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Recently, I have spoken with several people who have told me they do not attend church because they see so many hypocrites go to church and yet continue to lead lives that are morally corrupt. In other words, they live life like the devil and then pretend they are angels by going to church and participating in religious activities.
I suppose on the surface this seems like a logical decision. Why go to church if you believe everyone there is a hypocrite? Of course, you have to come to terms with the fact that you are letting people you perceive to be hypocrites rule your spiritual life. But even more important is the fact that this type of mindset precludes you from figuring out what you are going to do wtih Jesus Christ. And at some point, all of us have to to come terms with Jesus Christ on a personal level, separate from others.
Jesus took off his God-hood and became man for one simple purpose – to save sinners (Philippians 2:5-11). He makes no pretension about who He is or what He is offering. He is the Son of God and He alone has the power to forgive sins.
In his book Mere Christianity , C.S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, acutely summarizes the work and mission of Jesus, “I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus]: ‘I am ready to accept Jesus as a great teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man, who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
The truth of the matter is we are all hypocrites. Romans 3:23 tells us that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The law of God constantly reminds us that we can never keep it. Any of it. That is why Jesus came – to offer us life that we may have it more abundantly in Him. (John 10:10)
It is always easy I suppose to look at others and their failures and shortcomings and feel pretty good about ourselves. Much like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican that Jesus told in Luke chapter 18, we beat our chests and say to God, “Thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers…” The only issue is God does not see us like that. And that really is the beauty of Christianity. It is a personal relationship. Jesus never compares us with others and tells us repeatedly not to do the same.
All of us one day will be judged by God and His measuring stick will not be how we stacked up against others as so many presuppose, it will be His Word, “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48)
I urge you not to put off getting to know Jesus because of others. His offer of salvation is too great to pass over and all that will matter in the end as you stand before Him will be if He knows you.
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"The seeming peace a sinner has is not from the knowledge of his happiness but from the ignorance of his danger."
-Thomas Watson, Puritan
Showing posts with label Philippians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippians. Show all posts
Friday, July 8, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Christmas Story….Completed
In just a few days we will celebrate Easter Sunday, more than 2,000 years since the first Easter Sunday was observed by the disciples and more than 500 other witnesses. It is this event, the resurrection of our Lord and Savior that is the pinnacle of the Christian faith. It is also this event that makes the birth of the Savior significant for without the resurrection His birth, life, ministry, and death are all rendered meaningless. In fact, the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that “if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty…we are of all men the most pitiable.”
Perhaps no truer words of the significance of the resurrection were ever spoken. Even the harshest critics of the resurrection of Christ have to admit that if He did indeed rise than death truly holds no power for those that put their faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. In fact, no other world religion offers a Living God. All of their gods are dead in their graves with no power to help their followers either here on earth or in the life to come.
Not too long ago I saw a television program on the rise of the Muslim religion across the world. At one point, they interviewed a Muslim man about the difference between his religion and Christianity. The man said that the two religions are very different not so much in their practice but in their belief regarding salvation. He said that Islam does not offer a personal Savior like Christianity that forgives men for their sins with no effort on their part. He said it is on this basis alone (human achievement vs. grace of God) that the two religions differ greatly. And I would also add that it is this fact that elevates the work of Christ above everyone else.
The Bible tells us the God loved us and died for us, “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Did you catch that? God loved us while we were sinners and at enmity toward Him. I often think that the first question I will ask God when I see Him is, “Why did you love us so much?” It is this very love that compelled him to take off His God-hood (Philippians 2:5-8) and become man in order to provide redemption for mankind – something we could not do on our own.
So, as we approach Easter Sunday and contemplate the resurrection of Jesus, let’s make it a point to share this Good News with others. I just heard the other day that there is talk of changing the name of “Easter” to something else because it is too Christian sounding. Very sad indeed, but not surprising given the state of our nation these days. But no matter the name, we as believers in the One who resurrected know its significance, so go out and proclaim it boldly, always sharing it with others in love.
Perhaps no truer words of the significance of the resurrection were ever spoken. Even the harshest critics of the resurrection of Christ have to admit that if He did indeed rise than death truly holds no power for those that put their faith and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. In fact, no other world religion offers a Living God. All of their gods are dead in their graves with no power to help their followers either here on earth or in the life to come.
