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Joy. In this whole discussion of "does it matter how we Christians live" the word or idea of "joy" or "joyfulness" stands out as something we are supposed to have, to posess, intrinsic to our experience as Christians. It's probably the one thing I lack most. It's probably the one thing I desire most.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
These are the words of Jesus. So what does the word "joy" mean? Strong's defines joy in the Greek as: G5479
χαρά
chara
khar-ah'
From G5463; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight: - gladness, X greatly, (X be exceeding) joy (-ful, -fully, -fulness, -ous).
Cheerfulness...calm delight...gladness...exceeding gladness. Wow! Here's my problem. The stock market goes up, I'm exceedingly glad. The stock market goes down, I'm exceedingly unhappy. My children are well behaved and exhibit joy themselves, I'm joyful too. They fight and fuss, I'm upset and angry. My wife...well better not go there, but I trust you get the picture. What I'm saying is that my happiness is most often dependent on my circumstances, the weather, my satisfaction with my job, my income and the list goes on and on.
Jesus says, "No, that's not how it works." I give you my joy as part of your trust and belief in me. Let me quote from Mark Buchannan's book, Your God is too Safe again. "...true celebration is deciding purposefully to rejoice and making every effort to do so. Celebration is the practice of lifting our eyes from our preoccupation with all the work we have to do and the trouble we're in and the money we owe and the reputation we strive to keep - to lift our eyes from all that and set them on things above. It's training ourselves, in the midst of and in spite of all that might be amiss, to see heaven:..."
I love that last sentence. "Training ourselves, in the midst of and in spite of all that might be amiss, to see heaven." I think that is what I was trying to express in my last post. I couldn't quite find the words to express what I was feeling. How do you describe what might be more real than the reality we are in. How do you describe what it is we might be missing because we are focused myopically on the reality of this world? We need to train ourselves to see heaven. We need to be farsighted. That is, looking beyond the reality of this world, the reality of our circumstances, to what is even more real.
Sadly, so many of us, myself included, who profess to know Christ lack this joy. There are moments, even days were I have joy, but at some point something will come along and take that from me. Joy is not happiness. It is not denying the things that make us sad, the death of a loved one is a sad event, the loss of your job is not something to rejoice in...usually. Christian joy is this; training ourselves to see heaven. It's what makes us different.
The Honest Christian
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
These are the words of Jesus. So what does the word "joy" mean? Strong's defines joy in the Greek as: G5479
χαρά
chara
khar-ah'
From G5463; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight: - gladness, X greatly, (X be exceeding) joy (-ful, -fully, -fulness, -ous).
Cheerfulness...calm delight...gladness...exceeding gladness. Wow! Here's my problem. The stock market goes up, I'm exceedingly glad. The stock market goes down, I'm exceedingly unhappy. My children are well behaved and exhibit joy themselves, I'm joyful too. They fight and fuss, I'm upset and angry. My wife...well better not go there, but I trust you get the picture. What I'm saying is that my happiness is most often dependent on my circumstances, the weather, my satisfaction with my job, my income and the list goes on and on.
Jesus says, "No, that's not how it works." I give you my joy as part of your trust and belief in me. Let me quote from Mark Buchannan's book, Your God is too Safe again. "...true celebration is deciding purposefully to rejoice and making every effort to do so. Celebration is the practice of lifting our eyes from our preoccupation with all the work we have to do and the trouble we're in and the money we owe and the reputation we strive to keep - to lift our eyes from all that and set them on things above. It's training ourselves, in the midst of and in spite of all that might be amiss, to see heaven:..."
I love that last sentence. "Training ourselves, in the midst of and in spite of all that might be amiss, to see heaven." I think that is what I was trying to express in my last post. I couldn't quite find the words to express what I was feeling. How do you describe what might be more real than the reality we are in. How do you describe what it is we might be missing because we are focused myopically on the reality of this world? We need to train ourselves to see heaven. We need to be farsighted. That is, looking beyond the reality of this world, the reality of our circumstances, to what is even more real.
Sadly, so many of us, myself included, who profess to know Christ lack this joy. There are moments, even days were I have joy, but at some point something will come along and take that from me. Joy is not happiness. It is not denying the things that make us sad, the death of a loved one is a sad event, the loss of your job is not something to rejoice in...usually. Christian joy is this; training ourselves to see heaven. It's what makes us different.
The Honest Christian
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