Joy

The second fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) is Joy. Elsewhere in the Bible it states "The Joy of the Lord is my strength". It's true. The Lord's Joy is very different to happiness though. Happiness is fleeting, like an ice cream. Nice enough whilst you are eating it, however, when it's finished so to is the sensation. Happiness can't give us strength when the world deals us a blow.

Tonight at the Community Cafe (our Church's dinner outreach) I felt the Lord's Joy and blessing. I enjoy serving, you get to know the people there, none of us are perfect, yet I fall in love with all of them. We become family as we serve one another. It is a lovely experience. It's God working in community (Theologian Stanley Grentz would agree enthusiastically). Tonight I gave a brief talk, I spoke of Christ, and our Lord's suffering in exchange for our joy. Afterwards I was overwhelmed by the people who thanked me. Many of them were new comers to the Church (some for the first time) yet they responded sincerely with warmth. It was so encouraging; the Joy continued to grow in me.

As I departed a new friend, I will call her Kat (I know she is reading this!), did one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Ever. She gave me a box of Bibles. Brand new beautiful Bibles. Each one a pathway to heaven for someone's soul. More precious than gold. More valuable than any treasure, the gift of eternity. I had to contain my tears.  Receiving Bibles from someone is also a gift directly from God. In this case through His daughter Kat. Nobody has ever given me Bibles before. I have bought over a thousand and given them all away. Tonight someone gave me some Bibles. I thank God for her. The exciting part is now waiting to see who will receive them. Stay tuned and be patient - God will get us there!

As I left, overwhelmed, I found my laptop had been stolen. At first I couldn't believe it. I ransacked the car and searched the church. Sure enough it was gone. Everyone was sympathetic. I thought during it, "Ok God, If you want the laptop gone that's ok, I know you will bring a good from this". I even thought God was doing such so i could get an extension on some assignments! One thing I didn't want to do was complain, or whinge too much. It was gone. The Lord Jesus states do not store up your treasure on earth. I don't, however, my theological assignments were stored up in the laptop. A full four  years worth. A friend made us pray in a huddle. We even started to accuse who may have done it. Thankfully the general consensus was not to. I remember saying everyone is innocent till proven guilty. I tried to hold onto the Lord's Joy; rather than let external circumstances effect the internal. If you do that you become a thermometer: up and down with the weather.

I decided to go home, I said "oh well I will get a new one tomorrow". My friends were all genuinely concerned. One wonderful man, Trevor, said with his innocent faith, "God will bring a good from it". I looked at him and thanked him. I knew The Holy Spirit was talking through him. As I turned and walked out the Church, another friend's wife called me back. The laptop had been found. Someone had placed it in the office for safe keeping. Relief flooded over everyone. And I did the dance (see Evan Almighty). The genuine relief in my friends was incredibly touching. Everyone was in Joy.

I see lessons in all of it. God wanted us to remain in joy laptop or not. It doesn't effect our salvation . The  salvation that Christ paid dearly for us on the cross. Under intense suffering He cried, "My God, My God why have you forsaken me?" however, if you use what is theologically called canonical contextual criticism (reading across the Bible horizontally - Scripture interpreting Scripture) you then get a deeper understanding of what Christ goes on to think. It is all there in Psalm 22. It begins with the aforementioned sentence, yet near conclusion states "may your hearts live forever!" (Psalm 22:26). Later we know Christ calls out in a loud powerful voice "IT IS FINISHED!". What was happening? He was exchanging the most intense suffering humanity will never know;  for your salvation, joy and eternal life. It is worth more than the entire earth. For even if we gained the whole earth but forfeited our soul, what good is that?

The Lord's Joy - may it become our strength.

God Bless