Jolted or Joyful

“Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” John 16:20 [NIV]

Consider your planning for a great trip. You’ve mapped out your route. You’ve saved enough money to pay for it. You’ve even found a wonderful house sitter or dog sitter. After your first day of driving to reach this grand place of which you’ve dreamed, your car has a flat tire. When you go to change the tire, the engine hisses. When you find a mechanic and get to his garage, you learn your car needs a new radiator along with a new tire. One thing after another hits you as you contemplate your plans and what you are going to do. You did not plan on having difficulty and so didn’t save extra money. Now, you must use the rest of the money you saved for your trip to pay for your car repairs. Are your hopes dashed? Do you wonder what you should do, go home or go onward to your destination? How can you ever have joy on this great adventure you planned when it will cost you much more money than you saved? Life is like this. God knew what would happen before you even began your journey. He had a plan for you for that time.

The statement above by Jesus to His disciples in John 16:20 came after He began preparing them for what would happen to them when He fulfilled His purpose on earth. Jesus told them in the first eleven verses of John 16 that people would kill and persecute them thinking they were serving God. He told them these people would do this because they do not know the Father or Him. But, Jesus, because of His love for the disciples and their devotion to Him, warned them about these future dire circumstances to prepare them. After He told them He would go to the One who sent Him, He told them He recognized their grief because of these things He said. Because the disciples believed in Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, He said He would send an Advocate, His Holy Spirit. Jesus sends this Advocate to each person who believes in Him.

Jesus recognized His disciples could not bear anymore teaching about His last days on earth (His departure from them) and about their future persecution and death by people who don’t believe in Him. He told them the Spirit of truth would guide them in all truth. Jesus would not leave them without a guide and teacher, One who teaches what He hears from the Father and who will glorify Christ. This Spirit will tell the disciples what Jesus wants them to know.

Jesus began teaching in John 16 by preparing the disciples. He told them He would depart from them and return to the Father, and people would persecute and kill them because they were His disciples. Yet, Jesus would send an Advocate to teach them, the Spirit of truth Who comes from Him to guide them in all truth. He returned to telling the disciples, they would not see Him and then they would. The disciples questioned what Jesus meant. How can a person be seen then not seen, except by death? Even their understanding of death meant they would not see a person after he or she died. The disciples were confused. Jesus recognized their confusion and sought to give them clarity.

The death Jesus spoke of was His own. At His death, the non-believers would rejoice, while His disciples would mourn. Yet, from the day Jesus rose from the grave, the disciples would rejoice, and the people of the world would be confused. Some people would be angry and consult others in an attempt to understand how this could happen. Jesus told the disciples they would mourn for a little while then rejoice. They would understand that earthly mourning was just for a season, but joy lasts forever because Jesus lives for eternity. He conquered sin and death forever. Mourning and grief are a momentary part of time while joy is eternal for the people who are Jesus’ followers.

For the disciples to understand this better, Jesus used the analogy of a pregnant woman in labor. While the woman labored, her pain was great, and she found it hard to experience joy because of the depth of the pain. Yet, when she held the child in her arms, the joy of his/her birth would overshadow the anguish and pain of labor. Just so, Jesus said, their mourning of His death would be overshadowed by His resurrection, His victory over death forever. Because Jesus conquered sin and death, the disciples could know joy exists forever even when pain, anguish, and trials existed. Those times of pain, anguish, and trial would last for a moment, but the joy of victory over sin and death and the eternal hope it brings would last for eternity.

While the world rejoices at your difficulties and points their fingers at how they bested the one who follows Jesus, you can know your grief for the moment will turn to joy. You can have joy despite and in the midst of whatever your circumstances may be. Though people may persecute you and kill you, Christian, you have a joy that outlasts what humans can do to you.

