Joy

“Joy is withered away from the sons of men…Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?” (Joel 1:12, 16).

Joy!  What a scarce commodity this is.  There are many who say they are abiding in Christ.  There are few who show that they are abounding in Him.  Joy seems to be elusive.  How indescribably blessed is the believer who has his soul filled with it.

This joy is as real at the graveside as at the fireside.  Joy does not evaporate under the heat and pressure of adversity.  Joy does not collapse in the presence of calamity.  Joy does not sour under the test of poverty.  Joy is alive and deep down in the bottom of the heart of a Spirit-filled believer.

Joy is not created by possessions, or by positions, but by a Person — Him!  Joy can stand all pressures Satan or circumstances bring against it, but, and ponder it well, the sun of joy in the soul can be eclipsed by our own disobedience.

Joy requires two conditions:  submission and service.  “If ye abide” — submission — means staying put when you feel like quitting, or you think it smart to quit.  Joy also comes through service.  Most Christians are activists, they do a lot of things —  unprayerfully.  Winning the lost at any cost, abiding in Him, allowing Him to live through you — service — brings unqualified joy.

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  • The Most Important Word: Relationships

    “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16a).
    There are many people who can be reached with the gospel if we are ready before God. Broken relationships hinder the work of God. When you and I set ourselves upright with God by meeting God’s conditions, then the Lord will weigh us with a burden to pray.
    Something happens which is inexplicable, humanly impossible, that only God can engineer when we decide God’s purpose is more important in our lives than our own  feelings or bitter feelings we have toward someone.
    God can bring more people into our lives to have their needs met when we are ready. We become fulfilled as we see the fruit of God’s Spirit impacting lives of those around us. Nothing ever becomes dynamic until we become specific in our doings before the All-Seeing God that we love. Love is meeting needs. God wants to reach others through us.

  • The Mind of Christ

    “How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! And to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver” (Proverbs 16:16).

    Wisdom and understanding are worth more than gold and silver. God created the gold and God made the silver. We can find it in the earth and look for it in the ocean basins of the world, yet, wisdom and understanding come from above. God’s wisdom and understanding will make you rich in faith and wealthy in hope.

    We do so much that rides against us when we do not seek the Father above. God has given us His mind and that mind is the mind of Christ. Instead of running off with our own religious thoughts God will give us His thoughts if we desire them more than all.

    Dr. R.G. Lee was one of God’s prince preachers. One time Dr. Adrain Rogers asked Dr. Lee, “When God calls you on, is there some way we could put your brain in my head?” He replied, with a twinkle in his eyes, “That would be like putting a grand piano in a closet!” Better than having someone’s brain in your head is to have the mind of Christ in you by the Holy Spirit.

    Don’t go out looking for something that is right under your nose. When we become impatient with people or disappointed in life we turn too often to our own ways. Turn to the Word of God and train yourself to depend upon the Spirit of God at every turn. If the Holy Spirit is not our Guide and we depend upon our own thoughts then we are doing even religious things that are empty of the power of Christ.

    Father please teach us with the mind of Christ. We are a new creation in Christ. Your heart is to lead us and teach us. Therefore You died to live in us. Thank you for keeping us safe from our own thoughts. Your wisdom and understanding affords to us your direction and leadership. Thank you for giving us truth below the surface of our own understanding. Amen

  • The Waywardness of Sheep

    “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

    Why do sheep have the desire to leave the shepherd’s side and travel to places of danger and distance?  There is an inward pull that sheep have that tend to lead them away.  They follow the tract of land that looks greener and more desirous, leaving behind that which is safe and filled with contentment by the shepherd’s care.

    Why does God give Pastors to the local congregation?  So that they may instruct and teach the little flock to the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry that edifies the body of Christ.  It is God who gives the pastors and teachers so that they may equip the saints for the work and for the building up of His church.  It is God who gives the Shepherds.  It is the under shepherds who are led by the Chief Shepherd.

    As in that day, the Old Testament days and the New Testament days, shepherds were looked down upon.  Many people looked and pick out their words, mannerisms, and ways and accosted them for not being the smartest people in town.  But the Shepherds were important in the eyes of God.  Sheep can’t just get along anywhere.  There is no other class of livestock that requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than do sheep.

    The Pastor Shepherd keeps the sheep on the move.  They are shifted from one pasture to another.  The habits sheep form and the desires that sheep have, when left to themselves, are dangerous.  So the Pastor Shepherd is always leading them to go forward.  Let us listen, not only to the voice of the Good Shepherd, but to the leadership of the kind, prayerful, life of the under shepherd.  Why?  Because he cares for your soul.

  • Be Wise and Listen

    “And Jonathan said unto David, O Lord God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about tomorrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it to thee” (I Samuel 20:12).

    The son of King Saul, Jonathan, spoke to David in the presence of God’s hearing and seeing, and brought out to David that he would speak to his father about David and get his father’s true opinion of what he thought of David. He promised David to find out once and for all.

    The rest of the story is known to all Bible students. King Saul wanted David dead. He chased David all over the countryside trying to murder him and get him out of his life and kingdom. The result was disastrous for King Saul and Jonathan.

    Today many reflect the way they think of King Jesus by their action. There are no gray areas when it comes to Christ. Either we are for Him or against Him, wanting Him or driving Him away, crowning Him or crucifying Him. The Lord did not send peace upon earth but a sword to divide and to cut through.  

    The heart truly reveals what we think of David’s greater Son. Our motives, methods, and hidden thoughts will reveal what we imagine of God’s only begotten Son. The Word of God tells us, “To kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they who put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:12).

    God runs this universe by decree, not by democracy. God’s decrees will succeed. Puny, foolish men with their godless living will not eradicate or hinder His work. God’s scepter of righteousness will sound forth and what we think of Him really does matter.  We will either cry out in repentance or cower in rebellion. Listen and be wise to the Spirit of God for He is sounding out what we think of God’s Son.

  • Tempered Steel

    “Then he {God} chose David, his servant, handpicked him from his work in the sheep pens. One day he was caring for the ewes and their lambs, the next God had him shepherding Jacob, his people, Israel, his prize possession” (Psalm 78:70-71).

    Financial reversals, betrayal, depression, family difficulties, and the consequences of poor personal decisions can wreck a person’s life.  David left tracks for us to follow. Just read the book of Psalms and you will see that David encountered being knocked out of the saddle many times. But David found God to be faithful. The dismal swamps were also seen and David was weighed down, but he also felt the fresh, exhilarating winds on the mountaintops of accomplishment.

    God works strangely. He often enriches by impoverishing. King David was a man taken from the pasture tending sheep to the palace leading a nation. How did God get David in the place of shepherding a nation? He used trapdoors and pit stops. He used transition. God used anointing by the hand of Samuel in secret, of course, but God used anguish by the hand of Saul in public to train and teach David the leadership God had for him.

    You don’t ascend to the status of an All-Star overnight without difficulties and obstacles. Many of us have forgotten that many people go through trials and difficulties, fall through trap doors, and face many pit stops in their lives. We forget that God is working for them and in them.

    Look around and see if you are caring and carrying these “misfortunates” in your prayers and actions. See if the Lord is first place in your hearts for them? Ask yourself do you really care? Sometimes we spend so much more time in other pursuits that we forget how good God has been to us. There is a trail. There is a path God has designed for them and for us. And it would be great if we recognized them as the hand of a merciful and good God.

     

     

     

     

  • A Living Sacrifice

    “Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house, opposite the king’s house; and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, opposite the entrance of the house” (Esther 5:1).

    The nation of Israel was in trouble. Haman fooled the king into slaughtering innocent people. Mordecai publicly displayed his grief and allowed people to know his position. He would not stand by and do nothing while authorities were about to slaughter his people, including children.

    Esther was God’s prepared servant for that hour. She was willing to die, “If I perish, I perish.” She became a living sacrifice to accomplish the work of God.

    Sometimes it takes a crisis to remind us that we do not serve God alone. Serve God and you will be surprised of those who show up. God has His people.