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“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

                                                   -Colossians 3:15

   

“And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

                  -II Corinthians 12:9, 10

Think for a moment about how many times in a day you use the word “need.” If there’s something we want but don’t have - even if it’s nothing more than a new video game - we somehow think we can’t live without it and determine not to be contented until our often selfish desires are satisfied. After all, we reason, doesn’t God want us to be happy?

“Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.”

                                               -Psalm 144:15

The fact is, God does want you to be happy. As I mentioned in my last post, giving you more abundant life in Him is a stated priority of our heavenly Father and the joy of the Lord is something no Christian should be without (Galatians 5:22). Where we often make our mistake, however, is in assuming that the answer to our unhappiness could ever be found in earthly and material things and then set our heart on them in hope of fulfillment. According to Scripture, though, the abundant life described in John 10:10 can only be found when we delight ourself in the Lord and make Him the most sincere desire of our heart (Psalm 37:4), realizing the pleasures of this world last only for a season (Hebrews 11:25).

“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.”

                                                 -Ecclesiastes 5:10

Despite how much you’d love to have a new car, a nicer home, and a bigger salary, those things simply do not bring lasting satisfaction and never will. If you had more money, you wouldn’t be happy unless you spent it; if you spent it, you wouldn’t be happy until you had more money again. It’s a hopeless and endless cycle that leads to nothing but dissatisfaction and, as Solomon wrote, vanity (see also 1 Timothy 6:6). God can do without us, but we certainly can’t do without Him. The joy is there for the taking; don’t fly around the world just to get across the street.

 

I don’t know about you, but John 10:10 rates among the most frequently quoted verses I hear from fellow Christians. This is justifiable since it truly is a great passages that gives us clear insight into the intentions of the most influential beings ever to exist: Christ’s desire is to give us a more abundant life, while Satan’s is to steal, kill, and destroy us in any way possible. Unfortunately, I think that  many times we focus solely on Satan’s intentions while forgetting the fact that Christ, too, has an agenda worth mentioning.

Unlike the devil who goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8), “…the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) With such an amazing contrast between our two options, it is obviously important to make the decision of who we serve very, very carefully since, based on these verses, it will either destroy or fulfill us. Oftentimes the path that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13) seems to be the most fulfilling, and the path of righteousness (Psalm 2:3) full of destruction; yet we must be careful to look past the brevity of this life and it’s hardships, and focus on the eternal fruit of the the decisions we make. In reality, 1,000 years from now whatever joy or sadness we are now experiencing will be long since forgotten as we finally begin to understand the concept of eternity.

Whether big or small, we make countless decisions on a day-to-day basis that we rarely take the time to notice. Even though we generally consider big decisions to be the ones that permanently alter our life in a matter of minutes, those seemingly insignificant choices we make each day are the ones that impact us the most. The decision to serve God falls into both categories: we are saved at a specific moment in time as we make the decision to repent of our sins and believe the Gospel (Luke 13:3; Romans 10:9), but the decision to serve Him is one we must continue to make on a daily – even and hourly – basis in the little things we do. When we learn to make Christ part of every aspect of our lives, we will finally attain what He promised us in John 10:10. We will have life, and we will have it more abundantly.

 

“And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in Thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.”

                    -Numbers 11:15

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

                         -Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”

              -Philippians 4:4

Christianity is full of paradoxes. To find yourself, you must lose yourself in Christ (Matthew 10:39); to be great, you must become the least (Luke 14:11); and finding joy requires giving up the pleasures of this world (Galatians 6:14). One of my favorites is the fact that God can somehow satisfy us and yet leave us starving for more of Him at the same time (Psalm 107:9; Matthew 5:6). Though the world doesn’t fail to offer us that same satisfaction, it has been my experience that true joy cannot be found in earthly things, but in Christ alone (Isaiah 55:2).

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

                       -John 4:13-14

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

                                 -John 15:11

In today’s world, many individuals seem only to care about making Christianity more “fun.” Whether it means compromising doctrines, or even straying from the very root of Christianity itself, nothing appears to be more valuable to them than a little enjoyment.  And while I am by no means trying to be a killjoy, we must remember that we have each been called to take up our cross and follow Christ (Luke 14:27). To put it simply, serving God won’t always be “fun.”

But on the other hand, there are those who make the Christian life about nothing more than rules and regulations. True, there are obvious dos and don’ts that Christians must abide by, but we must be careful we don’t become so consumed with going through the proper motions that we forget God does desire walking with Him to be a joyous experience.

It seems so easy to fall into spiritual ruts and make things like prayer and Bible study more of a chore than anything else. Sometimes I’ll catch myself just praying the words that I think I should say, or reading the Bible only because it’s the right thing to do. In those times I remind myself that these exercises are meant to be a time of fellowship between me and my heavenly Father, not just an empty motion.

Perhaps you’ve been feeling the same way. You are doing everything right on the outside: praying, reading the Scriptures, going to church…but the joy you had before has been lost along the way. If this is you, let’s stop now and pray the prayer of David together:

“Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

                             -Psalm 51:12

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

                            -Matthew 5:9 

All you have to do is turn on the news and you'll soon realize that peace is not abounding in this world by any means. Violence runs rampant at both a national and local level, and even homes are being torn apart because of society's inability to simply get along. The saddest part of it all is that this spirit of strife and discord has even found its way into the church itself! How foolish we must look to the world as we claim to worship Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), while arguing and backbiting over things that are often insignificant!

As Matthew Henry wrote, "The peace-makers are happy. They love, and desire, and delight in peace; and study to be quiet. They keep the peace that it be not broken, and recover it when it is broken. If the peace-makers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers!"* Did you see it? If being a peace-maker brings God's blessing, then surely being a peace-breaker will provoke His wrath! In fact, in the book of Proverbs, we find that "he that soweth discord among brethren" (6:16-19) is an abomination in the sight of God.

In order to be a peace-maker on a larger scale, we must first make peace with those we are close with. Is there somebody in your family, your church, or even in your neighborhood that you need to make peace with? If so, don't delay in doing so today! As Christ said, the peace-makers "shall be called the children of God." If you want to be a witness for Christ, being a peace-maker is one of the best ways to let people about the change He has made in your life.

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

                            -Romans 12:18

* Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

Having been redeemed from the power of sin and an eternity in hell, it is amazing to me that many Christians today have a great lack of joy in their lives. If anybody has a reason to be joyful, we do; yet oftentimes we go about downhearted and discouraged. Jesus told us in John 15:11 that it is His desire for our joy to remain, and that it might be full. In other words, He wants us to have a great and everlasting joy. In fact, the word joy was used more than 70 times in the New Testament alone, thus indicating that it ought to be a part of every New Testament saint's life.

But what exactly is joy? In my opinion, joy and happiness are two very different things. Joy is not (or at least shouldn't be) affected by outward circumstances such as financial freedom, luxurious living, or even whether or not we have a home to call our own; rather, it is the result of an inward peace (which we will study tomorrow) that comes from knowing we have been reconciled to God and are no longer in need of redemption. Happiness, on the other hand, might go away when we lose a loved one or a close friend, but joy can be retained even through the darkest nights and most severe storms we will ever face. Joy comes from God, and we can therefore have joy as long as we have God.

Not only are we depriving ourselves of a great treasure when we do not walk in the joy of the Lord, but we are also hindering the advancement of the Gospel. Think about it. Why would a sinner be drawn to Christianity when Christ's followers have no joy? Why would they want anything to do with a religion that, from their perspective, causes such sadness and despair? As you can see, joy is not only necessary for our personal well-being spiritually; it is necessary so that those around us will be drawn to Jesus.

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation;" 

    -Psalm 51:12

When we have lost our joy, we are wasting our time if try to get it back by our own strength. We should turn to God and ask Him to restore it to us, because, as we have already seen, joy comes from knowing God and He is the only one that can give it to us. We must ask Him to restore unto us the joy of His salvation.

Joy is an invaluable treasure, and we must guard it so the devil does not steal is from us as he so often tries to do.

"Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."

                                -Acts 27:25

The Word of God is full of promises. Promises of comfort in difficult times (II Corinthians 1:4), peace in the valley (Philippians 4:7), and answers to our prayers (James 5:16). No matter the circumstance we may be facing, there is always a promise of God that we can stand on to draw encouragement in that situation. In this passage of Scripture, Paul told his fellow shipmates that in spite of the great storm raging around them, they would all survive because he believed the Lord was going keep His word. Likewise, when the clouds start rolling in, the wind begins to blow, and the rain is beating down upon us, we can still stand on the promises of God; " For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen..." (II Corinthians 1:20)

"That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"

                               -Hebrews 6:18

We read in this verse that it is impossible for God to lie, for He is "...the way, the truth, and the life..." (John 14:6) In a world where you can't count on anybody or anything, we can always count on God to keep His promises. As the author of Hebrews says, what a strong consolation!

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail;
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God


Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God, my Savior
Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God. *

For years, sinners and Christians alike have been troubled by the question, "Why does God allow suffering?" Those who do not know the Lord often cannot understand how a loving God could allow such terrible things to happen in the world, and those who do know the Lord are sometimes perplexed as to why God would allow His children to suffer. However, the Lord knew that we would have such questions, and the Scriptures give us many explanations for why God allows these things.

In Genesis 3, we read the story of man as he fell into sin, and as we see in Romans 6:23, "...the wages of sin is death..." Therefore, we know that when sin entered the world, likewise did suffering.

The Bible also promises suffering to those who do not serve the Lord in Job 15:20 when it says, "The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days..." and also in Proverbs 13:15 when it says, "...the way of transgressors is hard." This is because they are seeking lasting pleasure in the things of this world, but the Word of God lets us know that the pleasures of sin are only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). The only lasting joy comes from serving the Lord: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." (John 15:11)

However, we must remember that suffering comes even unto those who are godly. In II Timothy 3:12 Paul says, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Other such verses such as James 5:10, I Peter 4:13, and II Thessalonians 1:6 also speak of the suffering that God's people must endure.

And while all of these verses help us to better understand the suffering of God's people, perhaps the greatest verse of all on the matter is II Corinthians 1:4 where Paul tells the Corinthians, "Who [God] comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." In other words, if we are a child of God, we have the promise that the Lord will comfort us in our tribulations and sufferings, in order that we may be able to comfort others.