JOY OF JESUS | PROMISE WORD | JUNE 2022 | GOD'S SHADOW MINISTRIES

 

PROMISE WORD | JUNE 2022 | JOY OF JESUS

Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Loving Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Perhaps, after a gap of two years, the month of June is once again going to mark the beginning of a new academic year for children.  Due to Covid-19 and its aftermath, the School final exams, this year, were unusually, during summer vacation.  While some schools have declared a brief vacation, there are others planning to resume in a fortnight or so.  The next few days are going to be a time of fun and frolic for kids. For parents, however, it is going to be feverish with fees and financial commitments, topping the list.  Joy to the children, jinx to the parents, if I may say so.

Regardless of what you and your family might be going through this summer, the Promise Word for the month is “Ask, so that your joy could be full”.  Hallelujah!  BBE translation says, Ask so that your hearts may be full of joy. Jesus longs to give not just joy, but ‘His’ joy. Jesus wants to give not ‘some’ joy,  but “full” joy.   What did Jesus mean when he said, “Your joy be full”?

Serious about Joy

The Greek term for Joy is Chara (spelt as Khar-ah).  It means cheer, cheerfulness, gladness and exceeding joy, joyful, joyous.

 In all the 4 Gospel accounts, this word JOY comes at least 24 times. Out of which, it is uttered 15 times (62%) by Jesus himself. Jesus was really serious about joy.  Besides peace, I think, joy is the only thing Jesus said as belonging to ‘Him’.  Jesus said “Let my joy remain in you and that your joy may be full”.   How can this joy be found in your life, how is this made perfect?  Are we experiencing our own joy,  or Joy of the Lord? Fullness of Peace or Joy can be experienced ONLY in Christ!

Temporal or Timeless

 In the world in which we are living, people shell out large sums to get entertained and even experience joy.  It is really sad to see that people could not experience joy by themselves due to the mounting pressures, pains and problems. They look for joy in comedy shows and liquor parties.  Alas, but it lasts only an awhile. They go to an high and then they fall from top!  They are in ecstasy when good things takes place, they rue when misfortune strikes.   The Preacher writes, “there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecc 3:4).  But Jesus speaks of abundant joy.  A joy that cant’ be taken away!  It is true that we all face hardships, struggles, pains and privations in our life.  How we can still be joyous, cheerful during those times?  The Bible says, Jesus himself was troubled in his spirit and wept over the death of Lazarus!

What is then this Joy of Jesus?

I tell you!

Jesus Christ, in many places, not only expounded the meaning of scriptures, he showed them a better  way to understand  and to follow.  He abridged the commandments of God in one simple statement.  Today, we are going to look at three occasions, where Jesus spoke about Joy to  discover three types of Joy that we should know and pursue in our lives.   

(1)Excellent Joy  (Not ours, but others) (Luke 15)

Luk_15:10  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

When the religious sect of Jesus’ time murmured his camaraderie with sinners, Jesus responded by speaking three parables.   The Parable of the lost Sheep, the lost Coin and the lost Son.  In all stories Jesus was explaining to them that the heart of the Father God is ever after lost sinners.   Jesus himself said that he came only to save the sinners. To the dogmatics, who had no revelation about heaven’s perspective, Jesus said there is great joy in heaven over a sinner who is saved.   Jesus was showing to them a picture of angelic celebration. We all desire to go to heaven, we preach  about heaven, and we even pray that God’s will to be done in earth as it is in heaven.  If that is the case, look at this perspective. Instead of finding ways and means to secure our own happiness, we must labor for heavenly joy. If our pursuit is after the lost souls, the Lord will surely fill our hearts with heavenly joy, or in other words, excellent joy. 

 

(2)Extraordinary Joy (Not in safety, but in suffering) (Luke 6)

Luk_6:22-23 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

In his most illustrious discourse, ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, Jesus spelt out “The Beatitudes”, the outlook of a blessed Christian life.  He lists out different character  traits that  needs to be seen in a person to live a happy life.  He says, if we are hated, isolated, rejected, reproached and even defamed for Christ’s sake, we should rejoice and not weep.  In fact, he expects us to leap with joy!  This may sounds a bit odd and out of place.  But this is our Lord’s prescription.  People may hurt, abuse, ill-treat, reproach and even hate us to the core for the sake of Christ.  But we should develop a mindset of taking it all with joy.  Even the brother of Jesus, Apostle James in his  letter encourages, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations”.   This is not possible without the grace of God.   But we need to ask for it?  And our reactive joy is not in response to what we are facing, but in the knowledge that every beating, every abuse, every suffering will be rewarded in full measure in heaven!  Hallelujah! If our pursuit is reward in heaven, the Lord will surely fill our hearts with extra-ordinary joy. 

 

(3)Everlasting Joy (Not in earth, but in heaven) (Mat 25)

Mat_25:23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

This is one of the Kingdom parables spoken by the Lord. It speaks of three servants.  Two were productive in multiplying the talents given to them, yet one was lazy and sceptical.  Those who were profitable for the master were rewarded with larger estates to manage. The indifferent one was punished.   The underlying lesson that we learn is that every child of God, be it a believer or a minister, has a gift or a talent given by God.  The Master expected his servants to not just be faithful, but also be fruitful.  Jesus said, If you abide in me and I abide in you, you will bear much fruit.  A servant, a child of God who does not waste the time, talent, resources, and abilities etc., given to him by God and utilizes the same effectively to bring forth much fruit/profit to God’s Kingdom is granted the privilege to enter into the joy of the Lord.   In one way, this may mean entering into divine peace, rest and an everlasting joy, after our race on earth is over, but in another way, this would imply a life in which we experience the joy of the Lord. Hallelujah! If our pursuit is laboring for Lord and producing more fruits, the Lord will surely fill our hearts with everlasting joy. 

 

Kingdom Joy

Rom 14:17:  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Joy is not just a gift that we get from our Lord.  Joy is part of God’s Kingdom.  Anybody who has received the gift of salvation and considers himself to be part of God’s Kingdom will experience this joy.  The Bible calls this ‘Joy in the Holy Ghost’.  The joy that this world gives is based on the happenings and is always momentary.  But the joy of the Holy Ghost is a joy that remains with us at all times.  If we have this joy, no peer pressure, no loss, no defeat, no abuse, no despair, no deficit will be able to shake us.   We shall not be moved!

However, many of us, even after being Christians for more than 10, 20 or even 30 years are unable to experience or abide in this joy.  All because of their failure to live in close communion with God, listen and follow his Word and relish the fellowship of Holy Ghost.

The reason Jesus could promise to give his own joy to his disciples is because of the fact that he had it in abundance.  The Bible says that he closely communed with his father, he lived by the Law and Prophets and He was full of Holy Ghost.

Therefore, Joy of the LORD is not just a sign but an unquestionable proof that we are in HIM and HE is in us.  

 

Journey to Joy

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus who promised to give the ‘fullness of His own joy’ to his disciples, to His own people looked forward to another joy that would follow the cross.  He took the path of cross to attain heavenly joy.  He endured shame to achieve heavenly joy.  

Even in our own lives, heavenly joy or Joy of Jesus can come to us when we develop a spirit of endurance, when we disregard the same.   We will not only enjoy heavenly joy, we will enjoy being in the throne of God.

May the Lord God fill you with excellent joy, extraordinary joy and everlasting joy.

 

God bless you,

Yours in Christ,

Vinod Kumar

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