The Joy of the Lord....

Everyone of us in this room has a dream….or at least a hankering and yearning for good things to come our way—-tomorrow, next, or at some point. We all have hopes for “something good” to happen.  It’s healthy to have “hope” for a better life and a happy heart.  Many of us work hard, pray even harder, and pine for rest, the pleasure of seeing our efforts result in a good life for us—-and for those that we love.

Now that my sons are reaching adulthood, I talk often to them about their ambitions.  careers, their future families, finding a  job that will take advantage of their God-given talents.  I thought about all of this over the past two weeks while I was overseas. Not a one of us lives for failure….no one seeks to be unhappy or to feel that they’ve wasted their lives chasing something that was impossible to attain—-or worse, that the life they finally acquire leaves them feeling empty and wasted.

So here’s some hope for us today—-and please think about this: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.  In vain you rise early, and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for He grants sleep to those he loves.”  (Psalm 127:1-3, NIV)

I am not reciting David to discourage you, or to cause you to wonder if God loves you, but to remind you—and me—that if God is  not building our relationships, or directing our careers, or leading us in our choices of friends, we’re going to have some very sleepless nights.  An older lady in our community shared with me some great wisdom this past week: “You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around you….”  Think about it if you’re having challenges with the people you call your friends, or family members or the folks you know that are pulling you down and leading to sleepless nights.  You can’t change them—-only God can, and only if they submit their lives to Him. But you can change the people you choose to be around.  That’s the challenge for all of us.!

Are those with whom  you are intimate positive, uplifting, encouraging, faithful, honest, pure, always speaking about the good of others?  And I am also talking about the folks you text, chat, email or zoom call as well!  Are those you spend hours and hours  time with profane, vulrgar, negative, discouraging, dishonest, impure and always gossiping about the faults or missteps of others?  You can’t change them—-but you turn them off and walk away!

I want to encourage us all of us to remember this:  we have a choice—we can choose!  All things, outside of our eternal God, is decay and death....slow, or in some cases, rapid and unexpected. The physical things we build will not last.  And all that energy that we devote to our work and ventures will eventually be distant, foggy memories, with no permanence….unless God is inspiring and sustaining the work we do.  We can choose to let Him inspire us to do things that are of eternal value, even if one day the materials we use will rot and decay.  God’s calling you and me to invest in the salvation, discipleship, encouragement and protection of those who are lost, or young and falling away!  And that work has eternal repercussions!

If God is our source of our strength….if He is providing the vision and the inspiration….then we can say with Nehemiah, “The joy of the Lord is my strength…”(Nehemiah 8:10, NIV).  He’s not going to fail to bring about the desires of our hearts, if our hearts are humbled and we see Him as our source of joy!.  This keeps me going when all other signs around me tell me that I am doomed to failure and humiliation.  I wonder how some can go out their doors to school or work every day, not knowing the joy of the Lord. I fall back into His arms each time it appears I am about to fail—and cry out to Him—Abba, Father!  Please pick me up! Please prepare my way! Please send your angels to shield me—-for I will surely be swallowed up if you don’t rescue me!

And my Father does!  He does deliver me—-and He delivers all those that love Him and humble themselves before Him.  Be encouraged, He does not deliver us because we are smart, or strong, or perfect!  He delivers people like me that have NONE of those qualifications.  And so I can rest, and be at peace.  Those who know of His joy can say what Nehemiah said, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’  (Nehemiah 8:10, NIV).  That’s how Christians are meant to celebrate the good things that God has done and the greater things He is about to do!  Not because of our  merits, but because the ugliness of our lives was transferred to the cross and has died!  And the beauty of Christ has been transferred to us!!!  (And Satan does not want us to recognize that or  dwell on that truth….)

So must must ask ourselves a very simple set of questions:

1. First, do we feel spiritual strength? Do you walk out of  your door in the morning with the joy of the risen Savior in your heart? Are you able to hold on, endure, put up with adversity, and persevere, never give up the fight and serve as a spiritual warrior when those around you are whining and giving up? Do we have inner strength and fortitude to say, as Job did, ““Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. I will still defend my ways before Him.”  This statement has become a hallmark of profound trust in the face of humiliation and affliction. It conveys the conviction that genuine faith endures even when circumstances appear impossible or when divine intentions are not fully understood. We can say boldly, “No matter what, I trust God to sort this out!!!”

Can you say that ?  If you can’t, the reason is that the source of your strength is insufficient.  You might be the most selfless person on the planet, a great humanitarian, a minister to the homeless, or missionary to others across the oceans, but if you are not gettin the proper spiritual nutrients, you’re not going to finish the race.

You can work out in the gym hours every day, swim hundreds of laps in the pool or run dozens of miles—but if you are not properly feeding your body the proper proteins, amino acids, carb, nutrients, vitamins, and getting rest, you will never make any progress in your workouts.

The same holds true spiritually. The source of our strength and the source of our rest,  is the joy of the Lord.  That is what not only allows us to enjoy an abundant life, but also what lets you overcome the things that would cause a normal man or woman to turn tail and run!  This is what those who endured torture, exile, prison and the certainly of death have exhibited that caused their tormentors, jailers, and executioners to stop in awe and wonder what it was that allowed a man or woman to hold on!!! They were filled with the Holy Spirit and had superlative joy…. in face of miserable and seemingly unbearable suffering!

Paul understood this superlative joy. He said, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13, NIV)  That’s what we all want if we claim Christ as our Savior!!Nothing is impossible if we know Him as intimately as Paul did.

Or consider another man that walked with God, Isaiah. He he learned that, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29, NIV)  And a man after God’s own heart, King David, wrote this: “The Lord gives his people strength. He is a safe fortress for his anointed king” (Psalm 28:8 NIV), and again, “The Lord is my light and my salvation- so why should I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1 NIV).

2. But the second question is, ‘Do you have His joy?’ If you do, you have strength—the ability to overcome….if you don’t, you are a spiritual invalid—and a burden to others. To have His joy is to have a confidence and certainty of His deliverance….His hand and covering prohibits darkness from invading. There is light and a sense that, “It’s going to work out!”…. that produces this foundation of expectation and confidence that the world cannot understand.

The joy comes from knowing Him, remaining in Him, seeking Him early in the morning and at the close of the day!  This joy is a fruit…. naturally occurring phenomena….that can only happen if we are connected to the source of joy—the Holy Spirit.

Are you connected?  Do you know Him? Have you experienced the Joy of the Lord? Is the strength of the Lord, through His Holy Spirit yours today? It can be. You only have to ask for it.

But we have to ask!  Frankly, we ought to be crying out continually for the Holy Spirit to come and open our eyes to see this glory and thus enter into the joy of the Lord. And God will answer your prayer and pleas!   And one day, perhaps soon, you’ll hear Him say this: “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, 23, NIV)