The Truth About Christian Joy

  

Joy

    

In Philippians 4:4 states: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Jesus himself tells the 72 after returning to him joyfully that they cast out demons, in Luke 10:20 “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” I would argue that joy is lacking in many Christians and people in the world especially today.

    

Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. (This is something inwards not just outwards like happiness oftentimes.) It is a settled state of contentment, confidence, and hope. Joy isn't just a smile or a laugh. Joy is something that is deep within and doesn't leave quickly. 

John Piper defined Christian joy as a “good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.” We cannot obtain joy on our own with our own strength. This is something that the Holy Spirit pours out into our hearts. We find true joy in Christ! Just like David writes in Psalms 16: 11 that there is fullness of joy in God’s presence!

What is more beautiful and joyful than being in God’s presence? Than to be in the house of the Lord? Then to be IN Christ? Then serving the Lord? What is more beautiful and joyful than fulfilling His will in your life? Just think about this. 

Why Should I Care?

    I know there are many different personalities and some smile more than others, but do others see the joy in us? Does our joy that is in Christ, overflow unto others around us? 

Also, if they ask if we are Christians or if we testify about Christ to them after them observing us that we aren’t joyful and in fear, I don’t think they will want to serve the same God we are serving. I don’t think people will be interested in the God we serve if we don’t represent him correctly. I don’t think they will get excited about this “good news” if we aren’t rejoicing about it. Just like many say, we are the fifth gospel! Let’s do our duty as Christians! 

Joy Takers

    1) Sin

    Sin makes it to almost every list of why we don’t have this or that as Christians in the Spiritual world. Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? Possibly because of sin. Why am I not seeing the movement of the Holy Spirit in my life? A reason could be sin for that. Why are we lukewarm? Also, sin can be a reason or part of that. The same goes for here. We might not be joyful because we have sin in our life. Or rather, we are in sin. Sin steals the joy from us because what is the goal of the devil? We read it in John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” Steal from us the joy that we have in Christ. How can one rejoice in something that they truly don’t have? Yes, one can be happy for some time through earthly sinful pleasures for example, but right after you sin there is that guilt and shame. Not always, but more than not I would say. Sin never brings true joy. 

Sin ultimately separates us from God. If we turn to Isaiah 59:1-2, it talks about this. 

"Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." And if we understand this correctly, our joy comes from the Lord. We are dependent on the Lord. And so, when we sin, it separates us from God and how can we be joyful after sinning? 

Well, there is a solution to this problem in the word of God. We read this great promise that we can stand on. It is written in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We have someone to go to. We have someone worthy to cleanse us and to set us free. I mean Jesus himself says that we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. So, in conclusion to this point, sin steals our joy. We have someone who can restore to us the joy of salvation like David prays in Psalms 51.

    When we sin, let us not sit still in it, but run to Jesus with an open heart and a heart of repentance. Just like it says in 1 John, if we confess, then we will receive forgiveness. And also the word of God tells us that we don’t have because we don’t ask. Obviously, whatever we ask has to be according to His will, and this is according to His will; for us to be forgiven. It is based upon faith in Jesus Christ. It isn’t based on feelings or emotions. 

    2) Pain and circumstances

    We possibly let pain or circumstances in this life to take our joy. A good song called, “I’ll never forsake you” has a first verse with the following words, “O soul, are you weary from wave upon wave Of grief and affliction whom no man can save? 

Has sickness surrounded, or unending night?

Uncertainty stolen your joy and your might?

    We can certainly see that song play out today even though it was written/published back in 2012. This song almost relates to what many are going through right now and the uncertainty that many of us have about what tomorrow will bring. But, I want to tell you today that there is comfort in Jesus! There is joy in Christ! Don’t let the media control your emotions or scare you. Trust Jesus Christ because he is sovereign and everything is under His control!!! You might be asking yourself how is it possible to be joyful during times like this? Yes, I am not saying to be joyful in a funeral and whenever things go bad in our lives, but we for sure should have that peace of God in us. Again, we talked about what joy is; it is inward and something that the Holy Spirit pours out into our hearts. It doesn't necessarily mean I will always be smiling and having a good time here as a Christian. Sufferings will come to an extent. We need to understand the gospel and the cost of following Jesus beforehand. We cannot commit to serving the Lord believing that God will bless us here on earth and we will live a comfortable, secure, and quiet life. That is NOT what Jesus ever promised his followers. The road is difficult and there will be trouble. But, like Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33 "take heart! I have overcome the world" (ESV). 

    We rejoice because first off, our names are written in heaven. Secondly, Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” There must be a balance between our sorrows and joy. I suggest that you read Romans 5:1-5. 

    The second verse says, "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Here in the second verse in the English Standard Version, it says “rejoice” in other translations it is used as “exult” in the NASB or “boast” in the NIV. But, my main point here is still the same. We must rejoice. Yes, even in our sorrows or difficult times, we can have the peace of God dwell in us and still rejoice. Just how I mentioned earlier what joy was and how it is the orientation of our heart, state of our mind, and produced by the Holy Spirit. We know that at the end of the day, God is still on his throne, and we are still in his hands. We have nothing to fear if God is for us and with us.

    There might be things of this life that have taken our joy. Again, I would like to remind all of us and encourage us to be joyful! If I am not joyful and I tell myself that there is really nothing to rejoice about, then I need to look over my life and dig deeper into my heart. Where is my heart? How am I doing spiritually? What are the things that I let take over me and take my joy and peace? 

Finally, we are not only called to rejoice on our own but of course, rejoice with others. Just like it says in Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” 

    So, we have looked at two things that can take our joy: Sin and the circumstances we face in this life. Just think about it though, we serve a God that is bigger than our circumstances! He is bigger than big! And yes, we might have times of sorrow like Paul did, but like he says, even in those times he rejoices. We rejoice in the hope that we have in Jesus. And once again, I call all of us to rejoice!