Joy: a source or cause of delight – Merriam-Webster Online

The above is only a part of the definition of Joy, but the one that spoke to me this morning as I was studying the word.

“²⁷Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy are in his place.”

— 1 Chronicles 16:27

It is with the LORD that I am able to find delight. Yes, I can find monetary good fortune and satisfy worldly desires in other places, but those are fleeting and only provide in the moment. When seeking joy, I have to look for that which is sustaining and not just in the moment. I have to look for that which I can hang on always. With the LORD I am able to find that sustaining constant source of delight.

The LORD is always.

“⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

It is that constant, always that the LORD is that I am able to hang on for always providing joy. I don’t have to go looking. I don’t have to dig for it, He is there and joy is with Him and He gives it freely to any and all.

I struggle with finding where I belong. There are many times that I feel insignificant and as if I do not matter much outside the small world of my immediate family. I am in a state of seeking real joy. This morning I am reminded that I do not have to look any further than with the LORD. Joy is with Him always. I only need to seek Him and will find all that I need. I will find sustainable joy with Him and He is always waiting on me to come to Him and collect.

For us all, joy is found with the LORD. He always has it and is always wanting for us to come and get it. All we have to do is ask and it will be provided.

Jesus said:

“⁷Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” — Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)

What are you seeking for? Are you looking for joy in the moment and have not been able to find it sustaining? What if you sought after Joy with the LORD, as He will provide and that provision is continuous?

When someone is overtly joyous and positive and maybe just plain chipper, I am one of those folks that gets a little be annoyed. I am put off by all of the constant laughs and giggles and often think, does anyone think anything to be serious. There seems to be this oblivion to all that is going on and no sense of urgency to take care of things, much less take care of things the right way.

“⁴⁰And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.” — 1 Kings 1:40 (ESV)

This morning as I began my study on “joy” I was hoping to find how I can be more joyous and instead was led to this passage and found that I should let joy ring out. I am not sure why people are joyous and need not know to a large degree.

“⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “’What does this uproar in the city mean?’” — 1 Kings 1:41 (ESV)

This is me. What is all this joy and noise? I look at where I am and cannot understand all of the commotion and the reason that others are not in the same place as me. I expect that others should be acting and experiencing as I am.

The condition of others is not my concern. I have to concern myself with my own joy and not with that of others. I have to be in my place and not looking to others with the exception of looking for the joy of the LORD. And maybe, just maybe, that is what I am missing. I may be missing that which is the joy of the LORD. Maybe I am missing the example of Christ in those demonstrating joy. I have to be looking for the opportunities to experience joy as opposed to the joyous experience of others.

I have to let joy ring out and be happy for those experiencing it. I have to look for joy in the LORD and allow others to do the same. I have to look to the commotion and celebrate the joy as opposed to wondering what it is all about. I have to look for joy in my own experiences and seek out those chances to let it ring out for the world to experience and join.

What have you been seeing as relates to joy in the world? Do you find yourself looking to the commotion and wondering what is going on? What if you just allowed the joy to be there and expressing your own joy for the world to experience as well?

What does it take to be good, you have to be trained. Being trained is not just for some sort of talent or task, it is for any and all things in order to be good.

“⁶If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.” — 1 Timothy 4:6 (ESV)

To be a “good servant of Christ Jesus” it takes “being trained” in the Word. I cannot know what to say or how to act to demonstrate the glory of God, if I have not been trained in those things. In order for me to serve Him and serve others, I have to learn that and where am I getting it, the Word. I have to be in the Word to learn the Word and when I Learn the Word I have to stay in and devoted to the Word to ensure that what I learned is consistent in and I am able to continually live according to the Word in all that do and say.

Being consistent is the key. In order to be consistent, I have to have a principle to hang on that is in itself consistent. The word of God is that which is consistent. He and His word are the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

“⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8 (ESV)

I must be trained in the Word to move forward in the Word and bring the Word to the world.

