joy

What Kind of Love

“Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” John 20:20

The disciples were behind locked doors fearing for their lives. A few days earlier they had witnessed the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter had denied knowing Jesus and the other disciples had fled when Jesus was taken. The reason for their fear was that they had not listen carefully enough to Jesus words and hence not taken them into calculation. On at least three occasions He told them about His coming death and resurrection.

When Christians fear it is for that same reason – in some matter we have not heard at all, not considered carefully enough, not believed or taken on board, something that Jesus has said. The cure of fear is to draw near to and see the risen Jesus. We have His word to read and consider as often as we desire.

Not many days before His crucifixion and resurrection Jesus said to His disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” and “I will come to you” (John 14:2-3, 18). Somehow these kinds of statements by Jesus were not on their minds while their hearts were in turmoil over His crucifixion and the perceived hostility against themselves.

Our lives will be in turmoil from time to time and we may have fears but just as the disciples were at rest in their souls and were glad in their hearts when they saw Jesus so will we.

What was it that they saw in Jesus that gave them this joy and peace? Was it just because they saw Him alive or was there more? The beginning of the verse gives us the answer: “He showed them His hands and His side” where the nails had penetrated and fixed Him to the cross and where the spear had caused His blood to pour out. When they saw His hands and His side they also saw His sacrificial and unconditional love. That is what brought peace and joy to their hearts.

When we see the nail prints in His hands we see His kind of love. His “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). To know Jesus is to love Him. If we are to experience this peace and gladness we must see Jesus. When we see the kind of love and magnitude of His love written in the nail holes and the gash in His side, we will no longer be in turmoil but trusting Him to care for us and our concerns for eternity. “Behold what manner [kind] of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God” (1 John 3:1).

Vultures and Darkness

“It came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram” (Genesis 15:17, 18).

It is not difficult for us to put ourselves in Abram’s place and to share his experience in this great event in the history of God’s redemptive program. However, there was much that was needed to pave the way for this day. This chapter begins with the words, “After these things …”

There was the first step of obedience by Abram to leave his homeland without knowing his destination. Chapter twelve records his arrival in Canaan. He also had to be separated from his family. Chapter thirteen records his eventual separation from his remaining family member – the worldly Lot.

Abram showed that he wholly trusted the Lord to fulfil His covenant when he rejected the world’s offer of a reward (Genesis 14) and by offering a tithe to Melchizedek, king of Salem. There was still an important experience for Abram to endure, one that we would not desire ourselves but one that we can expect.

In Genesis 15:6 we read that Abram already had God’s righteousness accounted to him so what follows is subsequent to his believing – what we would refer to as subsequent to salvation.

God asked Abram to offer animal blood sacrifices. When they were placed as God commanded, instead of heavenly visions as we might expect, there came vultures. Instead of showers of blessings came the vultures of doubt (v 11). Instead of God’s peace came the thief to steal away that which Abram was offering to the Lord. There was also the great darkness of depression (v 12) that seemed as though it would consume him. We offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) but somehow it doesn’t go to plan and we feel doubt and depression.

The vultures, the deep sleep, the horror of the darkness all made Abram feel absolutely helpless. Doubt and depression may visit us and make us feel helpless. If we did not experience doubt we would not experience having the truth confirmed. If we did not experience the darkness of depression we would not be able to experience the joy of assurance. Out of Abrams’s experience the Lord confirmed all that He had said to him and gave him assurance. God alone passed through the sacrificed animals and Abram knew that the fulfilment of the covenant was based solely on God’s faithfulness and ability.

Our ultimate deliverance from sin and from this fallen world is dependent solely on Jesus Christ. Neither doubts nor fears will prevent Him from delivering us into the presence of the Father. Doubt and depression may at times infiltrate our lives, but they cannot steal away the Gift of God (cf. Romans 8:38-39). Peter writes that we “are kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:5).

Everlasting Joy

“When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish and the hope of the unjust perishes” Proverbs 11:7

Jesus said that He came to save that which was lost (John 3:17; Luke 19:10) and He has sent all who have been saved to continue His mission. While we are often inclined to only speak of the blessings that come to those who respond positively to the Gospel of Christ it is also necessary to speak of the tragedy that awaits those who reject Jesus. Jesus frequently does this. The watchman must give a clear warning of the danger in order to rally a response.

Quite likely we have all experienced times when we have put a lot of time and effort into achieving a certain goal only to have it unravel and remain unrealised. That is a disappointing and deflating moment as we consider the wasted time, energy and effort. Multiply that thousands of times over and we will begin to understand the depths of anguish and futility that the one who has his expectation bound in this life will realise immediately after bodily death. There will be the realisation that his ambitions and everything he laboured for all have come to nothing, are of no value and his life wasted in futility. There will also be the gut wrenching moment of realisation that there is no second chance.

