God wants us is to live with joy. We will often think of joy as merely a feeling, but Galatians 5:22 tells us that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. Joy is produced in us as a result of the work of the Spirit! It’s an inside job, and it exceeds the knowledge and understanding of our five-senses. We might look at the world and see nothing but travesties like wars, murders, and devastation. God did not keep us in the dark regarding these things and told us in His Word that they would exist. He didn’t want us to be ignorant of satan’s devices of darkness, and wanted us to realize that we live in a dark and cold world. He also made it clear that our mission is to introduce light into the darkness, and to bring the warmth of His love into the cold reality of this day and time.
We serve a God that sits high and looks low, and He does so every moment of every day. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. Nothing escapes Him, and His intellect and resources have no boundaries or limitations. In Ephesians 5:8, He tells us, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!” Once upon a time, before we knew about the glorious light of Christ, we were filled with sadness and consumed with darkness and fear. That is no longer our reality. Jesus Christ came into our lives and flooded our hearts with his love. God saved our souls because we accepted the love of Christ, and now we are children of his light!
God would not give us the charge and responsibility to walk and operate in this world as children bearing His light, and then not make sure He has equipped us to get the job done. We have been empowered through the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells us to carry the light and to let it shine brightly. In Matthew 5:16(NLT), Jesus Christ tells us, “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Jesus Christ isn’t talking about the illumination that comes from an electric lamp or device. Nor he is saying that we should broadcast to the world every time that we do a good deed. He’s talking about the light that shines from within because of his love. This light is activated, illuminated, and emanated from our inner being as we do what we’ve been called to carry forth.
The love of God is a powerful reality, and it is not a do-nothing power. It is effectual, dynamic, and joyful. It is power that we get to activate daily. The devil doesn’t want us to walk in the joy and love that God has made available, because he knows the power of the light of Christ and the damage it does to his agenda of evil and darkness. If we allow the distractions of this world to steal our focus and cause us to be sad, depressed, and downtrodden, we are letting the external diminish our internal lights, and that should never happen.
The world shows us a visual image of what it looks like to live without the joy and love that our Heavenly Father freely offers us. 2Corinthians 4:4(NLT) tells us, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.” They don’t understand it, but we do! We have been given the distinct honor and privilege to show others the glorious light of the Good News, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. They should be able to look at our lives and see a contrast to what the world offers. They should see the joy that we have, because of our faith in God.
This is not to say that we’re skipping and jumping up and down with excitement 24/7, but our joy should not be hidden, but exposed by our commitment to trust in Heavenly Father. We should recognize how incredibly blessed we are to know and have God in our lives. For some, a new car excites them. Others are excited by meeting celebrities, or by sports, or monetary things. But as for Christians, we should be over the moon with enthusiasm about what God has done for, through, by, and in us through Christ.
1st chronicles 16:25 -29 (NLT) states “Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling. O nations of the world, recognize the Lord, recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.” When we come into the presence of the Lord we must do so with the joy of recognizing how awesome He is and how amazing it is to be in the presence of the Creator of everything. If we truly believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, we will be excited and committed to live with joy every day! ■
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
“Live with Joy!” written by JMack. 4theChristianMan.Com© 2017. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.