Making joy complete

Greg ends the week with these thoughts:

This week we have identified the joy in knowing God's power and knowing that he is mighty to save, the joy in God's forgiveness of our sins and remaking of our hearts, and the joy of God the fixer, who restores us and makes us whole. These all represent joy that is derived from what God does; God is powerful, God transforms, God restores. Today let's ask, "Is there any joy that comes from what we do?"

But to give me the power to displease you, or to set a sin before your face, which you infinitely hate, to profane Eternity, or to defile your works, is more stupendous than all these. What else could you intend by it but that I might infinitely please you? And having the power of pleasing or displeasing, might please you and myself infinitely, in being pleasing! Thus you have prepared a new fountain and torrent of joys greater than all that went before, seated us in the throne of God, made us your companions, endued us with a power more dreadful to ourselves, that we might live in sublime and incomprehensible blessedness forevermore. For the satisfaction of our goodness is the most sovereign delight of which we are capable. And that by our own actions we should be well pleasing to you, is the greatest happiness nature can contain. O you who are infinitely delightful to human beings, make me, and all humans, infinitely delightful to you. Replenish our actions with amiableness and beauty, that they may be answerable to yours, and like yours in sweetness and value. That as you in all your works are pleasing to us, we in all our works may be so to you; our own actions as they are pleasing to you being an offspring of pleasures sweeter than all.
- adapted from Thomas Traherne

Perhaps the greatest joy available to humanity is the joy of pleasing God. This joy is how God's transformation of our hearts and restoration of our souls work themselves out. This joy is the perpetual, enduring, ever-renewable joy of lives lived in God's will. This is what we are made for! What greater joy can there be than the fulfillment of doing and being what we are made for?

"As the Father has loved me,
so I have loved you.
Now remain in my love.
If you obey my commands,
you will remain in my love,
just as I have obeyed my Father's commands
and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and that your joy may be complete.
- John 15:9-12

Obeying God's commands, and remaining in his love, makes our joy complete! The fact that we can please God is cause for joy, because it gives us hope of a deeper bond with him and it represents his plan for us. Joy can surprise; it can come at us from many different directions. One of the most unfiltered joys of all is the joy is living out God's call. Let's pray for joy.

O God,
God of joy
we pray that you give us your joy

Help us to rejoice in your might,
and your power to overcome our sins and circumstances

Show us joy as you wash away our sin
and form within us something new,
your kind of person

Let joy rush through us as you make us whole again
let us dance when you restore to what you made us to be

Above all, help us to multiply these joys in our lives
Grant us grace to live out these joys,
and so to attain the joy of pleasing you
may the sacrifice of our lives be a pleasing aroma to you
and let us dance and sing,
living in your light.

Amen

Restoration at homecoming

Greg sends these devotional thoughts for today:

The joy of restoration may show up in our loves in many different ways. We may be restored to health, our relationship with another person may be restored, or we may be restored into communion with God. Knowing God as our restorer, as the one who sets things right in our lives, reveals this joy to us. Hear a psalm about the restoration of homecoming:

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
when God returned Zion's exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
we couldn't believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of nations -
"GOD was wonderful to them!"
GOD was wonderful to us;
we are one happy people.

And now, GOD do it again -
bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
so those who planted their crops in despair
will shout hurrahs at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.
- Psalm 126, The Message

What about God's restoration of our lives, giving us fresh starts? We often miss the joy, and opportunity to praise God, for the second chances we are afforded.

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went into the temple courts, walking, and jumping, and praising God.
- Acts 3:6-8 (italics added)

Yesterday we contemplated the joy that accompanies God's forgiveness of our sins and transformation of our hearts. We noted that this transformation erases the distance between us and God, bringing us closer to the joy of Heaven. Today we will focus on the joy we find in the process of restoration by which the gap between God and us is bridged.

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word;
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles,
and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
- The Song of Simeon

Simeon speaks these words in Scripture when he sees Jesus for the first time (as a baby). Simeon has such joy because he has seen God's restoration of all mankind to Himself, saying "my eyes have seen your salvation".

God's restoration is good news, joyful news, because it signifies that things have been set right. Disability, disease, captivity, broken relationships, and sin may threaten to overwhelm us, but God will restore us. We may walk through the valley now for a time, but we will be restored to God, and thus completely restored when we pass from this world to the next. None of these factors has the last word on our lives, because God is a fixer, someone who makes things whole again. We cannot ruin our lives forever, because God will take us back, and will restore us if we depend on him whole-heartedly.

In fact, the joy of restoration is, at is heart, the joy of being made whole. God makes us whole again by healing relationships, mending broken hearts, saving from sin. He brings us back to what we originally were - what we were intended to be. This is causing for rejoicing!

May you know the joy of healing and of restoration today.

The joy of forgiveness

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me

- Psalm 51:7-12

One of the deepest sources of joy in this life is God's forgiveness, and the work that He does in our hearts to purify us. This joy is unquenchable, insatiable, all-consuming. We experience joy and thankfulness because God's transformation of our souls changes us. It permeates us completely, down to the very fabric of who we are. Our identity becomes one of joy and gratitude to Him who makes us pure, clean, and holy.

Lord and Source of All Gifts,
we rejoice in the fullness of your holy generosity.
We thank you especially now
for the gift of change,
the gift of newness
that opens doors closed by habit and routine.
...

We thank you, O End of all Longing,
for the capacity for change in our lives
for without change
there can be no real growth
and no true life.

- excerpt from Edward Hays

God's process of remaking us into new people is a fountain of joy and hope. This transformation brings us into a closer relationship with Christ, which brings us nearer to the greatest joy of all: dancing in the presence of our Father for eternity in Heaven.

There's nowhere else that I'd rather be
than dancing with you as you sing over me
There's nothing else that I'd rather do,
Lord, than to worship you

- song of worship

What joy is evident in these words! Having cleansed us and made us pure, God welcomes us to His home, where we find our ultimate fulfillment. There is nothing else I'd rather do ... Just think on that.

Thank you Lord
for shaping and molding us
for refining us by fire
into what you made us to be

Thank you for washing us
with your blood
in order to renew our hearts
so that we may spend eternity with you
knowing joy without end

We rejoice because you have saved us
We sing for joy because you have rescued us out of our pit
We shout jubilantly in thanks for your awesome works
Thank you for changing us, O Lord,
Our Rock and our Redeemer

Smile and be glad today, because you are not who you once were. God has purified our hearts, so that He could wrap us in His arms forever. May you have joy in the knowledge that God has remade you!

Victory and joy

Today’s devotional thoughts from Greg:

One thing we are all searching and reaching for is joy. Real, undiluted, enduring joy. The Bible often tells us that we have great joy in Christ, but many of us struggle with the specifics. How do we find and obtain this joy? Where does it come from?

Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with claps of joy.

How awesome is the LORD Most High,

the great King over all the earth!

He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

Selah

God had ascended amid shouts of joy,

the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm of praise.

God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kings of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted.

- Psalm 47

Joy can come from the knowledge, and acknowledgment, of God's power. The God we serve is in control. No rebellious forces in this world can change God's purpose for our lives. No matter what people, kingdoms, stresses, or failures pull and tug on our lives, God is powerful enough to protect us.

Ultimately, God's power is most perfectly reflected in Jesus' resurrection from the dead. God's sovereignty extends farther than our sin. Our unchangeable, unshakable King has determined to offer us new life with Christ, so that we too may be raised from death. This is certainly cause for joy! The simple, yet beautiful fact that God is powerful enough to free us from the black storm cloud of sin is the source of the "good news of great joy" pronounced at Jesus' birth.

