August 11, 2018 - - Deuteronomy 28:47-48 - - Fight for joy!
/Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.
Deuteronomy 28:47-48 NIV
We are called to fight for joy in our life with Christ. This passage from Deuteronomy notes the curse that would fall on the people of Israel if they neglect joy in their walk with God.The Bible repeatedly calls us to joy! Philippians 4:4 commands us "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
There are so many things, distractions, and false joys in this life. We must fight against all of them and find our deepest joy in Christ, Who alone brings us to our Father in heaven. The Spirit of God will stir up in the Christian the will and desire to fight for such joy. While on vacation I had a wonderful reminder to fight for joy. I picked up a book by John Piper and the fight for joy, it is a key emphasis in Piper's ministry.
"...God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Therefore, to make pretensions about honouring him more, while not calling people to the most radical, soul-freeing satisfaction in God alone, is self-contradictory. It won't happen."
"Nothing shows the direction of the deep winds of the soul like the demand for radical, sin-destroying, Christ-exalting joy in God."
from: J. Piper "'When I Don't Desire God How to Fight for Joy" pages 30-31
If you want joy in knowing God: pray for it! Ask the Spirit of God to give you great joy in knowing and serving Jesus Christ.
If you want joy in living for God read Bible passages like: Matt. 13:44; Psalm 35:27 & 43:4 & 111:2. As you read your Bible, note all the references to joy in relation to one's walk with God.
If you want joy to be contagious in your life spend time with joy-filled Christians who love God now and desire Him as their greatest joy!
If you want joy to be anchored in the depths of your soul fight for it. Put away distractions. Empty your life of the weight of sin that would trip you up and keep you from joy. Fight against the habits of your heart and mind that refuse to find joy in Christ.
If you want joy in Christ sing for it! Train your heart and mind to rejoice in Christ as you hymn His Name.
If you want joy in the Living God, get to a Bible-believing church that does not put confidence in prosperity, but proclaims Jesus Christ as our abiding joy no matter our circumstances.
Glorious God, You have made known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy! At Your right hand, where Christ is seated, there is eternal pleasure forever more. Spirit of the Living God, clear out the clutter of my life and the baggage of my mind so that heart, mind, body and soul I may be filled with true joy, the joy of the LORD. Amen.
