Tag Archives: Jesus Christ

Joy Flowing From Grace, Rejoice Evermore

The Amazing Connection Between Joy and Grace

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I’m in a very contemplative mood. In fact, I feel quite weary. There’s plenty of tough circumstances to go around. We’ve had two deaths in our family in the last couple of months. We also have a family member who is struggling with addiction and a number who don’t know Jesus. The thought of them  facing an eternity without Him is very sobering.

And, so many friends are dealing with hard situations as well. Even though, in John 16:33, Jesus told us this would be the case, it doesn’t make it easy to deal with death, broken relationships, addiction, illness and the like. This world is full of trials and problems and at the moment they weigh heavy on my soul.

Sometimes I handle the trials of life well and others times, not so much. I think it comes down to my perspective. If I get swallowed up in the details of the moment and see only what’s going wrong, life becomes a drudgery. However, when I can gain an eternal view, even in the midst of hard times, my outlook is different.

Right now, my heart is heavy and I need God’s truth.

Turning to the Bible, I come across a verse that if someone said it to me right now, I’d take it as a trite answer and very insensitive.

But, no one said it. I read it. It’s  I Thessalonians 5 :16 – “Rejoice Evermore.”

Rejoice Evermore! This unconditional command seems impossible. With all that’s going on, rejoicing is the last thing I feel like doing. But, since God said it, I’ll take this as an invitation to dig deeper, asking Him to show me how this is possible.

Lord, how is it possible to rejoice evermore?

How is it Possible to Rejoice Evermore?

Rejoicing Requires Dependence Upon the Holy Spirit

After years of trying to obey God’s commands in my own strength, I must first  recognize that obedience requires dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit. Until I understood this, I literally wore myself out trying to be like Jesus in my own strength. A life of self fueled “obedience” leads to burn out and deeper sin.

“It’s all up to me” is a lie from the pit of hell. It’s prideful and sinful. 

Learning what it means to rejoice evermore is no different than any other command. It can only be obeyed by yielding to the Holy Spirit within me.

What Does it Mean to Rejoice Evermore?

When Paul tells us to rejoice, he uses the Greek word “chairo”, which means to be cheerful, calmly happy or well off, be glad. “Chario”  is derived from the root word  “charis”, which means grace, or unmerited spiritual blessings granted to those who trust in Jesus Christ.

So, in the Greek language, “rejoice” and “grace” are closely related. Rejoicing is seen as a natural response to receiving and experiencing God’s grace. The bedrock quality of rejoicing is trusting and resting in what has been done for me, apart from anything I could ever do. The more I comprehend this unbelievable fact, the less I’ll strive for value and purpose based on what I do and how the world sees me.

“Evermore” comes from the Greek word “pantoteh” which literally means every when, or at all times, always.

So, I’m to be glad and cheerful, at all times, based on the fact that I’ve been freely given God’s spiritual blessings.

All times!

When I’m grieving, my joy comes from God, fullness of all joy,  and the grace He’s given me.

When life is fun and my wife and I are loving hanging out with our grandkids and kids, my joy comes from God, fullness of all joy,  and the grace He’s given me.

When relations are strained or broken, my joy comes from God, fullness of all joy,  and the grace He’s given me.

When life seems stale and plain, my joy comes from God, fullness of all joy,  and the grace He’s given me.

When I’m afraid and worried, my joy comes from God, fullness of all joy,  and the grace He’s given me.

I’m always living in a physical world, with real trials, problems and heartaches? So, if I am to make this command to “rejoice always” a real, legitimate part of my life, certain spiritual truths, based on the “grace” or unmerited favor bestowed upon me, can’t be forgotten.

Rejoicing in God’s Grace

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace  which He lavished on us.  (Ephesians 1:3-8a NASB).  

Rejoicing in God’s grace, shown to me in His love and sacrifice for my sins, sustains me and gives me courage. 

Before the world began, I was chosen to be loved as a child by God Almighty. My eternal relationship with God, my new Father, was secured by the cruel death of His Son Jesus, the Messiah, on a Roman cross. This was all done for the praise of the weightiness or glory of God’s grace. His grace, was literally lavished upon me, abounding and overflowing, manifested in the shedding of Jesus’ life blood.

This is how I rejoice evermore. Regardless of what I’m going through, the root of joy is God’s grace, expressed in His love. It happened before the world began, so nothing can change His grace for me today.

In God’s grace, I rejoice evermore.

God’s grace gives me a peace which is greater than any circumstance I can face, including the very hard difficulties I face today. 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7 NASB).

In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us  (Romans 8:18 J.B. Phillips Translation).

Prayer

Lord, You have totally answered my prayer. Though hard times continue and problems are not resolved, I rejoice in You. Your word has given me great courage. Please help me to take each care, each concern and cast upon You because You care for me. I can stop striving to make everything “okay” for me to be all right. My hope and stability is in You. I rejoice in the grace You showed me ,before I was even born. And I know nothing can change that.

In You, and in Your love and grace, I rejoice evermore.

  Amen

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4 NASB)

Journal Time

With your journal in hand, spend time thinking about things going on in your life which are hard. Write a prayer asking God how to trust Him in the difficulties you face. Even in the midst, ask Him to show you how to rejoice in Him during these and all moments in your life.

Other Posts in our Rhythms of Joy Series:

Joy is important because it’s an experience of God

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

Be looking for the Living Waters YouTube channel coming soon.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

 

Joy is Essential

Joy, an Experience of God

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This is the first post in a series entitled Rhythms of Joy.

In this series we’ll explore why joy is important, how joy fits into suffering, what kills our joy and how to experience joy.

Joy, an Experience of God

Joy is important. It’s not just a nice to have part of our lives.

Joy is an experience of God’s nearness.

Joy is commanded.

Having joy is a mark of being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Our joy in God brings Him glory.

