Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. Isaiah 24:15
Today we bask in the glow of a Christ come to us in the form of a baby. A baby which held the power to defeat sin in His tiny hand. A baby that so terrified a king that he called for the deaths of all the young children in Bethlehem. A baby that drew people of all races, creed, religion, nationality to Him for the promise of peace through all eternity.
The other day I read part of a sermon by the renowned 18th century pastor, Jonathan Edwards. He became well known for glorifying God’s beauty and magnificence throughout his lifetime in sermon after sermon. Today I’d like to share a portion of his sermon titled, “Children Ought to Love the Lord Jesus Christ Above All” (Sermons and Discourses 1739-1742). It seems fitting in celebration of the birth of our Savior and a lesson for us all to carry in our minds and hearts.
“Christ is so lovely that the angels in heaven adore Him. Their hearts overflow with love for Him and they are continually, day and night without ceasing, praising Him and giving Him glory. He is so lovely that God the Father infinitely delights in Him.
Christ is His beloved Son, the brightness of His glory, whose beauty the Father continually sees with infinite delight, without ever being weary of beholding Him. And if the angels and God himself love Christ so much more than anyone or anything else, surely all children on earth ought to love Him above all things in this world.
Everything that is lovely in God the Father is in Jesus Christ, and everything that is lovely in any man is in Him. For He is man as well as God, and He is the holiest, most humble, and in every way the most excellent man that ever was. He is the true delight of heaven.
There is nothing in heaven, that glorious place, that is brighter or more lovely than Christ. By becoming man, He was as a flower springing up out of the earth, lovelier than any seen in all this world.
There is more goodness to be enjoyed in Christ than in anything or anyone in all the world. He is not only loving, but all sufficient for any need of humankind. There is enough provision in His person to supply all our wants and satisfy all our desires.”
To our God who created the glorious heavens and earth, to Him be all power and honor and majesty. Amen
I believe I’ve mentioned in studies past about an incident I once had that gave me a completely different view of the power of meekness. As a softball coach I sat in on all the board meetings where coaches were presented to be approved for the following season. During a previous season I had a difficult time with an overbearing and aggressive parent. With the board’s backing I expelled him from all practices and he wasn’t to be near the dugout during games. He was abusive not only to me but to his own daughter. At the next coaches’ approval meeting he showed up and ranted in front of about 20 coaches (all men and then me) about how if the board were to approve me, he would work to have the league’s field use permit negated. As he stood pointing and gesturing at me, calling me names, and disparaging my character I could do nothing but sit in stunned silence. I didn’t speak up and defend myself. I didn’t argue. And when he verbally attacked the president of the league he was told to sit down and stop talking.
What happened after the meeting shocked me even more. Coach after coach approached me and expressed how impressed they were with my stalwartness. They all thought I was fabulously and coolly dismissive of the angry man. I walked to my car that night with pats on my back. When I got into my car I started sobbing and trembling. I was silent in the meeting because I was terrified.
And this was just over a children’s sport! Imagine the torment, abuse, vitriol, that Jesus withstood. Many might say, “Of course He could, He was God.” Ok, fair point. Now imagine the disciples, once Jesus ascended, facing that same abuse, violence, and hatred. Continue on to all the new members of Christ’s church. Today there are still Christians in that same situation. The faithful in China, Iran, UAE, Cuba, Sri Lanka and more face persecution. According to an article in Christianity Today, 13 Christians are killed everyday because of their faith. Every day 12 churches or Christian buildings are attacked. (CT Jan. 13, 201). And we are still asked by the Lord to be gentle.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5
Warren Wiersbe, on his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, says Jesus’ message is one of the most misunderstood that He ever gave. And it’s no wonder. Just a focus on Jesus’ definition of gentleness and meekness and the world’s shows diverse paths. When studying this sermon, given to disciples, Jesus was concerned about our conduct as believers. We are expected to live in full submission to the Father. And that full submission leads us to humility, mourning over our sins, a gentle heart, and an obvious separation from the world.
When we look over Jesus’ life here in the flesh, we see a man who was God – a man who was powerful yet gentle. And then the clearing of the temple happened.
“In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” John 2:14-16
This was the angry Jesus. He saw how the poor were being manipulated and abused when they came to the temple to worship. He saw the wrong-hearted attitude of those who twisted God’s plan. This didn’t sound like the meek and gentle Jesus!
