A Journey of Discovery and Purpose (Saturday Morning) Women's Retreat 2024

 

“To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ, mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Jude verse 2

Every journey begins somewhere. Think about your own beginnings—your first day of school, your first job, the first time you drove a car.  Memories, good and bad, roll around our brains, often resurfacing at inopportune times. They rush at us, sometimes making us laugh, sometimes even making us cringe.

But the most important memory of all is the one of when we first began our journey with the Lord. Mine began on Feb. 18^th 1972 when I rushed to the front of a coffeehouse in a Baptist church and gave my life to Jesus. Regardless of the when, we all started in the same place-a place of need of a savior.

We all came into this physical world through natural birth. We come into this spiritual life through a spiritual birth, being born again-through His Spirit, through accepting the sacrifice He made for us.

Now we all come from different backgrounds, we have different families. Some of us were raised in loving, Godly families and some of us, well, we were basically raised by wolves. Regardless of our back story, here we are at this retreat ready to meet with God.

I’d like to begin this morning with Is. 61: 1-3: Even though a lot of us are very familiar with these verses, I’d like us to be reminded of our beginnings, that until a savior came we were without hope, we were poor, brokenhearted, held captive and imprisoned by our sin. But now we’ve been comforted and consoled, and upon our heads, upon our minds, our feelings of worthlessness have been changed and surrounded with a glorious song of praise:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me

To preach good tidings to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives,

And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,

And the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn,

To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

    Jesus read this in the synagogue at Nazareth and applied it entirely to himself, saying, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Matthew Henry wrote that Jesus was to be “a prophet to preach, a priest to heal, a king to deliver, and a comforter who proclaimed and provided. This is the gospel proclamation, and it is like the blowing of the jubilee-trumpet, which proclaimed the great year of release.”

Henry said, “He will cure their wounds, release them out of bondage, and comfort them in their sorrows, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that they may be ornaments to God's vineyard and may be fruitful in the fruits of righteousness, as the branches of God's planting. All that Christ does for us is to make us God's people, and some way serviceable to him as living trees, planted in the house of the Lord, and flourishing in the courts of our God; and all this that he may be glorified.”

You see in addition to being the One who’s redeemed us, He is also a planter with a purpose. Knowing all these wonderful promises and provisions should cause our hearts to explode with gratitude. And I know that as I look around this room it’s filled with women who have personally known and lived out that gratitude to their Savior. And what a journey it’s been.

As the years have gone by a lot has happened between when you first began with the Lord and where you are today. So much was before us when we first got saved that, at times, we couldn’t contain it. We’d tell anyone we met that Jesus loved them. There we were, equipped with our Good News New Testaments in our backpacks, a variety of tracts with catchy titles, and our worn huarache sandals or our “Jesus shoes” as we used to call them, and a desire to tell anyone who would listen that we had been saved.

What zeal we had; unfortunately, a lot of us had no depth and no grounding. So as it says in Proverbs 19:2: “It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, without discernment, understanding, and wisdom and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices.” And I don’t know about you but, boy, did I ever make some poor choices back then.

Remembering those first years with the Lord can often make us regret our immature antics but at the same time it can make us long for our unashamed desire to share the gospel. As I sat with the Lord praying about this retreat, I felt Him say to my heart, “Tell my daughters to remember, not to look back as Lot’s wife looked back with longing for what was, but to look back and remember their first love and how I captured their hearts.”

When we remember anything we make a record of it, a memorial. That can be good and bad. There’s great need to remember because, honestly, we so easily forget. That’s odd to say that because we seem to have no problem remembering those things that have hurt us or those people whose words or actions damaged us. And as musician Bob Bennet wrote, “every harsh word spoken, every promise every broken to me, total recall data in the memory.”

We need to allow God’s healing into those ancient hurts because if we don’t they’ll just become a kind of rancid reminder that will eventually turn on us. Bennet ends the above line with the words, “and the things that have kept me alive for so long are now killing me.”

Looking back can be difficult. On one hand it can allow us to gain understanding; on the other hand, it can be a reminder perhaps of wasted opportunities or perceived failures.

Because whatever I share at these retreats comes out of my own journey of discovery with the Lord I have to tell you that when I began to remember that it didn’t go like I thought it would.

As I sat on my back porch allowing myself to remember my beginnings, to look back on those early years, a shadow seemed to come over me. Not the shadow of His wings kind of protecting shadow but the kind of shadow that pulls you in and surrounds you and tries to become a barrier between you and the Lord. Sitting there, the memory of my broken and often tragic past started to become more of a reality than the current state of my redeemed present.

