Joy

We're beginning a series on joy at the church that I am really excited about. Interesting enough the primary Greek word used for joy in the New Testament, chara and the word we translate as grace, charis, both come from the root word chairo. This word, as with many Greek words, has a number of meanings. It was used as a salutation or greeting. It also means to rejoice or be glad, but it also means to be well or thrive.

Too many times we live a life of trying to get by when God has so much more for us. In John 10:10 Jesus even said that He came that we would have life and have it more abundantly. That doesn't mean we'll never go through stress or hard times or trouble. It does mean we should be living a life of meaning and purpose.

In Romans 14:17 Paul wrote that "the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." If you read earlier in the chapter you see that Paul was responding to a controversy over food and observances of ritual. He was trying to get them off of focusing on things that don't matter and on what is real. Righteousness, peace, and joy come though Jesus. We so easily get our priorities out of whack and wonder why we are stressed out and overwhelmed.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and is an outworking of our fellowship with the Lord. Joy sets us free to be who God would have us to be. It changes us and transforms us. It helps us to lay down our defensiveness and insecurity and helps us to get outside of ourselves and focus on others. Joy is powerful and ever so necessary in this life. Joy will help us to thrive and to live life well.

This Life

Life is such a precious gift from God but all too often we spend so much of our lives just trying to get by. Jesus said in John 10:10 that "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly." What does an abundant life look like? It is too easy to boil it down to material possessions but the sad reality is that the pursuit of stuff won't bring the abundant life. Don't misunderstand me -- having material wealth is not in and of itself a bad thing -- we just have to own our stuff and not let our stuff own us. God uses faithful people who are wealthy to finance a whole lot of ministry. Jesus asked the wealthy ruler in Luke 18 to sell all he had and give it to the poor but, as far as we know, never asked Lazarus or Joseph of Arimathaea to do the same thing.

So what does an abundant life look like? Maybe it's not so much in what you have but what you do. Obviously the place to start is to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). Since Jesus came for us to have an abundant life the absolute first plac eof abundance is in our walk with God. We are called to an abundant fellowship with Him! Nothing else can ever supplant what is really the key principle of the the life in Christ. Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, prayed "this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3).

I have a friend who likes to say "nothing satisfies like ministry." We have made the term ministry out to be a really spiritual or religious word when in fact it is a very practical word. The Greek word diakonia, where our word deacon comes from, simply means service or care. Ministry is about serving and caring for others. It is so much more than preaching a sermon or singing in church. It is so much bigger than that! Real ministry may be something as big as helping someone through a crisis in their life or as little as helping someone change a tire. It's sometimes messy and sometimes inconvenient. Ministry opportunities don't always pop up when we have free time and are looking for something to do. They sometimes involve some sacrifice.

But there truly is nothing like it. Jesus said "I am among you as one who serves" (Luke 2:27). Serve here is the same Greek word Diakonia but with a different tense. It could just as well be translated I am among you as one who ministers." 1st John 4:17 tells us that "as He is, so are we in this world."

Ministry doesn't just come by happenstance. Don't wait on a church program to create a ministry opportunity for you. We run into them every day but aren't always paying attention. Be bold. Dare to ask the Lord, "What can I do today?" They don't always have to be a big deal. It may be something you do for your spouse or your parents. It may involve helping a friend or a stranger.

It's better to make life happen than to let it pass you by!

New Wineskins

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins." (Mark 9:22)

In Biblical times wineskins were made from whole tanned goat skins with the head, legs and tails removed. New wineskins were used because the skin was still flexible. Wine put in an old stiff wineskin would cause it to burst as carbon dioxide was given off in the fermentation process. Think of a balloon. If you keep blowing on a balloon eventually it will burst. New wineskins were flexible enough to expand and strong enough not to burst.

The example Jesus gives us here is a poignant one concerning our need for humility and a teachable heart. One of the worst places we can be is when we think we already know everything --when we judge the sermon we just heard or the Bible verse we just read through our own lens. If the pastor agrees with me it was a good sermon. If he doesn’t it was obviously a bad sermon. If the Bible verse doesn't line up with my theology there must be a way to explain it away.

That’s one of the things I love about the Word of God. The Word of God will keep you humble if you let it. Years ago I made up my mind that I was not going to argue against God’s Word or try to make it line up with what I believe. That was one of the best decisions of my life.

Receiving the Word with joy will help you to be a new wineskin. Some people look at passages that Jesus said about prayer, or the Holy Spirit, or the power of God and then go into tortured logic to try to explain why they’re not for today. I want to read those verses and be challenged. I want to be inspired in my personal walk with the Lord. If Jesus said we would do greater works than He did then I want to embrace that – not fight against it.

When you read Bible passages that challenge your belief system does your heart leap with joy and expectation or do you quickly run to try to find a way around it?

Maintain a humble and teachable heart. Living the Christian life with wonder and excitement makes it a precious and rewarding journey. Don't try to submit the Word of God to your beliefs and circumstances. Submit your beliefs and circumstances to the Word of God. You'll be glad you did.