Joy can easily be confused with happiness and sometimes they intersect, resulting in good feelings. Happiness is tied to happenings, but joy is much deeper.

The difference between happiness and joy might be illustrated by the difference between a ship and a submarine in a sea storm. The status of the ship is totally dependent upon the waves and the condition of the sea.

Whereas a submarine can travel several hundred yards below a hurricane and not be affected.

Since God is the source and fullness of all joy, [1] it has an eternal quality which is deeper than the circumstances we encounter. Like a submarine, joy is deeper than the storm.

Eternal Void

God created us with an eternal void. [2]     

Our hearts long to be satiated with a joy which can only come from God. He is the originator of joy. All earthy whiffs of gladness point to Him. Early in our lives we tend to experience joy much easier.

     

As we grow older, when the pains of life press in, we can lose the scent of joy and travel down long forsaken paths looking for lasting satisfaction.

Think about some things which brought you joy as a child.

Searching for Joy

As a child,  I remember the joys of snow, Christmas, the community pool and hanging out with my grandfather, Pop. My grandparents lived next to me growing up.

On summer afternoons, much to my delight, Pop hit me pop balls in the field in between our two houses.

As I got older and began to feel some independence, I remember thinking how happy and satisfied I’d be when I was old enough to drive and had my own car. I worked and bought an F85 Deluxe Oldsmobile and it did satisfy me for a short while.

Then I began to think that if I had a girl friend to ride in the car with me, I’d be happy and satisfied. I met Annie and that satisfied me for a short while.

Then I began to think that if I could move away to college, I’d be happy and satisfied. I moved away to Columbia, SC and attended the University of South Carolina and felt satisfied was for a short while.

Then I began to think about how satisfied I’d be when I  graduated college and began a life on my own.  And when I did, I felt satisfied for a short while.    

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing, but only by God the creator made known by Jesus Christ.” Blaise Pascal

The endless search for joy continued.

Eventually, I would surrender my life to the God, the source of all joy.  But it would be years before I fully understood that God Himself would satisfy the deep longings of my heart. As a young believer, I still tried to draw my happiness and sense of well being from my circumstances. And sometimes I still do.

I’m realizing now that the joy which exudes from God, satisfies the deep longing of my heart.

On top of that, the joy of God fills me with courage and strength.

A Matter of the Heart

It’s really a matter of our hearts, the well spring of our lives. [3]

The condition of our hearts determine our courage.

No wonder the French word for heart—”coeur” is where we get the word “courage”. The state of our heart determines whether we’re en-couraged or dis-couraged.

God’s joy fortified us with strength [4] and infuses us with courage. [5]  

Joy is like a nectar for our hearts. 

Since joy is more than a feeling, we can choose it, even during the hardest of times.

Joy is an awareness of the nearness of God. 

In Your presence is fullness of joy (Psalms 16:11b).

In the next post, we’ll continue to explore the importance of joy in our lives when we look at the commands to be joyful.

From 1 to 10, where would you say your joy meter is at this moment? 

Prayer

Lord, thank you for leading me to You. You are who I’ve been searching for all my life, though for years I didn’t know it. Only You satisfy me completely. I’m sorry for seeking my satisfaction in anything but You. Please show me quickly when I try and find lasting satisfaction apart from You. You are my Highest Joy. I praise You and rejoice in who You are.  Amen

Journal Time

With your journal in hand, spend some time thinking about your own journey. Write about the deep longings in your heart?  Document your search for joy. What have you tried other than God to satisfy your soul? How do you still depend upon your circumstances to feel okay? Write a prayer to God expressing your delight in Him. 

[1] Psalms 16:11

[2] Ecclesiastes 3:11 

[3]  Proverbs 4:23

[4]  Nehemiah 8:10b

[5] Hebrews 12:1-2

Please Check out the  Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in a city.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

 

Dealing with Aging, The Joy of Journey's End

The Shadow of Death

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God has given me such a joy and delight in diving deeply into His words. I write to clarify my thinking and understanding, but also to share and to encourage others, both those who confess Christ and those yet to become His disciple. Glenn Livingston (Guest Blogger)

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me (Psalm 23:4a).

In previous seasons of my life the shadow of death seemed like a remote idea. But now, being over 80, I’m sensing the continuing erosion, loss of my physical vitality and abilities to deal with life.  More and more it’s as if my demise, my death is looming over me as an increasingly, uncomfortable shadow. This has caused me to pursue developing a Biblical perspective regarding aging and death.

I find the Lord has given us great encouragement for dealing with living in the shadow of death as it relates to aging.  It’s not to be feared.  Is it not a natural process ungoverned by God? This season of life, with its attending suffering, is not without purpose.

In a general way, God seeks to use the problems of our aging to sharpen our focus on the transcendent [1] realities surrounding our existence.

And for those who are disciples of Jesus, to further develop our spirituality. The way we deal with the difficulties of life, and our infirmities, stimulates others in their faith and trust in God. [2]

What Does God say about our Impending Death?

OUR PHYSICAL BODIES function as temporary intermediaries between us as persons, our inner self  (our souls) and the physical world.  2 Corinthians 5:1-8 speaks of our present physical body as a tent that is our earthly home, something temporary and of limited duration.

OUR AGING involves losing our physical abilities to function in this physical world. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 speaks of this as…our outer self is wasting away…  This is but our souls being prepared to depart from our physical bodies and be able to put on our heavenly dwelling 2 Corinthians 5:2. (More on this below)

The circumstances of our aging are governed by the Lord.  He uses it all to reveal how weak and fragile we are.  This causes us to think less and less of this present life and more on present and future transcendent realities.

OUR PHYSICAL DEATH is not the end of our existence. 2 Peter 1:13-14 The apostle Peter speaks of death as but putting off our physical body ( this earthly tent), not the end of our personhood. 

Jesus said; I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25). 

Jesus told the criminal who confessed faith in Him even as he was being crucified; Today you will be with me in paradise. This man’s physical death on the cross would not be the end of his existence. [3]

Moses writes of Rachael’s physical death. As her soul was departing for she was dying …i.e. her soul was departing her physical body. [4]

In our physical death we only lose the limitations and vulnerabilities we possess through our physical fleshly bodies. 

 OUR ETERNAL FUTURE involves our receiving a spiritual body which we see manifested in Jesus’ post resurrection appearances. Examples John 20 and 21. Romans 6:5 …we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.

Jesus’ resurrected body is a prototype for ours. Through Adam we received our natural physical bodies and through the last Adam (Jesus) we receive our spiritual bodies. [5] 

The apostle Paul writes…the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body…(our physical body vs a spiritual body with an enhanced capacity to know and enjoy and love God) [6]

 We will be further clothed so that what is mortal – subject to death is swallowed up by life…by what is immortal, not subject to death. [7]

Then we will in no way be restrained (limited) in the manner imposed on us by our present physical bodies. See 1 Corinthians 15:44-49  (frailties, sicknesses and death)

we groan…as we await this future reality, the redemption of our body. [8]

Fear No Evil

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me (Psalm 23:4a).

Back to Psalm 23, WHY NO FEAR?

BECAUSE OF THE PRESENCE AND ACTIVITY OF GOD, OUR SHEPHERD.

 Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23:6)                 

 WHY DO I HAVE SUCH CERTAINTY REGARDING MY FUTURE ?

Because God has given us His words that, by His grace, He has given the opportunity to have the eternal, personal experience of knowing Him; a relationship with God.

FOR I KNOW YOU ARE THE GOD; WHO has REVEALED HIMSELF to me in Jesus.

Luke 10:22 …no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

For God who said let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ  (2 Corinthians 4:6). 

WHO has REDEEMNED me in Jesus’ death on the cross. 

For there is One God and there is One mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1Timothy 2:5).  

Who gave Himself as a ransom for all…who would receive Him (John 1:12). 

In Him we have redemption thru His blood (Ephesians 1:7) .

He who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will raise us…into His presence  (2 Corinthians 4:14) .

WHO has given the SPIRIT OF JESUS to reside within me, guiding and empowering me into living a qualitatively different life than I would have ever known, even as I experience aging. [9]

When the fulness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons, and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts… (Galatians 4:4-6).  

When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth (John 16:13). 

Galatians 5:22-23 ..and the fruit of the Spirit is…the believers inner transformation is the evidence of the Spirit of Jesus’ presence and activity.

I identify with the Apostle Paul who wrote in Philippians 1:21-23; For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, that is far better. (i.e. the best is yet to come). But to remain in the flesh is necessary… for God is not through working in my life and using me in the lives of others.

 And in another place God’s word says; But as it is written, What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).

Bottom Line Biblical Perspective For My Live

  • I treat my death and moving towards it as but a shadow. It is a difficult time, but not to be feared for God is with me. The best is yet to come.  
  • I sense this time of decline is not wasted. God has given the promise that He uses all things for our good. [10] In our experiencing the weaknesses of aging and becoming increasingly weary of this life, He is weaning us off our sense of self-sufficiency in order to develop our spirituality [11] more fully.
  • The promise of a personal resurrection and living in the close presence of God energizes my heart with hope and endurance through all the trials of life. 

I often meditate on the testimony of Job who was physically afflicted in many ways. He testifies that it was God’s words and promises that sustained his faith in dealing with so much.

From Job 19:23-27 KJV:

Oh that my words were written, Oh that they were inscribed in a book  That with an iron stylus and lead they were engraved in a rock forever!      

 As for me, I know that my redeemer lives  – (Job acknowledges his need of a Redeemer that has overcome death)

and He will stand in the latter days upon the earth  – ( He knows how it’s all going to turn out)  

and though worms consume my body, –  (It’s a sure prospect Job will die and his body will decay)

yet in my flesh I shall see God,  (He has confidence in his personal resurrection and that he will see God)

whom I shall see for myself – (and that he would have a close, personal encounter) Yes I will see Him with my own eyes.                    

I am overwhelmed at the thought!    (It takes precedence over everything else).

[1]  transcendent – beyond what we can know by our physical senses

[2] Colossians 1:24

[3] Luke 23:43 

[4] Genesis 35:18

[5] 1 Corinthians 15:44-45

[6] Philippians 3:21

[7] 2 Corinthians 5:4

[8] Romans 8:23

[9] John 16:13

[10] Romans 8:28-29

[11] spirituality – living out of a heart valuing God and eternal realities

Subscribe below to have the posts delivered to your email. We publish weekly. At least that’s the plan. (8^>

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Knowledge which changes everything

Soap

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In the mid 1800s a large number of babies were dying soon after childbirth. During that time Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, learned something which would change the medical community forever. In his studies he noticed more babies were dying after being delivered by medical students than by midwives. Digging deeper, he realized the students often performed autopsies prior to delivery, contaminating their hands with microbes.

Dr. Semmelweis instigated a regiment of hand washing which substantially dropped the number of infant deaths. Though soap had been around since Biblical times, its total benefit was not known until then. This began the great soap-related hygiene revolution which radically changed the medical field.

It’s amazing how a bit of knowledge about soap could save countless lives.

Is there knowledge we can gain which can have an even larger impact on us? 

Yes.

Knowing God’s love for us is even more vital that knowing the benefits of soap during medical procedures. Us knowing God’s love has eternal ramifications.

Following are three reasons knowing God’s love is so essential. To grasp it we need to realize its more than information to be stored in our heads. It must also come alive in our hearts.

May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened. [2]

Perfect Love Drives out Fear and Allows us to Love

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love because He first loved us (I John 4:18-19 NASB).

As I examine my heart, much of my sin is rooted in fear. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of poverty. Fear of unhappiness. Fear of . . . 

Fear causes worrying and robs me of essential peace.