Let’s take that thought one step further. To love Jesus means absolute (total) devotion to Him and His will. As we pray each day in our time with Him, we ask Him to use us and to make us like Himself. Often this thought comes habitually without really thinking about what the consequences might mean. If we do not truly mean these things and do not seek Him and desire to be completely devoted to Him, circumstances will surprise us. They never surprise God. He knows our heart, our inmost being. (Psalm 139) When we pray this prayer from habit, without depth of heart, we try to make ourselves like Jesus as if Jesus is the pattern or example of supreme goodness. What we need to realize is that we cannot make ourselves like Jesus. True followers of Jesus, believers in Jesus as the Messiah, recognize He makes us into His image through His power and by the guiding and teaching of the Holy Spirit. When we truly mean what we pray, “Make me like You, into Your image for Your service,” we understand Jesus is the One who makes us like Himself. Only when our prayer to be made like Him comes from the depth of our devotion and faithfulness to Him can we preparedly and joyfully face persecution trials, and death.

We cannot make ourselves like Jesus by our power.

Only Jesus can make us like Him by His power.

God is not surprised by the depth of humanity’s sinfulness and rebellion against Him. He is not surprised people will persecute His followers and kill them. Jesus told His disciples this in John 16. He told His disciples and tells us today through the Bible and His Holy Spirit that we can have joy during life’s hard times. Why? Because Jesus overwhelmingly conquered sin and death. He lives forevermore. Humanity threw its best to defeat Him; they crucified Jesus. Yet, God’s best is greater than humanity’s best. He has power over all things, life and death. Because Jesus is victorious, we can be victorious and have joy while walking with Jesus through difficult times. Imagine having joy while grieving, and relief while being homeless or jobless. Imagine knowing without doubt something greater exists than this life and nothing in your present moment will have eternal significance. God is powerful, loving, and great. He is not surprised by what happens. He is greater than anything that occurs in your life and in the world. God loves you.

Consider what the psalmist said in Psalm 139 after stating to what depths God knew him. He said in verses seven through twelve,

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You. (Psalm 139:7-12 [NIV])

Whether we try to hide from God or evil tries to hide us from God, God is greater. Even in those supposedly hidden places and in darkness, God’s hand will guide you and support you. Nothing can separate you from God. Paul spoke about this victory from evil for us in Romans 8:36-39. He wrote,

Just as it is written “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NASB]

Hard times will come. People will hurt us. Some people may kill Christians. We recognize these things are true. They are part of human history, our present time, and humanity’s future, but we don’t have to linger and quiver in our minds and lament. Because Jesus is our Lord and by His power, He changes us and makes us more like Himself daily, we have hope beyond this current difficult time. This moment will not last, but eternal life with God in His kingdom will last forever. We are more than conquerors, more than victors, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. Yes, pain will come and is with us now, but we have an eternal, unquenchable joy found only through Jesus Christ. For now, we may have grief, but we can hold onto the joy Jesus gives to each of His followers. We will see Jesus; we believe right now and at the times we face difficulties, always, He is with us. Nothing and no one can take this joy from us.

Jesus gives us eternal, unquenchable joy.

Consider that great adventure you planned, and the expensive car repairs you didn’t plan for on the way to your destination. Will you allow the difficulty to steal your joy about the adventure? Will you seek God and His will, walking in the power He will give you for this situation? God has a plan. That plan includes His love for you and your spiritual growth. What will you do, focus on the problem or on God, who knows what is happening and has a plan to walk with you through the difficulty? These problems are fleeting, but God is eternal and your salvation through Him is eternal. Let the joy He gives you be greater than the burden of the problems. One is eternal and the other momentary.

Problems are fleeting, but God and His salvation to you are eternal.

What grief or what difficulty has come upon you and is causing you to lose sight of Jesus. Are you working through your difficulties with just a human perspective? Keep your eyes and heart on Jesus. Keep looking at Him. His joy, the joy He gives to you, is greater and longer lasting than your grief and pain. Let your momentary difficulties bring glory to Jesus Christ. The song writer, Helen Howarth, reminds us of this in her hymn called Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

(https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/645)

Let your momentary difficulties bring glory to Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, so often I get caught up in my troubles and I lose sight of you as I try to figure out why the problem has happened and what I can do to get out of it. Lord, forgive me for living in my own strength. Forgive me for losing perspective and seeing life from an earthly standpoint. Forgive me for not seeking You, looking to You, and allowing You to be the conqueror of my situation. Lord, truly, I am to be made like You by Your power, not my own. I don’t want to make myself in Your pattern, but for You to make me like You. Help me to grow, to be more devoted to You, and to love You with my whole being. Help me to trust You completely and have the joy You give because You are the Conqueror. This current difficulty is a moment in time, but Your power and joy are eternal. Thank you for loving me, for saving me, and for giving me hope and joy amidst pain, trials, and death. Amen.

