Brown's Daily Word 10-6-09

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The colors of Autumn are beginning to burst out in full blast. I drove through the countryside yesterday. It was a glorious day. Praise the Lord for the way He can diffuse joy in the heart that loves and the life that is fully committed to Him. One songwriter calls Jesus "The Joy Giver". Jesus is the known as the Man of Sorrows, yet He is also a Man of Joy. He is the Lord of Joy. He experienced the deepest pain, yet He was filled with joy. He willingly bore our grief. The writer of the Book of Hebrews encourages us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfector of our faith, who was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy He knew would be His afterward” (12:2). Our Lord was characterized by joy in spite of the task set before Him. In the shadow of the cross, Jesus asks that His joy be experienced by us. The fact that Jesus could have joy in the midst of suffering shows that we can have it also. “When Jesus bought His own joy at the price of His obedient death, He also bought ours” (J Piper). We need to know what true joy is all about and why joy is a mark of believers. “I am coming to You”, ( John 17) is part of Jesus' prayer to the Father. Jesus could have prayed silently. He prayed aloud for our benefit, to assure us that He’s committed to our joy. He knew He would soon be home, that He would enter the Heavenly Temple, and that the blood He would sprinkle upon the mercy seat would be His own. He returned to the Father with a sense of joy and satisfaction. Yet, as He prayed in John 17, He was still engaged upon the battleground of human conflict. He prayed for those who would continue to suffer hardship after His Passion ended. He prayed for our joy and He died to obtain our joy. Joy is often a misunderstood concept. People think that joy means being bubbly and carefree all the time. They equate joy with pleasure or mere happiness. Some also see it as the absence of problems. We know that life is a mixture of happiness and tears. Joy enables us to handle the tough times with a serene confidence in God’s purpose. Joy does not come by avoiding pain, but it brings us through the pain. This word “joy” could be translated “delight”, meaning “to shine” or to “be bright”.
This past summer we took our nieces and nephews to Washington. Some were able go to both the Museum of Natural History and others went to the National Zoo. The primary difference between the Museum and the zoo is that the animals in the zoo are real. Joy is real. It is more than a smiley face, and more than simply emotion -- joy is a lifestyle. True joy is unconditional; it doesn't depend on our situation. Nothing can shatter true joy. The full measure of joy doesn't rely on how life is, but whose we are. Faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord, can transform our perceptions, enabling us to be joyful throughout the good and bad seasons of our lives. We live in troubled times, but our Risen Lord is able to transcend these times and is able to fill our cups with His Joy. We all have heard people complain, “I could be happy if only…” The joy Jesus offers emerges in spite of life’s difficulties and deprivations. I have met many disappointed people along various stages of life’s journey, people with disabilities, family unrest, failed goals, and loads of regret. True joy does not rest upon getting what we want, but in accepting God’s will, realizing that His answers are wiser than our prayers.
In Philippians 4, Paul said to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” How on earth do we do that? Paul went on to say, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done…and you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.” When we are joyful, we have little room left for anxiety or worry. We do not need to act like victims. Joy must be cultivated daily, by having a quiet time with the Lord, in prayer, and in God’s word. In so doing, we learn what the prophet Nehemiah discovered, “The joy of the Lord is our strength” (8:10). The world offers many substitutes for joy, none of which leads to lasting happiness. Worldly "joys" are fleeting things, always in danger of being lost. At best, the pleasures of the world provide a false sense of happiness. Goals without Christ provide a false sense of purpose. The sorrow God turns into joy cannot be snatched from us because this joy becomes part of our lives. True joy cannot be taken from us because it’s rooted in revelation. In John 5:11 Jesus said, “I have spoken to you so My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” The source of joy is not found in this world; it is external, from Above. “The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief “ (Weatherhead). Henri Nouwen wrote, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. Joy is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.” Joy is the result of an ongoing life with Christ. It’s not something we produce but something we are. We reject what the world offers because we’ve found something richer.
Someone once admitted to a believer, “I’d give the world if I could only have your joy.” The believer’s reply: “That’s what it takes.” Our joy is permanent, because it’s founded upon the finished work of Christ. Blessed be His Name.

In Him,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zJHgaoVa4