Thursday, December 16, 2010

Inheriting the Joy That Is Jesus!

"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" (John 15:11)

Have you ever wondered what, if anything, is the difference between "joy" and "happiness," beloved? I cannot tell you how many times I have heard people declare that God wants them to be happy. Yet the truth of Scripture is that God really wants you to be joyful! So what is the difference? The distinction lies in the fact that happiness depends upon external circumstances while joy is an inward disposition of the spirit that exists in spite of circumstances.

Jesus had just been teaching His disciples about the practice of "abiding" in Him as the branches to the Vine. He let them know that He wanted as much to "be at home" in them as He wanted them to be in Him. And as a result of that mutual abiding, His joy would reside within them and make their joy in living full and complete.

Have you ever stopped to think about how important your joy as a Christian is to the Father, beloved? Did you know that everything about Christmas is at heart about joy? What did the angel declare to the shepherds on the hillside that blessed night? "Behold, I bring you good news of great joy....there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). You see, everything that is associated with Jesus' coming is a matter of joy! Nor is that joy limited to Christmastime and to our celebration of this glorious holiday. That same infant grew to manhood and faced the worst possible death imaginable to the world of His day. And as He faced it, He did so with a very unique perspective:

"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2)

And what was that "joy" which the Father had set before Him? In the shadow of an ugly cross and a hideous crucifixion, Jesus saw through to the "joy" of shedding His blood as the once-and-for-all-time atoning sacrifice for your sins and mine. Simply, the "joy" of His heart, beloved, lay in the realization that He was providing eternal life for you and me! Jesus' joy, then, lay in fulfilling His mission and in carrying out His Father's plan of redemption.

It is, then, with the same joy made full that He wants you and me to face our own circumstances of life today. As He told His disciples on that day that His joy would be "full" or abundant within them, so His joy in our hearts today can carry us up and over and beyond any of the adversities of this life. How real is your joy in Jesus Christ today, beloved? Only as you and I seek to truly "abide" in Him and He in us will we ever know that which the Apostle Peter called "joy inexpressible and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8). As we light the Advent candle of Joy this Christmas season, recall the joy that Jesus has made available to your heart!

Ron