Day Thirty
"For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.."Ephesians 1:15
My good friend, Luke Frechette, taught me the anagram for JOY: Jesus, Others, Yourself. In God's economy, it is a common thought that we put ourselves last, in order to find true Joy in life and our circumstances. For many years, I lived by this creed. But, in recent years, I have developed a new sense at looking at this word, Joy, and understanding this portion of scripture.
First, as the scripture reads, "put your "faith in the Lord Jesus", and it is true that in order to be of use to the world, to others, and to our own peace, development, growth in the Lord and in strength, we need to place our entire focus on the Lord Jesus. In finding him, as the song goes, the things of the world will grow strangely dim, and the worries and cares and hurts and pains of this world will fade, and our peace and joy will be manifest in his grace, mercy, and eternal friendship. Then, of course, you will be able to offer love to others, one that will benefit their spiritual enlightenment and growth in Christ.
My view of this word JOY is as an unbroken triangle, where J for Jesus is at the top with an unbroken line flowing back and forth down to Y for You on the left, which flows over to O for others as you have that unbroken continual relationship with Jesus you can give out to others, and in turn Others have an unbroken continuous connection to Jesus, which in turn they give back to you. This seems adequate to what an ideal church would be, all focused on Christ and all working together to grow in the spirit of humility, working together to focus on Christ and be transformed into his image.
And the reason we can draw close to Jesus and put our entire devotion and focus on him is found, I believe, in Max Lucado's words: Jesus "was touchable, approachable, reachable. And what's more, he was ordinary. If he were here today you probably wouldn't notice him as he walked through a shopping mall. He wouldn't turn heads by the clothes he wore or the jewelry he flashed. "Just call me Jesus."
"So people came to him. My, how they came to him! They came at night; they touched him as he walked down the street, they followed him around the sea; they invited him into their homes and placed their children at his feet."
So, focus on Jesus with reckless abandon and find your heart soaring with the freedom of his love, grace, and mercy for you. Let him write his truth on the tablet of your hearts, so that you may treasure him and carry a part of him whereever you go. For after all, He is a with you always.
"But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." 2 Corinthians 11: 3-4
"For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." Romans 1:20-23
No comments:
Post a Comment