In the above verses, John writes about a love which drives out fear, a perfect love, flowing from the heart of God. 

While we still fear, we’re yet to be perfected in God’s love. However, to the degree we realize God’s amazing love for us, our fears melt away and peace reigns in our hearts.

As I write, I imagine a life with no fear. Fearless. Oh the freedom! Oh the joy! And it’s not just something to wish for. God’s perfect love is real, the chaser of all fears. 

But there’s much more.

God’s love for us is the source of all true love. To the degree we realize His perfect love, we’re able to reflect His love back to Him and to others. 

Perfect love not only gives us courage, is also the source of all of our love.

We love because He first loved us.

God’s Love Enables Our Obedience

And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NASB)

Since our love is rooted in God’s love for us, His love enables our obedience. In the above verses, Jesus gives two vital commands which basically summarizes the entire Bible. Our obedience is characterized by love. It’s the overarching filter to govern everything we do. As the ten commandments state, loving God (first four) and loving others (last six) should guide our every word and deed.

So, why is God’s love for us important?

God’s love enables us to love. And loving is how we obey Him.

God’s Love Roots and Grounds Us

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,  from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19 NASB)

God’s love for us surpasses our knowledge. It’s beyond our understanding and our intellect. Even so, Paul prays that the superlative dimensions of God’s love might be comprehended or realized in a way which comes alive in our hearts.

Paul is praying that what does not fit in our heads, will dwell in our hearts as God is pleased to illuminate it.   

God’s love roots us and grounds us and gives us a vital firm foundation. To the degree God’s surpassing love is illuminated and made real to us, our souls are secured against the storms and trials of life.

Story: There’s a song based on the verses above about the deep, deep love of Jesus. Many years ago, the song was sung at the funeral of Rachel, a little two-year old play mate of my oldest son.

O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus [3]

As the song was sung, I looked over at her parents. I couldn’t comprehend what they were feeling. In my raw state, I wondered how the song could possibly fit since Rachel had died. 

Then it hit me. As deep as the pain Rachel’s parents were feeling, God’s love was deeper still. In their pain, they had an opportunity to experience the depth of God’s love in a way they might not have otherwise known. 

Since then, my wife and I have experienced some deep relational pain of our own, kind of like the death of a child. But through it all, God’s love is deeper still. We can truly say that we know God’s love more deeply because He’s met us in the depth of our grief and pain.

Conclusion

From Zephaniah 3:17 we learned that God delights to be with us and that we make Him happy.

The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

What makes this and other facts about knowing God’s love for us so VITAL is that:

  • God’s love chases away ALL fear
  • God’s love and is the source of our love
  • God’s love enables us to obey Him
  • God’s Root and grounds our soul, no matter what

Prayer

Lord may my comprehension of Your amazing love for me continue to grow as I soak in its reality. Thank You for chasing away my every fear with Your perfect love. Please remind me quickly when fears arise. Thank you that Your love enables me to love You. May I receive Your love and give it away.  Thank You for delighting to be with me. Please help me to grasp Your love more and more. Steady my heart in the firm foundations of Your delight in me. Amen.     

[1]https://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/11/21/tenthings.changedtheworld/index.html         

[2] Ephesians 1:18

[3] Written by Samuel Trevor Francis

Other posts on God’s Love

God’s Everlasting Love

Experiencing the Freedom of God’s Love

God’s Love in a Broken World

Completely Loved

God’s Delight in Us

When we don’t Feel God’s Love

What we Need is Love

Subscribe below to have the posts delivered to your email. We publish weekly. At least that’s the plan. (8^>

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Eternal Thanksgiving, From Whom All Blessings Flow, To Be Thankful Always

Thanksgiving Never Ends.

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When I see this picture of an elderly hand grasping a tiny apple, it brings emotion. I’m not sure what the feelings are, but I think it’s a mixture of sadness and humble gratitude.

I don’t know the story behind the picture, but I do know three billion people in the world make less than two dollars a day. To that portion of the world, this small apple would be precious and the people would be thankful.

Am I thankful for a small apple? Sadly, much larger apples have spoiled in our fruit bowl and become chicken food. Compared to the poorest people, I live in a country with a medium income of over 50k. I’ve never wondered if I’d have food for the next meal. Has this deadened my heart to being appreciate for what God provides?

I don’t want to take for granted God’s blessings, but I have.

Lord, develop in me a continual heart of gratitude which extends beyond a single day of thanking.  

Gifts Point to the Giver

Moments after I pray about having a more grateful heart, my wife enters the room, fresh from her time of solitude.

“I was just reminded of the doxology,” she says. “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”

God had been showing her how easy it is to focus on the gifts and forget the Giver.

Every gift, from small apples, to turkey feasts, to breath for another day comes from God the creator of all things.

I take what she says as an answer to my prayer for God to develop in me a continual heart of gratitude.

When I notice any gift, from food, to provision, to creation, to relationships, to …,  may the gift send me directly into thankful praise to my King.

 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you .. (Philippians 1:3 NASB).

And When people give me praise or compliments may I also see these as reasons to thank and praise God.

When people come up and give me a compliment… I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, ‘Here you are, Lord, it is all Yours.’” Corrie Ten Boom

Being Thankful for Eternal Blessings

Something else which comes to mind is how many things God has done for me in eternity which will never change.

As I focus on these eternal blessings, life’s gifts become cherries on top of a continual thanksgiving feast.

The Bible is full of reasons to be thankful, but here’s a summary of the unchanging truths in Ephesians 1:3-14:

I have every spiritual blessing available to me in Jesus.

God loves me and chose me to be in Christ before the world began.

In Jesus Christ, I’m holy and totally blameless.

It’s God’s pleasure to adopt me as His child through Jesus.

God did these things for me so that His glory, His infinite greatness and His worth, would be demonstrated in kindness and mercy toward me.