Not too long ago I saw a television program on the rise of the Muslim religion across the world. At one point, they interviewed a Muslim man about the difference between his religion and Christianity. The man said that the two religions are very different not so much in their practice but in their belief regarding salvation. He said that Islam does not offer a personal Savior like Christianity that forgives men for their sins with no effort on their part. He said it is on this basis alone (human achievement vs. grace of God) that the two religions differ greatly. And I would also add that it is this fact that elevates the work of Christ above everyone else.
The Bible tells us the God loved us and died for us, “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:8) Did you catch that? God loved us while we were sinners and at enmity toward Him. I often think that the first question I will ask God when I see Him is, “Why did you love us so much?” It is this very love that compelled him to take off His God-hood (Philippians 2:5-8) and become man in order to provide redemption for mankind – something we could not do on our own.
So, as we approach Easter Sunday and contemplate the resurrection of Jesus, let’s make it a point to share this Good News with others. I just heard the other day that there is talk of changing the name of “Easter” to something else because it is too Christian sounding. Very sad indeed, but not surprising given the state of our nation these days. But no matter the name, we as believers in the One who resurrected know its significance, so go out and proclaim it boldly, always sharing it with others in love.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Beholding the Birth of the Savior
Tomorrow is Christmas and I have never gotten over the fact that God humbled himself and became man in order to save sinners. One of my favorite passages on this marvelous truth is Philippians 7:5-9, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Many people believe that Jesus first began to exist at the time of his birth in Bethlehem but the Scripture teaches that He has always existed as the eternal God Son (Hebrews 1:5; Psalm 2:7). Jesus subjected Himself to the will of the Father and put aside His position in heaven to come to earth as a man and suffer the death of the cross in order to redeem man. This is the message of Christmas. As the angel said in Luke 2:11, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” A Savior was born. The wise men and the shepherds did not come to worship a baby, they came to worship God. They understood the Scriptures and Jesus’ mission to fulfill the law, validate the words of the prophets, and complete the redemption plan.
It is so easy to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas but I have found this year that the shopping, tree decorating, and wrapping can be truly joyful when Christ is at the center. And that is true at all times of the year, isn’t it? The world can seep in just as easily in mid-June as it can in mid-December. I heard a preacher say this week that the key to overcoming temptation and sin is to fill your life with Godly things and thoughts. If we are listening to the world’s music, reading the world’s books, and watching the world’s movies and television programs, how can we expect to have any type of genuine relationship with the Living God at Christmas time or any other time of the year?
The Lord calls us to be set apart unto Him and to present ourselves as a living sacrifice which He says is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1-2). It is reasonable because He has already purchased us as His own by His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. How much more so should our life reflect this spiritual reality than at the time of our Savior’s birth?
“What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him?
I give Him my heart.”
-Christina Rossetti
Many people believe that Jesus first began to exist at the time of his birth in Bethlehem but the Scripture teaches that He has always existed as the eternal God Son (Hebrews 1:5; Psalm 2:7). Jesus subjected Himself to the will of the Father and put aside His position in heaven to come to earth as a man and suffer the death of the cross in order to redeem man. This is the message of Christmas. As the angel said in Luke 2:11, “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” A Savior was born. The wise men and the shepherds did not come to worship a baby, they came to worship God. They understood the Scriptures and Jesus’ mission to fulfill the law, validate the words of the prophets, and complete the redemption plan.
It is so easy to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas but I have found this year that the shopping, tree decorating, and wrapping can be truly joyful when Christ is at the center. And that is true at all times of the year, isn’t it? The world can seep in just as easily in mid-June as it can in mid-December. I heard a preacher say this week that the key to overcoming temptation and sin is to fill your life with Godly things and thoughts. If we are listening to the world’s music, reading the world’s books, and watching the world’s movies and television programs, how can we expect to have any type of genuine relationship with the Living God at Christmas time or any other time of the year?
The Lord calls us to be set apart unto Him and to present ourselves as a living sacrifice which He says is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1-2). It is reasonable because He has already purchased us as His own by His life, ministry, death, and resurrection. How much more so should our life reflect this spiritual reality than at the time of our Savior’s birth?
“What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part.
Yet what can I give Him?
I give Him my heart.”
-Christina Rossetti
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Valley of Transformation
A dear friend of mine recently gave me a book entitled, Hinds Feet on High Places. It is an allegorical novel by English author Hannah Hurnard, which she wrote in 1955. The story is about a young woman named Much-Afraid, and her journey away from her Fearing family and into the High Places of the Shepherd, guided by her two companions Sorrow and Suffering. It is an allegory of a Christian devotional life. The book takes its title from Habakkuk 3:19, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
I have only read about half of the book thus far, but it has already enraptured my soul. The main theme that keeps repeating is how the Lord uses suffering to bring us to the mountain top. I have come to realize in my own walk that I spend much more time in the valley than I do on the mountain top, and that is not because the Lord is some type of sadist that enjoys watching us suffer, but because it is only in the valley that He can transform us into the image of His Son.
C.S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts to us in our pain.” Perhaps it is just human nature but for whatever reason we seem to listen more intently when we are suffering. Our Savior, of course, is not a stranger to suffering either as the the prophet Isaiah describes Him as, “A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3) It is also within the realm of suffering that God comes into full view. It seems to be most often His modus operandi for revealing Himself to us.
When the Apostle Paul was knocked off his horse and blinded on the road to Damascus, the Spirit of the Lord appeared to Ananias and told him that he was to put his hands on Paul to restore his sight. Ananias was confused, of course, given Paul had been persecuting Christians during this time, prompting Ananias to ask the Lord why He would use such a man for His work. Now listen to the Lord’s reply, “Go [go and find Paul], for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16, italics are mine). The great Apostle Paul, who has written one third of our New Testament canon, was commissioned by God to suffer. Why? Because it was through his suffering that the gospel was going to move forward to the outermost parts of the world and in the process, Paul was going to become more like Christ.
So, what effect did this have on Paul? Look at his summation of his sufferings in Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Pretty powerful, I know. Paul looks at all the he has lost and suffered and sees it all as rubbish because he has gained Christ.
God’s number one purpose in our lives as Christians is for us to be completely satisfied with Him ... just Him. It is in this realm of complete abandonment that we reach the mountain top for Jesus Christ IS the mountain top. Even when we are deep in the valley, when we are abiding in Him, He “shall renew our strength and mount us up with the wings like an eagle and we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
I have only read about half of the book thus far, but it has already enraptured my soul. The main theme that keeps repeating is how the Lord uses suffering to bring us to the mountain top. I have come to realize in my own walk that I spend much more time in the valley than I do on the mountain top, and that is not because the Lord is some type of sadist that enjoys watching us suffer, but because it is only in the valley that He can transform us into the image of His Son.
C.S. Lewis, the great Christian apologist, once said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts to us in our pain.” Perhaps it is just human nature but for whatever reason we seem to listen more intently when we are suffering. Our Savior, of course, is not a stranger to suffering either as the the prophet Isaiah describes Him as, “A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” (Isaiah 53:3) It is also within the realm of suffering that God comes into full view. It seems to be most often His modus operandi for revealing Himself to us.
When the Apostle Paul was knocked off his horse and blinded on the road to Damascus, the Spirit of the Lord appeared to Ananias and told him that he was to put his hands on Paul to restore his sight. Ananias was confused, of course, given Paul had been persecuting Christians during this time, prompting Ananias to ask the Lord why He would use such a man for His work. Now listen to the Lord’s reply, “Go [go and find Paul], for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16, italics are mine). The great Apostle Paul, who has written one third of our New Testament canon, was commissioned by God to suffer. Why? Because it was through his suffering that the gospel was going to move forward to the outermost parts of the world and in the process, Paul was going to become more like Christ.
So, what effect did this have on Paul? Look at his summation of his sufferings in Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” Pretty powerful, I know. Paul looks at all the he has lost and suffered and sees it all as rubbish because he has gained Christ.
God’s number one purpose in our lives as Christians is for us to be completely satisfied with Him ... just Him. It is in this realm of complete abandonment that we reach the mountain top for Jesus Christ IS the mountain top. Even when we are deep in the valley, when we are abiding in Him, He “shall renew our strength and mount us up with the wings like an eagle and we will run and not be weary and walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
Monday, June 7, 2010
Only One Thing Is Needful: Choosing the Good Part
Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about how God desires to meet our most crucial need. It is a need that we seldom contemplate as so often our prayer life is laden with petitions to have temporal needs satisfied and frequently we are discouraged with how God chooses to answer or not answer our requests. Perhaps the very things we are asking for are not the things that God most wants to give us.
When examining the Scriptures it is hard not to notice that when Jesus intervened in a life, a need was not just met, or a prayer answered, but a life was changed. Jesus did not just perform miracles for the sake of alleviating some discomfort or ailment but to display his love. It was Jesus’ love that motivated his acts of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and resurrecting the dead. For you see everything Jesus did was to give people what they really needed – Him. In fact, every circumstance that comes into a person’s life whether they are a believer or not is designed by God for the sole person of bringing that individual to Him. It is God’s will that no one perish (John 3:16) and it is in Him alone that we find perfect peace (Philippians 4:7). The Bible itself is the divine communicating with man. Every book details God’s action toward man, not man toward God. It is God who is reaching down to man continually to bring man to Himself.
The greatest blessing God can bestow is not helping us pay a bill, fix a broken relationship, or heal our wounded bodies, but to give us a new revelation of Himself. It is interesting to notice that the one thing that Moses asked for when he was commissioned by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land was a greater revelation of God’s glory (Exodus 33:18). He did not ask for strength, provisions, or more men. He asked for God Himself. Moses acutely understood what we so easily miss at times. Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). As God reveals Himself to us, we truly receive everything we have ever sought but so often we get caught up in the circumstances of life and miss God’s still, small voice that is trying to speak to us of His great glory. It is no wonder that when Moses met with God on Mount Sinai his face shone so brightly that he had to wear a veil. Such is the effect of a personal encounter with the Living God.
When this truth permeates our life, our prayer life will change. We will begin to pray for spiritual growth, discernment, and obedience instead of the next promotion, new house, or lavish vacation. We will no longer look toward Wall Street as the barometer of economic certainty but toward the Cross of Calvary. For it is at the Cross that we find what we truly need – unconditional, unfathomable, incomprehensible love. It is here on the hill of Golgotha that we discover our Savior, our Redeemer, our Blessed Hope and are able to join in unison with the Apostle John as he closes the Book of Revelation with the following plea, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” - St. Augustine
When examining the Scriptures it is hard not to notice that when Jesus intervened in a life, a need was not just met, or a prayer answered, but a life was changed. Jesus did not just perform miracles for the sake of alleviating some discomfort or ailment but to display his love. It was Jesus’ love that motivated his acts of healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and resurrecting the dead. For you see everything Jesus did was to give people what they really needed – Him. In fact, every circumstance that comes into a person’s life whether they are a believer or not is designed by God for the sole person of bringing that individual to Him. It is God’s will that no one perish (John 3:16) and it is in Him alone that we find perfect peace (Philippians 4:7). The Bible itself is the divine communicating with man. Every book details God’s action toward man, not man toward God. It is God who is reaching down to man continually to bring man to Himself.
The greatest blessing God can bestow is not helping us pay a bill, fix a broken relationship, or heal our wounded bodies, but to give us a new revelation of Himself. It is interesting to notice that the one thing that Moses asked for when he was commissioned by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land was a greater revelation of God’s glory (Exodus 33:18). He did not ask for strength, provisions, or more men. He asked for God Himself. Moses acutely understood what we so easily miss at times. Nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37). As God reveals Himself to us, we truly receive everything we have ever sought but so often we get caught up in the circumstances of life and miss God’s still, small voice that is trying to speak to us of His great glory. It is no wonder that when Moses met with God on Mount Sinai his face shone so brightly that he had to wear a veil. Such is the effect of a personal encounter with the Living God.
When this truth permeates our life, our prayer life will change. We will begin to pray for spiritual growth, discernment, and obedience instead of the next promotion, new house, or lavish vacation. We will no longer look toward Wall Street as the barometer of economic certainty but toward the Cross of Calvary. For it is at the Cross that we find what we truly need – unconditional, unfathomable, incomprehensible love. It is here on the hill of Golgotha that we discover our Savior, our Redeemer, our Blessed Hope and are able to join in unison with the Apostle John as he closes the Book of Revelation with the following plea, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” - St. Augustine
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Enter Thou into the Joy of Thy Lord
The folks at Vitacost, an online vitamin store, sent me a newsletter this week that mentioned a recent study about the value of happiness to one’s health. According to researchers from Columbia University, “people who are enthusiastic and content are less likely to develop heart disease than less happy people.” I am sure your reaction to this statement was the same as mine – do we really need a study to tell us this? But in thinking about this further, while we all agree that happiness makes for a better life, how does one actually attain happiness? And once attained, how do we hold on to it?