Thoughts began to intrude, and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of regret and shame. Now I have to say that as I sat with my eyes closed as if I was praying, I realized that I wasn’t. By leaving God out of my remembering I was unwittingly choosing to park myself down into a place I had no business being. Anyone ever see The Neverending Story? Remember the swamp of sadness? It was a barren swampland with quicksand-like mud pools. Anyone who became depressed while in the swampland sank down in depression and ultimately they drown.

    So there I was, instead of inviting my Lord into my search for understanding about the past, I was now being sucked down into a muddy swamp of sadness just like Artax. When I finally opened my eyes trying to shake it all off, my attention was immediately drawn to what was left of the flowers I had planted in the boxes on the railing.  Apparently I had bought the wrong kind for direct sunlight. Their stems were now dried brown from the sun, shrived and almost dead with just a few small blossoms stuck to their pathetic stems.

    When looked up, I noticed the large tree in our backyard. There’s been this broken limb hanging from it for at least ten years. It had somehow wedged itself between two smaller limbs. No matter how the wind blew, no matter how fierce the storms were, this broken limb held fast, just hanging there, stuck, a reminder that it was now just a dead stick with no purpose. Feeling a bit like that stick, I felt myself being pulled further into the swamp, memories of what was, what could have been. Why didn’t I…why did I….

So far my remembering wasn’t going in a positive direction. Why? You see, these past months have been…challenging…to say the least. And it was clear by where my mind was going that I had allowed myself to somehow take up residence in my pain, creating a distortion of how I viewed not only my past but the reality of my present.

So just when I was about to go inside the house to further be alone with my misery, I suddenly heard a slight noise to my right. When I looked, I noticed a small red-headed woodpecker pecking away at the suet in the bird feeder. Just then a small sparrow started splashing around in the rain gutter above me, seemingly having a good old time. I admit it did make me smile a bit. You see I have this affinity for sparrows. That verse about me being worth more than the sparrows always resonated with me. I was worth more.

As if cued, a cardinal started calling from the bushes to my right and flew past me to the other bird feeder. I noticed his mate was waiting in the tree. She flew down and for a moment they both sat side by side on the lip of the feeder. Sounds crazy right? I’m not making this up. Just then the breeze picked up, and I turned and noticed a hummingbird, which I never see, flitting around one of the last remaining blossoms in the box in front of me. And to top it off, are you ready for this?  A small brown bunny had come out of the bushes and was chomping away at the fallen bird seed. It was like something out of a Disney movie. All that was missing was a dancing chipmunk with a yard of glittering fabric offering to make me a gown.

I was surrounded. Here was God, the maker of all that is and ever was, wooing me into the present.  I could no longer ignore the beauty and wonder around me. God was pulling me up and out of the swamp. He wanted me to remember where I’d come from but only for the purpose of seeing how he had rescued me, delivered me, and brought me out into a spacious place.

You see the enemy of your soul wants you to focus on dried up plants and dead sticks instead of having your eyes opened to see God’s eternal power and divine nature which is clearly displayed through the exquisite beauty of His creation.   If my spiritual eyes had been opened at that moment I am convinced that I would have seen as it says in 2 Kings 6:16-17 (NCV): “The army that fights for us is larger than the one against us.” Then Elisha prayed, ‘Lord, open my servant's eyes, and let him see.’ The Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” To see that His arm of protection was always around me. His spirit within me, fighting for me, comforting me if only I would refuse to cling to a past that wanted nothing more than to keep me stuck.

Yes, remembering how He’s touched the deepest and most unlovely parts of us is sometimes necessary to appreciate how far we’ve come with the Lord, but we’re not to stay there. Isaiah 43:18-19: “Do not cling to the events of the past or dwell on what happened long ago. Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already—you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you steams of water there.”

And He will even give you hummingbirds, cardinals and bunnies.

As you get alone with the Lord this weekend, remember the depth of His love for you and keep your eyes open to the ways His hand reaches out to you through the ordinary. Because we’re no longer children defined by the limitations of our past but children defined by the certainty of an eternity with God, our remembering always leads us back to our current connection to our Savior. Remember what you’ve received from His hand, the words you have heard Him speak to your heart. Remembering is important because as Jer. 2:2 says: “This is what the Lord says: “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.” He remembers.

