Jesus And Joy
By Pastor Darryl Manning
Now
let us look at more teaching Jesus gave about joy. First,
joy is promised to all the people of the earth in the
announcement of the birth of Jesus. Listen to what the
angel said to the shepherds;
Luke
2: 10Then the angel said to them, “Do not be
afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy which will be to all people. 11For
there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
As
Jesus was preparing his disciples for his death and his
departure from earth, he taught about joy.
John 14:
11“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy
may be full. (Our joy is in relationship to his joy.)
John 16:
22Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you
again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one
will take from you.
First, we see
there is a relationship between Jesus’ joy and that of his
disciples. Jesus indicates that he wants his joy to remain
in his followers and if that happens their joy will be
full. Second, we see that Jesus wants his followers to
have a joy that is impossible for others to take away.
Jesus says this joy will happen when they see him
resurrected.
Think about
what this statement is saying. It indicates that if a
person sees Jesus as resurrected from the dead they can
have a joy that is permanent. The permanency of that joy
is based upon the resurrected Jesus.
The followers
of Jesus experienced the joy he spoke about. After seeing
Jesus’ resurrection, his ascension, and after being filled
with the Holy Spirit, neither beatings nor imprisonment
could take away their joy. They even sang in prison. (Acts
16)
The disciples
joy was based upon the fact that Jesus, God’s son, came to
earth, gave up his life for them, and defeated death. Now
there was no enemy they could not face. Now there was no
evil or hurtful situation that would be permanent. If God
gave his son for them, how much more freely would he give
them all things?
Romans 8:
32He who did
not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Even if they
were to die as martyrs they had the promise of being with
Jesus.
What about you,
my friend? Are the circumstances of life beating you down?
There is no need to be defeated. Just look to the
resurrected Jesus and know that God will bring victory
into your life if you will just believe.
Jesus went on
with his teachings about joy as he prepared his followers
for his departure.
John 16:23“And
in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say
to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will
give you. 24Until now you have asked nothing in
My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may
be full.
Here we see
that Jesus wants his followers to be full of joy.
To make sure they are able to be full of joy, Jesus makes
an incredible promise. He gives them permission to use his
name to draw on the resources of God for anything
they desire. This promise is so incredible that most
Christians cannot believe it.
They use all
kinds of so-called rational excuses why God will not
answer their prayers and give them what they desire.
It is time for
us to believe the Scriptures and make our requests known
to God in Jesus’ name. Just think about the joy that would
fill your heart if you really believed this promise.
First, your joy
would explode every time you received the things you
requested.
Second, your
joy would fill up and overflow you as you discovered your
God loves you enough to give you the desires of your
heart. Soon, you would be telling everyone you know about
your wonderful God and Savior.
Now, let us
look at the last thing Jesus taught his followers about
joy.
John 17:
13But now I come to You, and these things I speak in
the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in
themselves.
Jesus wanted his joy to be
fulfilled in his followers. We will have to look at more
scripture to give us an understanding of the joy Jesus was
speaking about.
Heb. 12: 2looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God.
Phil. 2:8And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and
became obedient to the point of death, even the
death of the cross. 9Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is
above every name…
The joy Jesus spoke about as “his
joy” came from being honored by his Father for his
obedience. During Jesus’ ministry on earth,
God the Father
honored him when he was obedient. At his baptism by John
the Baptist the Father spoke out of heaven expressing his
pleasure (Matt. 3:13-17). On the Mount of Transfiguration,
the Father again spoke of his pleasure in his Son (Matt.
17:5).
Only one thing
motivated Jesus; that was pleasing his Father (John
8:29). In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus laid down his own
will to submit to his Father’s will. He did this looking
beyond the cross to his Father’s pleasure in his
obedience. He looked forward to his Father exalting him
for his obedience. He certainly was not disappointed.
After Jesus’ ascension, God highly exalted him and gave
him the name above every other name.
Jesus wants us
to experience the same joy by learning to obey the Father.
This joy can motivate us to have a strong desire to please
the Father. In this desire for joy in the Father’s
pleasure, we discard our will for the Father’s will. We
soon learn to determine the desires of our heart through
the will of the Father. This means there are times when we
follow the Father’s will into humiliation and need.
However, we must be just as willing also to follow the
Father’s will into prosperity and wealth. Listen to what
the Apostle Paul said about this;
Phil. 4:11 …for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12I
know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be
full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.
Contentment
certainly must be present in our lives if we are to live
in joy. This contentment is not based in being content in
our wealth or poverty. It is based in being content that
we are currently living in the Father’s will whether it be
in poverty or wealth.
Since most
Christians are not wealthy they tend to have little or no
faith for prosperity. They tend to have much more faith
for poverty than they do for prosperity. God really does
want to do with most of us what he did with Paul. He wants
to teach us lessons that we can only learn in poverty. But
he also wants to teach us lessons we can only learn in
prosperity and wealth.
Today, I
believe God is calling most Christians to wealth. Most of
us have learned the lessons of poverty and middle income.
Now it is time
to trust God and follow his leadership into wealth. We are
getting close to a crossroads for many Christians just
like in the days of Moses.
Moses sent
twelve spies into the land of Canaan to check out the
wealth. Two came back with a positive report confirming
the wealth of the land and proclaiming faith to enter
their prosperity.
I recently
heard Dr. Leroy Thompson with Ever Increasing Word
Ministries, speaking about the two spies. He indicated he
and Creflo Dollar are like the two spies. They have
crossed over and experienced the wealth of the land of
plenty and are bringing back the report that we all can
cross into that land. Friend, I pray I will be willing and
obedient and will eat of the good of that land. (Is. 1:19)
I know many people are
rejecting the word of prosperity today, just as most
rejected it in Moses’ day. Dear friend, do not reject it
without checking with the Father. If prosperity is his
plan, we can only find joy in obeying his will and
entering into everything the Father has planned for us.
NOTE: Dr. Leroy Thompson’s
remarks about being like the two spies is recorded on a
video tape titled “Never Underestimate the Power of a
Seed” and can be ordered online at:
http://www.eiwm.org/
