Giving the Joy Away

John 16: 22  So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

 

This was Christ’s message to his disciples before he was to die. Now is your time of grief…..He knew it was coming, His followers had a pretty good idea something bad was about to happen. Then as Christ always does, He gives comfort. I will return, and then no on will take away your joy. Joy is pretty important to Christ, it is a theme that runs throughout the Bible. God promises joy time and time again, and we know that God is not a liar. We know that He is a promise keeper. We know that Christ did defeat death, and the Disciples did in fact rejoice at His return. Then it only stands to reason that we have that joy, and no one can take it away. That is the truth. Today and everyday we have that joy, and no one can take it away.

 

So what gives? We sure do not seem very joyful day in and day out. I am convinced it is because we get too caught up in our time of grief. Not just our times of grief that are major ordeals, but cheap, insignificant, worthless times of grief. We forget just how big this world God created is, and just how small we really are. When I stand at the edge of the Gulf and look out, all I can see is water. On a clear day, you can actually see the curvature of the earth. As I stand there and ponder just how small of a speck I would be if I were to be dropped out in the middle of it, I start to understand why we deny ourselves joy. We spend our day in grief over not getting what we want, instead of celebrating  all of the joy that is around us. There is always some negative aspect of every day. The devil will always throw up a road block or two, just to try and trip you up. Often it seems that we spend a lot of time looking for the road block, and very little time living with the joy we have been given. As a result no one has taken our joy……we just decided to give it up. That is the way it works you know? No one can deny you salvation, but it is yours to give up. No one can take away a blessing, it is yours to give up, and no one can take your joy from you, but you can give it up, or pass it by.

 

So what do we do with that? We take the joy, all of it. The big joys in life, and every single small one. Christ did not hang on a cross, and defeat death, just so that we might “survive” this life. He did that so that we might have joy, not just in the eternal, but everyday. When Christ came back and showed Himself to his Disciples they did not just perk up a little bit….Could you imagine? “Oh hey Jesus, great to see you, but I am going to go on about my day. I have a tent to mend, fish to catch, taxes to collect”……  No by a long shot! They began to live a life full of JOY! They could not be contained, nor discouraged. Were there road blocks? Yes! Did the devil do his best to discourage, absolutely! They chose the joy. Instead of living an OK life, they chose to lead outstanding lives, full of the joy of the Lord. That is where we find ourselves today. How will we respond? Will we allow ourselves to think we are larger than life? Will we search for every little road block, or will we focus on the joy? Will we live our life in our small little world, or will we choose to live in the expansive joy that can only be found in the Christ Jesus?

 

No one can take your joy, so make sure that you do not give it away!

 

 

God Bless,

Brian Thetford

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The Ridge Fellowship

 

Psalm22