Joy is a command!
"Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!" ~ Psalm 32:11. Joy is not optional for the Christian it is a command. Have you ever thought about that before? Scripture is chalk full of tons of commands to rejoice in the Lord. He elsewhere commands us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. If it is a command, we are to obey and to not obey is sin. So, when we are not finding our joy in God, what are we doing? We are sinning! But you may ask, How can God require a feeling? I can't just say to myself ,"Feel happy!" and do it, so how can God say to me to be joyful? You have got a point, you can not of your own power command yourself to feel an emotion. You can not will yourself to do it, it must take something else - the Spirit of God at work within you. All this talk about finding our joy in the Limitless joy of the Infinite God (Father, Son and Spirit) keeps bringing us back to this point - I AM FAR TOO EASILY PLEASED! I need help, I need grace, I can do none of this by myself. I can not love Him by myself nor others by myself.
Piper said something very shocking, he said "You cannot be a loving person unless you pursue your joy in God." So if you sell all you have, if you sacrifice, and even give up your life and have not LOVE (to God and man) as scripture says that it is worth nothing. You can give your life away in Iraq and if it is not rooted in love it is meaningless. You see like the sponge when we are sitting in grace (aka under the house) the love of God is being poured out on us and it just oozes out. Like those dirt poor Christians in 2 Corinthians 8. They gave more than they were able and were so excited, they asked to give more! Now that is love in action! Do you have such a heart with your money? How about your time? How about when there is an opportunity to serve someone and you would rather play another video game or go to the mall. May we continually be filled with the love of God that it is just oozing out onto others and may we look for opportunities to ooze on someone!
Application:
1. Do you see a love for God working out in love and sacrifices for others?
2. What do you do if you are not finding your joy in God?
3. Why do you think those dirt poor Christians were so eager to give so much?
Piper said something very shocking, he said "You cannot be a loving person unless you pursue your joy in God." So if you sell all you have, if you sacrifice, and even give up your life and have not LOVE (to God and man) as scripture says that it is worth nothing. You can give your life away in Iraq and if it is not rooted in love it is meaningless. You see like the sponge when we are sitting in grace (aka under the house) the love of God is being poured out on us and it just oozes out. Like those dirt poor Christians in 2 Corinthians 8. They gave more than they were able and were so excited, they asked to give more! Now that is love in action! Do you have such a heart with your money? How about your time? How about when there is an opportunity to serve someone and you would rather play another video game or go to the mall. May we continually be filled with the love of God that it is just oozing out onto others and may we look for opportunities to ooze on someone!
Application:
1. Do you see a love for God working out in love and sacrifices for others?
2. What do you do if you are not finding your joy in God?
3. Why do you think those dirt poor Christians were so eager to give so much?
posted by FeFiFoPhil | 10:30 AM
10 Comments:
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I have really been thinkin about that story about the POW camp. That man, whether he was a Christian or not, showed Jesus through his love and mercy. When we show joy in God, He loves us back.
Thanks Phil, for being an awesome youth pastor, Jesse Deal
Joy is completely controlled by the Holy Spirit, so when I don't "feel" joyful I am not filled with the Spirit. It certainly teaches me to give my all to Christ, to turn to Him for the joy in my life, not to expect the people in my life to bring me joy, which they cannot really do. It certainly takes the pressure off. It's a God thing. Then, everything around me will be seen trough different eyes and I will have joy! Thanks for making me think. Judy
i haft 2 say i havnt been the best about being joyful ALL the time, i might be acting like it on the outside but on the inside im not,john piper really helped me learn how 2 be joyful in God all the time and that others will see it when u r joyful. Thanks!!!!
Mattie
Lately I've had probs w/ being unjoyful. I know that i have so much to be thankful for and I have no real reason to be down...thanx for the blog it really made me realize what i need to work on.
Bethany
("B" for future reference...lol :P)
This whole "Joyful" topic has definitely been in my mind for the past month...and this morning I caught myself praying that he would help me "Be Joyful." And now I know that the reason this topic seems to connect to me more personally is because I have noticed that at school others really do notice your actions and your "outlook" on life. For me to be joyful in God everyday is a blessing to me because now it gives me more oppurtunity to spread his "Joyfulness" on to others that come to me and ask "Why are you so happy?" and my answer to them is now: "God!!"...thank you Phil for allowing us to understand exactly what it means to be "Joyful"
I know I will not only continue praying that he will help me be Joyful but others too!!
~rel...:-D
thought-provoking, mootable pv. just my thoughts, well anyways gl & be chipper is what i say
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