Tag Archives: Hebrews 12:1-2

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

 

The connection between Thanksgiving and Joy

Gratitude, Key to a Life of Joy

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What I read felt totally outlandish. How could it be true? A good friend has a mass on their chest. They go in for a biopsy on Thursday. A marriage is in trouble. A job was lost. Relationships are broken. A long-time friend died of a brain tumor. Loved ones are sick. People are in deep emotional pain.

Considering things like this, what I read seems impossible. And it isn’t even a suggestion. It is a command.

Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (I Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT).

Be thankful in all circumstances?

I do believe God is for me and that His indwelling Spirit enables me to carry out what He commands. But to always be grateful is hard to imagine. How can it be?

How is it Possible to always be Grateful?

To be truly grateful in everything, I must pull my perspective away from my circumstances. I must realize that God has something far richer in mind for me than an easy, comfortable life.

From God’s word, here’s what I know:

I was created with deep longings which can only be satisfied by God Himself.[1]

Delighting in God, enjoying Him, loving Him, and praising Him, satisfies these deep longings. [2]

Pursuing things of this world to satisfy my soul leave me empty and headed for destruction.[3]

God uses all things for my greater benefit, according to His purposes, not mine.[4]

Above all things, God is at work to make me more and more like Jesus.[5]

Following Jesus means His character being formed in me, not by my efforts, but by dependence upon His Spirit within me.[6]

In Jesus’ endurance of the cross, He remained fixed upon God’s greater purposes, even during excruciating pain.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 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 12:1-2 NASB).

On the cross, Jesus had Joy.

Relational Joy.

 Fueled by His love for His Father and for us, joy strengthened Jesus through unbearable pain. 

No matter what else is going on in our lives, the fact that Jesus, Lord of Lord and King of Kings, values us enough to lay down His life for our relationship with Him, should fill our hearts with overflowing gratitude. And gratitude draws us near to God, the source of all Joy.[7]

Gratitude, the Gateway to Relational Joy

If I’m bemoaning my circumstances, the eternal overshadowing joy of the Lord can never be experienced.

If I’m only measuring how I’m doing by how my life is going, I’ll tend to be ungrateful, and joy will be killed.

God is not absent from my pain. In fact, if I call upon Him, my Ever-Present Help in Trouble [8], His peaceful nearness cleanses and heals deep parts of my heart, untapped when circumstances are easy.

From personal experience, I’m fortified in my troubles when I turn to God for comfort and not the false affections of the world.

Our gratitude for the gifts God gives us, especially everlasting life with Him, invites our soul to develop a posture of thanksgiving. God is good and God is for us. The more we see this, and point everything back to Him in glorious thanksgiving and praise, joy will grow and spill over into rejoicing, come what may.

Practice It

Think about a present trouble in your life. It could be related to health, finances, relationships, busyness, or any number of difficulties in this broken world.

 In the midst our very hard times, God invites us to call on Him as our Comforter in all we face.[9] He is for us. He is near to our broken hearts.[10]

As you receive the comfort of His nearness, thank Him. Thank Him for being with you and for the price He paid for your reconciliation. Realize that especially in your trials, He’s always at work to make you more and more like Jesus.

Ask Him to bring other things to your mind to be grateful for. Develop a habit of giving all thanks and glory to God.

As did Corrie Ten Boom, present all praise from others as fragrant offers back to 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

Prayer

Lord, I’m sorry that I haven’t developed a regular rhythm of thanking You for everything in my life. The more I walk with you, the more I’m convinced that you are for me and that You are at work in every aspect of my life. Please help me thank you for the pleasant times and the heart aches.

Teach me to linger and savor Your life all around. Slow me down to pause and thank You at every turn.

Thank You for the way joy is unleashed when I have a heart of gratitude. When I’m thankful, the joy of my relationship with You explodes in my soul.

Please keep me focused on loving You, thanking You, and loving those You bring my way.

Amen.

[1] Ecclesiastes 3:11

[2] Psalm 37:4

[3] I Timothy 6:9, Matthew 6:19

[4] Romans 8:28

[5] Romans 8:29

[6] Galatians 4:19, Galatians 2:20

[7] Psalm 16:11

[8] Psalm 46:1-3

[9] II Corinthians 1:3-5

[10] Psalm 34:18

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

Complete Joy, Connecting Love and Joy, The Joy of the Lord

Rhythms: UP (The Source of Jesus’ Joy)

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But of the Son He says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom.
“You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness above Your companions” (Hebrew 1:8-9 NASB).