What are you trained in? Are you trained and living according to that which is consistent? What if you were to be trained in the Word and hung on the consistency that it contains?

Practice make repetitive. I know, that is a little different than the saying that most of us know and subscribe to, practice makes perfect. Well, I believe the former and it really fits with what I read this morning in God’s Word.

“¹³Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…⁷Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;” — 1 Timothy 4:13 & 7 (ESV)

When I want to get good at something, I have to practice that thing, devote to it and spend the time with it. Before I practice it, I have to be trained in it and understand it and take it seriously. I have to be willing to put in the work for the success of that which I am involved. That goes for my relationship with Christ for sure.

The first step is to be trained in the relationship with Christ, what is that relationship all about, what does each get in return, how do I begin. Once I have been trained in the relationship with Christ, I now have to cultivate that relationship. I have to devote myself to the relationship and practice each and every day to have that repetitive deep understanding of the relationship and of Christ Himself.

I believe that too often, we find something and believe that all is well now that it has been found. We forget that finding that thing is just the beginning. I order to get the most out of it, one has to learn more about it and then dive into it and live it and grow with it. There is a depth needed to understand and apply. There is more than just learning, there is an understanding that is needed.

Training is where it all begins. I learn of something and then train to know as much as I can, but that is just the beginning. Once I have an understanding, I practice to learn how to use that and the understanding to grow the relationship. I need to know about Christ so that I know how to please Him and how He will provide for me.

The growing of the relationship is where the practice comes into play. I work daily to to apply that which I learned. I practice prayer, thanksgiving, providing teaching, and bringing joy. I live the relationship and not just learn about it. I work to repeat those actions that bring glory to Him each day. All of those things that I was trained to bring I practice for Him and the relationship with Him.

What are you practicing? Are you learning and being trained on things and then taking on the practice to create repetitive actions? What if you learned from Christ to have a relationship with Him and did all you could to devote yourself to the training receive from Him?

With my career in learning and development, it is no wonder that I was struck this morning as I read and study the word “train”. I was led here this morning as I was seeking the next in my studies and recalled the message from our pastor on Sunday on this very topic. The message was on the one verse below and I was reminded of my role in the world with our boys that were entrusted to us.

“⁶Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

— Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

I am in this world to bring glory to God and bring the gospel to it as well. This is where it all begins for me as a parent. Our pastor broke this verse down over the course of his message. He pointed out that the “train up a child” is to point them in the right direction. I am to aim them where they should be going. I have to careful and calculated and not just throw them out there and hope that they find what they should find. I have to be thoughtful and deliberate in aiming them where they should go.

And where should the go but to God. I have to remember that I am only a steward of these children and I am to aim them at and to God so that they know “the way he should go”. I have to be the example of where they should go. I have to be sure that they are placed in the environment that narrows the path and give very explicit direction for them.

In all of this, I also have to remember that as another of our pastors reminded me: “Proverbs are principles and not promises”. Training up a child in the way he should go, is only pointing them in the direction and then letting them go that direction. It does not mean that he will always find the target as there are a lot of variables that could derail the direction. The idea of the principles is to give the information for them to correct course when things go awry and get back to “the way he should go”. That is the second part of the verse above. Even when things are not as simple as they were when young, the principles and learning will give that direction to correct the course and get back on track.

One of the lasting things that stuck with me from our pastor’s message was this. If we do not train them up, someone else will. And that someone else may not be looking to aim them in the “right” direction, rather, they may point them in the direction of destruction. That way of destruction may not be visible at the time to the one being aimed, but it will manifest later and the struggle and disarray will ensue. The learner will be lost and have nothing to guide them back to the right path of “the way he should go”.

I am responsible for my boys to aim them in the right direction. I am the steward of their direction, but being the steward is not to get them there, but to provide the direction and the principles needed to keep them going in that direction. Even when they seem to be lead off track, they will be able to find their way back by leaning on what they learned.

What training are you providing? Are you allowing others to aim or point your children? What if you pointed/aimed/trained your children to God and allowed them to learn what was needed to keep them moving toward Him?

“¹After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out,

‘Hallelujah!

Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,’”

— Revelation 19:1 (ESV)

I am excited to get my reward in heaven. I am really looking forward to the time when persecution and adversity will be gone. I will be able to celebrate without the concern with what is going to happen next. I will have arrived to the greatest of all places and situations. But, no matter how much glory I find in heaven at the culmination of my reward, nothing will belong to me. All will still belong to God.

I am a child of God and in this world yield to His glory and power and accept His gift of salvation in my life. As I read this passage this morning I am reminded that it does not change when I leave this world. I will be in His physical presence, and in a place where there is only joy and praise, but I still belong to Him and all glory and power and the gift of salvation are still belong to Him as well.

I am just a servant of God and devote every action and myself to Him. In heaven that is still the case. When He returns, I will be with Him serving Him and bringing glory and honor to Him.

This morning I was reminded strongly as I studied and thought, that in this world I am missing something by not giving all glory and power and salvation to God. I may have been missing out on the giving of all to Him. I have been focused on getting to heaven to experience my reward, without devoting myself completely to Him in this world. I may have missed opportunities to serve Him for His glory. I have to be focused on the now and remember that where I will be rewarded in heaven and will have a relief from the persecution and adversity and will experience all joy and praise myself, I will also still belong to Him and all salvation, power, and glory still belong to God.

What have you been taking for granted here in this world? Are you so looking forward to the reward that you are missing out on the now? What if you were to take action and give all salvation and power and glory now to God, knowing that you will be doing the same in heaven?

It is in my actions where everything is really shown. I can say all the right words and speak a good game, but without actions to back them up, they are just words and after a time, there will be no trust in anything that is said. I have to remember this as relates to that which has to do with God and not just in the world. I have to remember that I am to be bringing glory to God, not only in my words, but also in my deeds. And in doing so I will gain glory in Him.

“¹⁰As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: ¹¹whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” — 1 Peter 4:10-11 (ESV)

I see in the above verses that I am to use those gifts that I have received from God for Him. I am to be working with those gifts to serve others, and take action as opposed to simply sitting on the sidelines and talking about what could or should be done and/or what I could do. It is not enough to talk about it, I have to take action. I have been given responsibility for the gifts and it is up to me to use them for His glory.

When I am and have used the gifts given to me, I have demonstrated my relationship with Christ and am rewarded. My reward, glory. No, not monetary and certainly not anything tangible in the moment here in this world. I have been rewarded with glory in His name and that in and of itself is enough. I have to know that it is enough. I have continue as though it is enough.

I belong, not because of what I do, but how I use the gifts that have been given and entrusted to me. I belong because I have continually demonstrated actions that bring glory to Him and serving others before and in place of myself. I belong because God has saved me and because I show any and all that salvation daily in my actions.

What actions are you taking at all times? Are you demonstrating the gifts given you by God, continually? What if you were to use your gifts for others to demonstrate your thanks for them and to bring glory to Him and for those reasons only?

I find that there seems to be a lack of consistency in those things that are done. I am witness to the lack of doing and then reacting to the urgency to get it done and then the celebration of completing the task at the last minute. The reality is that all of the “extra” urgent work could have been avoided if there would have just been some consistent work at getting it done in the first place without all of the scrambling.

The above also bears itself in our Christian lives. I see the lack of continual worship and doing for God and then the scramble to appear greater in the moments of visibility. The thing is that doing those things continually is not glamorous and are boring. But, when done, they open up more time to enjoy the other parts of life as opposed to running around constantly putting out fires.

We are to do those things that belong to salvation and our relationship with Christ, not when visible, but continually.

“⁹Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹²so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” — Hebrews 6:9-12 (ESV)

There are those things that are done in and for the name of Christ. I am tasked with doing those things, not just once, but continually and in “earnestness”. I am to do all the things to bring glory to His name, at all times and not just in the moment when others may be watching. When I do, I avoid the “extra” work to get caught up.

