1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
You can see it everywhere you look. You can see it in the eyes of those we come in contact with every day. We see people struggling to find joy. Chances are, we also struggle to find joy in our day-to-day activities.
Paul wrote to the early church to “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
I have tried to work these verses out for the past five years. I made it a goal of mine to try and be as joyful at 6 AM on Monday as I am at 5 PM on Friday and everywhere in between. As you can expect, I am still working this out, but I have decided not to throw in the towel on this mission until the Lord takes me home.
Let’s take a few minutes to break this down:
Let’s start with the last part of this verse. One of the questions we frequently find in the church is, “What is God’s will for my life?”
The end of the focus verse gives us a clue to this question: “for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.“
God distinguishes between those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t. True joy will only be found by those who are in Christ Jesus. For those who are not in Christ Jesus, God does provide what is called “common grace” to everyone who happens to be born.
Matthew 5:43-48 NLT
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
God, out of His love for His creation, has created a world that can be enjoyed by those who believe and those who don’t. “For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
I know believers who are in awe that people who don’t believe can become rich in this world while they struggle to get every penny they earn, and that is never enough. And sometimes, these believers will resent God because of this. But God will challenge us in the areas that He wants us to work on, and for many of us, it is with the resources (time and money) He provides for us.
I say all of that to say this: if you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, ask Him into Your heart, and He will give you the Holy Spirit, which will put you on the path to true joy.
True joy can only be found by those who are in Christ Jesus.
We will struggle to find that joy due to our fleshy desires. This will be a lifelong process that we will work through with the Spirit living inside of us. But the good news is that when we consciously work with the Spirit to cleanse our lives of sin, the Spirit will get more prominent in our lives as we forgo the sinful desires of our lives.
Before John the Baptist was imprisoned, his disciples came to him concerned about the number of people whom the disciples of Jesus were baptizing. The crowds coming to see John were getting smaller, while the crowds going to see Jesus were getting bigger. This was challenging to John’s disciples.
But here was John’s response:
John 3:27-30 NLT
John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.
As we become less and less of ourselves, the Spirit becomes more and more in our lives, and we become more Christ-like in our thinking, attitudes, and actions. We become more compassionate for those around us. We become helpful to those around us. We do this as a by-product of the Spirit working in our hearts.
John recognized where all of what we receive in our lives come from. “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.”
John also experienced joy through the success of Jesus: “Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success.”
When God gives us the faith to receive the saving grace that Jesus provides, there is rejoicing in heaven.
Luke 15:10 NLT
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
As we work this out in our lives, we will find joy when those around us start to have victory over sin in their lives. They will rejoice when we have victory over sin in our lives. This is why fellowship with other believers is so important to us.
We will never know when we hear words that will unlock a challenge in our lives or when something we say will free another believer from a challenge they have in their lives.
Hebrews 12:1-4 NLT
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
The joy that God provides comes wrapped in our trials.
The wrong place to seek joy is through our circumstances and the people around us. If it is only through favorable circumstances and people doing it the way we feel they should be doing it, we will be very disappointed most of our lives.
Also, when we look at ourselves as the source of joy, this will leave us disappointed.
The only place we should be looking for joy is the Lord. “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”
Jesus set the example of a perfectly joy-filled life, and His focus was on doing what only He was qualified to do. And that was to take on the sins of this world. His joy came from serving us, which glorified God.
We have the same opportunity to serve those He has put around us. Our reward that comes from God comes through our selfless service to others. This is where true joy happens.
We can also find joy through our trials. You may say, “Come on, John, are you serious? Joy through trials?” To which I say yes! James put it this way:
James 1:2-4 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Notice the words, “Consider it an opportunity for great joy.” Why would it be considered an opportunity? I believe the opportunity comes with how much we fight or kick against the trials that we face. When we look at our trials as a lesson that God wants us to learn, I believe we will find joy on the other side of the trial.
Peter would say it this way:
1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold-though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
God does not challenge us so that He can see that we have faith. He challenges us so that we can see our faith in the face of trials and hardships in our lives.
When we look for joy at the true source of joy, we take a lot of pressure off of ourselves and those around us.
When we start to place our problems and trials where they belong, we take a lot of pressure off those around us.
The powers of this world want you and I to be reliant on the ways of this world. This evil world makes no space for God. This wicked world will tell us there is no God, which would push us to have to rely on everything except for God for our joy.
But Jesus wants us to lay all our cares and worries on Him.
Matthew 11:25-30 NLT
At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way! “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Heavenly Father, I pray for the joy that You provide. I know this joy will come through my expanding faith in Your provision. I know that You want me to look to You for everything.
I pray that as my life moves forward, You give me the strength and courage to lean on You more and more and less and less on the things of this world.
I pray that You continue to provide me with the faith to seek out Your will for my life and that You use me to bring others to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Thank You for all You provide.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!!