Bestir, O Lord, Thy might, we pray thee and come;
that, defended by Thee, we may deserve rescue
from approaching dangers brought on by our sins,
and being set free by Thee, obtain our salvation.
Who livest and reignest, with God the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
God, world without end. Amen.
- Advent prayer

Joy to the world, a child is born!
Let earth receive her king!
Let every heart prepare Him room
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!
- Joy to the World

Lord, help us to know joy as a spring always welling up within us
and give us power to dance through life,
not as men and women who are blind to sorrow, misery, or shame,
but as those who know your victory over death and cannot help but rejoice.
- Edmund Banyard

May you rejoice in God's everlasting power today, and may you be glad that no sins or circumstances are able to overpower God's victory.

Confession and renewal

Today’s thoughts from Greg:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
- 1 John 1:8-9

Confession of our guilt makes space for God to operate in our lives. God will act faithfully according to His covenant love, which He sealed with Jesus' blood, if we will only confess our sin and offer our hearts up to Him. What work does this confession make room for God to do? The work of renewal.

Repentance is the restoration of baptism. It is a covenant made with God for a second life. Repentance is the purchasing of humility. Repentance is always distrustful of bodily enchantment. It is self-critical reasoning and solicitude for ones' carelessness. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the denial of hopelessness. Repentance is being guilty but not put to shame. Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord through the performance of good works that are the opposite of one’s faults. Repentance is the purification of conscience.
- John Climacus, Ladder of Paradise 5

Confession leads to repentance, the commitment live differently than we have before. When our repentance meets God's promise of grace and mercy, new life happens. This transformation, the renewal of our souls, is the essence of salvation; having been drawn to God, this renewal of our inner being makes us more like God, and less like the sinful nature we have identified and repented of. Confession and restoration are two sides of the same coin. Hear a prayer of confession and rebirth by Kenneth Slack:

God of mercy and forgiveness, For the times when our love of indulgence and ease have weakened our hold on spiritual things; pardon us.

For when we have not held our bodies in subjection, and have forgotten that they were meant to be temples of your Holy Spirit; pardon us.

For the times we have failed those who have trusted us,and have been concerned with ourselves when they needed our concern; pardon us.

For the times when we have failed in courage, when we have failed to take a stand for righteousness, when we have come to terms with evil in our own lives; pardon us.

And make us new, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Let us kneel before God's throne, so that we may be forgiven and transformed according to God's image. May God's Spirit be with you today, and always.

Greg

Wickedness and holiness

This week, Greg Steele has prepared our devotional thoughts.

I wish now to review in memory my past wickedness and the carnal corruptions of my soul--not because I still love them, but that I may love thee, O my God. For love of thy love I do this, recalling in the bitterness of self-examination my wicked ways, that thou mayest grow sweet to me, thou sweetness without deception! Thou sweetness happy and assured! Thus thou mayest gather me up out of those fragments in which I was torn to pieces, while I turned away from thee, O Unity, and lost myself among "the many."
- Augustine, Confessions

Guilt, and the confession which it brings forth, are means by which we come to understand God's commitment to us in the context of our sin. Admitting and examining our own iniquity points us directly to God's long-suffering love, which welcomes us back in spite of our wrong-doing.

Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes - the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.
- Nehemiah 9:32-33

Confession, the admission of guilt, draws us to God. Recognizing our stains pulls us toward the only one who can wash them. Rather than trying to avoid or downplay our guilt, we identify it and call out to God to rectify it. Being drawn to God, we depend on the faithfulness of His commitment to us. We have done wrong, but His word still stands.

Guilt is not something to be afraid, but rather an integral part of the transformative process of salvation. Guilt, articulated in confession, recognizes who God is and who we are in relation. Confessing the sin that separates us draws us closer to our Savior, and enables us to become more like Him.

Lord, we have sinned, and betrayed you
We have wandered from you, but you have never left us
Forgive us, Lord
We have dug our own graves, apart from you
But please remember your covenant of forgiveness and of love
Do not leave us to our mistakes
Rather, please rescue us, that we may know your love
Your love, which is greater than all our mistakes Amen

Let us be drawn to God even in our struggles, that we may also participate in His holiness. May Christ move you today.

Greg