July 21, 1996
When Doug Meland and his wife moved into a village of Brazil's Fulino Indians, he was referred to as "the white man"- not a complimentary term. Other white men had exploited the villagers, burned their homes, and robbed their lands. But after the missionaries learned the language and began to help people with medicine and in other ways, they began to call Doug "the good white man." And when the Melands began adopting the customs of the people, the Fulino spoke of Doug as "the white Indian."
Then one day, as Doug was washing the dirty, blood-caked foot of an injured boy, he heard a bystander say, "who ever heard of a white man washing an Indian's foot? Certainly this man is from God." From that day, whenever Doug entered an Indian home, it would be announced, "Here come the man God sent us." That's one of the secrets of greatness: compassion. That's also one of the characteristics of those who follow Jesus.
The Bible says, "The one who despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy," Proverbs 14:21.
Kindness is such a garden variety virtue that I rarely think about it. It doesn't have the preaching clout that fidelity and honesty and dedication to a cause have. In fact, on the surface, kindness has a mushy or feminine ring to it.
But to be honest with you, when I dig deeper into the study, I much more enjoy hanging out with "kind" people than harsh, insensitive, nasty folks. The more I think about it, the virtue of kindness is a powerful lubricant to the smooth running of social life. In fact, kindness is a practical working out of love. I Corinthians 13: 4 starts, "Love is patient, love is kind."
The quality of kindness brings love down from the clouds, down to my level on the street. A man who says he loves his wife but acts insensitively instead of kindly is a hypocrite. Kindness is a good test of love. The world needs a whole lot more of this quality.
So now you're asking, "How can I be a kinder, more compassionate person?" I"m glad you asked. Let's start with Galatians 5:22, 23.
Kindness, like love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest is a product of the spirit of God living in you. When the spirit of God gets inside you, this kind of behavior will start coming out of you. Garbage in, garbage out; Jesus in, kindness out. In this passage the phrase "fruit of the Spirit" is a code name for the life qualities of Jesus sprouting up through your life.
So on a kindness/nastiness scale, if the quality of your life ranges more toward the nasty side, well you might justifiably ask yourself: how much of my soul have I opened up to the spirit of God?
But that may not be the best question to ask. If you see more nastiness in yourself than you like, it might be profitable to probe another direction for a few moments: do you usually measure up to your own standards? How often do your accomplishments match your expectations? Who do you blame when you come short? (Who else, you blame yourself, of course!). If you had only worked harder, smarter, stronger... If you hadn't been such a dingbat! Have you ever had a conversation like that with yourself?
IF you have them too often you may not be a compassionate person toward others. Sometimes we must forgive ourselves in order to forgive others. But that is kind of tricky. You can't forgive yourself "just because." If you're waiting for me to forgive you- forget it! I've got my own neurosis to work out!
We can't make up laws of forgiveness as we go along: "I feel guilty for running over that elderly lady on the side walk last night. Oh well, I can't live with this guilt so I forgive myself." Hoepfully you can see how that won't work. But if someone else, a person involved in the whole mess would forgive me, then I could forgive myself and I could become a more forgiving person.
That someone else is Jesus! He is involved in all my messes and offers to forgive me and then be an example of how to forgive and then be the power enabling me to be compassionate.
Let's go back to the woman caught in the act of committing adultery. Lloyd Ogilvie narrates the scene very dramatically. Listen to his description:
Editor's note: The text was unavailable, but the passage was read from The Magnificent Vision, pp 95-100
People with unresolved guilt tend to act like the punishment-loving scribes and pharisees. People who have understood the great miracle of their own forgiveness tend to let the forgiveness they received from Jesus ooze out of their life and become a salve to those around them.
An important lesson Jesus would teach us is: People never escape their guilt by being negative and critical to others. In fact, if a person does receive mercy from Jesus, but doesn't pass it on with compassion and kindness to others- the mercy they did receive becomes like a poison (like the Dead Sea with fresh water coming in but no outlet).
In the end, we do what we do; we behave the way we behave because of who we are on the inside. That is why what we have been studying is called the "fruit of the Spirit." When Jesus is in you, kindness and mercy come out.
Have you heard or felt the impact of the words, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more?" Can you say to those who need compassion: Neither do I condemn you?" If you're now asking how you can be a kinder person, you need to first be willing to experience Jesus as your forgiver. Then you will know Him as your example and as your power. To be these things you and I must let Him into our lives with the right to control every aspect of who we are.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Fruit of Patience
July 7, 1996
One of the most marked characteristics of our time is impatience. We're always in a hurry and we want everyone else to hurry. This is dangerous.
Several years ago a Navy jet fighter shot itself down over the Nevada desert while testing a new cannon mounted on its wing. The plane was flying at supersonic speed but the shells were subsonic. The jet actually ran into its own shells which had been fired several seconds earlier. It was traveling too fast for its own good.
In a culture that loves fast food, one-hour-photo processing, one hour dry cleaning, CLIF notes, and cramming for finals, waiting seems like a throwback to evolution. Yet the Bible describes many benefits of patience. It says, "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly" (Proverbs 14:29). "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32). "Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone" (Proverbs 25:15).
I would love to have a great understanding, calm quarrels, be better than a warrior, and be able to persuade rulers. I would like to be a patient man, but I'm so impatient with the process that it takes to acquire patience.
I am not the only Christian who has wants to get patience and spiritual maturity- right now! Rick Warren writes, "With book titles like Four Easy Steps to Maturity and The Key to Instant Sainthood doing well in Christian book stores, it would seem a lot of folks are looking for shortcuts."
Christians get fooled by looking for a spiritual encounter that will be the end instead of a beginning. They look for a seminar or a revival speaker, or a book that will instantly transform them into a mature believer. This kind of search is futile. We may be able to make instant coffee, instant potatoes, liposuction for instant weight loss, but there is no such thing as instant maturity. Some Christians have spent so much time looking for the magic short cut- that ten years after they began their journey with Jesus, they are as immature in faith as the day they started. Spiritual growth takes time, patience, and waiting for Jesus to guide.