The Good News of the Gospel is that Jesus has provided a sure expectation that will not end in futility. The reason for Jesus coming was so that we might be saved from sin and its consequences. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world on Calvary’s cross. Jesus said that He came that we might have abundant life (John 10:10).

He also said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). An attempted burglary next door, as this article is being composed, put these words into perspective.

Let us not treasure earthly temporal things but rather treasure those things that are eternal. Later in Proverbs eleven we read, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise” (v 30). Christ’s mission is our mission, to seek those who are lost that He might save them. This will be eternal treasure from which there will be only everlasting joy.

Reason for Joy

“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

For two thousand years Christians have looked forward to this great and glorious day by meeting for worship on the first day of the week. This is the day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead. We worship the Lord Jesus on the first day because we look forward to that day when we will see Jesus face to face in resurrected bodies.

The Law called for a day of rest and worship on the last day of the week but because of Christ Jesus’ substituttionary death on our behalf we are free from the requirements of the Law and the penalty for sin. We now look forward to experiencing all that it means when we are called home to be with the Lord.

This past year has been a trying one for the world. People who do not know or understand God’s word grope around for solutions to the world’s problems but they do not inquire of the Lord through prayer and reading His word. The answers are there but as long as they are rejected and men place higher value on their own wisdom they will remain in darkness and never find the right answers.

Anyone who will choose to turn from sin and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will receive His forgiveness and be among those mentioned in the passage above. The New Year looks rather bleak for the world but the Bible forewarns us who believe God’s word that this is what we can expect. As tragic as this future is, understanding what God has said about future events will bring comfort, peace and joy to anyone who will trust Jesus.

He promises that “the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” and He gives the reason. “This is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:37, 40). Please note the emboldened words: “everyone” who sees and believes has everlasting life and it is Jesus Himself who will raise up all those who have believed – at the appointed time.

Now, this is surely reason for us to look forward to the coming year with hope, joy and expectation. The world is enshrouded in the darkness of ignorance but we who have trusted and come to know the risen Jesus live in the light. “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

Count it all Joy

“Do not call me Naomi (pleasant); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” Ruth 1:20

This lament came from Naomi soon after she had said to her daughters-in-law, “the hand of the Lord has gone out against me” (v 13). Naomi understood that her husband should not have taken her and their sons out of the Promised Land and neither should he have permitted his sons to marry Gentile women. Her husband and both her sons had now died so she had no one to provide for her. She interpreted this to mean that the Lord was punishing her.

When trials come our way we may think that they are because we have offended God in some way but that is an unbiblical way of viewing our walk with Jesus. We are not told why or under what circumstances Naomi’s husband and sons died. People do die for a multitude of reasons but it would be wrong to believe that any death was for a specific reason unless God makes it clear that such is the case.

Naomi could not see at that time that her bereavement was preparation for, and would lead to, a most wonderful blessing. She wrongly believed that the Lord was against her and was punishing her. How wrong we are when we make the same error. The very trial we are experiencing today may be preparation for the outpouring of a blessing tomorrow. Many have found it so.

Read the book of Ruth through and ponder on the blessings that came Naomi’s way. She received a most loyal daughter-in-law who abandoned her gods for the one true God. Through Ruth’s marriage to Boaz, all the lands of Naomi’s husband were returned and his heritage restored. She was now provided for all her days. A further blessing was that her heritage included the lineage to Israel’s Kings David and Solomon. Further down that family line came Israel’s Messiah, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) who is Jesus Christ the Lord.

Naomi would not have known all this at the time but even just seeing her husband’s lands and heritage restored opened her eyes to see that the Lord was not angry or bitter toward her (2:20). The leading people of the town blessed her without realising the extent to which it would be fulfilled (4:11-12). The women also blessed Naomi without knowing the wonderful way that too would be fulfilled.

Because she wrongly interpreted her trial Naomi thought the Lord was punishing her when all along he was preparing the way for wonderful blessing. Surely this is at least part of the reason that James wrote, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3).

The trial you are enduring today may be preparation for blessing tomorrow.

Eyes on the Eternal

“We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” Numbers 11:5-6

It is possible that we may forget and take for granted the everlasting grace of God that meets our every need and begin to look back with selective memory on our past. God had been miraculously and graciously providing the manna for some time while Israel journeyed in the wilderness en route to the Promised Land that flowed with milk and honey. Some began to reflect on what they had left behind and they craved the food of Egypt and that craving spread like an aggressive cancer to many others. They complained against Moses but in reality their complaint was against God. It had the effect of wearing Moses down even to the point of desiring death. This was when the Lord intervened. He sent quail for a month and those who had yielded to craving for the old life died that month. We will die spiritually if we begin to crave the things of this world.

