Category: joy

How does God rejoice? Read Luke 15 and notice the joy described. Anyone who has ever lost something precious can relate to these parables. When the lost sheep is found, the owner does not keep it to himself: “Rejoice with me! I have found my lost sheep!” When the valuable coin is found, the woman calls her friends together. “Rejoice with me! I have found my lost coin!” Jesus said these stories described Heaven. “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The Father cannot contain his joy… He celebrates!

Have you ever noticed a father beam when he talks about his child? The father of a junior high student shared something with me about his daughter, and I smiled as his love and joy could not be contained. But have you also noticed the anguish of a parent when a child rebels? There is nothing more heart-breaking than to witness the devastation that takes place when a son or a daughter rejects the love of the good parent.

The third parable in Luke 15 tells a story of the separation that came when the youngest of two sons chose to go his own way rather than stay in fellowship with his father. But his father continued to love and hope. And when the young man crushed by wrong choices walked a lonely road back home, his father could not contain his joy. He ran to his son and hugged him and kissed him. He gave him a robe and put a ring on his finger. He then planned a party. “Prepare the finest meal! Invite all friends and family! Let’s play music! Let’s dance! Let’s enjoy a feast! My son was dead but now he’s alive! My son was lost but now he’s found! Rejoice with me!”

Jesus was describing his Father… and no one knew his Father better than the Son. God loves to rejoice.

Some ask every now and then about my health, so I’ll give a little update. The chemo I’ve been taking for the last seven months has lost effectiveness. So I now am going through the normal tests to qualify for another trial. Probably in the next two weeks I will begin a different path of treatment. Susan and I appreciate your prayers for wisdom and good results. If you would like to be specific, you can pray for an increase in white blood cells, red blood cells, and especially platelets. We are both at peace regarding everything, but the unknowns tend to be a little annoying. Thanks for all your past and continued prayers for our whole family. God is faithful.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7

I had an interesting two-part conversation with a young man last week. First, he told me how much God had blessed him and his family the past few years. “Tears come to my eyes nearly every time I think about what God has done, because I know I don’t deserve anything.”

The second part of the conversation seemed a perfectly natural conclusion: “I just want to live for Him. I don’t want to be consumed with pleasing men; I just want to be faithful to the One who is so faithful to us.” If the character and love of God are in the forefront of our thinking, the result is a grateful heart.

In a section of his letter to the Romans, Paul explained the position of his people, the Jews. As Jesus was rejected, the chosen people of God experienced a hardening of the heart. Paul was confident that God would fulfill his destiny for the Jews, but full of God’s Spirit, Paul grieved for his people.

But while the Jews refused the gospel, a door was opened for the Gentiles. “Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.” (Romans 11:30-31)

Paul seemed overwhelmed by the mercy of God. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul could not help but praise God (see Romans 11:33-36). When we see, we praise. When God’s truth is in view, we are changed. “Lord, give us ‘in view’ thinking.”

• In view of how much God has forgiven me, I will forgive others.
• In view of God’s mercy, I will show mercy.
• In view of God’s love, I will love my neighbor as myself.
• In view of the fact that God rescued me from this world, I will not conform to it.
• In view of God’s provision, I will be content and share with others.
• In view of the fact that Jesus washed feet and served others, I will do the same.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

“Did you not know I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)

The twelve-year-old Child asked his parents this question after they had been looking for him for three days. Surely Jesus realized that the business of a mother and father is to keep up with their children. But a higher agenda seemed to consume the Son of Mary and Joseph as they visited Jerusalem for the annual Passover Feast.

Perfect humility enabled the King of kings to submit to modest parents in the unimpressive town of Nazareth. The holy Messiah obeyed a young mother and a simple carpenter even though He was Lord of all. The attitude of Christ revealed complete trust: “My circumstances were chosen by my Father in Heaven. He chose my parents, my physical appearance, my hometown, and my social status. My Father knows what He is doing and I gladly accept his will.”

Jesus’ answer in the Temple was neither rebellious or prideful; He simply revealed the priority of the child of God: “I must be about my Father’s business.” Are we not all to think this way?

I was born in a precise location at an exact time on a particular day in 1959. I now live in a certain city and have a God-given job. I have a wife and children and many friends. But is my mind set on the Father’s business? If a person ever asked why I was doing a certain thing, would I ever honestly answer: “Don’t you know this is what God intends for me to do?”

The secret to Jesus’ life is our hope for such focused living: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (John 14:11) Jesus says to us, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (John 15:4)

Come Lord, live your life in me. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Reveal to my heart what is important to You, and may I be about the Father’s business. Amen.

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’” Acts 17:24-28

“Within you is the spring of life. In your light, we see light.” Psalm 36:9

I was surprised last week in a faculty meeting when my co-workers presented me with a stack of notes of encouragement, and gathered around me to pray. The best description I can give this outpouring of love is: “Light and Life.”

Most cards contained a personal note and a Scripture. God’s Word serves as a “lamp to our feet and a light for our way.” “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” When a group of brothers and sisters surround another brother or sister or family in need, light and life shine forth.

Jesus said,”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” We are sometimes threatened by the darkness, but in Christ we can drink from the spring of life. “In his light, we see light.” I am thankful for the Body of Christ who lives out such a message.

“In [Jesus] was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There was a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 1:4-9

The angel said to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.” Then suddenly a great company of angels appeared praising God saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Lk 2:10-14)

Not too long after this declaration of joy to the world, an evil king sent his soldiers into the little town of Bethlehem and murdered all the male babies two years old and younger. What kind of peace is this? Just as the ‘joy of the Lord’ goes far deeper than the happiness our world promotes, the peace of God surpasses any human definition. The prophets warned that the world will say, “Peace, peace” when there actually is no peace. But God knows that even when chaos and injustice seem to cover the earth, He still gives peace.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33) Jesus gives peace in the midst of trouble. The peace is in him. Paul goes as far to say that Jesus “himself is our peace” (Eph 2:14). “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (Jn 14:27) This peace passes all understanding; it is supernatural. And with the gift comes a call to courage.

This is the type of peace David must have had as he walked into the valley to fight the giant, Goliath. Surely his heart was pounding, but the peace of God and the courage that accompanies faith allowed him to defeat the enemy and give glory to God. This is the type of peace that allowed Joseph to awaken from a dream to take his wife and child to Egypt to escape the sword of Herod. This is the type of peace that allowed Paul to sit in a Philippian jail and write that those who believe in Jesus can always rejoice. This is the type of peace that allows a family to face unemployment or disease or disappointment or even death with confidence in a God who knows all things. This world is full of trouble, but God is near. And He says to his children, “Reach out and help carry the burden of a brother or sister or neighbor or stranger. Be an instrument of peace and let my love be known.” Shalom!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7