JOY!

                                            “Let us be filled with joy now!” (Romans 5:3)

 

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In each of the first four verses of Romans 5 there is at least one word relating to joy;  and it all begins with being justified by faith, which grants us the peace of reconciliation with God, which is ours to enjoy! (v.1)  Because we now have, through Jesus Christ, access into the Grace wherein we are standing, we can rejoice and exult in hope of enjoying the Glory of God (v.2). Then Paul urges us, “Let us be full of joy now!” Let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that tribulation produces endurance (v.3).  Then endurance develops character which in turn “produces the habit of joyful and confident hope …” (v.4).

 

                                                              A Decision, a Determination

 

After hearing the diagnosis of her husband's illness she made a determination by faith that there would be joy in their home, according to God's promises. Share on X

 

If we have not yet experienced this joy in our trials and tribulations, we are really only a decision, a determination away from enjoying it.  This writing, in fact, was prompted by the testimony of a dear and Godly friend who, after hearing the diagnosis of her husband’s illness ( a terminal, degenerative disease) made a determination by faith that there would be joy in their home.  She made a decision based on the Word of God (e.g. Philippians 4:4;  James 1:2) to believe that what He asks of us He will do in and for us (Phil.2:13).  The Lord honored her faith-determination and gave them abundant Grace for eight years to honor His specific promises to them.  They experienced the substance of Proverbs 3:33 – “He declares blessed (joyful and favored with blessings) the home of the just and the righteous”;  and their lives were the substance of Nehemiah 8:10 –  “The joy of the Lord is your strength”, and of Jeremiah 15:16 – “”Your words were found, and I did eat them, and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”  What did our friends do in order to experience this joy as they faced the challenge of this dreaded disease?  Like Paul, they believed God that it would be even as He had promised (Acts 27:25).   They were persuaded that He Whom they knew and believed would not just keep them in the midst of this trial of their faith with which He had entrusted them (II Timothy 1:12), but that He would also give them joy in it.

 

                   “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing … “

 

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Joy is not something we have to “work at”;  rather, it’s the “work” of believing Him Who promised it to us (e.g. John 15:11; 16:24; 17:23).  His Word declares that in His Presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11);  and in Psalm 41:12, ‘He has already set us in His Presence forever’.  Therefore, by faith, we can live with an attitude of “rejoicing in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4), because He is in us and we in Him, never to be separated from His Presence.                                                                                                                                 Romans 15:13 encourages us in confirming that it is indeed by faith that we can live in this joy, no matter what our circumstances may be:  “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may be filled to overflowing with hope.”  How clearly and unquestionably the Lord Jesus Christ modeled the prayer, this promise, in the darkest hours of His life on earth …

 

                     ” … for the joy that was set before Him, He endured … ” (Hebrews  12:2)

 

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The Lord Jesus Christ endured to the brutal end of His race, finishing the course planned for Him by the Father (which was to accomplish our Redemption) because of the joy that was set before Him ( which some believe to be us, His redeemed ones, while others say that it is that He will no longer be separated from the Father, and never again).  Therefore, we are now told to ‘lay aside anything that would keep us from running with patient endurance and steady persistence, the appointed course of the race that is set before us (v.1).  And we can!  Because His inexhaustible Grace is always sufficient for us in every trial, in every need.  Clearly proving this is the life of the Apostle Paul, who in Acts 20:24 declares:  “None of these things move me, neither do I count my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from the Lord Jesus Christ, faithfully to attest to the Gospel of God’s Grace.”  In other words, he was not esteeming his own life dear unto himself to preserve it, but was thinking of those who had not yet heard or embraced this Glorious Gospel of Grace – which can only be expressed through the Love of God.  Now interestingly,  joy is the first fruit of Love mentioned in Galatians 5:22, indicating that they are very closely related … and indeed they are!

 

                                               ” Herein will they know … in that you love … “

 

There is unspeakable joy when God's unending Love is manifested. Share on X

 

One of the most piercing and powerful commandments the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples, and to us, is in John 13:34b:  “Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.”  He goes on to say in verse 35 that “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep sharing Love among yourselves].”  Most readers of this post know the intense joy that is experienced when believers gather together in His Name, to hear His Word, to lift Him up and worship Him, and to let His Love be shed abroad from our hearts to one another by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).   This all produces unspeakable joy because of God’s unending Love that is manifested and experienced.  We can’t hold it back!  It is a work of the Holy Spirit.

 

                                                                    ‘ Faith works by Love.’

 

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All that has been said hitherto begins with our knowing and believing the Love God cherishes for us (I John 4:16), which then activates faith to “work” in us, and soon we find ourselves filled with “joy unspeakable and full of glory”!  The Son of God is thus manifested, destroying the works of the devil (I John 3:8), and drawing souls to Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit.  How important it is then that we keep ourselves in the Love of God (Jude 21).  The Apostle Paul certainly learned to do this and with Silas was able to sing in the jail at midnight with, after they were mercilessly beaten with rods and and their feet placed in painful stocks (Acts 16:22-24).  That joy caught the attention of the jailer and the other prisoners and ended up being the drawing card to salvation for the jailer and all his family! (vv 25-34)   The Apostle was unquestionably qualified to implore all believers:  “Let us therefore be full of joy NOW!” (Romans 5:3), and by His Grace we certainly can be!