I’ve been redeemed, rescued from God’s wrath because of Jesus’ life blood shed on my behalf.

 God lavished His grace and mercy upon me, forgiving my every sin.

God has made known to me His intensions to summarize all things into Christ Jesus, my Lord.

I have a secure inheritance because God’s purposes are never thwarted.

God has sealed me with the Holy Spirit as a promise and pledge of my inheritance.

I belong to God and my life is to be a testimony to the praise of His glory and grace.

These, and many more truths, give me reasons for unending thanksgiving.

May Thanksgiving day launch a mindset of thankfulness in me which will never change.

Prayer

Lord, what a gift today has been. You’re giving me a thankful heart. You showed how even the smallest apple is a gift from Your hand, never to be taken for granted. You are the source of every blessings. Please help me to be continually thankful for You and not just the gifts You give me.

There are so many blessings You’ve given me which will never change. Please develop in me a continual thankful heart for what You’ve bestowed upon me in Christ.

I’m so sorry for the apples I’ve allowed to spoil because I didn’t treasure them. Tender my heart so that I will never take anything for granted again. They all come from Your hand.

Amen.

For Further Reading 

The Connection Between Gratitude and Joy

Enjoying Unhindered Intimacy with God

Communing With God

Completely Loved

Why is Knowing God’s love Essential?

The Connection between Love and Joy

What Threatens us knowing God’s Love?

Experiencing the Freedom of God’s Love

God’s Love in a Broken World

Being Loved by God is our True Identity

Subscribe below to have the posts delivered to your email. We publish weekly. At least that’s the plan. (8^>

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

God's Everlasting Love, Loved in spite of how we feel

U Can’t Touch This

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Stanley Burrell was batboy for the Oakland Athletics from 1973 to 1980. During that time, he was given the nickname “Hammer” because he looked so much like the homerun, king Hammering Hank Aaron. 

After his time with the Athletics, Hammer went on to write and perform the first rap song ever nominated for a Grammy Award record of the year. It became the  winner for best R&B and best rap solo performance. 

The song – U Can’t Touch This. The artist – M.C. Hammer.

I like it. It has an inviting, catchy rhythm. The title is repeated many times during the song.

U Can’t Touch This.

What’s interesting is how these words have helped me get a deeper understanding of some key aspects of God’s love.

You may wonder how the title of a rap song could possibly illuminate God’s love. Let’s take a look. 

Everlasting Love

On a vacation in Highlands N.C. a number of years ago, I was struck by the  the following verse.

The Lord appeared to him from afar, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3 NASB)

 As I rocked on the front porch, staring at the Appalachians, towering above the small mountain town, I dug deeper. I discovered that “Ahabah,” the Hebrew word  translated “everlasting love,” describes a quality of love which is beyond corruption. It can’t be changed by anything physical or what goes on in our souls.

With all the recent devastation in the world, the idea of God’s love not changing, no matter what the circumstance, is extraordinary news. It also means neither choices, thoughts or feelings can affect His everlasting love.

The steady embrace of God’s love for us can’t be changed. It remains untouched and unaffected by any external force. You can’t touch God’s love in a way which can change it.

U Can’t Touch This.

As believers, this changes everything about us, especially since we’ve been chosen to be loved by God since before the world began. [1]  

And how do we more fully grasp this quality of love which is not only unchangeable, but vast beyond belief?

As we ponder and meditate on the enormity of God’s everlasting love, let’s consider other aspects which add to the quality of His amazing love:

God’s Love Rescued Us

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:8-10 NASB)

We were apart from God, facing eternal darkness with no ability to change the situation. In our helpless state, while we were still hostile toward Him, God choose to rescue us. And He did it by sending His Son to die in our stead.

Please don’t allow the familiarity of this great news to cheapen the impact!

We were hostile and helpless, but God, out of His unparalleled love, gave His Son to save us.

And, not only did He save us from God’s wrath by His death, much more will He now preserve and heal us by His indwelling life. 

Jesus Loves Us as Much as God Loves Him

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”[3] Jesus

As much as God loves Jesus, He loves us. How can this really be? It seems unimaginable. Yet, Jesus said it. It is true!

Don’t rush past this. Remain in the truth of Jesus’ abiding love. 

But, we can’t assume upon the love and grace of Christ. [4] Though our actions can’t change God’s love for us, we can choose to disobey. As believers, the strap of His love holds, but Jesus desires us to walk in the fellowship of His love and joy. This is done by relying on Him and walking in obedience. 

Conclusion

As believers in Christ’s finished work for us on the cross, gazing upon and beginning to grasp the magnitude of God’s love for us is a first step in prioritizing and nurturing our relationship with Him.

God’s love has an eternal quality which keeps it from being affected by anything of this world, seen or unseen.

Even when we were against God, His love for us moved Him to send His own Son to die in our place, rescuing us and making us whole.

As much as God the Father loves Jesus, Jesus loves us and we’re called to walk in the fellowship of His love.

Prayer

Lord, I’ll never fully comprehend the extent of Your love for me. It’s beyond my ability to comprehend. However, because You describe it in Your word, I believe it and want to walk in it. Though I don’t understand Your love, please make it real in my heart that it might shape every moment of my life. Amen.

[1] Ephesians 1:4-5

[2] Romans 8:29

[3] John 15:9

[4] Romans 6:1-2

For Further Reading on God’s Love

Completely Loved

Why is Knowing God’s love Essential?

The Connection between Love and Joy

What Threatens us knowing God’s Love?

Experiencing the Freedom of God’s Love

God’s Love in a Broken World

Being Loved by God is our True Identity

Please Check out the new Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child in the Midlands of South Carolina.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

The Joy of Love

The Love, Joy Connection

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A Story

Close to thirty years ago, I was mowing the lawn with the small tractor I inherited from my grandfather. D.B. Leatherwood was a famous lawyer in upstate South Carolina, but to me he was Pop. We were close. I grew up with only a rolling hill separating me from my grandparent’s house. Pop was a self-made man. Orphaned at an early age and raised by his older sisters in the hills of North Carolina, he worked hard to earn a law degree from the University of North Carolina. He moved to Greenville to open his practice and that’s where he met my grandmother.

