God Is Our Exceeding Joy!

As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: "It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians--and I am one of them." -Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18.

Some may not understand how joyful it can be to serve the Lord. When I say I joy, I am not talking about mere happiness or laughter, but a way of life. When you have joy in your heart from being a faithful servant of God, it will give you stability in your life that produces peace and hope.

Those who have obeyed the Gospel have a lot to be thankful for because we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, and we are no longer a slave to sin. We can know that we have been saved and have the hope of eternal life in heaven. This is why we see the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8:39 and the jailor in Acts 16:34 rejoicing after they had been baptized into Christ for the remission of their sins.

If knowing what Christianity is all about and how God has made it possible for us to have salvation does not bring joy to your heart and cause you to want to serve God, then nothing will. Unfortunately, sometimes Christians lose their joy of serving God and start viewing everything they do in and out of the church as a chore instead of seeing it as another opportunity to use their talent for the Lord.

The further we distance ourselves from God and His Word, the less joy we will have in serving Him. If we do not make God’s Word part of our life and use it to remind us of His great love for us and how He has given His all for us, then it easy for us to take the blessing He has given us for granted.

If you ever find yourself feeling like serving God is more of obligation than joyful, then you need take a serious look at your life because you are in a bad place in your relationship with God. Serving God in or out of the church should always bring you joy even if you are suffering persecution for the cause of Christ. We can see this happening early on in the church in Acts 5 when the apostles were arrested by the Jewish council and they wanted to put them to do death.

Even though the apostles lives were on the line, they did not worry about themselves. Instead, they rejoiced about serving the cause of God, and they continued to preach the Good News daily wherever they could. This is the same attitude that we should have as Christians because there is nothing that should bring us greater joy than serving God in anyway that we can.

God has never desired that we serve Him because we feel like we have to. Instead, He wants to find joy in serving Him and others. So, if we are not motivated by our love for God, then as Paul said it profits you nothing. True joy can only be had when it comes from love.

Even if a person has never experienced love, they can read their Bibles and see what love is all about. God has shown His love for us in many ways: He created us and all the beauty we behold on a daily basis, He has been involved in our lives since the day of creation, He created us with free will, He made a plan of salvation for us that we could choose to follow or ignore. One of the greatest expressions of His love came from Him offering up His only begotten Son so that we could have salvation.

We have no valid excuse of not understanding what true love is all about. Since love motivated God to give up His Son for salvation, think about what love can motivate you to do for God and for others.

I want you to think about your life right now. How do you feel about serving God in the church and outside the church? Do you still find joy in serving or does is seem like a burden to you? If it seems like a burden to you, ask yourself why? If you don’t know for sure, I would suggest that you need to examine your prayer life and the amount of time you spend in God’s Word.

If you are not praying as you should you may have become more dependent on yourself instead of God. If you are not studying God’s Word as you should, you could be allowing the world and its sinful ways to influence you and rob you of your joy of serving the Lord.

If you want to cure your problem and find joy in serving the Lord, then I would recommend these same two things. Start praying more and studying God’s Word more. You should pray to God to help you have more joy in serving Him. When you put God’s Word into your life on a daily basis, it will serve as constant reminder of all the wonderful things that God has done for you and the promises He has made. It will help change your attitude about serving the Lord.

We must all remind ourselves from time to time about the commitment we made to God when we choose to become a Christian. Sometimes it is easy for us to take the love of God for granted and become lazy in our service to God, but we should always strive to find the passion and the zeal we had for serving Christ when we became a Christian because we are taught to remain faithful to God until death (Revelation 2:10). The Bible teaches us to persevere, press on to the goal, and to run the race to win, but we have to have a willing spirit to do this.

So, let's never forget that finding joy in serving God is an essential part of our Christianity because it serves as an antidote to all the despair that surrounds us on a daily basis. Let the joy of serving the Lord be your strength this day and everyday.

Scripture: Romans 12:12; James 1:2; Philippians 4:4; 1 Peter 1:8; Galatians 5:22; John 16:24; Romans 15:13; 2 Corinthians 7:4; Romans 14:17; Proverbs 10:28; John 16:22; Luke 15:10; Colossians 1:11.

Prayer: Holy Father of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom and become one with him when he comes in glory, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

May God always be with you!

CarrieAnn