The good news is, you can become more patient by understanding and also practicing the Bible's teaching on patience. Start with Galatians 5:22.
This verse reminds us that the indwelling Spirit provides resources to resist and defeat impatience.
Impatience ultimately is a question of confidence in God, and especially His timing. That doesn't mean waiting is supposed to be fun. In Psalm 13:1 David expressed his pain in waiting when he asked, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" This is during a time where David is running from Saul with a price on his head.
Who likes to wait? Who chooses the long lines at the bank or grocery store? Who says, when you don't get the check you were expecting in the mail, "O good, I get to wait at least one more day?" But really this (lines, letters, phone calls) is minor league stuff. What about the waiting of a childless couple for a baby? Or the waiting of an unemployed person for a job? Or the waiting of a sick person for health? Or the waiting of a single person for marriage?
Waiting is one of the big challenges of life. But pushing down closed doors isn't a lot of fun either. In fact, one of the definitions of patience is, "a willingness to wait rather than try to force circumstances." Impatience is "not putting up with delay." Patience is putting up with irritations whether they come in the form of people or circumstances.
It is easier to joke about patience than to be patient. Frequently Christians advice each other to not pray for patience because if God is going to develop patience in you, He will have to allow frustrating people and circumstances to cross your path. But if that is true, you shouldn't pray for more Christian love, either. You see, Christians love their enemies. You don't impress God when you love an easy to love person. You impress God by loving the hard to love. It is easy to be at peace when things are going good. Real peace is for times of outward chaos.
In fact, God produces more intense levels of the fruit of the Spirit by allowing us to experience the opposite challenges. God is far more concerned with our character than our comfort and prosperity. His plan is to bring us to maturity not please our every whim. God may be so serious about developing patience in you that He will allow some of your wants, and dreams, and perhaps even needs to be delayed.
More often, we create our own school for patience by insisting on short cuts and quick fixes. The farther we get from an agricultural setting (fruit of love, peace, joy, etc), the easier it is to expect short cuts. There are very few short cuts on the farm.
The law of the farm is without mercy. Stephen Covey asks," Can you imagine a farmer forgetting to plant in the spring, taking a long summer vacation, and then hitting it hard in the fall- "ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating- and expecting to get a bountiful harvest overnight?"
Can you imagine planning to run a marathon but not training until the day before? Students violate the law of the farm all the time. They play all semester and then cram during finals week. Some even think they've learned something when they get a passing grade.
Urgency is a challenge to patience. God defines urgency differently than I do. It is amazing that Jesus was never in a hurry. There are no pictures of Jesus frantically scrambling in a chaotic frenzy. He came on the most important mission the world has ever had, yet He never panicked or looked for short cuts or was in a hurry.
Charles Hammel writes, "We live in a constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is, the important task rarely must be done today, or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study, a visit with a non-Christian friend, careful study of an important book: These projects can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action - endless demands, pressure every hour and day."
Patience can sort out the unimportant, urgent demands from matters of importance. But the best kind of patience is supernatural patience. You get this through close intimate contact with Jesus. Jesus invites you to Himself- in one place- specifically in order to set you free from "the tyranny of the urgent."
Read Matthew 11:28-30.
In this passage, Jesus addresses several issues that deal directly with the concerns of an impatient person. First, Jesus knows all about your impatience. He knows you are wearied, and burdened, and irritated, and annoyed with the demands of the urgent. You're just the person He is looking for. He wants you with all your frustration, and irritation, and impatience to come to Him.
Second, Jesus wants to give you a new way to live. To do this He proposes an exchange of yokes. A yoke is a kind of harness, normally used to pair up two animals so they can pull a plow. It was also used in the ancient world by conquering armies to subjugate defeated foes and make them slaves. Ancient rabbis also spoke of their schools as yokes. In a symbolic way, when you entered a certain rabbi's school, you took on his yoke.
Now Jesus proposes an exchange of yokes. You have one that is irritating, heavy, and burdensome. He has one that is light and very comfortable. Now your question is- why do I have to wear a yoke at all? In fact, some of you are saying, "I don't wear a yoke!" I say you do, and more importantly the Bible says you do, but if you insist you don't- I'm sure you are a very happy person never touched by grief, emptiness, loneliness, or confusion!
I'm inclined to think that yokes are temporary (70-90 years tops)- just for this life. After we've learned what Jesus wants to teach us in this life, we won't need a yoke in the next life. At any rate, our sin has created a heavy and irritating yoke which we are tied to and Jesus wants to make the exchange.
It is interesting that the Old Testament forbid a mature ox and a young ox to be yoked together on identical terms. In this situation a training yoke was required. The mature animal carried a much heavier side and the way it was arranged, pulled a far bigger share of the load. All the younger ox had to do was walk in step with the mature animal. The young, rambunctious trainee had to give up the right to lead, the right to choose the course, and the pace, but they also did not have the responsibility for carrying the burden.
As we team up with Jesus, He will carry the heavy part of the burden and set the pace and choose the direction that fits us. The impatient disciple/apprentice will want to pull ahead, or go around the difficult terrain or take a short cut to the barn. Jesus is never in a hurry! You and I almost always are. Our impatience wears us out. Sometimes we think Jesus wears us out, but that is not the case. Jesus said He wants to, "Give you rest." Have you ever noticed how the impatient want to skip the rest stops- they are uncomfortable with a day off? If they have to stop for a break, they're pushing others to, "hurry back so we can get going!"
The weekly day of rest is God's idea. Waiting is a spiritual event. David who waited ten years to become king after he had been anointed wrote, "Wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). God does not come to the impatient. He does not show up for those who are not waiting.
The prophet Isaiah said, "Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not fall" (Isaiah 41: 30, 31).
Jesus knows your frustration and the source of your impatience, He wants to exchange your heavy and irritating harness for His easy and light one. You need to let Him carry the load, choose the direction, and set the pace. It will involve waiting on occasion, but it is in these times that He is giving you rest.