Jesus has been anointed with the oil of gladness (exultation and extreme joy). 

As we  grow in our knowledge of God being our Highest Joy, we will look at how Jesus’ glad heart strengthened Him and gave Him courage. And we will look at how we’re fueled by the nearness of Jesus and His joy.

In spite of what He faced, even on the cross, Jesus’ life was marked by joy and gladness. And we’ve been called to follow Him and learn from His life, as we depend upon His Spirit within.

What can we learn about His Joy, which He says completes our joy.

The Joy of Relationships

Relating – a connection between.

Out of the depth of love within the Trinity, man was created and given the breath of life. We were created for fellowship and relationship with God. And, as amazing as it seems, God delights in our connection with Him.

In fact, Zephaniah writes that our connection with Him causes the Lord to rejoice with shouts of joy. [1] We actually bring joy to God.

This helps bring clarity to the following verses in Hebrews: Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 12:1-2 NASB)

Reconciling our connection with Him was the joy set before Jesus.

Knowing His death on our behalf would re-establish our broken relationships with God because of our sin, gave Jesus joy, a joy which fueled His endurance on the cross. 

Consider Jesus’ words to His disciples the night before He went to the cross: “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. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John15:10-12 NASB)

His command – Love others as He’s loved us.

His reason – That His Joy might be in us and that our joy might be complete.

It may seem strange from an earthly perspective, but realizing the complete joy of Jesus seems to have everything to do with loving.

Love and Joy are tightly coupled. They appear together at the beginning of Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit. [2]

True, lasting joy doesn’t spring from earthly happenings, but rather from the depth of love in our relationships.

Paul wrote about it:

But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.  You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me (Philippians 2:17-18 NASB). 

For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy (I Thessalonians 2:19-20 NASB).

In fact, he tells us to always rejoice in our love of God.

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you (Philippians 3:1 NASB).

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

Story: I remember a tough day in the early nineties when our kids were small. My wife had just found a nest of mice in her clothes drawer.  Our dryer was broken.  I had some high priority work issues, along with the normal challenges of parenting four children.

After disbursing of the mice, I was hanging up our wet towels and blue jeans on the clothes line, trying to formulate a plan for fixing what else was broken.

Then it hit me. Like an apple bouncing off the head of Isaac Newton, I was awakened. 

What happened with the mice and the dyer and how my work issues were resolved was very temporal, what really mattered was how my wife and my relationship survived the strain. She was in distress over finding rodents in our room.

Our relationship, and how I loved her through the difficulties was much more important than solving the problems. 

When I finished hanging up the clothes, I sat down to unpack what seemed to be a huge paradigm shift. Could relationships and loving be the key to life?

Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees, from Matthew 22:36-40, came to mind. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 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.”  

Then I thought of the ten commandments and how they are all about loving God and loving others.

Since then, though I’ve forgotten the focus for great chunks of time, I’ve been intentional about having a love first mindset. I will testify that when this focus is operating as it should, I have unexplainable joy.

Conclusion

 Jesus’ life was marked by joy. And, as we look deeper, we see a definite connection between love and joy. It was His love for us, and our reconciliation with Him which gave Him joy on the cross. In fact, it fueled His endurance.

On the night before Jesus was crucified on our behalf, He gave His disciples a formula for experiencing His joy. The secret – loving others as He’s loved us. If we do this, we will remain in His love and our joy will be made complete.

Paul also experienced the joy of sacrificial love. He equated joy with being poured out like a drink offering and he called the Thessalonians his glory and joy. Paul also commands us to be full of joy in our love for the Lord.

Joy, which satisfies our longing hearts doesn’t come from fighting for ourselves. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Our experience of joy is directly related to how we love.

Prayer

Lord, You’ve awakened me to the tight connection between love and joy. Thank you. Please stop me quickly when I forget and try once again to derive my feelings of being okay from my circumstances. Please keep my heart in a love first mode, realizing all along that any loving I do must come from You. I pray the people I love would recognize You in  every word and deed.

Amen.

