Walk With Him Wednesday: Joy, Part 3

I'm participating again this week in Ann Voskamp's Walk With Him Wednesday. 

For today: The Practice of Joy…. What does it mean to choose Crazy Joy? How do we authentically walk through hard times? How do practice the “gigantic secret” of Christians?  We look forward to your Scripture study, stories, encouragement….

Catch up on my Joy study here?  week one , week two

On this, our third week of studying joy, I want to start with a review. 

First, we learned how to access joy. It's in the Lord's presence that we find joy. Out of deep and abiding love for our Savior, we pursue God with a hunger and thirst, through reading and studying the Bible, through the discipline of prayer, and through praise and worship (songs, psalms, words of admiration). 

Next, we learned that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, meaning that we cannot will it unto ourselves. God bestows it through the indwelling of the Spirit.

At the same time, joy is a command. Even though we can't will it, we still must chase it. God doesn't want us succumbing to fretting and despairing when hardship comes. So he makes joy a duty.

Lastly, we learned that when our joy is absent, it is because of sin. Sin is a roadblock to joy. We have taken our eyes off the Father, and put them on ourselves. And what follows is an absence of joy. 

To return to joy we must ask the Father for truth and light (see notes on Psalm 43), so that we may see things as they really are. So that we may see them from His eyes, and not our own. If we then repent of our self-centeredness and run back to our Father, he will receive us and in His presence once again, joy will be restored. 

Today, before we explore some some final thoughts on joy, I want to mention that under certain circumstances, the road back to joy is particularly hard. I think of grief, primarily. Grief is a process and the steps can't be shortened. We grieve over the death of loved ones, over broken relationships, over children who have become prodigals. 

In the midst of grief, we find comfort in the presence of God. In the fullness of time, God's perfect comfort brings us back to joy. Always, we trust Him. We hope in Him. Hope and joy are closely tied. We experience joy that as Christians, we have hope. Our hope is in Him, through Him. Hope brings a peace regarding our circumstances, whatever they may be. And that peace, that stillness of spirit, paves the way for joy.

Today, I want us to think of joy as a continuum. A new Christian has a rather immature grasp on joy--it may come and go more readily than the joy of a seasoned Christ follower. Remember Paul's joy while in prison? His view of life is summed up here: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain Philippians 1:21 Paul considered it a joy to be persecuted for righteousness (for Christ's) sake.

Paul's joy is an all-encompassing, self-denying joy. It is the highest form of joy. To completely give up one's right to life for the sake of Christ...and love every minute of it. That is pure joy.

Our text for today is the Beatitudes because in them, I find a continuum of self-denial that ends with being persecuted for righteousness' sake. As we slowly grow in Christ and give up more and more of our life, we inherit more and more joy. 

Matthew 5:1-10

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To be poor in spirit means to realize you're bankrupt without God. You've come to the end of yourself, understanding that there's no good in you. 

The 1st step on the ladder to pure joy, is to know you need God.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

A person who is poor in spirit, is also mournful. A mournful person is acquainted with his own sin, and the sin grieves him, as it grieves God. Mourning over our sin paves the way to repentance, and in our repentance, we turn to God. He is gracious to forgive us and comfort us, taking us into the fold of his arms.

The 2nd step on the ladder to pure joy, is to receive forgiveness.

5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

A person who is poor in spirit, and who through his mourning, repented and received forgiveness, is also submissive before God. Meekness is not weakness, but humility. It is knowing our place before God. That without Him, we are nothing. We are low to his High. Humble people will inherit the earth--that is to say, they will live well on this earth. It will be for them here, as well as it can be, outside of heaven. 

The 3rd step on the ladder to pure joy, is to be humble. 

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

Once a person walks humbly and submits to God in his everyday life, the next thing he desires is to be continually filled by God. Hunger and thirst happen every few hours. This person chases after God, never getting enough and always wanting more. God promises to fill this person to overflowing.

The 4th step on the ladder to pure joy, is to chase after God.

7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

A person who chases after God and is filled by God, behaves like God. Since God loves mercy, all those who dare to be filled by God, will also love mercy and be merciful. And in turn, God will show this person an everyday mercy, and an eternal mercy--the promise of heaven rather than hell.

The 5th step on the ladder to pure joy, is to behave like God toward others.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

A person who chases after God, and is filled by God, and shows mercy toward others, is a person who seeks not his own gain, has not his own motives, but cares only about God's gain. This is not a Pharisee we are talking about now. He is genuine in his affection for God and for the things of God. The pure in heart want what God wants, in everything. They are not perfect, but they seek the things of God and walk away from the world. These people will experience God (really see Him), now and throughout eternity.

The 6th step on the ladder to pure joy, is to be genuine in your devotion to God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

A person purely devoted to Christ walks with God's peace in his own life. And what's more, this person entreats others toward peace by example. He seeks to change hearts from the inside out by directing them to Christ, to Peace the Person. The peacemaker works for Christ to bring home the harvest, by being recognized as a child of God. 

The 7th step on the ladder to pure joy, is to walk in the Peace of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What happens when you walk in God's peace and you're recognized as a genuine child of God? The world persecutes you, treats you cruelly, and you count it all joy. You're at the top of the ladder.

You loved Christ, clung to Him, yielded everything to Him. You even look like Him, to everyone in the room. And when they throw stones at you and beat you, you rejoice that you get to do this for God. God, your exceeding joy. 

And God? What does he do for you now? He bestows on you an unsurpassed joy, a bursting-from-the-seams joy. To live is Christ, to die is gain. 

Don't we all want unsurpassed joy? Friends, it is available for all true disciples. 

Remember when Peter was asked three times if he loved the Lord? 

John 21:15-19 scripture source

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 

18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

If we love the Lord, even unto death, we are truly his disciple. And joy? Exceeding joy? It is our reward.