Faith-Grown

These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 [NASB]

After you have lived a while, you realize our greatest opportunities of growth and learning come through our experiences. If we read and learn, the lesson becomes head knowledge. Only when head knowledge is tested, can it become life knowledge and grow and strengthen us.

James expressed this same thing in James 1:2-3 when he said, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” [NASB] Paul taught similarly in Romans 5:3-5 when he said,

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [NASB]

These disciples of Jesus taught going through hard times produces growth, or rather, it can, depending on how we respond and react to the difficulties.

Jesus taught much about growing in a relationship with God and told His followers how they can endure hardships. In John 16:33, He spent some time walking with and teaching His disciples before Judas betrayed Him. He told them, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Jesus’ primary teaching about living through difficulties was to ask the Father for anything in His name (vs 23). Jesus’ followers can have peace, God’s heart peace, while facing difficulties because God will be with them and will help them. God doesn’t leave a person when times get tough. He stays with them, gives them the strength to get through trials, and grows the person to be a stronger believer in Jesus Christ. As a person takes each small step toward growing more Christlike, that person’s belief in God and His desire and ability to strengthen him or her in and through the trial grows. That person becomes stronger.

Consider Matthew 19:16-26 when the rich young ruler asked Jesus a question. This rich young man asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” (vs. 16) Jesus answered him by saying, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (vs. 17) The man’s reply to Jesus was he had kept all the commandments. Then he asked, “What am I still lacking?” (vs. 20b) This rich young man thought doing good would give him eternal life. Jesus told him only One is good. He told the young man, if he wanted to be complete (fully grown as can only happen by God), not just good, then he must not rely on what he can do such as making money and buying himself things. The completeness of which Jesus spoke can come only by God when He makes a person fully grown through stages. These stages of gradual strengthening take a person to the end goal of being completely Christlike. This strengthening comes through trials and difficulties, daily Bible reading and study, and prayer and communion with God. The rich young man chose not to go through this trial. He kept the commandments instead of giving himself to God. We can note this from his reply to Jesus. Recall what Jesus told this rich young man after he said he kept the commandments. Jesus said, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.” (vs. 21) He, in essence, said stop relying on your own strength and plans, and rely on God instead. Give yourself to God totally and trust in Him. This rich young ruler heard Jesus’ statement, but went away grieving because he owned a lot of property. He didn’t want to give it up. This rich young ruler chose to rely on himself rather than follow God and trust Him for all his needs.

This moment in time was the rich young ruler’s chance to grow in his relationship with God. He could have gone from knowing about sins and Yahweh God to knowing God and being in a redeemed relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This young man did not trust God to provide all things for him and so he did not grow in his faith. He wanted to be a follower of Jesus, but he didn’t rely on God’s strength and provision or his own learned understanding of I AM, the eternal One. At that moment in time, the rich young ruler could have come to know God personally through His Son, Jesus. He chose possessions over a relationship with God.

We each come to these places in our lives. Will we trust the God who created us and all things to take care of our needs? Will we trust Him enough to give us the strength to endure when we obey Him to go where He tells us to or do what He tells us to do? Will we believe what Jesus told Paul? In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

Jesus gave the rich young ruler the opportunity to grow in his understanding of God and his relationship to Him. He encouraged him to step out in faith in God. Jesus gives each of us the opportunity to grow in our understanding and faith in God and to become more like Him. Each day we learn something and have the chance to trust God more, and to gain strength, endurance, and peace. Only you recognize what God is trying to teach you now. You understand of what God asks from you to learn that lesson fully and become even more like Christ.

Will you let go of your own understanding and grow in God?

Will you be home-grown or faith-grown?

Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ And He said, ‘Come!’ And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. (Matthew 14:28-29 [NASB])

Lord, You have been patient with me. I don’t understand how you have that much patience waiting on me to trust you, but You do. You love me more than I realized. You are loving and gracious and keep calling me to follow You. Please forgive my doubts and lack of faith. Forgive my weaknesses and fears. Help me see and hear You only. Help me step out of my self-made boat and walk on the storm-tossed sea with You. Only by walking with You will I grow stronger. Lord, I want to be made complete and to have Your peace. I don’t want to be home-grown anymore. I want to be faith-grown by You. Please be patient with me. I love You.

Earthen Vessels...But

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Christ, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So, death works in us, but life in you.  2 Corinthians 4:7-12 [NASB]

Each of us, when we encounter a speed bump or cliff in life, wonder why we must go through it. “Why is this happening to me?” we may ask. “How can I ever get through this trouble?” is another question that often arises. If we are believers, the answer is most obvious when we are sailing on calm seas. We get through it with God’s strength and direction. As we battle through the difficulty, we often forget God is with us and makes His wisdom, knowledge, power, and strength available to us. Yet, when we get through the trial, we realize God was there all the time. Still, we may wonder, “Why did that horrible time happen?”

Have you considered God will orchestrate difficult times? He will do it to help us grow and to bring Himself glory. How we get through the trials determine if we grow and if God gets the glory. Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 4 about trials. He said, “We are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” This attitude did not just happen. It came from going through trials and finding God to be faithful when Paul called upon Him. Paul spent this part of his letter to the Corinthians teaching them from his own experiences. He spoke as one who had been through the fires.

When we encounter our own fires, we wonder why we must go through that trial. “What did I do to deserve this?” we may ask. Paul explained two reasons for trials in 2 Corinthians 4:7 & 11. He said we go through difficulties “so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.” (2 Cor. 4:7b) People go through trials to show God’s great power as they go through them. In verse 11b, Paul added, we go through these things “so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal (believer) flesh.” Our lives can be a testimony of Jesus’ life in us enabled by His Holy Spirit. This latter cannot happen without growth and growth cannot happen without the believer calling on God for help during difficult times. Difficult times grow a person’s faith in God and make the person more identified with the sufferings of Jesus.

Let me give an example. We have a prodigal child in our family. Many people have prodigals in their families. Our family prays daily for this adult child, for God to keep speaking to the heart of the person, to break down the walls Satan has erected in the person’s heart, to bring the person to the point of repentance, and bring the person back to living in communion with God and His children, our family included. The last five years have been painful as we watched this child live without God and walk in ways contrary to God’s moral laws. On Mother’s Day Sunday, without my foreknowledge, the pastor called me up to the front of the church. I had no idea what was about to happen. As the pastor talked about the people in our church who may have prodigals in their family, whether child, sibling, or parent, I got nervous. I had been at the point of tears in my pew and knew I could not talk or pray without crying. I called out to God silently in my heart and mind asking Him to make me strong enough to speak without crying. Eventually, the pastor asked me to pray for each person standing who has a prodigal in their family. I prayed without crying as God has led me to pray these last 5 years for my adult child.

Why did I tell you this story? I told you this story because if I had not called upon God for His strength to get through that time of prayer, I would have cried. My prayer would have been babbling. People would not have had prayers lifted for their prodigals and learned how to pray for them. And God would not have been glorified. My prayer that morning was a testimony to God’s greatness, goodness, love, and faithfulness. Nothing in me could have done it without God’s intervention. Other people would not have gained strength and grown in their walk with God about their prodigal.

Paul added two other benefits of going through trials at the end of chapter four. He said,

Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. (1 Corinthians 4:16-17 [NASB])

As we go through trials, God receives glory, Jesus’ life in us manifests itself and receives testimony, God renews our inner person daily, and, our affliction produces an eternal weight of glory.

For today and the next tomorrows, when you go through trials, I encourage you to consider not asking, “Why must I go through this?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” Instead, ask God to give you His strength, wisdom, and power to go through the difficulty so He will receive glory, and your life and voice will bring testimony to the life of Jesus in you. For this, you will grow in your Christlikeness and in relationship with God, and you will get a greater reward in heaven.

Lord, God, I admit, I hate to go through hard times. I hate to struggle and slog through the stormy seas that batter me. Forgive me for attempting to stand on my own and not looking to You, My Lord, for wisdom, strength, and power. Forgive me for walking away from You during those difficult times. Lord, help me remember You are always with me and I only need to call to You for help. Lord be my strength, wisdom, and Protector. Be my guide. Help me grow closer to You even if it means I must go through trials. Help me stand strong with You so You receive glory and my life testifies to the life of Your Son in me. Amen.

Declare God: A Psalm 92 Devotional

Declare God: A Psalm 92 Devotional

It is good to give thanks to the Lord
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
² To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
³ With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.
⁴ For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

⁵ How great are Your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep.
⁶ A senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a stupid man understand this:
⁷ That when the wicked sprouted up like grass
And all who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.
⁸ But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
⁹ For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For, behold, Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be scattered.

¹⁰ But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
I have been anointed with fresh oil.
¹¹ And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
¹² The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still yield fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and very green,
¹⁵ To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [NASB]

David speaks from a thankfulness in this psalm. Each of us come to days where thanks to God rings from our lips. We have other days when we become too rushed to think about thanking God or we are too overwhelmed with the burdens of life to see beyond what we face at that time. For these kinds of days, we most importantly need to praise God.

When we reach days of despair or difficulties, speaking praise, though it may not at first be in our hearts, renews our hope and lifts our spirits. As we continue speaking praise, what our lips say reaches into our beings, into our hearts, so we begin to take to heart what we are saying. After that, our minds comprehend the depth of the praise and the worthiness of the recipient so that our whole being joins the lips in praise. When we get to this point, we no longer must make ourselves praise the Lord. Instead, it bubbles over from the depths of our soul and nothing can contain it. That is when we realize the despair and difficulties we are facing are nothing compared to God – His greatness and His love.

From this point is where David speaks in Psalm 92. Though he did not know what the next day held, whether enemies would surround him or famine fall on the land, he knew Who was mightier than these and upon Whom he could rely.

David declared it good to thank the Lord and sing praises to Him. Even when in the depths of difficulties, God does not change and is always worthy of praise. David gave reasons God deserves praise as if being majestic almighty God is not enough. He praised Him for what He has and continues to do.

·         Praise God because of His loving-kindness and faithfulness.

·         Praise God for the works of His hands.

·         Praise Him for the depth and wisdom of His thoughts.

·         Praise God because He was, is, and always will reign as Lord over all.

·         Praise God because He always wins the battles and wars against His enemies.

·         Praise God because He judges and He will scatter people who do evil will (so they cannot group up and cause devastation)

·         Praise God because He provides abundantly so you are strong, have all you need, and are His child.

·         Praise God because He gives hope knowing our foes will be defeated.

·         Praise God because He has given you deep roots to stand strong with him and the ability to bend and not break, like the palm tree, when difficulties arise.

·         Praise God that He keeps you standing strong and upright like the cedars of Lebanon.

·         Praise God that He planted you in His house as His child so you will flourish and dwell in His courts.

·         Praise God that He will not discard us when we age, but continues to use us to yield fruit in old age. We are never cast aside and always taken care of.

·         Praise God because He is righteous and strong. He is the rock upon which I stand.

·         Praise God no unrighteousness is in Him. We can trust He is always fair, always loving, always right.

We can join David in this psalm. I believe when he wrote this He was remembering his walk with the Lord from the time he was a lonely shepherd to his current time as king. David also remembered who God was and had been for His chosen people Israel. With the magnitude of who God is and what He has done for all His children, David could only praise God. Nothing would stop him from praising God.

Whether we are in a place of difficulties or ease, reading David’s psalms re-center us in who God is, and who we are and what we face. As children of God, we are small in the face of trials, but our God is greater than anything we face and wiser than any person. He will get us through it, but more than that, our relationship with Him can grow as we stand back and let God be God and in control of everything. Then, we will be able to declare God’s loving-kindness, mercy, and righteousness as David did here.