So remember your first love. Remember what you’ve learned. One of the first things the Lord had me do when starting to put this morning together was to look back at previous retreats. (There are some sheets in your folders that have small samplings from those teachings.)

    What has he spoken to me in the past? What has He spoken to you? What is He speaking to you right now? Because you are no longer called deserted and desolate but are called Sought After, a delight to the Lord, be encouraged. He has taken care of you before. He will take care of you today in the here and now.

Just as there is a beginning to every journey, there is a present tense in our walk with the Lord. If someone asked you to tell them who you are right now, today, what would you say? Would you be inclined to describe and define yourself by the external circumstances that currently surround you? Good or bad? I had to honestly think about this. Today as I sit here do I believe the way Scripture defines me? If you’re someone who already knows the Lord 1 Peter 2: 9-10—this is who you are: “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”

How do you think about your life today if you haven’t yet come to fully know His love and mercy? Are you someone who’s standing on the very edge of grace, perhaps nervous about committing and entering in? If so, I’d like you to picture yourself standing on a beach. You stand there trying to decide if you want to step forward into untested waters and leave the security of the beach behind, what you’ve always known, and venture into unfamiliar territory.

    You’ve heard many tell of their experiences in the deep with God-how freeing, how refreshing it can be, but you’ve also seen those same people struggle and get sidelined by crashing waves and by strong currents. Knowing this, should you take a step of faith and venture into the deep with God? I can tell you that even though there have been crashing waves and strong currents in my life they have never and I mean never separated me from the love of God, and as it says in Romans 8:39: “For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future. Neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord.” GNT

I implore you to step out and receive His love. You will never be the same again. Spurgeon wrote, “We are not what we were; we are new, and we have begun a new life. I admit that we are not what we will be, but assuredly, we are not what we used to be.”

So how do we stand firm in a world that would like nothing more than to see us fail in our faith? When I prayed about this the first word the Lord brought to me was one he had brought to my mind many times before-intimacy. So really what is spiritual intimacy and how important is it?

I recently listened to a podcast by John Eldredge titled “Don’t Miss the Main Thing” that is absolutely worth your time. Eldredge said that “we were created in the image of a highly relational God who is seeking intimacy and above all, connection. The center and purpose of the redemption story is restored intimacy, knowing God.”

Because our journey with the Lord doesn’t require us to follow the precepts of a static religion or follow a prescribed set of steps, we begin to understand intimacy in terms of a relationship. We’re invited into a relationship with the Creator of the universe.

          So what can we compare spiritual intimacy with since the word intimacy doesn’t actually appear as such in Scripture? We can compare it to knowing. In the Old and New Testaments knowing doesn’t refer to a casual, “I know you. Saw you at the last family reunion” It means to know by experience, to recognize, acknowledge, confess, to understand and to cherish to all the way to a reference to knowing being as deep as what happens between a man and a woman in  a marriage.

One way to really begin to get to know God and develop a healthy relationship with Him? Try doing a Scriptural deep dive into what it means to really practice your faith, recognize and identify with Jesus, to declare His greatness and take pleasure in the Lord on a daily basis.

Remember when you first invited Jesus into your heart? As you begin your day, invite the Lord in. Make Him an overwhelming presence throughout your day. 1 Thess. 5:17 says, “Pray without ceasing,” have incessant conversation with God without intermission. And just as consistent heart to heart communication is important, listening is perhaps even more important. Isa. 28:23 says, “Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.”

Listening is active and literally means to hear with interest, to understand, to yield to, and to obey. Obedience is a part of listening. Knowing God, being intimate with Him, is something that requires us to spend time, giving our hearts, our souls and our minds to Him, whether it’s reading and studying His Word, spending time in prayer, or worshipping, spiritual intimacy is the result of an ever increasing closeness with your Savior.

As we go through our day do we include the Lord? Bring Him into even the most mundane part of our lives as we would our closest friend? Here’s an example. I do crafts. Have for many years. Lately I’ve been talking with the Lord about wanting to do something different instead of the bears and bunnies I’ve been doing for years. Yes. I talk with the eternal Lord about my next craft ideas as well as the deepest parts of my life. To me it’s the most natural thing to include the Lord in all aspects of my day, whether seemingly insignificant or life changing. God is not just my heavenly Father and holy Lord; He’s my closest and dearest friend and confidant.