Yes, when the work is done continually, there is a lack of fanfare and in some cases there is a lack of any acknowledgment of the work even being done. In fact, there is in most cases invisibility to the work at all. It is the consistency in the work that makes the work more meaningful. Yes, there is the rush from the urgent need and completion, but there is also the exhaustion from having to exert more energy than would normally be needed. Working consistently provides more stability and long term pleasure in the work.

My relationship with God is one the warrants the continual action and consistent work. I have to remember to work with purpose and consistency to maintain the relationship and not wish for all to be great just in those times of urgent need.

What does your approach to God’s work reveal? Are you constantly scrambling to accomplish things? What if you were consistent and continually worked for Christ to demonstrate your continued relationship with Him?

It is too easy to get caught up in all that goes on in the world today. I know that I get distracted by the sensationalism that is out there. And, I know that is the goal of those in the realm of the propaganda that is all a part of that sensationalism.

“⁵For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” “⁸But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:5 & 8 (ESV)

I have to remember that I belong to the light and that light is Christ Jesus. I have to look to those things that are in the light and believe in them as opposed to those things that are in the darkness, like the sensationalism. I have to focus on those things that are driving to the hallowed one and fully believe in and know that He is the light that I belong. Not just in the light with me, but being the light.

I look at my boys and see where they are in life and their youth. I see that Bryson has begun his career in the world and I can only continue to guide him to the light that is Christ Jesus and pray for him that he is able to remain in the light and not drift into the darkness that the world would have him in. With Aarron, I look for him to continue to grow and mature and focus on the light and seek it out as he continues in that growth. He is just beginning to be more on his own with his college experiences and I can only pray that he will lean on what he knows to be true in the LORD.

I look to my writing in the above paragraph and see my hope in our boys. The reality is that it is really up to them as to finding and holding on to the light that is Christ Jesus. I can only point them in that direction and guide them in getting there. It is up to them to be in and remain in the light as the get older.

I know that I belong to the light that is Christ Jesus, as does Lori, Bryson, and Aarron. Lori and I have the continued responsibility to let the boys know that they belong to the light and we are here to continue pointing them there. We have to continue reminding them of what is right and that they do belong and that they should continue to seek the light out and not just expect it to find them in their time of need.

What does your idea of belonging to the light look like? Are you simply looking to find something? What if you were to understand that you belong in the light and that you should continue seeking to remain there at all times?

This morning as I was reading and preparing my thoughts, I was impacted and reminded to be positive and uplifting. I read in Galatians to “Walk by the Spirit” and as I was I immediately jumped to all those items that demonstrate walking in the flesh. Paul does a great job of informing the Galatians and us of those things that are of the flesh and the worldly law. So much so that he even infers that the law was and is all about the flesh. I am not going to speak of those things of the flesh this morning, I will simply let you know of the passage (Galatians 5:16-26) and allow you to do your own reading. What I will do is refer to the fruit of the Spirit that is discuss in the same passage.

“²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” — Galatians 5:22-23, 16 & 18 (ESV)

There are so many things that are within the fruit of the Spirit and our relationship with Christ and our belonging to Him will bring those out. I see in the verses above and am reminded that all of those are not referred to in the law. When I am loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled, there is nothing that anyone will say or act out against me. There is not law that says that you are to not be or do those things. There is no one in court waging war against anyone that was to loving.

As this is such the greatest thing to be cared for as we live by the fruit of the Spirit, it makes so much sense to live those traits out every day. I belong to Christ and He is the example of all of these traits and when I strive to be more like Him I am to be the example of Christ as I live, so living by the fruit of the Spirit are in my wheelhouse.

What traits are you living by? Are you trying to defend yourself and the right to live by the flesh? What if you focused all of your actions on your belonging to Christ and living by the fruit of the Spirit instead?