Pop didn’t show affection, but I knew he loved me. On late summer afternoons he’d hit fly balls to me down the hill. His batting was pristine. I don’t remember him ever even fouling a ball. At dusk, as the cicadas begin their serenade, he’d invite me up for a Pepsi and a bowl of cashews and Fritos. We’d sit in between the massive white columns on his front porch and “watch the world go by” along the busy street in front of his house.

As I mowed and navigated Pop’s old tractor around our small plot of grass, I thought of him. He took such good care of us when my father moved out. In my mind’s eye I could see him cutting our grass with his straw hat and plaid shirt, leaning in to keep the tractor balanced on the hills. He was like a father to me.

The thought of him that day filled my heart with what I must call joy. Though I felt happy, the experience was more than a feeling. For a brief moment the challenges of being a young, married, father of four with a stressful IT job seemed small. It was an eternal, larger than life, moment.

Looking back, I recognize part of the sweetness of the moment was the nostalgic remembrance of my childhood, but the gladness and joy stemmed from my relationship with Pop and our mutual love for each other.

That experience and many like it have made me realize how interwoven joy is with love. Personally, my experiences of joy seem to always involve a loving relationship, mostly with God, but also with the people I cherish.

The Joy of Loving

Scripture confirms how tightly coupled love and joy really are.

David, who loved God with a passion well documented,  wrote that in God, our highest relationship, we find full joy.[1] The Psalms are filled with his worshipful love mixed with joy.

“For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done. I will sing for joy at the works of your hands.” (Psalm 92:4 NASB)

David’s continual posture of loving God brought joy to his heart and gave him courage in the face of many difficulties.

As Saul’s men watched the house to kill him, David wrote to the Lord, “But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your loving lovingkindness in the morning” (Psalm 59:16 NASB).

Our love of God, which extends to others, also fills our hearts with joy.  Follow Jesus’ love for His disciples.

After Jesus washed His disciples’ feet He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34 NASB).

Jesus went on to say that if we loved others in the manner in which He has loved us, two amazing things would happen: we would live in His love and His complete joy would be ours.[2]

And concerning Jesus’ joy, the love connection is clear. In Hebrews we read that His love for us gave Him the joy He needed to endure the cross and secure our salvation.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB)

We find the correlation between love and joy in many other places in Scripture. No matter what is going on, in and around us, loving God and others is the pathway to a joy which will bring courage and strength to our lives.

“Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10b NASB).

The Challenge

Check your heart. At this moment circumstances may be pleasant, or you may be facing difficult trials. Are you encouraged or discouraged? In other words, do you have courage or not? Courage, fueled by a joyful heart, is what we need each day.  No wonder we get the word “courage” from the French word for heart – “cour.”

Where do we find joy? It’s very easy to seek it from the world’s commodities: happy circumstances, pleasantries and fleeting affections which promise much, but produce only pain.

Do we do depend upon the happenings of life to keep our hearts glad? Certainly, there is much in this life to enjoy, but true joy, the kind which yields lasting strength and courage, comes from loving God first and then loving others as He’s loved us.

When this is the case, we are freed. 

Free to love and free to truly enjoy what God has given us.  

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:9-12 NASB).

May we determine to fill our days in worshipful love of God; thanking Him, praising Him and adoring Him.

May we bask in His lovingkindness and love Him with everything within us!

As we love and draw near to Him, joy overtakes us because He is fullness of Joy.

Prayer

Lord, if I’m not careful, my heart gets attached to my circumstances. When this happens my courage to face life’s challenges wanes and flows based on my sense of how I’m doing. When this happens, You have repeatedly directed me to love. Over and over again, this redirects my heart to You, my Fullness of Joy.

May my days be filled with a continual longing to praise You, thank You, and love You. Please help me slow down enough to listen to You and to love the folks You bring my way, even those who hurt me. For this is the example you set for us when you washed Peter and Judas’ feet.

When I love, You fill my heart with gladness and joy, giving me the courage to face what comes my way.

When I stray from this single focused determination to love, please guide me quickly back.

I love You Lord.

Amen.

[1] Psalm 16:11

[2] John 15:9-12

Please Check out the new Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Abiding, Releasing the Debris

Discipleship Rhythms: In the Flow of God’s Spirit

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Remaining in the Flow of God’s Spirit 

Ezekiel 47:  1Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 12 By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing (NASB).

Story

A two-branch creek runs in front of and behind the barn in our back yard. During heavy rains, debris, mostly dead branches and leaves, but sometimes trash, impedes the flow of water.

These deterrents in the stream remind me of how my soul can get clogged up. So much of the world’s happenings can hamper my focus on Jesus. He tells us that, when we come to Him, Rivers of Living Water (His Holy Spirit) will flow from within us. [1] When I focus on the debris, and not Jesus, the source of the River, my life gets clogged up and I become stagnant. 

 Four years ago, a young friend asked me to help him remain in the flow of God’s Holy Spirit. I was somewhat taken aback that he would ask me, but I agreed to walk with him and share what I’ve learned about abiding. In the years since, we’ve both learned so much about staying in Jesus’ flow within us. It’s amazing how our relationships with God can exponentially deepen when we share our struggles and insights with another.

Following are a few principles we’re turning into life rhythms.

Abiding in the Flow

 Free the Debris

John Eldredge has produced a very useful tool called the One Minute Pause App. I’ve been using it to take vital steps toward remaining in the River of God. The app encourages us to free the debris in our souls by regularly giving everyone and everything to God.

This practice, called benevolent detachment, keeps the worldly distractions out of our hearts and gives us soul space.

