Finding Joy in God

The husband of a quilting friend dropped into our gathering with their first grandchild. She is four months old and quickly became the delight of the day. She didn’t perform or do anything for us but just be herself and we enjoyed her.

This is the kind of joy that yesterday’s post described, a joy in God simply for who He is, whether He is doing anything for us or not. But unlike the baby, we cannot see Him. We can see what He does and when that seems right or feels good, it is easy to be joyful for that reason, yet when life is full of rotten apples and we know He is sovereign, then what? How can the glory of God be my source of joy when the evidence is not there?

Faith says it. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1:11) but if this is missing, then Jesus is that evidence. He said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6–7)

The Holy Spirit is the source of ‘knowing’ what God is like, but also the source of the joy that goes with this knowledge:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:9–10)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

I see in the Colossians verses that knowing must result in obedience and in the fruit bearing of the Galatians verses. Putting this together, seeking the will of God and doing what He says is a big part of ‘increasing in the knowledge of Him’ so that I can find my joy in who He is, along with what He does.

Obedience is important. It is like walking a dark path with a flashlight; the only way to see what is ahead is to take the next step, and the next, and the next. His Word outlines this:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3–8)

If I add to my faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly affection and love, then my knowledge of God increases too, just as John says:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, (1 John 2:3–4)

The bottom line is this: if I want to know God better so that my joy is in Him and not just in what He does for me, then I need to do as He says. This involves spiritual growth and focus, not ever doing ‘my thing’ but obeying Him.

PRAY: So simple, Jesus, yet that ‘my’ stuff can be hard to shake. Only You can save me from myself and the peril of ignoring, neglecting, or not even knowing what You want from me. I hear You saying, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Increase that desire in my heart.

Correction Requires Pruning

 

Our next door neighbor loves pruning bushes. They have two near their front door that she has expertly shaped. We have the same bushes but never pruned them. As they started to get gangly, she offered to do it. In a brief time, they begin to fill in and look wonderful. Cutting back actually promoted growth. This is what Jesus was talking about in these verses:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (John 15:1–2)

He goes on to describe the importance of a branch abiding in the vine, however these words tie to what Paul wrote to Timothy about pruning and correction as getting rid of what is not necessary so spiritual growth increases.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

In context, this terminology declares that the Word of God makes me stronger by getting rid of that which is unproductive by hindering spiritual growth and the production of spiritual fruit. It is about removing imperfections and promoting godliness.

Job knew this. He said, “The righteous holds to his way, and he who has clean hands grows stronger and stronger” (Job 17:9) another way of saying that pruning out the dead and useless things in life make God’s people cleaner and stronger.

The NT reinforces this in several ways:

And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6–7)

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:5–10)

A few weeks ago, I ‘pruned’ my closet. I put out everything that did not fit, was uncomfortable, or was mostly polyester (which makes me feel tired). Now I can pick anything to wear and know it will feel and look good. Pruning made a dramatic difference.

This also happens with other parts of life. I pruned our pantry. Amazing transformation. Hard-copy photos are getting the same treatment. Also, computer files. Life is more efficient. It’s easy to see that having sinful, selfish junk removed will make a difference, but not just that — what about stuff that isn’t necessarily bad or evil, it just uses valuable time, effort, or money that could all go to better causes.

I read once that time management issues are usually taken care of by eliminating timewasters. This can be things like: the telephone, social media, television, reading when there is work to do, self-pity and worry, being disorganized, lack of discipline, trying to do too much at once, unable to say “NO,” lack of focus, too much stuff/clutter, inefficient, procrastination, unfinished tasks, unnecessary tasks, not asking for help, and unable to prioritize.

The average Christian would likely not call these things sinful, yet the Bible does tell us to “number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12) and to “make the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)

PRAY: Jesus, I am convicted by these thoughts. I can waste time and procrastinate, partly because I just don’t feel like doing something, and it is usually something that eventually must be done anyway. Wasting time can also indicate a lack of confidence in You, for You have promised to give me all that I need to do all that You want me to do. I thank You for taking Your pruning shears after me and reminding me to stop wasting the valuable time You have given me. Strengthen me according to Your Word.

PONDER: How does the love of Christ surpass knowledge, that I may be filled with all the fullness of God? Isn’t it because He is able to do far more abundantly than all that I ask or think, according to the power at work within me? Should not everything I do be done to glorify Him? FOCUS! (Ephesians 3:19–21)