August 31, 2009 MY JOY...YOUR JOY

John 15:11 - I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

As Christians, Christ promises that our “joy will overflow” – how many of us have truly claimed that promise? If our view of the Christian walk is a grim plodding along to the dismal drumbeat of obedience we have completely missed the mark. Chambers asks: “Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?” Well? Have we?

The focus of our faith should always be first and foremost on strengthening our relationship with the Father – on seeking His face above all else. Above service, above obedience, above anything we can do in this earthly realm should be the effort we put forth in seeking to know who God is. When we know our God intimately it is only then that Christ can introduce his joy to us. If our lives as Christians are dreary and joyless, then we have a lot of work to do in terms of acquainting ourselves with the Father.

Chambers says:
The full flood of my life is not in bodily health, not in external happenings, not in seeing God’s work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the communion with Him that Jesus Himself had. The first thing that will hinder this joy is the captious irritation of thinking out circumstances…[God] wants us to get to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim who Jesus is.
The joy of Christ transcends our circumstances, but it can only do so when we extract ourselves from our habit of being self-absorbed and instead shift our attentions to being rightly related to our Lord.

Several months ago I came across 2 quotes, both of which had a huge impact on me.
- "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still."
- "God does not have problems. Only plans."
Who said these things and under what circumstances? The first was said by Betsie ten Boom as she lay dying in the indescribable filth and misery of a Nazi concentration camp. She and her entire family, including her sister Corrie (who later became famous for writing her family’s story “The Hiding Place) had been arrested for aiding the Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland. The second was said by Corrie Ten Boom herself after her release. These women were devout Christians who suffered indescribably, one to her death, and yet they had the peace of God even in the midst of their ordeal. Their misery didn’t destroy their faith, their faith overcame their misery and in the midst of it they saw God at work. What an amazing testimony of what God can do when we walk with Him. If these women can find hope – even joy – in the midst of such desperate circumstances, how can I even think to allow the small inconveniences in my life to steal the joy Christ has promised? When I find myself distracted by my difficulties, I need to take a step back and refocus on the Lord. Christ never promises us that we won’t have struggles or that we won’t suffer, but he does promise that He will buoy us through even the most desperate times.

In his closing paragraph, Chambers says:
Stop being self-conscious, stop being a sanctified prig and live the life hid with Christ (Colossians 3:3). The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing wherever it goes.
There is nothing fake or contrived about living life rightly related to God. It has nothing to do with priding ourselves on our exemplary behavior, and everything to do with allowing the love and grace of our Savior to shine through even the minutiae of our daily lives.