It would seem, at least on the surface of things, that joy and suffering are incompatible. And yet, when God talks about joy, HIS joy, in HIS Word, the Bible, more often than not, He talks about joy in the midst of suffering. That, I think, is worthy of a closer look.

In this world, the basic law of the jungle is that you have to work hard for everything you want – you work at it, you get it. It’s a performance oriented world. Okay, every now and then, someone may win the lottery and get something for nothing, but that’s pretty rare. It’s the exception rather than the rule.

In my lifetime, I’ve only known one couple who has one a big prize in the lottery. The rest have all had to work hard for what they have. My hunch is that you, like me, are one of those.

So when someone comes along with the idea that you can have something for nothing … well, that doesn’t sit too well with us. You know the old saying – if it sounds too good to be true, it usually us.

Last week on the program, we were taking a look at the joy of the Lord. Joy after all, is something we all want to have in our lives, in our hearts. Man, if you can have joy overflowing out of your heart in any and every circumstance, wouldn’t that be awesome, although it does sound too good to be true.

Joy and suffering, after all, don’t go together. At least not in our mindset. And yet … and this is what we’re going to chat about today, God’s joy can be His free gift to anyone who is willing to accept it … not a sense of happiness that waxes and wanes with your circumstances, but a deep, abiding sense of joy that never leave you.

When a person accepts Jesus into their lives, as their Saviour, the one through whose suffering God forgives, and as their Lord, the one whom they follow and live for the rest of their lives, something amazing happens. The promise of God is that the moment you do that, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, comes to dwell in you. That’s what Jesus said:

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14:15-27)

That’s a pretty amazing promise, and it’s true. That’s exactly what happens. And as the Holy Spirit starts to help us to grow and change and get closer to Jesus, it’s like that process bears fruit. And in fact, the Bible talks about that fruit:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self. (Galatians 5:22)

There are nine things in that list and one of them is joy. By the way, it’s closely linked to the other eight. But joy is a natural consequence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s not something you have to go out there and get for yourself. It’s something that God gives you. And as we saw earlier in this series, the original Greek Words for Joy, and for grace come from the same root, their almost identical. The idea is that joy is a free gift from God.

So that’s why, God can talk about giving you joy amidst the trials and tribulations of life. In fact, think about it, if God is in the business of giving His children His joy, the time we most need that joy is when things aren’t going well, right?

That’s why you read things like this in the Bible:

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. And if any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. (James 1:2-5)

Just think of how bizarre that sounds. Whenever you face trials of ANY kind, consider it nothing but joy … another translation says nothing but PURE joy. That flies completely in the face of worldly wisdom and yet God … He wants you to have joy in your trials because there’s meaning there. He’s doing something there. He is growing you and maturing you and making sure that as time goes on, you will be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

Who else does that for you? Without God, you’re out there suffering on your own. But with God, He’s right there with you, giving you His joy, in the knowledge that He is refining your character and giving you the wherewithal to handle the things this world throws at you. That’s how the Apostle Paul can write … 2 Corinthians 7:4

I AM OVERJOYED IN ALL OUR AFFLICTION.

God means to give us His joy when we’re under fire, because then all of a sudden, we discover His strength. His joy is His path to His strength, right when and where we need it.

Well, where do we go with this? How do we lay hold of the Joy of the Lord? Well, according to Jesus, you simply ask:

Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. (John 16:23-24)

Jesus wants to make your joy complete. Think about that for just a minute. Wow! And what He’s saying here, to His disciples who were about to go through great fear and suffering, is just ask me and I’ll give it to you.

One of the things that I’ve discovered is that when we take God at His Word, when we take Jesus at His Word, He actually honours that. Psalm 118:24 says:

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.

That’s not such a bad piece of advice now, is it. God made this day. None of it is any surprise to Him. He knows exactly what He’s doing. He is in your past and your present and your future. They’re all connected. He can and will make a difference for you right now, by bringing His joy into your life.

And when your heart is overflowing with joy, at the same time as your eyes are overflowing with tears, there is nothing sweeter than that, because it’s in that place that you discover in your own experience the grace and the faithfulness and the love of God. So let me leave you today with this Word, God’s Word for you:

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:11) 

God has a plan. And a part of that plan, is to fill you with His joy around the clock, in any and every circumstance, whether things are going well, or badly for you. Now … if I were the devil … I think what I’d want to do is to set about ruining that plan by robbing you of God’s joy. And that is exactly what the enemy plans on doing.

You know, I don’t think there is any sweeter combination than God’s peace and God’s joy. When I’m filled with the peace and the joy of the Lord, it doesn’t seem to matter what the world throws at me, I’m able to get through it all.

That doesn’t mean that we all don’t have some bad days mixed in with the good ones, but God loves you and He wants to make a difference in your life and one of the ways that He does that is to bless you with the free gift of His joy. Because when you’re filled with His joy, the joy of your salvation, the joy of knowing Jesus, the joy of knowing that He has everything in control and that He loves you and cares for you – well, honestly, that makes you strong. That’s why the Bible says – Nehemiah 8:10 – that the joy of the Lord is your strength.

But as I said earlier, the devil doesn’t want you to be strong. He wants to rape and pillage your life and steal away all the good things God is giving you, including your salvation. If He can get you to turn away and walk away from Jesus … He won. And He can’t do that while you’re strong in the Lord. So, how does He do it? Well, the devil has read the Bible too, so he knows that when you’re filled with God’s joy, you’re strong.

So … why not rob you of God’s joy? Why not tempt you and test you to see if he can get you to let go of the joy of the Lord and become weak so that He can plunder your life and undermine your salvation?

This is important stuff we’re talking about today, because that is exactly how Satan works. Have you ever wondered why it is, after you’ve had a great time of prayer with the Lord that’s lifted you up and filled you with His peace and His joy, why it is that you walk out of that straight into some sort of conflict, some sort of attack?

It’s because the devil doesn’t want you filled with God’s joy, that’s why. I want to come back to one of my favourite passages today, it’s about the fruit of the Spirit which includes joy – Galatians 5:22. But, I want to read you the bit before that as well. Have a listen:

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26)

So, what’s God saying to us here? Basically this, that sin, robs you of the fruit of the spirit. You go out there and disobey God by gratifying the desires of the flesh – and there’s a long list of those there, right – you live your life for yourself and not from God, and do you really expect to have the fruit of the spirit in your life? Do you really think that God’s love and His joy and His peace are going to be a happening thing in your heart.

That’s why the devil tempts you. He wants to slip under your guard and get you involved in just a tiny sin to start with. You know the sort that God probably won’t notice, or if He does, it’s only a little one, so He won’t worry too much about it.

You’ve got to be kidding, right? As though there is any such thing as a small sin to a perfect and Holy God!! Let’s face it, eating a piece of fruit from a tree that God said, “Don’t eat from this one.” That surely can’t be such a big deal?! It is, after all, only a piece of fruit for goodness sakes! And yet look at the terrible consequences of THAT one, seemingly small, innocuous sin, on Adam and on Eve and on the rest of humanity to this day.

Listen up. There is one thing for certain, if we live our lives in sin, for ourselves, rather than in the Spirit, for Jesus, we are not going to be experiencing the joy of the Lord. And the moment you lose God’s joy, you become weak and vulnerable.

Now the enemy has a foothold in your life and he is going to exploit it to get what he wants. In Ephesians 4:27, we’re told not to make room for the devil, or not to give him a foothold. That’s why. The number one thing that robs you of God’s peace and His joy … is sin. Rebellion. Think about a child who rebels against its parents, a child who explicitly does what mum and dad told it not to do.

How much peace and joy do you reckon is going to be happening around the dinner table tonight in that family, when that child comes to the table, unrepentant, continuing in its rebellion? Not a lot, right? I’ve been there as a kid, and let me tell you, I’ve experienced some frosty receptions at the dinner table … and rightly so. That’s what rebellion gets you.