I told my husband the other day how this passage in scripture is the one place people point to and say “See, Jesus got angry too! So, I can have the same zeal about unbelievers!” I would counter, in His three years what defined Jesus was how loving and gentle He was. In the few moments of anger toward either the Pharisees or those on the temple grounds He was able to make a solid point. His meekness and gentleness made these moments all the more powerful.
Pastor Jonathan Edwards once remarked on the necessity and danger of zeal, “Lukewarmness in religion is abominable and zeal an excellent grace; yet above all other Christian values, it needs to be strictly watched and searched.” You see, we can let our zeal for any topic take over our lives and it becomes a breeding ground for pride. Prideful ways lend themselves to anger and bitterness. A passionate Christian, when not allowing the Holy Spirit to weed out pride, will sound more like a clanging gong. Had I, in that moment at the softball meeting, engaged in a back and forth argument with the angry parent, I wouldn’t have been viewed so positively. I had every right to defend myself but silence made a more powerful point. Had I been a faithful believer at the time I wouldn’t have been so frightened but I realized later that God was teaching me an amazing lesson.
I’ve long searched for ways to be more gentle in my dealings with, well, just about everyone. I’m a doer, a hard-charger, a take no-prisoners type. And too frequently I have stepped on a lot of feelings. When I’ve tried to be the “kinder, gentler” me I realized I came across as a phony. Even to strangers. It wasn’t until I allowed God to work on a heart change that I saw the fruits begin to bloom.
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1:19-21
Not only does human anger (and being oblivious to anyone else’s needs or point of view) not produce righteousness but it also doesn’t produce gentleness. Quietness, listening and responding appropriately based on God’s will, which is implanted in us, brings us the ripe, juicy fruit of the Spirit. However, zeal and passion are never eliminated from our Christian way of life. God wants a passionate believer. One who seeks truth and to live it. A person who defends the weak and loves the unlovable. A believer who gives everything over to the Lord.
Friend, yes, the Father wants submission to His Way. To the Truth. That submission can look to the world like weakness. But as we stand while people berate us or even spit at us, we know the strength inside us. We can grieve for their sins, for our sins. We can love those who hate us because of the one who loves us. We can be kind and gentle knowing our all-powerful God has done the same with us throughout all time.
And in those times the Lord calls us into greater action, like Jesus in the temple, our passion instead of it being lost in the din, will be noticed.
The six of us sat around the table enjoying our meal of tacos as we somehow found ways to laugh and grab hold of normalcy. Then one of us heard her voice call from the other room. My daughter jumped up to see what was needed. Upon returning she announced, “She wants a taco!” And so, a small plate of our feast was made and delivered to the other room. We gathered around the bed of my dying mother-in-law watching her savor a few bites of her favorite food. She had proclaimed to a nurse just a few weeks prior that she couldn’t wait to be healed so she could enjoy a taco and a beer. Although no beer was in sight this night, we all watched her take small bites of that tiny gift of a taco. We cried in our laughter. And I realized this was joy.
For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds. Psalm 149: 4-5
I mentioned at the beginning of this week’s look at joy that God brought me into one of the most difficult experiences of my life not too long ago. When we finally submit ourselves to God’s will we can look back over our lives and see the pruning He has done in us for our good. Those trials and tests were given at just the right time for the right purpose. To see our lives this way we must recognize not only the love He has for us but His soverenity over us. He knows our timeline backwards and forwards. It’s why we must give up telling God what to do and instead ask Him to reveal His will to us. And although I don’t know what else He has in store for me in the coming years I do know He prepared me for the death of the woman who started me on my joy journey.
“(Jonathan) Edwards teaches us, then, of the God-centeredness of all joy in this fallen world. He reminds us that the formula to joy is not God and _____ so much as God in ___.”
Dane Ortlund, Edwards and the Christian Life
God was in the room with us that night as we watched Bev groan in delight with each tiny bite. She wasn’t pain free, she wasn’t healed, but she was joyous. In just a few days she would be gone. In her wake she left a trail of glorious blooms. Joy-filled moments with friends who came to say goodbye. Quiet, joy moments at 2:00am while pain medicine was administered, holding hands and remembering together. Laughing as we struggled ineptly to changed bedsheets under her ravaged body. We could do this because she loved the Lord more than anything. We could find joy because we knew the Lord was waiting for her.