This clearing out of the debris, which obscures the flow of God’s Spirit, refocuses our minds, will and emotions on Him and not the complexities and tragedies of life.

It’s amazing how regularly surrendering our wills, and trusting in God and His will, keeps our souls in peace and joy. Refocusing on God’s eternal purposes, above the fray of the day, keeps us hopeful, no matter what troubles we face.

Be Nourished by God’s Flowing River

Ezekiel, in the verses above, speaks of water flowing from the temple of God. He writes about many flourishing trees on both sides of the river. These waters bring nutrition to the trees as they provide fruit for food and leaves for healing.

This reminds me of what David wrote In Psalm 1. He compares men, who walk uprightly and delight themselves on God’s law, to be like trees planted by streams of water.  

As we delight in God, and walk in His ways, His Holy Spirit nourishes our souls like nothing else. We were designed for God’s River to flow freely though us, filling us with His joy and love. His flow satiates our soul to complete satisfaction. As we delight in Him, luscious fruit is produced, healthy green leaves flourish and eternal prosperity marks our lives.

Abiding in the river of the flow of God’s Spirit directs us into His design for our lives. As this happens, God more and more becomes our Joy and Delight, the Sustainer of our Souls.

Be a Blessing

Since, while traveling in the flow of God’s Rivers of Living Water, love, joy and kindness are produced, we become a natural blessing to others, even if we don’t realize it. When we’re in the flow, the people around us sense something different. It’s Jesus in us, though they may not realize it.

Blessing others is a matter of obeying the new command Jesus gave us the night before He was crucified. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:12 NASB).

These words summarizes all of Jesus’ commands.  As we follow it, the flow of God’s Spirit is super charged.

Jesus tells us that as we love others as He’s loved us, we will dwell in His love and our joy will be filled to overflowing.[2]

I’m not big into video games, but I remember the Pac-Man power up. In fact, the way Pac-man was super charged when it ate the power pellets, became the formula for power-ups across gaming to this day. When Pac-Man ate the power pellets, it was super charged to take on all foes.

But Pac-Man’s power was short lived. When we lay aside our own agendas and follow Jesus, by sacrificially loving others, our own love and joy are continually powered up because it’s not ours, it’s His River flowing through us.

Ours job is simply to ask Jesus, “Who do You want to love through me next?”

Practice the Rhythm

Begin now. Get alone with God and clear out the debris which clogs up the flow of His Spirit in your life. Gain soul space. Have a conversation with God and:

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (I Peter 5:7 NIV).

 Throughout the day, be nourished by God Himself. Enjoy Him and thank Him for all He has created around you. Be vigilant in ensuring that He alone is your Highest Delight.

Be a blessing. Develop a “love first” look at the day. Rather than focusing on what needs to be done, see your duties as opportunities to bring you to the folks God wants you to love.

Prayer

Lord, please keep me in the flow of the Living Waters of Your Indwelling Holy Spirit. You designed me to function at full capacity when I’m abiding in You. Show me quickly when the cares of this world have clogged Your flow. Please stop me when I try and do anything apart from You.

You alone are my Highest Joy. Please show me quickly if any idol supplants You in my heart. I want to love others as You’ve loved me, but I know this starts with my full knowledge of Your love for me. Show me quickly when I believe lies about Your love. Please direct me to disagree with all falsehoods and agree only with Your truth. I love You Lord. Amen.

[1] John 7:37-39

[2] John 15:11

Previous posts in our From Duty to Delight Series:

Discipleship Rhythms: From Duty to Delight

Discipleship Rhythms: Rules don’t Rule Us

Please Check out the new Cola City Podcast . Discussions that impact the vision of reaching every man, woman, and child.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Relationship

Discipleship Rhythms: Rules Don’t Rule Us

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Why Relationship must Proceed Rules.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8 NASB)

We’ve heard about it in parenting. Rules without relationship leads to rebellion. Life and joy flow from relational connection. Without it, the heart groans.

Story

In the south, we tend to all call ourselves Christian, without really knowing what it means.  Growing up, I was no different. On Sunday mornings, my sister, brother and I  would cut the volume way down on our 4 channel, rabbit ear bearing television. The plan was to stay quiet enough not to wake Mom. If we made it until Rocky and Bullwinkle came on, we were safe. There wouldn’t be enough time to get dressed and ready for church. Mom didn’t like to be late.

My dislike of church wasn’t helped by the fact that we lived very close to a fundamental Christian college. Some of the kids who lived there attended my elementary school. I judged them for the way they looked and acted. They dressed so prim and proper.  And, because they didn’t join in our mischievous ideas of fun, they seemed stuffy and joyless. I felt judged by them. But looking back, I was the one who was doing the judging.

In my eyes, they were a “born again,”  “holier than thou” brand of Christianity I wanted no part of. Besides, I  “believed” in Jesus. I’d tried to live a good live. I hadn’t murdered anyone or robbed a bank. I figured my slot in heaven was secure, since my good deeds surely outweighed the bad. At least that was my thinking. 

While in college, I became convinced that my pursuit of joy in earthly treasures would always leave me empty. My best friend talked to me about giving my life to Jesus. But I didn’t understand why Christ would accept me because of my party lifestyle.  My friend said He would. He asked me if I took a shower before I took a bath. He said I didn’t need to clean my life up to come to Jesus. 

This kind of grace seemed so foreign. Nevertheless, in 1977, I bent the knee and surrendered, best I knew how, to Jesus Christ as my Lord. I understood that at that point He took up resident in my heart by His Holy Spirit [1], but my life did not change for some time.

I believe my conversion to be genuine, but I really had no idea how to follow Jesus as His disciple. What I saw around me was much like the kids I’d avoided in elementary school; folks trying hard to follow rules they read about in the Bible. If we struggled, we read more scripture and kept striving. I’m sure most of us felt exhausted, but nobody let on. 