David reported in Psalm 40:1, "I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry."
One of the most marked characteristics of our time is impatience. We're always in a hurry and we want everyone else to hurry. This is dangerous.
Several years ago a Navy jet fighter shot itself down over the Nevada desert while testing a new cannon mounted on its wing. The plane was flying at supersonic speed but the shells were subsonic. The jet actually ran into its own shells which had been fired several seconds earlier. It was traveling too fast for its own good.
In a culture that loves fast food, one-hour-photo processing, one hour dry cleaning, CLIF notes, and cramming for finals, waiting seems like a throwback to evolution. Yet the Bible describes many benefits of patience. It says, "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick tempered man displays folly" (Proverbs 14:29). "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32). "Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone" (Proverbs 25:15).
I would love to have a great understanding, calm quarrels, be better than a warrior, and be able to persuade rulers. I would like to be a patient man, but I'm so impatient with the process that it takes to acquire patience.
I am not the only Christian who has wants to get patience and spiritual maturity- right now! Rick Warren writes, "With book titles like Four Easy Steps to Maturity and The Key to Instant Sainthood doing well in Christian book stores, it would seem a lot of folks are looking for shortcuts."
Christians get fooled by looking for a spiritual encounter that will be the end instead of a beginning. They look for a seminar or a revival speaker, or a book that will instantly transform them into a mature believer. This kind of search is futile. We may be able to make instant coffee, instant potatoes, liposuction for instant weight loss, but there is no such thing as instant maturity. Some Christians have spent so much time looking for the magic short cut- that ten years after they began their journey with Jesus, they are as immature in faith as the day they started. Spiritual growth takes time, patience, and waiting for Jesus to guide.
The good news is, you can become more patient by understanding and also practicing the Bible's teaching on patience. Start with Galatians 5:22.
This verse reminds us that the indwelling Spirit provides resources to resist and defeat impatience.
Impatience ultimately is a question of confidence in God, and especially His timing. That doesn't mean waiting is supposed to be fun. In Psalm 13:1 David expressed his pain in waiting when he asked, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?" This is during a time where David is running from Saul with a price on his head.
Who likes to wait? Who chooses the long lines at the bank or grocery store? Who says, when you don't get the check you were expecting in the mail, "O good, I get to wait at least one more day?" But really this (lines, letters, phone calls) is minor league stuff. What about the waiting of a childless couple for a baby? Or the waiting of an unemployed person for a job? Or the waiting of a sick person for health? Or the waiting of a single person for marriage?
Waiting is one of the big challenges of life. But pushing down closed doors isn't a lot of fun either. In fact, one of the definitions of patience is, "a willingness to wait rather than try to force circumstances." Impatience is "not putting up with delay." Patience is putting up with irritations whether they come in the form of people or circumstances.
It is easier to joke about patience than to be patient. Frequently Christians advice each other to not pray for patience because if God is going to develop patience in you, He will have to allow frustrating people and circumstances to cross your path. But if that is true, you shouldn't pray for more Christian love, either. You see, Christians love their enemies. You don't impress God when you love an easy to love person. You impress God by loving the hard to love. It is easy to be at peace when things are going good. Real peace is for times of outward chaos.
In fact, God produces more intense levels of the fruit of the Spirit by allowing us to experience the opposite challenges. God is far more concerned with our character than our comfort and prosperity. His plan is to bring us to maturity not please our every whim. God may be so serious about developing patience in you that He will allow some of your wants, and dreams, and perhaps even needs to be delayed.
More often, we create our own school for patience by insisting on short cuts and quick fixes. The farther we get from an agricultural setting (fruit of love, peace, joy, etc), the easier it is to expect short cuts. There are very few short cuts on the farm.
The law of the farm is without mercy. Stephen Covey asks," Can you imagine a farmer forgetting to plant in the spring, taking a long summer vacation, and then hitting it hard in the fall- "ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating- and expecting to get a bountiful harvest overnight?"
Can you imagine planning to run a marathon but not training until the day before? Students violate the law of the farm all the time. They play all semester and then cram during finals week. Some even think they've learned something when they get a passing grade.
Urgency is a challenge to patience. God defines urgency differently than I do. It is amazing that Jesus was never in a hurry. There are no pictures of Jesus frantically scrambling in a chaotic frenzy. He came on the most important mission the world has ever had, yet He never panicked or looked for short cuts or was in a hurry.
Charles Hammel writes, "We live in a constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is, the important task rarely must be done today, or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study, a visit with a non-Christian friend, careful study of an important book: These projects can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action - endless demands, pressure every hour and day."
Patience can sort out the unimportant, urgent demands from matters of importance. But the best kind of patience is supernatural patience. You get this through close intimate contact with Jesus. Jesus invites you to Himself- in one place- specifically in order to set you free from "the tyranny of the urgent."
Read Matthew 11:28-30.
In this passage, Jesus addresses several issues that deal directly with the concerns of an impatient person. First, Jesus knows all about your impatience. He knows you are wearied, and burdened, and irritated, and annoyed with the demands of the urgent. You're just the person He is looking for. He wants you with all your frustration, and irritation, and impatience to come to Him.
Second, Jesus wants to give you a new way to live. To do this He proposes an exchange of yokes. A yoke is a kind of harness, normally used to pair up two animals so they can pull a plow. It was also used in the ancient world by conquering armies to subjugate defeated foes and make them slaves. Ancient rabbis also spoke of their schools as yokes. In a symbolic way, when you entered a certain rabbi's school, you took on his yoke.
Now Jesus proposes an exchange of yokes. You have one that is irritating, heavy, and burdensome. He has one that is light and very comfortable. Now your question is- why do I have to wear a yoke at all? In fact, some of you are saying, "I don't wear a yoke!" I say you do, and more importantly the Bible says you do, but if you insist you don't- I'm sure you are a very happy person never touched by grief, emptiness, loneliness, or confusion!
I'm inclined to think that yokes are temporary (70-90 years tops)- just for this life. After we've learned what Jesus wants to teach us in this life, we won't need a yoke in the next life. At any rate, our sin has created a heavy and irritating yoke which we are tied to and Jesus wants to make the exchange.
It is interesting that the Old Testament forbid a mature ox and a young ox to be yoked together on identical terms. In this situation a training yoke was required. The mature animal carried a much heavier side and the way it was arranged, pulled a far bigger share of the load. All the younger ox had to do was walk in step with the mature animal. The young, rambunctious trainee had to give up the right to lead, the right to choose the course, and the pace, but they also did not have the responsibility for carrying the burden.
As we team up with Jesus, He will carry the heavy part of the burden and set the pace and choose the direction that fits us. The impatient disciple/apprentice will want to pull ahead, or go around the difficult terrain or take a short cut to the barn. Jesus is never in a hurry! You and I almost always are. Our impatience wears us out. Sometimes we think Jesus wears us out, but that is not the case. Jesus said He wants to, "Give you rest." Have you ever noticed how the impatient want to skip the rest stops- they are uncomfortable with a day off? If they have to stop for a break, they're pushing others to, "hurry back so we can get going!"
The weekly day of rest is God's idea. Waiting is a spiritual event. David who waited ten years to become king after he had been anointed wrote, "Wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14). God does not come to the impatient. He does not show up for those who are not waiting.
The prophet Isaiah said, "Even youth grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not fall" (Isaiah 41: 30, 31).
Jesus knows your frustration and the source of your impatience, He wants to exchange your heavy and irritating harness for His easy and light one. You need to let Him carry the load, choose the direction, and set the pace. It will involve waiting on occasion, but it is in these times that He is giving you rest.
David reported in Psalm 40:1, "I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry."
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fruit of Peace
June 30, 1996
How many of you have seen a bulldog ant? They're native to Australia, and since I've never been there, I don't believe I've ever seen one. But I am told, if you cut a bulldog ant in half, the two halves will enter into a savage fight. The head will seize its own hind quarters with its teeth, and the tail will sting the head with a fierceness. The fight might last for hours.
Have some of you ever felt like that on the inside? Like two significant parts of yourself were fighting each other? Do you ever wonder if contentment is an illusion? By the way, who is more contented: the person with a million dollars or the person with ten children? Obviously it is the man with ten children because he doesn't want any more!
The Bible says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." The same could be said for anxiety, or fretfulness or just about any flavor of discontentment.
Some kinds of anxiety are normal. Most of us feel a little anxiety prior to a dentist appointment, or during a driver's test, or at our own wedding. You and I can understand Job when he says, "I have no peace, no quietness; I have felt no rest, but only turmoil." "Don't worry, be happy!" would be a sick doctor's prescription for Job after what he had been through (loss of all assets, all children, and horrible physical affliction). But even Job was able to work through his affliction and heartache, and find restored peace by relying on God's resources.
Is it an exaggeration to say just about all of you have a strong desire to experience peace? Students, homemakers, career people, unemployed, and the retired - all of you would give a lot to enjoy long lasting peace of mind.
What is it that robs you of peace? Who are the people who have your number? What makes you discontent, anxious, and fearful? Would you like the answer to peace? You can enjoy peace by following the lessons found in the New Testament. Let's start with Galatians 5:16-26.
Peace is one of the ingredients in the fruit of the Spirit. It is a quality that spontaneously produces itself when the believer is under the direction of the Spirit of God - who is also called "the God of Peace."
I used to think of peace as the absence of something: conflict, trouble, guilt... But the Bible doesn't stop there. It makes peace a positive quality. Yes, it is the absence of conflict and all the rest, but it is the positive presence of those things that make for a "wholesome prosperity," such as the ability to work for a living and a supportive family, community, and God.
This kind of peace doesn't come from reading self-help books that teach you how to be more assertive so you can get your way. People who seem to always get their way are as plagued with discontentment as the rest of us.
Tranquility is not a product of mind altering drugs. Certainly there is a temporary escape that, by many testimonies, is highly pleasurable, but the side effects destroy peace rather than create it.
Peace is a product of living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but the first step toward peace is described by Paul in Romans 5:1, "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Peace with God makes possible peace within, which makes possible peace with people, which makes possible peace with nations. I'll say it again. We won't have peace in the world until we have peace in our neighborhood and families. We won't have peace in our family until we have peace within ourselves, and we can't have peace within ourselves until we have peace with God.
You and I have peace because we have accepted God's forgiveness, based on Jesus' life work. Peace with God brings peace within. The first requirement for peace, then, is a restored relationship with God. You can take your guilt and badness to Jesus and exchange it for purity and wholeness.
It sounds too good to be true, and Satan will do everything possible to keep you from the exchange. Even after you've made it, he will try to steal your peace. He will trigger memories of past moral failures using a piece of music, or TV ad, or face in a crowd; and you will think, "I can't be forgiven!" But this is the deal Jesus wants to make: your failures for His success.
He made it personal when He said in John 14, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Jesus called it His own peace, because He is the one who achieved it for you. The prophet said, "He was wounded and crushed for our moral failures; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5).
The first step toward peace is to accept God's deal: bring all the corruption of your sin out from under the rug you've swept it under, and give it to Jesus. Then receive back from Him total forgiveness and power to live right.
The second step is to offer forgiveness to those who've hurt you. This affects your inner peace as much as it does your social peace. Forgiving is not an easy thing to do. If it was easy it wouldn't be called forgiveness. It would be called oh-that-doesn't-matter-it-wasn't-important-anyway-ness! If someone hurt you accidentally then they need to be excused. They didn't mean it, they were clumsy. Forgiveness is not excusing.
Forgiveness is hard, but so is bitterness, and a vengeful attitude, and festering anger. They ruin your peace and probably don't even annoy the one you're upset with. No wonder Jesus said, "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15).
In Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom shares her difficult story of forgiving one of her cruelest guards from the concentration camp. For the excerpt, click here. Her weakness illustrates not only the need to forgive, but the third lesson: the need to make mid-course corrections in our walk with the Holy Spirit.
The quality of this inner peace may be a good barometer, tracking change in your relationship with Jesus. Anytime you feel a tugging dis-ease it might be time to ask, "Who is first in my life?" A lack of tranquility may be a signal that someone or something has taken Jesus' place as master.
Read Matthew 10:34-39.
This is an astounding passage. Frankly it is strange sounding. We've already heard Jesus say, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." Now He says, He didn't come to bring peace but a sword. The crusaders took this passage in a crudely literalistic way.
Some Christians slip back into a dangerous lifestyle of compromise. They want the blessing of God - His peace - and they give up most of their old life that was wrong, but there remains one secret thing they want God to ignore.
Now what do you suggest? Should Jesus allow them to feel contentment? The person who grows content without Jesus, is in the worst of all possible positions - like a person content to camp right next to a raging out of control forest fire saying, "I don't mind a little heat."
Jesus said He came to run a sword through the heart of that kind of contentment. That kind of contentment leads to hell, not abundant life or eternal life.
In the Old Testament, once in a while a prophet would come along and preach nice sounding words to the backslidden nation. They would say, "All is well - all is well; Peace and prosperity." God judged them very harshly for feeding contentment to a people who needed a wake-up call.
Jesus came to destroy false peace, the wrong kind of contentment, so that you can enjoy real peace. Real peace comes through accepting God's forgiveness, offering real forgiveness to those who've hurt us, and making mid-course adjustments when you or I begin to find inner peace outside of Jesus' will.
The Bible says, "the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit (indicating occasional course corrections) is life and peace."
Real peace is found in:
How many of you have seen a bulldog ant? They're native to Australia, and since I've never been there, I don't believe I've ever seen one. But I am told, if you cut a bulldog ant in half, the two halves will enter into a savage fight. The head will seize its own hind quarters with its teeth, and the tail will sting the head with a fierceness. The fight might last for hours.
Have some of you ever felt like that on the inside? Like two significant parts of yourself were fighting each other? Do you ever wonder if contentment is an illusion? By the way, who is more contented: the person with a million dollars or the person with ten children? Obviously it is the man with ten children because he doesn't want any more!
The Bible says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." The same could be said for anxiety, or fretfulness or just about any flavor of discontentment.
Some kinds of anxiety are normal. Most of us feel a little anxiety prior to a dentist appointment, or during a driver's test, or at our own wedding. You and I can understand Job when he says, "I have no peace, no quietness; I have felt no rest, but only turmoil." "Don't worry, be happy!" would be a sick doctor's prescription for Job after what he had been through (loss of all assets, all children, and horrible physical affliction). But even Job was able to work through his affliction and heartache, and find restored peace by relying on God's resources.
Is it an exaggeration to say just about all of you have a strong desire to experience peace? Students, homemakers, career people, unemployed, and the retired - all of you would give a lot to enjoy long lasting peace of mind.
What is it that robs you of peace? Who are the people who have your number? What makes you discontent, anxious, and fearful? Would you like the answer to peace? You can enjoy peace by following the lessons found in the New Testament. Let's start with Galatians 5:16-26.
Peace is one of the ingredients in the fruit of the Spirit. It is a quality that spontaneously produces itself when the believer is under the direction of the Spirit of God - who is also called "the God of Peace."
I used to think of peace as the absence of something: conflict, trouble, guilt... But the Bible doesn't stop there. It makes peace a positive quality. Yes, it is the absence of conflict and all the rest, but it is the positive presence of those things that make for a "wholesome prosperity," such as the ability to work for a living and a supportive family, community, and God.
This kind of peace doesn't come from reading self-help books that teach you how to be more assertive so you can get your way. People who seem to always get their way are as plagued with discontentment as the rest of us.
Tranquility is not a product of mind altering drugs. Certainly there is a temporary escape that, by many testimonies, is highly pleasurable, but the side effects destroy peace rather than create it.
Peace is a product of living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but the first step toward peace is described by Paul in Romans 5:1, "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Peace with God makes possible peace within, which makes possible peace with people, which makes possible peace with nations. I'll say it again. We won't have peace in the world until we have peace in our neighborhood and families. We won't have peace in our family until we have peace within ourselves, and we can't have peace within ourselves until we have peace with God.
You and I have peace because we have accepted God's forgiveness, based on Jesus' life work. Peace with God brings peace within. The first requirement for peace, then, is a restored relationship with God. You can take your guilt and badness to Jesus and exchange it for purity and wholeness.
It sounds too good to be true, and Satan will do everything possible to keep you from the exchange. Even after you've made it, he will try to steal your peace. He will trigger memories of past moral failures using a piece of music, or TV ad, or face in a crowd; and you will think, "I can't be forgiven!" But this is the deal Jesus wants to make: your failures for His success.
He made it personal when He said in John 14, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Don't let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
Jesus called it His own peace, because He is the one who achieved it for you. The prophet said, "He was wounded and crushed for our moral failures; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5).
The first step toward peace is to accept God's deal: bring all the corruption of your sin out from under the rug you've swept it under, and give it to Jesus. Then receive back from Him total forgiveness and power to live right.
The second step is to offer forgiveness to those who've hurt you. This affects your inner peace as much as it does your social peace. Forgiving is not an easy thing to do. If it was easy it wouldn't be called forgiveness. It would be called oh-that-doesn't-matter-it-wasn't-important-anyway-ness! If someone hurt you accidentally then they need to be excused. They didn't mean it, they were clumsy. Forgiveness is not excusing.
Forgiveness is hard, but so is bitterness, and a vengeful attitude, and festering anger. They ruin your peace and probably don't even annoy the one you're upset with. No wonder Jesus said, "If you forgive men when they sin against you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins" (Matthew 6:14,15).
In Tramp for the Lord, Corrie ten Boom shares her difficult story of forgiving one of her cruelest guards from the concentration camp. For the excerpt, click here. Her weakness illustrates not only the need to forgive, but the third lesson: the need to make mid-course corrections in our walk with the Holy Spirit.
The quality of this inner peace may be a good barometer, tracking change in your relationship with Jesus. Anytime you feel a tugging dis-ease it might be time to ask, "Who is first in my life?" A lack of tranquility may be a signal that someone or something has taken Jesus' place as master.
Read Matthew 10:34-39.
This is an astounding passage. Frankly it is strange sounding. We've already heard Jesus say, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." Now He says, He didn't come to bring peace but a sword. The crusaders took this passage in a crudely literalistic way.
Some Christians slip back into a dangerous lifestyle of compromise. They want the blessing of God - His peace - and they give up most of their old life that was wrong, but there remains one secret thing they want God to ignore.
Now what do you suggest? Should Jesus allow them to feel contentment? The person who grows content without Jesus, is in the worst of all possible positions - like a person content to camp right next to a raging out of control forest fire saying, "I don't mind a little heat."
Jesus said He came to run a sword through the heart of that kind of contentment. That kind of contentment leads to hell, not abundant life or eternal life.
In the Old Testament, once in a while a prophet would come along and preach nice sounding words to the backslidden nation. They would say, "All is well - all is well; Peace and prosperity." God judged them very harshly for feeding contentment to a people who needed a wake-up call.
Jesus came to destroy false peace, the wrong kind of contentment, so that you can enjoy real peace. Real peace comes through accepting God's forgiveness, offering real forgiveness to those who've hurt us, and making mid-course adjustments when you or I begin to find inner peace outside of Jesus' will.
The Bible says, "the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit (indicating occasional course corrections) is life and peace."
Real peace is found in:
- the great exchange: my corruption for God's forgiveness
- the heroic work of forgiving (give it!)
- constant willingness to adjust to the spirit's control.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Fruit of Joy
Gert Behanna was fifty three years old when she discovered God. The shock and wonder of that discovery hasn't worn off after twenty years.
Gert had another shock the very next Sunday when she went to church. She says, "I'd never been to church in my life and I remember how eagerly I awaited that first Sunday. I'd just had a glimpse of God Almighty- me, an alcoholic, a drug addict, rich, lonely, and miserable- already I was beginning to know what joy really was."
Gert was a new Christian. She was eager to attend church to meet and talk with persons who had known the love of God for many years. "What ecstatic people these long-time Christians will be!" she thought. Even though becoming a Christian was probably the happiest day of her life, she was somewhat hesitant about going to church that first Sunday. "I was afraid they would embarrass me with their love and enthusiasm," she said.
Gert did not find the church people as loving and enthusiastic as she thought. What she discovered was, "bowed heads, long faces, mournful singing and funeral whispers." She expected people to shower her with love and affection for making the right choice and wanting to be part of the church. No one welcomed her. No one even spoke to her the first Sunday she went to church.
"As time went on and I attended other churches," Gert writes, "in various parts of the country, I made a bewildering discovery. These long-faced, listless people were present in every congregation." Then she asked a very good question: "How could they come into God's presence Sunday after Sunday without breathing in the joy that danced in the very air?
To be fair I would like to share another side of the issue. This isn't an attempt to balance the scales because I think Gert Behanna's observations are accurate enough. But to be fair, I must tell you I have found Christian joy in some strange places: I've found it in hospital rooms where patients are physically weak and have heard bad news. I've heard of it existing around a dinner table where the family has gathered to hear the news of the father being laid off of work. I've heard of joy living with a house full of active children with laundry and dishes to be done and bills to be paid.
These situations are seldom fun, but they've been occasions where joy has sneaked out. In fact many situations are clearly unsuited to the quality of joy, but it is there almost in spite of the circumstances. The only good explanation is that it is the product of a living partnership with the Holy Spirit.
Read Galatians 5:16-24.
Joy is the second element in this descriptive vision of what the Spirit filled life looks like. We will have to be careful as we study the "fruit of the Spirit" to keep in mind that it is not called the fruits of the Spirit. This vision describes a unified product that requires every element in place- no picking and choosing! In fact, some believe every element of the fruit, after the first (love) is an amplification of Christian love. In that case, "joy is love singing or whistling or delighting." The important thing to remember is that Paul is describing an undisectable unit.
Joy has been on the top of most people's agendas from the beginning. Thomas Jefferson was so convinced that "the pursuit of happiness" was an inalienable human right that he wrote it into the Declaration of Independence and called it a "self evident truth." Unfortunately all that can be guaranteed is the right to pursue happiness. No one (president, supreme court, rich father) can guarantee you'll catch it. In fact, the Bible indicates if you pursue happiness itself, for its own sake, you will never find it for very long. Joy is not a thing that can be caught like a cow that has gotten out of the pasture. Joy is a by-product of intimacy with God. Joy is found- not when you pursue it, but when you pursue Him.
This is why a basically unhappy Christian is a contradiction. A Christian by definition is one who is following Jesus. Joy is meant for the journey. However, we must be careful to not define unhappiness as sorrow or grief. The opposite of joy is not sorrow, but gloom. Grief has its appropriate times, but even there, as we'll see, at least for some, joy is an underlying element.
If this is true then Lloyd Ogilivie asks a good question: "Why are there so many dogged, joyless, do-it-yourself Christians?" If joy is a by-product of pursuing God- why are so many not experiencing the by-product?
Let's look at some obstacles to joy...first, we have to consider the possibility that Jesus isn't a part of their life. In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit," and then a few moments later in verse 11 He said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
The old Gospel chorus has it right, "If you want joy, real joy, let Jesus come into your heart."
Another obstacle to joy is a personal philosophy against it. Some believe (without thinking it through completely) that "self-rejection" is a Christian virtue. They would never wear potato sack shirts and sleep on a bed of nails, but they can stifle any instinct toward joy as a way of regretting their sin, or doing penance. Self-rejection is not self-denial! It is no different than a potato sack route, but it feels more right. So they say, "No joy until I'm morally perfect!"
Confusion can be an obstacle for others. Nowhere does the Bible say joy is a spiritual ecstasy that is especially passionate when all our problems are solved even momentarily. These people tend to think of joy as a reward for working all their problems out before new problems pile up! So they focus on their circumstances instead of the Spirit's companionship.
Joy is a quality independent of circumstances precisely because it is a product of "who" is inside you rather than "what" is happening outside of you. As Paul reminded the Thessalonians, "You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit" (Thessalonians 1:6).
Joy is a product of the presence of the Spirit within. Perhaps a brief review of who the Holy Spirit is would be helpful. The Holy Spirit is the Biblical name of the third person of the God-head, but as a name it is not especially descriptive. He is not a spirit or holy in any sense that the Father and Son are not. Their spirituality and holiness are all the same quality. A descriptive name might be "God the Helper."
In the book Healing the Masculine Soul, Gordon Dalbey says that when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the helper, he uses a Greek word, paraclete, that was an ancient warrior's term.
"Greek Soldiers went into battle in pairs," says Dalbey, "so when the enemy attacked, they could draw together back-to-back, covering each other's blind side. One's battle partner was the paraclete."
Our Lord does not send us to fight the good fight alone. The Holy Spirit is our battle partner who covers our blind side and fights for our well being. "God the Helper."
"Helper" also helps us see that we are not mere tools of God's spirit. We are voluntary servants or even co-workers. This passage says "walk by the Spirit" or "be lead by the Spirit," which describes a carefully maintained relationship. You might picture two people walking side by side down a trail together. One is the Spirit, one is you. This passage is saying conduct your journey under the guidance and with the assistance of this powerful Helper. As you journey together the Spirit will not intimidate or overpower. He is a gentleman.
Now the main difference between this picture and reality is that the Spirit journeys within us. Some would object that if the Spirit of God really moved into our spirit, that it would overwhelm our true self or personality. We'd become like people in cults- zombies. But think abut this: God took special care to make you unique from everyone else. He is not going to counteract that creative effort destroying your unique personality and turning you into some kind of cookie-cutter-produced-Holy-Spirit-person. In fact, the Holy Spirit heals and then enriches your true self.
It is kind of like the affect marriage had on me. Before I married, I was a selfish, shallow, small person. My interests were very narrow. Marrying Penny didn't stifle my personality; if anything this new relationship stretched and challenged and grew me much closer to what a "real" person should be. Coming into a relationship with Jesus amplifies this process a thousand times over.
Because this vision is describing a relationship, many times it is experienced against a backdrop of adversity: Whether it is Job saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him" (13:15), or the prophet Habakkuk saying, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (3:17, 18). Adversity, but joy!
Two words: "Saved alone" was the message Horatio Spafford received from his wife after the ship sank that was taking her and their four children to England in November, 1873. After reuniting with his grieving wife at sea, the boat came near the area where his children had drowned. It is speculated that at that time he wrote the words that vividly described his own grief and faith:
When sorrows like sea billows roll-
whatever my lot
Thou has taught me to say,
It is well with my soul.
Adversity, but joy! The Gospel is a message of joy. It says God has come to the rescue. Jesus Himself told us there is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. God knows no greater joy than when we let Him love us.
What is your greatest joy? Remember the parable of the talents. Three men were given varying amounts of talents. Two multiplied their investments. The result was they were invited, "Come and share your master's happiness."
The key here is understanding what the talent represents. It is investments in the Kingdom of God. As far as God is concerned the only thing worth taking to heaven is people. These two invested their lives in people. Is there anything that gives you greater joy than leading someone to Jesus? Truly, when you've done that you have "entered into the joy of your Master."
Remember the one talent person? He was afraid to risk, so he didn't. His punishment was severe. Who is alive in Jesus because of you? Does the answer to that question correlate to the quality of your joy?
Gert had another shock the very next Sunday when she went to church. She says, "I'd never been to church in my life and I remember how eagerly I awaited that first Sunday. I'd just had a glimpse of God Almighty- me, an alcoholic, a drug addict, rich, lonely, and miserable- already I was beginning to know what joy really was."
Gert was a new Christian. She was eager to attend church to meet and talk with persons who had known the love of God for many years. "What ecstatic people these long-time Christians will be!" she thought. Even though becoming a Christian was probably the happiest day of her life, she was somewhat hesitant about going to church that first Sunday. "I was afraid they would embarrass me with their love and enthusiasm," she said.
Gert did not find the church people as loving and enthusiastic as she thought. What she discovered was, "bowed heads, long faces, mournful singing and funeral whispers." She expected people to shower her with love and affection for making the right choice and wanting to be part of the church. No one welcomed her. No one even spoke to her the first Sunday she went to church.
"As time went on and I attended other churches," Gert writes, "in various parts of the country, I made a bewildering discovery. These long-faced, listless people were present in every congregation." Then she asked a very good question: "How could they come into God's presence Sunday after Sunday without breathing in the joy that danced in the very air?
To be fair I would like to share another side of the issue. This isn't an attempt to balance the scales because I think Gert Behanna's observations are accurate enough. But to be fair, I must tell you I have found Christian joy in some strange places: I've found it in hospital rooms where patients are physically weak and have heard bad news. I've heard of it existing around a dinner table where the family has gathered to hear the news of the father being laid off of work. I've heard of joy living with a house full of active children with laundry and dishes to be done and bills to be paid.
These situations are seldom fun, but they've been occasions where joy has sneaked out. In fact many situations are clearly unsuited to the quality of joy, but it is there almost in spite of the circumstances. The only good explanation is that it is the product of a living partnership with the Holy Spirit.
Read Galatians 5:16-24.
Joy is the second element in this descriptive vision of what the Spirit filled life looks like. We will have to be careful as we study the "fruit of the Spirit" to keep in mind that it is not called the fruits of the Spirit. This vision describes a unified product that requires every element in place- no picking and choosing! In fact, some believe every element of the fruit, after the first (love) is an amplification of Christian love. In that case, "joy is love singing or whistling or delighting." The important thing to remember is that Paul is describing an undisectable unit.
Joy has been on the top of most people's agendas from the beginning. Thomas Jefferson was so convinced that "the pursuit of happiness" was an inalienable human right that he wrote it into the Declaration of Independence and called it a "self evident truth." Unfortunately all that can be guaranteed is the right to pursue happiness. No one (president, supreme court, rich father) can guarantee you'll catch it. In fact, the Bible indicates if you pursue happiness itself, for its own sake, you will never find it for very long. Joy is not a thing that can be caught like a cow that has gotten out of the pasture. Joy is a by-product of intimacy with God. Joy is found- not when you pursue it, but when you pursue Him.
This is why a basically unhappy Christian is a contradiction. A Christian by definition is one who is following Jesus. Joy is meant for the journey. However, we must be careful to not define unhappiness as sorrow or grief. The opposite of joy is not sorrow, but gloom. Grief has its appropriate times, but even there, as we'll see, at least for some, joy is an underlying element.
If this is true then Lloyd Ogilivie asks a good question: "Why are there so many dogged, joyless, do-it-yourself Christians?" If joy is a by-product of pursuing God- why are so many not experiencing the by-product?
Let's look at some obstacles to joy...first, we have to consider the possibility that Jesus isn't a part of their life. In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit," and then a few moments later in verse 11 He said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
The old Gospel chorus has it right, "If you want joy, real joy, let Jesus come into your heart."
Another obstacle to joy is a personal philosophy against it. Some believe (without thinking it through completely) that "self-rejection" is a Christian virtue. They would never wear potato sack shirts and sleep on a bed of nails, but they can stifle any instinct toward joy as a way of regretting their sin, or doing penance. Self-rejection is not self-denial! It is no different than a potato sack route, but it feels more right. So they say, "No joy until I'm morally perfect!"
Confusion can be an obstacle for others. Nowhere does the Bible say joy is a spiritual ecstasy that is especially passionate when all our problems are solved even momentarily. These people tend to think of joy as a reward for working all their problems out before new problems pile up! So they focus on their circumstances instead of the Spirit's companionship.
Joy is a quality independent of circumstances precisely because it is a product of "who" is inside you rather than "what" is happening outside of you. As Paul reminded the Thessalonians, "You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit" (Thessalonians 1:6).
Joy is a product of the presence of the Spirit within. Perhaps a brief review of who the Holy Spirit is would be helpful. The Holy Spirit is the Biblical name of the third person of the God-head, but as a name it is not especially descriptive. He is not a spirit or holy in any sense that the Father and Son are not. Their spirituality and holiness are all the same quality. A descriptive name might be "God the Helper."
In the book Healing the Masculine Soul, Gordon Dalbey says that when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the helper, he uses a Greek word, paraclete, that was an ancient warrior's term.
"Greek Soldiers went into battle in pairs," says Dalbey, "so when the enemy attacked, they could draw together back-to-back, covering each other's blind side. One's battle partner was the paraclete."
Our Lord does not send us to fight the good fight alone. The Holy Spirit is our battle partner who covers our blind side and fights for our well being. "God the Helper."
"Helper" also helps us see that we are not mere tools of God's spirit. We are voluntary servants or even co-workers. This passage says "walk by the Spirit" or "be lead by the Spirit," which describes a carefully maintained relationship. You might picture two people walking side by side down a trail together. One is the Spirit, one is you. This passage is saying conduct your journey under the guidance and with the assistance of this powerful Helper. As you journey together the Spirit will not intimidate or overpower. He is a gentleman.
Now the main difference between this picture and reality is that the Spirit journeys within us. Some would object that if the Spirit of God really moved into our spirit, that it would overwhelm our true self or personality. We'd become like people in cults- zombies. But think abut this: God took special care to make you unique from everyone else. He is not going to counteract that creative effort destroying your unique personality and turning you into some kind of cookie-cutter-produced-Holy-Spirit-person. In fact, the Holy Spirit heals and then enriches your true self.
It is kind of like the affect marriage had on me. Before I married, I was a selfish, shallow, small person. My interests were very narrow. Marrying Penny didn't stifle my personality; if anything this new relationship stretched and challenged and grew me much closer to what a "real" person should be. Coming into a relationship with Jesus amplifies this process a thousand times over.
Because this vision is describing a relationship, many times it is experienced against a backdrop of adversity: Whether it is Job saying, "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him" (13:15), or the prophet Habakkuk saying, "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior" (3:17, 18). Adversity, but joy!
Two words: "Saved alone" was the message Horatio Spafford received from his wife after the ship sank that was taking her and their four children to England in November, 1873. After reuniting with his grieving wife at sea, the boat came near the area where his children had drowned. It is speculated that at that time he wrote the words that vividly described his own grief and faith:
When sorrows like sea billows roll-
whatever my lot
Thou has taught me to say,
It is well with my soul.
Adversity, but joy! The Gospel is a message of joy. It says God has come to the rescue. Jesus Himself told us there is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. God knows no greater joy than when we let Him love us.
What is your greatest joy? Remember the parable of the talents. Three men were given varying amounts of talents. Two multiplied their investments. The result was they were invited, "Come and share your master's happiness."
The key here is understanding what the talent represents. It is investments in the Kingdom of God. As far as God is concerned the only thing worth taking to heaven is people. These two invested their lives in people. Is there anything that gives you greater joy than leading someone to Jesus? Truly, when you've done that you have "entered into the joy of your Master."
Remember the one talent person? He was afraid to risk, so he didn't. His punishment was severe. Who is alive in Jesus because of you? Does the answer to that question correlate to the quality of your joy?
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