As for me? Had the Lord taken her say five or ten years ago I would have been angry. I would have felt so lost without her. As I write this, yes, I’m crying from missing her but I’m not angry. I’m so happy for her that she is free from pain. She sits in the loving arms of God waiting for the last chapter to commence.
"Those who sow with tears
will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with them." Psalm 126:5-6
The question for you is do you believe Him? Do you abide in Him? Do you believe that our tears will turn to joy one day? I know a number of Christians who have a very difficult time believing this. The have a difficult time with the apostles and Jesus reminding us to find joy, yes, even in the trials. Yet we are surrounded every day with brothers and sisters who do fully believe this truth.
It’s not they that are a mystery – the ones who seem joyous in adversity. It’s those of us who aren’t joyous that are the mystery. We have the promises of God at our fingertips. We have been lovingly provided for by the Father. He has been with us in our trials. He is with you right now in whatever you are going through. He is pruning. He is watering you. Seek Him. Abide in Him. Ask Him to show you His will. Thank Him for what you do have today, for there is always something for which to be thankful for, like a taco.
"If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands 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." John 15:10-11
“What the sun does to a valley as night gives way to day is what joy does to the Christian as the heart is filled with joy. The Father is the sun itself, the Son is the brightness of the sun, and the Spirit is the warmth of the sun,”
I told a friend recently that maybe I should apologize to the world for the COVID pandemic. You see I had for years been praying to God for patience and joy to be cornerstones of my life. I thought if I just tried really hard at not doing certain behaviors I would succeed at this task. While I had found some success in listening to God and obeying when He asked me to take certain actions, I bucked and kicked at fully surrendering myself to Him. And then the pandemic came upon us.
As most of us experienced, our lives were thrown into chaos. Some people almost completely shut down. Loved ones lost not only their jobs and communion with family and friends, but their very lives themselves. We were placed in a state of intense fear and uncertainty. Where I live the government restrictions became egregious, almost to the state of Marshall Law. People were afraid to leave their homes. In some areas you could be fined over $1,000 just for sitting in your parked car on the street next to the beach. In another, the city “outlawed” people from driving up to senior care facilities and waving at them from their windows. Despair, anger, fear, was thick in the air whenever you made the allowed trip to the grocery store. And boy was I angry.
I became angry with the media for putting out confusing messages. At government officials who chastised us for wearing masks then not wearing masks. At neighbors who jumped to the other side of the street as though we each were walking around with deadly leprosy. I despaired over my church closing indefinitely and not seeming to care of the state of their members. I wanted to rage on social media, to my friends and my husband. Discord, not joy, was my refuge. While each day I spent hours doing my various Bible studies no less! I told my Bible study ladies, “I’m a great Christian when I’m at my house, until I walk out the front door.”
Then one day my husband, the chief operations person for a group of Alzheimer’s care facilities, came home looking completely undone. The exhaustion on his face confirmed his first words to me, “That’s it. I can’t do this anymore.” The long days and nights keeping his residents and staff safe while managing the ever-changing governmental rules had taken its toll. I realized he needed joy not discord from me. He didn’t need to hear me complaining at dinner about the latest news announcement. He didn’t need to feel my anger over something that happened at the grocery store. No, he needed me to be a mirror of the Holy Spirit.
“Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” James 3:5-6
So, my true journey of seeking joy began thanks to the pandemic. It was a test for many of us Christians. I knew my past failures meant a new approach was needed. One that was Holy Spirit directed. We can no better wish for, pressure ourselves, think into action, joy than a tree can try really hard to make cherries. But what does a cherry tree do in order to create that beautiful fruit? It allows its very essence, it’s holy purpose to do its work inside the roots, trunk, branches, leaves and blossoms. Effortlessly in full submission to its Creator.
“A Christian new birth brings a change made in the views of his mind and relish of the heart so that the regenerate person seeks his interest and happiness in God.”
Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections
You see, when we seek real change from the ugliness this world grows in us it means we seek to become who God intended us to be. People close to Him, loving Him and being immensely loved by Him. It’s no wonder “love” is listed first as a fruit of the Spirit. Without it, the rest would be impossible. In researching Christian joy, I discovered these three characteristics of a joy-filled life in full bloom.
1. Submission: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
This submission is not slave to master as some non-Christians like to portray. No, it’s a loving mentor, teacher, parent who sincerely knows and wants the best for us. But unlike those relationships we never grow out of needing the Lord to guide us. He just guides us through more difficult and more beautiful experiences. His loving omniscience is where we must put our trust.