It’s the same with God. You want His joy? Live your life for Him. You want His peace? Then stop fighting with Him. And all it takes to restore your fellowship with Him and get His joy back in your heart, is for you to go to Him and admit your mistakes and ask for His forgiveness.

Theologians will call that repentance. I call it plain common sense. It’s not complicated at all. Sin will rob you of God’s joy every time. Every time. Did you get that? Every Time!!!!! And it’s a downward spiral … that is exactly the enemy’s plan for you. To alienate you from God, get you while you’re weak and maul you and destroy you.

But remember, the joy of the Lord is your strength. It’s not rocket science.

One of the things I know is that there are some people listening today who feel like they’re a million miles from God, because the devil has done just what I’ve been describing. And on top of everything, he may have filled your heart with the lie that things are so bad between you and God that He just doesn’t want you back anymore. It’s over.

But I’m here to tell you that Jesus died for every sin of yours … past, present and future and by His blood, by His sacrifice – as long as you put your trust in Him, you are forgiven. So, the best way I can think of using the next minute or so, is to pray with you, to bring you back into that delightful fellowship with Jesus:

Lord God, you know my sin. I am so ashamed. I am so pained by the things that I’ve done, and yep, the devil has been plundering my life, to the point where it does feel like it’s over. But I have just been reminded of your mercy, your grace and your love, through what Jesus did for me on that Cross. And I come to you in His name, because I believe in Jesus, and ask you for your forgiveness. I have no right to expect that, but I know that you purchased that right for me at Calvary. Please forgive me, please hold me close, please fill me with your Spirit and please, bring back your joy and your peace to me. I’m asking you today, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let me tell you, if you prayed that prayer with me today, then God has heard you, God has pardoned you and right now, at this moment. He is wrapping His loving arms around you. That’s good news, eh?

May the Joy of the Lord truly be your strength, this day and forever more. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

It’s probably no surprise to you that sin, our rebellion against God, robs us of His joy. It’s pretty logical, and I’m guessing you’ve probably experienced that loss of joy through your sin. But there’s one sin, I think more than any other, that today is resulting in a chronic lack of joy in people’s lives. And it’s THAT sin, that we’re going to talk about today on the program.

What if I told you that there was something really simple, so simple almost that you’d laugh at me, something simple that you can do to lay hold of the joy of the Lord in your life – anywhere, anytime, no matter how good or how bad your circumstances might be? Would you be interested? 

Yesterday on the program, we were chatting about the degree to which self-centredness, which is very much the zeitgeist of this century, is robbing people of the joy that God wants to give them.

It is in many respects, a natural human trait to want to put ourselves at the centre of the universe, and yet when we do, we end up living joyless lives. The question is, how do you turn that around? Well, interestingly the word “repent” which sounds a bit old and stuffy, literally means, to turn around.

The self-centred person spends most of his or her time, looking at all they don’t have, and desiring more. They set their lives on a course of getting more, not realising that it will cost them everything. The opposite of that, is looking at all you have. And being thankful for those things. And that’s what we’re going to be chatting about today on the program. Thankfulness.

Now, thankfulness is one of the simplest things to do, even when you think that you don’t have much to be thankful for. I remember a time in my life a couple of decades ago, when I really felt that there was nothing to be thankful for. It was a dark time, I was alone, and yet it was in that place that I first met Jesus. The only way I can describe it was that his small light shone all the more brightly in my heart, because of the inky blackness that surrounded me.

Whilst I would never wish such a time on my worst enemy, I shall remain ever thankful for that time in my life, because it was the beginning of a new life for me. That was hard to see back then, in fact, I couldn’t see it, but I remember the joy of coming to know Jesus and spending time with Him as though it were yesterday. And it remains to this day, one of the sweetest, most sublime things that has ever happened to me.

