Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
God the Holy Spirit speaks out of His joy. As we have seen, this truth means that the words of the Spirit become prayer when we cannot pray. Also, the Holy Spirit’s words can become our own words of joy. We touched upon this reality on Saturday from I Peter 1:6-9. Another passage that teaches this fact is I Peter 4:12-14. Both sections link joy to salvation and to the return of Jesus Christ. Perhaps one reason that the Church does not always display joy is that we do not think of Jesus’ return and the glories of heaven as much as we should. Previous generations of Christians spoke and sang about heaven often, revealing a deep desire for a better place. Newer collections of songs and choruses often focus on God’s goodness to us right now. Certainly we should express joy over His present kindness to us, especially His salvation. However, the sound of our joy is not strong without the sturdy strains of heavenly song. The Holy Spirit (“The Spirit of glory and of God” – verse 14) always points us to Jesus (John 16:7-14), to His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and return. One way to make sure that our joy is more fully developed is to speak openly about heaven. Find a few favorite hymns about heaven, and sing them at home or in the car (and really think about the words). “Joy unspeakable” (I Peter 1:8) will become joy spoken and sung.