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But if you feel like life is hard and you feel like you are always in some weird funk that you just can't get out of then this is the blog to read. If you are wondering why you can't find joy then this is the blog to read. If you feel like you are missing something because as a follower of Christ you are supposed to have joy but you just don't, then this is the blog for you.
So if this is the blog for you then get a drink (I prefer Mt. Dew) and sit down and take a few minutes to read it. Not because I think I have all the answers but I hope I have some of the questions. Some of the questions to ask yourself. Some of the questions to get you thinking about why joy seems so distant in your life.
So what is joy? Well it isn't happiness. Happiness is great but happiness is because of circumstances. When I get on the scale and see I am another pound down that is happiness. But that happiness is gone the next day when I am up a pound. When you get a new car that is happiness. When someone scratches your new car - not happiness. Get the point?
Joy is above your circumstances. Joy is still there when the pants are tighter. Joy is still there when the car is scratched. Joy is still there when your dreams are crushed. Joy is still there when a friend betrays you. Joy is still there when a boyfriend or girlfriend dumps you. Joy is still there when the worst thing that you could imagine happening to you happens. Joy is from God period.
So if joy is from God why don't we feel it? Why is it so illusive? Why doesn't God just give it to us?
We've all heard that joy comes from God. I'm sure everything I just said wasn't anything new to you. But we think that means we just sit here, go to church, say we love God and by some kind of magic God is just going to give us joy. Well it just doesn't work that way. If you wonder why you don't have joy read John 15:1-17 (I've copied it below for you in case your Bible is lost or too dusty to pick up - ouch I know)
John 15
Jesus, the True Vine
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Did you catch verse 11? -I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!
What things? What things did Jesus tell us so that our joy will overflow? Well everything above verse 11. Go read it again.
Have you ever seen a vase filled with a beautiful arrangement of cut flowers? They look amazing! All the colors and shapes and the smell! But what happens? They die. No matter how hard you try you can not keep them alive. Why? Because they have been cut off from the root. Some people even hang them upside down and dry them and they look cool but the truth is they are still dead. How many people in church on Sunday are just like those flowers? They still look good but the reality is they are dead or dying because they have been cut off from the root.
You want joy? Remain in Christ. You want joy? Remain in His love. And how did He say we do that? vs 10 - obey His commands.
(Quick explanation - when He says if we obey His commands we remain in His love He isn't saying that God only loves us when we obey Him. But if we are being disobedient. If we are living in rebellion to Him then we will no longer experience His love. You can't feel His love when you aren't obeying His commands. Instead you feel guilt and shame. The love is still there - you left it. You want to remain in it? Obey His commands.
You want joy? How are you living? Is your life centered on Christ? Are you living the way Christ calls you to?
Oh yeah and do you want to know what it is Christ commands you to do? Did you read verse 17? "Love one another"
So here's the formula - You want joy? Remain in Christ. Remain in His love. You want to remain in His love, obey His commands.
When we are living the life Christ calls us to we remain in His love. We experience His love everyday. We wake up knowing we are loved by the Creator. We know that no matter what happens in our lives we have a Father who loves us with a love that never fails. And I don't know about you, but when I really know that, when I am truly experiencing that kind of love nothing can take my joy away.
So quit waiting for God to magically bestow you with joy and instead start loving others. Really loving them. Not just the "of course I love others" church answer but really loving them the way Christ loves you. Yep that's a high standard and its incredibly hard to do but hey no one ever said joy was easy.
And one last thing - Read those verses some more. There is some incredibly powerful stuff in that passage.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you enjoyed your Mt. Dew.