And as I look at all that’s happened to me, during that time, since then, good and bad, what I see as I look back is the goodness of the Lord in my life. And that is something that I am just so thankful for. He has blessed me with a good and wonderful wife. He has blessed me with a roof over my head.

Are there some downsides to my life? Are there some things that I’d like to change, that if it were up to me, would be different? Most certainly there are. Absolutely. But the question really is, which shall I focus on? What I have, or what I don’t have? Which one of those two would you focus on?

The Apostle Paul was an amazing guy. Some people think of him as a saint, but if he were here, he’d tell you that he’s no more a saint than you or I and he would, according to God’s Word, be absolutely right. When he was close to the end of his journey, locked up in a dungeon on death row, he wrote these words – we looked at them a little earlier in the series but I want to come back to them here, because they speak so powerfully of the joy that thankfulness can bring in your life and mine:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-6)

He’s saying there exactly what we’ve been talking about this last little while on the program – that we should rejoice, in other words, revisit our joy – in every and all circumstances, even it would seem, right there on death row.

How do we do that? Well, instead of worrying, instead of focussing on what we don’t have, let’s go to God with thanksgiving and let Him know our needs. Not with grumbling or complaining or worrying or fear. Those heart attitudes never get you anywhere with God, but with thanksgiving. By giving thanks – thank you God – that’s the heart attitude. And when we go to God with that heart attitude, the promise is that His peace – a peace that doesn’t make sense in our circumstances, a peace that surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ. That’s good! Peace right where we need it.

And notice that our rejoicing is to be built on the foundation of thanksgiving. So … you want to get joy back in your life, then start thanking God for all you do have. Now … I know what you’re thinking. That’s not easy when you’re on death row. That’s not easy when things are tough. I agree, it’s not.

And so Paul goes on, in the next breath, to tell us how to do that. Verses 8 and 9 of Philippians Chapter 4 – here’s the “how” of being thankful when life is tough:

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

How do we get thankfulness happening in our hearts, when it’s hard? We think about all the good things that God has done and is doing? You know how when you have something you’re worrying about or afraid of, you churn it over and over in your mind, again and again? And the more you do it, the more down in the dumps it makes you?

Well, in exactly the same way, Paul is saying, instead of thinking about what you don’t have, think about what you do have. Churn those good things over and over again in your mind, and what you’ll find is that you will want to start thanking God for them. And when you do that, you’re doing exactly what Paul said to do, you’re going to God with thanksgiving. And what happens when you do that, is that you’ll end up rejoicing in God’s goodness and experiencing His joy.

Is that complicated? Well, no, actually it’s not. It’s just a habit that you and I can get into in order to experience God’s joy. Because we end up trusting God based on all the good things He’s done and the worry and the fear … they go away. Do you see the power of God’s Word here,.

And the thing is that when we’re thankful, when we have God’s joy in our hearts as a result, life is so much better. It’s true you know! The joy of the Lord really is your strength. So … if you’re down in the dumps, if you’re worrying or afraid, if you can’t find anything to rejoice about, start thinking about God’s goodness in your life.

Start thinking words of thanksgiving to God – and based on all the faithfulness He’s shown you to date, believe in God, put your trust in Him again, for whatever it is that you’re going through today. And the peace of God which passes all understanding really will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus! And think about it. What’s the alternative?

The alternative is continuing on, down in the dumps, not trusting in God, not experiencing His joy, not having His peace. Why would you possibly want to do that for Pete’s sake?!

Nineteenth century writer and theologian G.K Chesterton put it this way: I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

He’s absolutely right. The simplest thing that you can do to lay hold of God’s joy in your life, it to be thankful. Thankfulness is a heart attitude that sets us free from the burdens of today and releases us into the love and the faithfulness of God.

Don’t believe me? Give it a spin …

When things aren’t going well for us, the last thing we feel like doing is praising God. And yet, praising God is the single, most powerful thing that we can do, to lay hold of His joy and peace in our lives – even amidst the worst of circumstances. Truly!