The Bible has much to say on the subject of happiness or joy. Joy is actually the stronger and more spiritually dynamic of the two emotions because happiness is a response to circumstance, whereas joy is a confidence built on relationship. It may surprise you to know that the word “joy” is mentioned 244 times in the Bible! I believe it is the Lord’s desire that all his creatures attain and remain in a state of joy.
According to John MacArthur, joy is a gift from God to those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is being produced in them by the Holy Spirit because they receive and obey the Word of God while experiencing trials and keeping their hope fixed on the glory which is to come. True joy is an unwavering constant in a Spirit-filled life. It is not produced by a bed of roses experience of tranquility, peace, comfort and safety. It is produced by the presence of God and His Holy Spirit, even if you're sitting in prison waiting for possible news about your execution, as Paul was when he wrote his great letter of joy to the Philippians. Paul had joy as the result of his eternal relationship with the Living God through Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit within him. And because Paul was so near to God, he was full of joy.
Based on this we can conclude that circumstances are not a factor when it comes to experiencing joy. Isn’t this a wonderful truth!? To know for certain that no matter what is going in your life you can still have joy because it is your nearness to God that determines its level - not your bank account, marriage relationship or health status.
Paul was filled with joy in spite of his situation. I truly get this. I understand how you can be unhappy with your circumstances and not be depressed because your heart is filled with joy in your relationship to God. You know deep within that despite the turmoil going on outside that God's there and that He loves you, and that because of His gift of salvation you have no guilt in your conscience before Him. That is true joy, and I might add a joy that the world in all its pleasures simply cannot offer; and it is also a joy that the world cannot take away.
How's the joy in your heart today? If you do not have the joy described above, you can have it today. Right now. It all begins with the Lord and confessing sin to the One who has the power to save and the power to bestow true joy, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation… More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 10:9-10; 5:11).
"I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one,
Lay down Thy head upon my breast.
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting-place,
And he has made me glad."
-Horatius Bonar
The Bible has much to say on the subject of happiness or joy. Joy is actually the stronger and more spiritually dynamic of the two emotions because happiness is a response to circumstance, whereas joy is a confidence built on relationship. It may surprise you to know that the word “joy” is mentioned 244 times in the Bible! I believe it is the Lord’s desire that all his creatures attain and remain in a state of joy.
According to John MacArthur, joy is a gift from God to those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is being produced in them by the Holy Spirit because they receive and obey the Word of God while experiencing trials and keeping their hope fixed on the glory which is to come. True joy is an unwavering constant in a Spirit-filled life. It is not produced by a bed of roses experience of tranquility, peace, comfort and safety. It is produced by the presence of God and His Holy Spirit, even if you're sitting in prison waiting for possible news about your execution, as Paul was when he wrote his great letter of joy to the Philippians. Paul had joy as the result of his eternal relationship with the Living God through Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit within him. And because Paul was so near to God, he was full of joy.
Based on this we can conclude that circumstances are not a factor when it comes to experiencing joy. Isn’t this a wonderful truth!? To know for certain that no matter what is going in your life you can still have joy because it is your nearness to God that determines its level - not your bank account, marriage relationship or health status.
Paul was filled with joy in spite of his situation. I truly get this. I understand how you can be unhappy with your circumstances and not be depressed because your heart is filled with joy in your relationship to God. You know deep within that despite the turmoil going on outside that God's there and that He loves you, and that because of His gift of salvation you have no guilt in your conscience before Him. That is true joy, and I might add a joy that the world in all its pleasures simply cannot offer; and it is also a joy that the world cannot take away.
How's the joy in your heart today? If you do not have the joy described above, you can have it today. Right now. It all begins with the Lord and confessing sin to the One who has the power to save and the power to bestow true joy, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation… More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Romans 10:9-10; 5:11).
"I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one,
Lay down Thy head upon my breast.
I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in him a resting-place,
And he has made me glad."
-Horatius Bonar
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