The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in John 17:13,
"I [Jesus Christ] am coming to you [God the Father] now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they [Jesus' discipes] may have the full measure of my joy within them."
Merriam-Webster defines joy as "a feeling of great happiness". "The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight." Other words that bring some meaning to what Jesus asked the Father for on our behalf: elation, exhilaration, exultation, ecstasy, euphoria, rapture, enjoyment, pleasure, cheerfulness, exuberance, jubilance, contentedness and satisfaction.
Jesus wants us to have the "full measure" of his joy within our lives. This is not for all people... it is only for all who have embraced him in faith - true believers. He wants us to experience his joy in our own lives!
Who does not want to experience the joy of Jesus Christ? Who of us do not want to have our existence in this life marked by joy?
Those who reduce the Scriptures into dry academic theological tomes, apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. Those who are engaged in maintaining and protecting their positions within a congregation or an elder board or some denominational institution apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. Those who are fastidious in their "do-gooderism" (how is that for a word?!) and go sniffing around the rest of us (you know who you are!) apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. You get the point...
So, what if I am not experiencing this joy these days? Very simply, I have my eyes off the Lord and off the great "hope" we have in Jesus Christ. Each and every believer should feel greater joy than the lottery winner who is waiting for Monday morning to come to redeem his ticket for hundreds of millions. Our inheritance in the resurrection Jesus has wrought for us is so much more! The Lord has richly blessed us, out of his incomprehensible love with of a wonderful and lavish inheritance that includes a warm welcome into the open arms of the very love the Trinity abides in! We are welcomed into God's river of delights, Psalm 36:8. We are welcomed into eternal pleasures at the right hand of God, Psalm 16:11.
We who make up the body of Jesus Christ here on planet earth have every reason to be the most joyful of all mankind! Look at what is coming our way!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
"I [Jesus Christ] am coming to you [God the Father] now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they [Jesus' discipes] may have the full measure of my joy within them."
Merriam-Webster defines joy as "a feeling of great happiness". "The emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight." Other words that bring some meaning to what Jesus asked the Father for on our behalf: elation, exhilaration, exultation, ecstasy, euphoria, rapture, enjoyment, pleasure, cheerfulness, exuberance, jubilance, contentedness and satisfaction.
Jesus wants us to have the "full measure" of his joy within our lives. This is not for all people... it is only for all who have embraced him in faith - true believers. He wants us to experience his joy in our own lives!
Who does not want to experience the joy of Jesus Christ? Who of us do not want to have our existence in this life marked by joy?
Those who reduce the Scriptures into dry academic theological tomes, apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. Those who are engaged in maintaining and protecting their positions within a congregation or an elder board or some denominational institution apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. Those who are fastidious in their "do-gooderism" (how is that for a word?!) and go sniffing around the rest of us (you know who you are!) apart from this joy Jesus speaks of are missing what Jesus Christ offers us. You get the point...
So, what if I am not experiencing this joy these days? Very simply, I have my eyes off the Lord and off the great "hope" we have in Jesus Christ. Each and every believer should feel greater joy than the lottery winner who is waiting for Monday morning to come to redeem his ticket for hundreds of millions. Our inheritance in the resurrection Jesus has wrought for us is so much more! The Lord has richly blessed us, out of his incomprehensible love with of a wonderful and lavish inheritance that includes a warm welcome into the open arms of the very love the Trinity abides in! We are welcomed into God's river of delights, Psalm 36:8. We are welcomed into eternal pleasures at the right hand of God, Psalm 16:11.
We who make up the body of Jesus Christ here on planet earth have every reason to be the most joyful of all mankind! Look at what is coming our way!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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