Personal Study

Highlight Hebrews 12:1-3

Explain it in your own words

Apply it to your life

Respond to God in prayer 

[1] Zephaniah 3:17

[2] Galatians 5:22-23

Previous posts in the UP series:

God’s Amazing Love

God’s Essential Love

What Hides God’s Love

Christ Lives in Me

Raised up with Christ

Who’s your Treasure

.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:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Grasping God's Delight in Us, Oh The Depth of Love

Keep Celebrating the Love of Easter

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We celebrated Easter a couple of days ago. However, Eastern Christianity celebrates Easter next Sunday.[1] So, this might be considered a true Easter week. Not that we need special dates to ponder the central event of the Gospel, but Easter came and went too quickly for me this year. I’m still pondering the stunning discoveries of God’s great love for us poured out on the cross. Deeper dimensions continue to unfold and I don’t want to move on.

Even the most stable human love pales in comparison to God’s great love for us. And when relationships cause unthinkable emotional pain, there’s an invitation to drink deeply of His delight in us. What we discover can set us free from the trappings of offense and allow us to love sacrificially as He’s loved us.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB)

The Passion of Christ

Good Friday is also referred to as the “passion of Christ”. Passion is a strange word to describe the murder of Christ, but it fits the Latin origin “passio,” which means enduring suffering. The modern application of the word “passion,” an intense desire, appears disconnected from the original meaning. But the connection has to do with the intensity and endurance of the desire. The root word, “patio” expresses the idea of being moved to action where there is pain and suffering.

Jesus was moved to action in the midst of unimaginable pain. His desire was to endure suffering for our sakes, even though He could have chosen otherwise.

Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53 NASB)

Jesus’ intense desire was for us, motivating Him to endure indescribable pain.

Excruciating Pain

To understand Jesus’ suffering for us, consider the Romans used iron nails up to seven inches long driven into the victim’s wrist and ankles to fasten him to the wood.

The nails pounded through the wrists would have crushed the median nerve, the largest nerve going to the hand, causing indescribable pain. “The pain was absolutely unbearable,” says Dr. Metherell. “In fact, it was literally beyond words to describe; they had to invent a new word: excruciating. Literally, excruciating means ‘out of the cross.’”[2]

Nails driven through the ankles would have produced similar pain. And there was the unmerciful beatings and flesh flying scourging leading up to the cross.

There was no existing word to describe the suffering Jesus Christ was willing to endure on our behalf. His passion for us was excruciating.

The Lord was Pleased to Crush Him

But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering (Isaiah 53 10:b NASB)

This speaks again of God’s great desire to purchase our eternal fellowship with Him.

Pleased to crush Him. These words really have no place to land in my heart. How could God be pleased to have His Son crushed and broken for any reason? Could we agree to this for any of our children for any reason? Of course not. Yet, he wished this for His Son on our behalf.

For the Joy Set Before Him

let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 12:1b-2 NASB).

What was the joy set before Jesus which motivated His endurance of the Cross?

As I ponder the question, I know the answer. Rescuing us from eternal separation was the joy set before Jesus. We bring Jesus joy; so much joy it motivated Him to endure the unthinkable.

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 (Zephaniah 3:17).

The Lord actually delights to be with us. We cause Him to rejoice and shout for joy. Don’t read quickly past this. Allow it to sink past all the pains of human hurts and anchor your soul.

It bring the Lord joy just being with you.

God’s Delight in Us

So Jesus’ intense passion for us motivated Him to endure excruciating pain to rescue us. Seeing His eternal fellowship with us gave Him joy which fueled His passion and endurance. God’s delight in us is so great He was pleased to have His son crushed on our behalf. Being with us brings God joy.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for the many love messages we find in Easter. Your love swallows up all the pain of human offences. In light of your great delight in us, hurtful human actions are as grains of sand at the bottom of Your ocean of love.

When your love is hidden from me, please destroy all fortresses and strongholds which raise themselves up in an attempt to hide you.[3] You are love.

I’m only beginning to grasp the far reaching extent of Your delight in me. Please keep showing me that Your love may flow through me.

I rejoice in You this moment. May my life be a constant praise to You. Amen.

 

[1] Eastern Christianity uses the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian. For this reason, Easter sometimes falls on a different date. This is the case in 2019.

[2] https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions…/what-is-the-lords-passion

[3] II Corinthians 10:3-5

 

Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains