And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
--1 John 1:4
When the Apostle John wrote this letter so long ago, he was very concerned that we experience the reality of Jesus Christ in our lives and the joy that He gives.
He was concerned because he knew from experience the many tricks and lies the devil uses to steal our joy. As he wrote in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full.”(check verse)
One of the lies the devil tells us that joy equals happiness. And our culture tells us that “being happy” is one of the loftiest achievements in life. But really, happiness is dependent on our circumstances…and circumstances change so much that it’s impossible to depend on them to ever make us happy!
True joy…that inner happiness…only comes from knowing Jesus Christ.
So today I want to ask you, are you experiencing the joy that comes from an intimate relationship with the Lord? Or are you letting the circumstances of life steal that joy?
I’m confident that the more you focus on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)—and not all the negative stuff going on around you—the deeper and more real your joy in Christ will be!
TRUE JOY ONLY COMES FROM KNOWING JESUS CHRIST.
Monday, May 13, 2019
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.”
Psalm 119:97–101
In her biography of her husband, Goforth of China, Rosalind Goforth recounted how in the final years of his ministry, Jonathan lost his sight. No longer able to preach to crowds as he had once done, Goforth devoted his time to personal evangelism with those who visited. They hired a Chinese companion to assist Goforth. Rosalind wrote: “One of Mr. Kao’s chief duties was to read the Chinese Bible aloud to Dr. Goforth. Sometimes, as he read very quickly, a character would be overlooked or miscalled. To his amazement, Dr. Goforth never failed to detect the error and quietly check him up, so familiar had the Chinese text become.”
God has given us everything we need to obey and please Him in the pages of the Bible. Yet rather than loving it and allowing it to truly live in our hearts, too often it simply takes its place among other things that compete for our time and devotion. Reading God’s Word for ourselves and hearing it preached and taught should be a delight. The fact that we find stock reports or sports scores or political news or the latest gossip more interesting reveals a hardness in our hearts toward the Bible. We need to be able to say with Jeremiah, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts”(Jeremiah 15:16).
Today's Growth Principle:
If we do not love God’s Word, we will not spend the time in it that is necessary for it to shape our lives.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment