Joy in the Lord

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 8
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Of course there is our joy as well. Of this joy the Lord said, “Your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:2222And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. (John 16:22)). This is an inward joy that does not depend on outward circumstances, but really proves itself, and even enlarges and deepens in times of distress and affliction. The Lord wants our joy to be full and overflowing. In ministering to the disciples before going to the cross He said, “These things have I spoken unto you...that your joy might be full” (John 15:1111These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15:11)).
From a Roman prison Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord....Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Philippians 3:1; 4:41Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. (Philippians 3:1)
4Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)). It wasn’t that Paul was indifferent or callous to his situation. On another occasion he said, “As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:1010As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (2 Corinthians 6:10)). He had a joy that lifted him above the present circumstances because His joy was in the Lord Himself. As he wrote to the brethren at Rome, “We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1111And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)).
So it is in affliction, while we cannot depend on our outward circumstances to supply our joy, yet there is a joy that comes from our enjoyment of Christ. Here is how the Apostle Peter expressed it to encourage those who were going through real trials in his day: “Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:7-87That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:7‑8)).
Are you going through a difficult time? May your joy in the Lord be enlarged and multiplied.