As you bring Him into every part of your life, into your inner man, intimacy will begin to mature and deepen. Ephesians 3:16 speaks about allowing the Spirit to strengthen us in our inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. What does that mean? Well, the inner man, the inside most basic region of our soul, is where spiritual intimacy truly begins to take root and grow.

Unfortunately because our inner man is the place of our private thoughts and beliefs it can be the place where we curl around ourselves and where the world and those around us can’t see the extent of our own kingship in our lives. But God sees. That’s why our innermost secret places, must be given over to God so that He may dwell deep within us. But it is contrary to everything we’re comfortable with. Our natural tendency is to keep everything on the surface because it’s more comfortable that way, reducing everything to an outward experience instead of an inward encounter.

We often even view our salvation as an experience, something that happens to us, not in us. Intimacy with God starts with a seeking heart. Seek and you will find is a spiritual principle.

God says that if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. But what if you’re seeking something else such as personal empowerment or personal satisfaction? What if you’re really seeking something that agrees with your own spiritual agenda? And what if you’re only half-looking? But there’s no other way.

Francis Chan wrote, “Do you recognize the foolishness of seeking fulfillment outside of Him? Do you understand that it’s impossible to please God in any way other than wholehearted surrender? Do you grasp the beauty and deep joy of walking in genuine intimacy with God, our holy Father and Friend?”

When we have intimacy with God, we can be thankful even when the things around us fall apart because we know, that we know, that we know who we have believed in and are convinced that He is able and He is good—all the time. Examine your heart. Ask whether your desire for intimacy, your desire to know God is ever increasing. Gal. 6:4-5 tell us to, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.”

And as we make a careful exploration of who we are, we utter the cry of Psalm 139: search me oh God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious mind. And He does just that and when we’re humbled by what He shows us, as it says in Psalm 18:33:  “He makes us to stand on the heights with the feet of a deer.” Whether it’s anything in the past or the present, you can now look ahead with confidence that no matter what comes next He will hold you firmly in the palm of His nail-scarred hand.

So what are we to do in the mean time until we’re with Him in glory? A lot of us are retired but we know that doesn’t mean we’re done working for the Lord. Matthew Henry wrote: Those whom He sets at liberty, he sets to work. Because we have been planted by the Lord to display his splendor, we are to work. Doing what? Isaiah 58:12, “Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses.”

Because He has rebuilt, renewed and restored us we can now turn around and do that for others in His name. But as we work and serve Him we need to keep an eye on our motives and our attitudes. Why do we do what we do? And for whom do we do it?

I read this little story someone wrote that shines a light on our service for the Lord and it really made me think.

Walking along a rocky road Jesus asked each of his friends to carry a stone for         him. John chose a big one; Peter selected a small one. They all climbed a steep mountain path. As they rested at the top, famished, Jesus commanded that the stones become bread. When Peter was still hungry after his small portion John shared some of his. Later the group set out on the path again and Jesus asked each man to carry a stone for him. This time Peter chose the largest. After a long walk Jesus took them to a river and instructed them to cast their stones into the water. They looked bewildered and sweaty. “For whom,” asked Jesus, “did you carry the stone?”

    When missionary Elizabeth Elliot heard this story she realized it was not about outcomes, inspiring results, personal fulfillment or even coherent answers. She said it was about obedience to the One whose stone she carried.

As we set about working for the Lord we need to be joyfully obedient to the One whose stone we carry. We pray for God to sift our motives and purify the work of our hands as we walk with Him. Psalm 119 says: “You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That's right—you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set.

Proverbs 20:24, “The very steps we take come from God; otherwise how would we know where we're going?”

So where do we go from here? There are times when the grief and trials of this life can distract and deter us from moving ahead. Tragedy can feel like an obstacle. But when these extreme trials come, and most likely they will come, we are simply called to trust and obey.

    After Elliot’s husband was killed by the very people he desired to help and the people she would eventually return to she wondered if “it was all over and she had nothing left to do now but put in time till Jesus comes.” She said, “Not so.” She wondered, “Now what have I to do? Obey. And my eyes will be opened to the next thing.”

She said, “He leads us right on, right through, right up to the threshold of heaven. He does not say to us, ever, here it is. He only says here I am. Fear not.”

What is our next thing? Maybe we know. Maybe we can only see the one step we are currently taking. Elliot wrote, “He gives us enough light for today, enough strength for one day at a time, enough manna, our daily bread. Our future provision is given in the here and now.”

Matthew 6:11: “Give us this day our daily bread.” This literally means given from God’s very hand, the bread of our necessity, the bread that suffices for each day. From this day forward, we can be secure knowing that whatever comes our way, however unsettled the world becomes, we can be assured that He will not only provide but He will never leave us. 

In Exodus 14, after the Israelites left Egypt, they found themselves between the preverbal rock and a hard place with the Egyptians behind them, bearing down to destroy them and the Red Sea before them.  Ever feel hemmed in between an unfortunate past and an unknown future? God will say to you the same thing He said to the Israelites: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today…the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Psalm 46:10: “Be still, relax, let go, and know that I am God”

So what should be our prayer be as we look ahead? In the 1940s there was this professor who took his students to the house where John Wesley lived. When they went into the bedroom one of the students went around the bed to the other side and saw there on the floor two worn patches on the rug by the side of the bed. When asked about this, the professor told them it was where Wesley would pray for hours and hours for revival for England and America. When the students got ready to go back, the professor noticed that one of the students was missing. He went upstairs to the bedroom and as he got to the top of the stairs he saw a student kneeling on those patches and heard him praying, “Do it again in me.” That student was Billy Graham.

Our prayer for today and for tomorrow is “Do it again in me.” Looking back, let’s rejoice in what he’s given us, how he’s saved and redeemed us, how he’s brought us out of our dark pasts. Let’s rejoice in how he gives us His daily provision, the bread that is Jesus’ body that was broken for us. And as we look ahead, we will wait for the words, “This is the way walk ye in it.”

Tozer wrote: “I wonder when we will begin to behave and to live on the level of our spiritual riches instead of acting like poverty-stricken creatures trying to crawl under a leaf so we will not be seen? Let’s let the world know how rich we really are! Let’s tell it-we are being kept by the power of God unto an inheritance reserved in heaven for us! That is the full-time business of the child of God.”

What does it really mean to come full circle? Each of us really needs to seek that answer with the Lord. But as for me? In the words of Phil Keaggey:

Looking back I can say that I'm glad I've come this way. There's no doubt that I've got more than I've ever had before. With one touch of His hand I was made a newborn man.

What I had gained I left behind. It's drifting further back in time. You took my hand and led me out of darkness.

Full circle, I have come. You can ask me where I come from and when I tell you that it's no lie I've come full circle in my life.

 

    Remember the steps you’ve taken, delight in the path you are on, and trust the direction He will take you in the future. I’d like to end with the prayer I handed out to you. It came from Betty Scott Stama who was a missionary in the 1930s. Her and her husband began working in China, and they were eventually beheaded for their faith. Elizabeth Elliot was only nine when this happened but she was greatly affected. She even copied this radical prayer that Betty had pasted in the front of her Bible.

Let’s read this together (I changed the thees and thous to make it easier and more accessible.)

Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes. All my own desires and hopes. And accept your will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to you to be yours forever! Fill me and seal me with your Holy Spirit. Use me as you will. Send me where you will and work out your whole will in my life. At any cost, now and forever!

 

Jude 24-25: “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more. Amen.”

 

A Joy in the Journey (Sunday Morning)

 

“There is a joy in the journey. There’s a light we can love on the way. There is a wonder and wildness to life and freedom for all who obey.”

Matthew Henry wrote: “Holy joy will be oil to the wheels of our obedience.” I have to tell you that as I meditated about what this really means for some reason I began thinking about this swing by my house. I live right next to a grammar school that put in a new playground a few years ago. One of the swings squeaks every time it goes back and forth. This annoying sound is a reminder that something’s not quite right. Every time it moves no one says, “Look at that beautiful new swing. See how high it goes? Isn’t it great?” They say, “I wish that kid would just get off that swing and go home.” Why no one has oiled it yet is a mystery to me.

What does this have to do with the above quote by Henry and why did I tell you about a squeaky swing by my house? I started thinking that if God’s joy is like oil to the wheels of my obedience, His joy making the sound of my service a sweet, sweet sound in His ear, an anointed holy movement, then does the absence of the oil of His joy in my life create a dissonance, an annoying spiritual squeal that sends the wrong message to others about my service and obedience to God?

It’s important to consider because on this journey of discovery and purpose, we can often get caught up in the who, what, where, why, when and how of the daily working out of our salvation and forget about the important role joy has to play. David Wilkerson wrote that if we say we are His children then where is our joy? He asked: “Where do you see the Father’s feast in your life?”

Do we long for the feast of God’s joy in our lives or do we just put one foot in front of the other, trudging through our lives reluctantly living out some obscure marching orders given to us by a God we don’t really know?

This morning the Lord would like to leave us with the words, “Remember My joy.” In Nehemiah 8:10 we are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength. This verse literally means that the joy, the gladness of the Lord is your strength: your place or means of safety, your protection, your refuge, and your safe harbor. In Isaiah 61 we’re told that those who have been weighed down and burdened in their soul will receive the oil of joy in exchange for their mourning or heaviness.

Over the years I had read all the verses about joy but in light of this past year and my struggle to, at times, stay strong and joyful, I began to wonder if my understanding about Godly joy was more in my head than in my heart. As I was praying about this and asking the Lord to help me understand, I found myself browsing Amazon for Christian books about joy. Maybe they knew something that might help me.

Some of the titles were: God’s Secret Weapon for Every Believer; The Secret of Christian Joy; The Joy Challenge: Discover the Ancient Secret to Experiencing Worry-Defeating, Circumstance-Defying Happiness; Snatch Back Your Joy: Miraculous Joy: 30 Days To Help You Find Joy In All Seasons; A Prescription for Joy: Overcome Worry With Five Steps.

So according to these titles the joy of the Lord is first a secret, something we need to snatch back and if we follow five steps we will find miraculous joy in thirty days. I wasn’t impressed. But I did find one book, How to Have Real Joy, by Charles Spurgeon, that really began to help me understand what the joy of the Lord is. I’d like to briefly share some of his wisdom.

First, Godly joy is something we receive from God, not something we work ourselves up to. It doesn’t come from our emotions. Spurgeon refers to it as “a joy of divine origin” and because the source is the Lord, it will be a high and sublime joy. He wrote: “we do not have to search for joy. It is brought to us by the love of God our Father-joy refined and satisfying, suitable for immortal souls.”

It’s a joy that comes from God and goes back to God. Everything about God, His power, His guidance, His faithfulness, His grace, His salvation becomes a continual source of joy. We find joy in our reconciliation, our acceptance and our fellowship with God. Do we realize how amazing His love for us really is?

Spurgeon wrote, “That God pities me I can understand. That God reaches down and has mercy on me I can comprehend. But for Him to love me, for the pure to love a sinner, for the infinitely great to love a worm, is matchless, a miracle, a miracle of miracles!”

Can we even comprehend that we are daughters of the Most High God?

He said, “We are adopted. We are assured that “our entire future, regardless of what may happen, is guaranteed by divine goodness. We are joyful when we know that, as children of God, the love of God toward us never changes.”

Because of this we see our past, our present and our future differently.

Spurgeon wrote: “When we enter into the love of God and it enters into us, when we walk with God consistently, then our joy is like the Jordan River at harvest time, when it overflows all it banks.”

He said, “Do you know what it means to walk with God and to experience the joy that Enoch had? Do you know what it means to sit at Jesus’ feet and to experience the joy that Mary had? Do you know what it means to lean your head on Jesus’ chest and to experience the joy that John had? Oh yes, communion with the Lord is not a matter of mere words for some of us. We have known it in the midst of affliction. We have known it in the solitude of many a night of interrupted rest. We have known it when experiencing discouragements and sorrows and defamations, and all sorts of problems. We also know that one teaspoon of fellowship with Christ is enough to sweeten an ocean of tribulation.”

We will experience trials in this life as we live out what missionary Amy Carmichael called a strange, deep joy in serving and following Jesus. Many won’t understand how we can have joy in the midst of heartbreak and tragedy. But the Spirit gives us holy sight to see past the surface impact of our tribulations.

Oswald Chambers wrote, “It is not true to say that God wants to teach us something in our trials: through every cloud he brings he want us to unlearn something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to him is exactly that of a child. 

He said: “God is not working toward a particular finish: his end is the process—that I see Him walking on the waves, no shore in sight, no success, no goal, just the absolute certainty that it is all right because I see him walking on the sea.”

It is the process, not the end, which is glorifying to God. As we see Him walking on the waves and as we follow Him, He will send a way in any wilderness and satisfy our thirst with the living water of His Spirit.

Philippians 1:21: For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity]. AMP

"Forget not the hope that’s before you and never stop counting the cost. Remember the hopelessness when you were lost."

As we meditate on His Word and bask in His presence, let us look forward and daily receive His divine joy which will strengthen us on our way.

 

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.” Jude 24