Israel was on its way to the Promised Land where God would personally dwell with the people. They would have all they needed. They could make bricks to build their own houses instead of building Pharaoh’s cities, they could grow crops to feed their own children instead of feeding Pharaoh’s armies, they would not feel the whip on their backs and they would not be forced to kill their own sons. They forgot all these things because they looked at their present circumstances and compared them with selected memories of their past. They also forgot or did not believe God’s promise and for that a whole generation of Israel died in the wilderness and never entered the Promised Land.

Our complaint against the Lord will begin when we take our eyes off our destiny. If we have trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, dwelling with Him in His kingdom is our destiny regardless of our present circumstances. God has and will graciously provide all we need as we travel toward our real and eternal home. If we begin to doubt His promise we will also begin to look back and complain against His gracious provision and leading. We will again desire those things that brought only death and destruction. We will lose the joy of an abiding and intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ.

In writing to the Christians in Corinth Paul wrote, “… we do not lose heart. … our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

When our desire is for our Destiny and our eyes are upon Him we will see no reason for complaint regarding our present circumstance and we will have no desire to return to the existence we had before we met Him who is life. Our joy will be full.

A Faithful Witness

“He who does not believe God has made Him a liar” 1 John 5:10

In Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18 we read that God cannot lie yet in this letter of John to Christians he twice writes that it is possible that people can make God appear to be a liar. In both cases it is when people contradict or disbelieve God’s word.

From the beginning Satan accused God of being a liar. He spoke through a serpent to cast doubt on God’s testimony. Since then he has had plenty of people who are willing to go out of their way to discredit the word of God. What is particularly sad is when people who go by the name of Christian also discredit God’s word by not believing it. This disbelief may be expressed in misrepresentation, distortion or outright rejection.

Any time we question the correctness of God’s word; anytime we interpret God’s word contrary to what it actually says; anytime we distort or misrepresent God’s word we are claiming that we are a higher and more reliable authority than God. This is the pinnacle of pride and calls God a liar. No one who truly loves Jesus Christ would knowingly do this work of the devil.

In almost a summary of all that he has written in his Gospel and in this letter John writes out in a nutshell the essence of what God has said that he wants us to be sure to believe, “and this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (vv 11-12). The key words in this passage are:

  • Given – Eternal life/Christ is God’s Gift
  • Christ and eternal life are one (cf. John 14:6). No Christ = no eternal life
  • Christ must be received not merely observed
  • Christ is equal with the Father

Anyone who does not believe this testimony of God is calling Him a liar. The evidence that a person does believe this will be seen in their life and word as John has described earlier in this letter.

John has written this letter so that those who have taken God at His word will have the assurance that they are truly born of God and have received Christ who is eternal life (v 13). Then, and only then, will that person know the “full joy” that John desires that all God’s people have (1:4).

God at Work

“Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure” Philippians 2:12-13

Having been given the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ we are to work at bringing that new life into actual daily experience. That is impossible for us to achieve of ourselves and, fortunately, Paul tells us that God is the main Person in achieving our maturity in Christ. This has to be one of the greatest pieces of news that a believer could receive; God is at work in us to bring our wills into line with His and to achieve His goal.

Since this is the case, and we have gladly accepted God’s role in our lives, we have no cause to complain about the circumstances of life that He allows or orchestrates to achieve His good pleasure. That is why Paul then wrote in the next verse, “Do all things without complaining and disputing.” If we have truly received the truth that God is working in us for His good pleasure we will rather rejoice in all things regardless of whether they bring some form of pain or pleasure. It is good for us to take note of the words “all things.”

For the same reason James writes, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2) and Paul writes, “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Any complaint that we have is ultimately against God because He is the One working in us according to His good pleasure.

What is His “good pleasure? The short answer is to make us into Christ’s image. God created man in His image. That image was corrupted by sin. Jesus Christ is the perfect man in God’s image. A similar aspect of this is mentioned by Paul in his letter to the believers in Galatia, “But when it pleased God … to reveal His Son in me …” (1:15-16). This is what God is working in us to achieve – to reveal His Son in us. Any complaining or arguing with God about His work is essentially saying that we do not trust Him or we do not want to be like Christ or want Him revealed in us.

Paul understood this as any study of his life will reveal. It also explains why he would write to the believers in Rome, “we glory in tribulations” (5:3). Taken with the other passages cited and its context this means all tribulations because they are part of the “all things.” Paul considered suffering a necessary part of knowing Jesus Christ which is why he wrote “… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10).

When we accept that it is God at work in all things in our lives to achieve His goal then we will “count it all joy” no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.