In 1985, things began to change. Susan and Louis Sutton, a couple in our church, asked my wife and I to be a part of a fellowship group. For about three years, before they began their missionary work in Chad, we did life together with them. During that time, I began to understand how completely different Christianity is from how I was living it.

I’d let following the rules become the most important thing and I’d missed the relationship with Jesus.

Though it took years for the truth to become a heart reality, the Suttons showed us that Christianity, at it’s essence, is about a relationship with Jesus, not following rules. The other stuff, the loving, the holy living, the following Jesus, would flow out of my relationship with Him. 

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

We’ve heard the saying putting the cart before the horse. Picture it a moment. The cart is first and the horse is behind it. How are we supposed to get anywhere? Does the horse push the cart?

As ridiculous as this sounds, putting following the rules before our relationship with Jesus is just as ridiculous.  Though I knew the truth in my heart, my life long tendency to earn my value by what I did, translated into my Christian life. After all, I had to accomplish good grades to pass in school. I had to perform well in the tryouts to make the little league team. I had to pass the required skills in scouts to move to the next class, etc. Though I knew Jesus’ record of perfection and His substitution for me on the cross is what brought me into God’s Kingdom, I had a hard time truly believing my efforts did not secure my status with God.

This was my experience before we met the Suttons and my perspective began to change. 

Rules can never pull the horse. The horse (our relationship with God, paid for by Jesus Christ) empowers our ability to follow Jesus as His disciples.

Righteousness is not because of anything we’ve done, but all because of Christ’s work on our behalf.

As we focus on our relationship with Jesus, not on keeping rules for Him, we begin to follow, out of love for Him, empowered by His Spirit.

Practice the Rhythm

Paul warned the Galatians about adopting a gospel of trying harder. 

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7 NASB)

Galatians 2:21 speaks of how ridiculous it is to try and keep the law to earn our righteousness.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly (NASB).

Don’t move quickly past the meaning of this verse. Would we, by striving to follow the rules to earn our right standing, be so foolish? If we do, Christ died and suffered needlessly.

We must be vigilant in our thinking. Does reading the Bible, serving at church, talking about Jesus, make us any closer to God? It’s very subtle. We must keep seeking to live in the flow of the Rivers of Living Water, [2] not in the dry and dusty land of self effort. All our exhausting, self motivated rule keeping is worth nothing. [3]

Prayer

Lord, please show me quickly when I once again lead with rule following as opposed to allowing what I say and do to flow from my relationship with You. You’ve called me to fiercely love all the folks you’ve put in my life, no matter how they treat me. I can’t do that if I cut off the flow of Your love by trying to follow rules in my own strength. I resolve to wait for You, to yield to You and to allow You to love through me.

[1] Ephesians 1:13-14

[2] John 7:37-39

[3] John 15:5

Previous posts in our From Duty to Delight Series:

Discipleship Rhythms: From Duty to Delight

Subscribe below to have the posts delivered to your email. We publish weekly.

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains

Rhythms to Fuel our Worship and Love

Discipleship Rhythms: From Duty to Delight

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When following Jesus feels more like a “got-to” than a “get-to.”

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42 NASB).

When my youngest son was in his early teens he said, “Daddy, I don’t want reading the Bible to feel like homework.”

 I was very proud of his honesty and found his statement both refreshing and convicting. 

When he said it, I’d been a Christian for at least twenty years. I’d consistently checked the boxes of “quiet times” and Bible reading, but my life in Christ lacked power and joy. I seemed to have simply added the Christian to-dos to an already overflowing task list.

I tried hard to pattern my life after the Jesus I read about in the Bible, but that was the problem.  “I” tried.  Still fighting besetting sins, I often felt  defeated and discouraged. I wasn’t experiencing the Rivers of Living Water Jesus spoke about.[1]

In short, my life in Christ seemed mostly dutiful and not delightful; kind of like homework. 

I found myself, like Martha in the verses above, worried and bothered about many things. I wanted so badly to succeed at being a Christian. Where was the peace and joy I’d longed for? With so many life responsibilities and resources stretched to the limit, I longed for the simplicity of the “one thing” Mary had chosen.

 It’s been many years since my youngest son made that statement. He’s a man now and the integrity I saw in him then, characterizes him today.

Life has had its curveballs for both of us over the years, but we meet regularly, with another friend, to discuss our journeys. Neither of us want our times with Father God to be dutiful, another to-do in a world of activities.

We both recognize how essential time with our Savior is to our becoming a disciple of Jesus. At times, like doing homework, we still must push through, even if it feels dutiful.

Today, my life with Jesus, in-spite of, and perhaps because of, very difficult trials, has become a growing life of peace, joy, and hope in Jesus Christ.

More and More, I believe Jesus enjoys being with me. He is the Delight of my life, and on most days my heart agrees.

What follows are stories, adventures and truths which have played a part in awaking my heart to the joy of following Jesus.

From duty to delight.

Read the stories, dig into the truths, accept the challenges and pray the prayers.

I hope following discipleship rhythms will fuel and sustain your journey as a follower of Jesus. I pray that, as time goes on, these rhythms will become lifelong habits.

I pray you begin to see your times alone with Jesus as a privilege you get to enjoy and not a drudgery you must endure.

My prayer is that you know, at heart a level, how much God loves you and that you embrace your moment by moment union with Christ.

I pray you realize and orient your life around God’s greater story of  conforming us into the image of Christ above all circumstances, even the very hard ones.

I pray you become familiar with, and continually practice, Jesus’ new command of loving others as He’s loved us, which keeps us in His love and fulfills our joy.

I pray you become committed to meeting with trusted friends in the faith on a regular basis to spur each other another on and to speak God’s truth into each other’s lives.

I pray  you regularly look for opportunities to love folks who are far from God, but close to you, always being ready to give a reason for the hope within you.

Stay Tuned.

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[1] John 7:37-39

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

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 Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains