crusty old sailor that Spurgeon is describing? 

"Spiritual hardihood"...that is our goal!  Or as Robert J. Morgan states it, "Endurance is the ability to undergo a period of stress and strain with the inner strength of Christ, emerging from it stronger than when we entered.  It's looking squarely into the face of discouraging circumstances without despair.  It's assuming that God is going to work all things for good.  It's acting as though it's already done though yet unseen.  This seems to be a quality the Lord values beyond almost all else.  It's one of His secret formulas in developing the chemistries of our Christian personalities."

Wow!  I want to be able to look squarely into the face of discouraging circumstances without despair.  That, to me, is true spiritual hardihood!  Becoming strong enough not to crumple when things look bleak; better yet, not to even blink an eye because I know that my God is working on my behalf.  That I have a faith confident enough to rely on my God's ability, that the good result is already in the works.  I can look tough times square in the eye, just like a weather-beaten sailor, and say, "I'm ready for the storm, the calm that follows will come."

I think I've described counting our trials as joy...it is not that we want hard or bad times.  It is that we know God is with us and He will use them for our good, and for our growth. 

"My old eyes get dimmer.  The specialist says the light will fade altogether.  So I gird myself for darkness, quote James 1:2 to 4, shout Hallelujah and go on."  - Salvation Army hero, Samuel Logan Brengle, facing old age and blindness

Day 2 - Week 65 - James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."

Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance....

I love the way Robert J. Morgan explains this phrase:

The term "testing" is akin to the idea of exercise.  If faith never goes to the gym, it becomes flabby.  As we encounter trials, our faith is put to the test, exercised, put thought its paces.  As our faith develops muscles, we become people of greater stamina and inner strength.  That gives us maturity and proven character.

Morgan's explanation reminds me of Pauls' words in 1 Timothy... "Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next." 

So now I'm thinking of exercising...you know how good it feels when you're finished?  (I think I remember how that feels!)  And you know how you get excited about starting an exercise program because you know you will feel better because of it?  I think that's how we should feel when we are facing trials...rather than focusing on the temporary pain, we look forward to the eternal gain.  We know that there is purpose in the pain, we are becoming stronger in our faith and in our understanding of God's plan for our life....our earthly life and our eternal one!

Run the race, start out slow, but run.  Build your strength, and before you know it you will be soaring like an eagle!

Isaiah 40:31  But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.