For Joy

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2 We live in a fallen world. Because of this, life can contain a great amount of pain and suffering. Followers of Christ are not exempt from any of it. As Scripture says, it rains upon the just and the unjust. Hebrews 12:2 shows us the way we are to live in the midst of this reality. We are to keep our focus on Christ, the Author, the Pioneer of our faith. This can be deeply challenging, especially in some of the dark places that life can take us to. The death of loved ones. The waywardness of our children. Divorce, strife, the estrangement of families from one another. These all bring deep cuts into our mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. It can all be, it all will be, too much for our human strength to endure. It is not too much for Him. Psalm 23 tells us that we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but it also tells us to "fear no evil." Shadows cannot really harm us. We're also told that He is with us there, and He is, but too often, we end up living and thinking like He isn't. So, we end up living as victims of the valley rather than overcomers in it. We overcome by continuing to look to Him, and we are able to do so because we are abiding in Him, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. We keep looking to Him, and as we do so, the joy of the Lord becomes our strength. His joy is always set before us and it is not just some future reality, it's a present one. Joy is not a feeling. Joy is the deep assurance and presence of God Himself. Through it He sustains us on the journey and assures us of all the beauty of eternity that awaits us in all of its fullness. It's so easy to become distracted and distanced from His joy. Satan specializes in making it so for us. He wants us to look at what is going on all around us, at his handiwork. Christ calls us to look past it, at Himself, at who He is, what He does, and where we're going. This is how we live in the joy of the Lord. We abide, we press on, we overcome, we endure. We know this life is not all there is. We know we will have all the fullness of His promises realized in part today, and in all their wonder on that day. When we're looking at everything but Him, we're living outside of His joy, peace, and strength. When we abide in Him, we overcome, because He is living through us. We become, as Scripture promises, more than conquerors. Today, may we abide. May we fix our eyes on Jesus, who has conquered all that could ever come against us, including death. He's already in the throne room of the Father. That's His place. Our place is in Him, which means we are there as well. Let us live out that truth and reality....for the joy set before us. Blessings, Pastor O