2. Seek to Glorify God’s Will: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2
With each word we speak, each action we take, even every thought it should be with turning ourselves over to God in worship. When we wake in the morning, prayer sets us on the right path in seeking ways to glorify Him to our family, friends, co-workers and strangers. In other words, the old saying, “What would Jesus do?” should be on our minds in conversations with the Spirit throughout our day.
3. Seek God’s Glorious Beauty: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Hebrews 13:15.
Jonathan Edwards’ theological focus through the entirety of his life was God is the foundation of beauty. Nature doesn’t exist for itself but for the glorification of God. I took up a challenge to think on God every 30 minutes earlier this year. Whether in my car, cooking dinner, shopping, I stop for a minute, look around and thank God for the amazing creation around me. The beautiful sky or quenching rain. The child’s laughter nearby or even the opportunity to sit in traffic so I could listen to the rest of a podcast. He is all around us in full color and glory, especially during our trials. Praise Him!
Friend, our joy comes from the love God has shown us with the work His son has already done for us. It comes from the work the Holy Spirit is doing in us. The blossom? The fruit? That’s the work He is doing through us for all the world to see.
The search for joy and happiness has been called one of the great universal mankind desires by pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards. It’s this craving for joy that leads some to dangerous, adrenaline junky activities. For others it sets a bar so high in relationships that they burn through marriages to find the “perfect one.” Some seek this seemingly elusive state of being through drugs, alcohol, or the accumulation of stuff. “If I only I had that car or house, I’d be happy,” the poor man speaks. “If I had a husband or children then I’d be happy,” says the single woman. As God so often does, however, He turns the world’s understanding of this simple three-letter word, joy, inside out.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4
When I first read these verses a few years ago I had to laugh. It reminded me of a scene from an old movie, National Lampoon’s Animal House. In it, young men are pledging to be members of a college fraternity. In one scene they are being given the paddle and are required to yell out, “Thank you, Sir! May I have another?!” In other words, they are to act like they are enjoying the painful beating.
The disciple James admonishes the scattered Jewish Christians to rejoice in the persecution and difficulties they face. And so many of us read that, scrunch up our face and say, “What?” Prior to studying the Bible and taking my faith seriously I thought joy or happiness meant smooth sailing. When I wasn’t in that state of joy, I surmised I just wasn’t trying hard enough. When trials came, as they always do, I despaired over my lack of joy.
I spent an entire year announcing to anyone that I was seeking “sparkliness.” Yes, that’s a word I made up. But you probably know what I mean. I wanted to exude joy whenever I walked into a room. To be shiny and happy and light in my demeanor. To be free of sadness and negativity. Sounds beautiful, right? So, I put on a happy face wherever I went. I worked hard at not saying anything negative. I told myself to shake off being mad or sad. Friends, I’ve got to tell you, I failed miserably. Because if we are “faking it,” it will show up in our fruit.
“It is evident, both by Scripture and reason, that God is infinitely, eternally, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy.”
Jonathan Edwards
So, why couldn’t I be gloriously happy as well? Which brought me running headfirst in to the book of James. My worldly version of joy was completely upended. I learned what makes God truly, gloriously happy – when we place our trust, our love, our worship in Him and Him alone.
You see, while I was striving so hard to find joy, I hadn’t realized what can truly give me a life of joy. A life where I allowed the Holy Spirit to burn away my joy-killers – discord, gossip, neediness, conceit, and envy. A life that worships and gives glory to the giver of all beautiful gifts, Jesus. The difference between those young men trying to get into a fraternity and receiving their “dues” is as a Christian we can find joy in knowing any persecution or affliction we face can be experienced in Jesus’ name. Can be turned over to our loving God for help and comfort.
The Holy Spirit and I, we started off with little tests along the way. Helping me to see the bits of goodness when things didn’t go as planned. The process of rebirth led me to one of the most difficult experiences I’ve had to date. Through terrible sadness and mountains of tears I found joy. I found it by leaning heavily on the Lord.
John Calvin was right when he said, “We can experience joy in adverse circumstances by holding God’s benefits in such esteem that the recognition of them and the meditation upon them shall overcome all sorrow.”
This week our look at the Fruit of the Spirit, joy, may feel like one of the hardest to understand to some. If, however, we’ve accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must also look to Him for the truth of what lies beyond this world. An eternity with our gloriously happy God who loves us so much He longs to be with us in the New Eden.
emboldened.net 