How to Find Joy In The Midst Of a Painful Journey

All of the years had begun to wear upon me, I longed to go home to be with the Lord. The pancreatic mass seemed to be a blessing in disguise. Almost a wondrous gift for having marched through the years faithfully. I was tired, weary of the battles of life. Financial ruin despite my faithful tithing. Broken heart despite my having poured out love, hoping it would bring love in return. Battling cancer, illness, and the chronic effects of the medications to cure it all. Some like the friends of Job would say, “God must be angry—it must be because of sin that you have suffered.” Yet, they did not know my heart—only God did. This heart that longed for Him. This heart that thirsted for Him in a dry and barren land. That was 2002 and the mass was not cancer nor my way home to God. It was a turning moment for me to learn that in the midst of all the trials, sorrows, and sufferings of this earth—God is forever my Joy, my strength, my hope and my provider. Perhaps I was a lot like Peter when he said, ““Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37 NIV). Have you ever in the recesses of your heart longed to be home with Jesus? To leave behind all the sorrows, struggles, and trials of this world and follow Him now? That is the cry of my bipolar mother’s heart every day!!

Jesus had been there with the apostles. He had walked with them, taught them, and even at times gently rebuked them. He had lovingly washed their feet. Now He was preparing them for His eminent death and resurrection. He would be leaving. He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them; yet, physically He was going away. They could not follow Him into His death. He would have to take on the sins of the world and take upon Himself all the wrath that evil deserved. He would have to face the darkest of nights so that light would finally have victory over the darkest evil. Only then would His ultimate Glory be displayed as He made the final blow against all of evil once and for all. He would rise victorious—Glorious.

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5 Promises of Joy for All Who Trust God

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He had displayed God’s Glorious Power over life. He had given the apostles and disciples a glimpse of what was to come; although, they still did not fully understand at that time. Yet, of the crowd that was gathered at the event—some believed in Jesus and some did not. There were some who ran to tell the Pharisees what they had seen. It would be hard to say what they were thinking. Did they want to gain the praise of these men? How had they watched such a magnificent display of God’s Glory and still not believe? They were skeptics of their own eye witnessed account or perhaps they believed that this miracle was some hoax. Whatever their reason, they ran quickly to tell the priests. Up until now, the Pharisees had plotted to kill Jesus by sudden out bursts of anger for his “blasphemy.” He had made them look like fools too often. Now the Pharisees and Sadducees would meet together. They would conduct a trial of Jesus without His presence. Caiaphas was the appointed High Priest over the Jewish Nation. He was appointed as High Priest with the blessings of the Roman rulers for his political savvy and ability to keep peace among the Jewish nation during their submission to the Romans. In such, He had been able to negotiate the protection of the temple as well.

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE LEADERS

Caiaphas looked at the situation in horror. Instead of marveling at the miracles of Jesus and seeing that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah, he feared what political upheaval would occur as a result of Jesus’s miracles. Suddenly, he knew his own powerful position was threatened. If the Jewish people gathered behind this Jesus to follow Him; then, there would be war with the Romans. It was for that reason that Caiaphas’s verdict was to “kill” Jesus. Yet, the irony of all ironies comes in the words that came from Caiaphas’s mouth. “You know nothing at all! Nor do you understand that it is expedient and politically advantageous for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish” (John 11:49-50 AMP). Think about this!! It actually was God’s plan from before creation; yet, God spoke through this prideful, self-serving unbeliever to accomplish His own plan.

GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY OVER LIFE AND THE DEATH OF JESUS FOR JOY

“¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses…. ¹⁵ But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one (Adam) many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many” (Romans 5). It was God who had sentenced Christ to die to pay the penalty for our sins, long before Caiaphas had ever been born. Look at Isaiah 53—Jesus was the Lamb.

GOD USED CAIAPHAS TO FULFILL ISAIAH 53:

² For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.³ He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.⁸ He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.⁹ And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.¹¹ He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOU AND ME?

1. God is sovereignly in control of every detail of my life. There is nothing that can enter my life but that He has ordained it for my good as His child.

2. God was willing to sacrifice His own Son that I might find in Him my greatest treasure and joy. He will move all of Heaven and earth to accomplish that in my life.

3. I can trust Him even in the storms; because, He knows what is best

4. God loves me with a perfect love

5. God will accomplish in me and through me all that He has planned to both bring Him Glory and to display His Glory through me. Even if that means I must be purified by fire.

Knowing this, I can find joy in Him through any circumstance. So can you if you know Him as your Father!!! The question then is, “Do you know Christ as your Savior?”

The song I chose for you today is Grace Wins

Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post.  I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Guilty or not guilty?  True or false?  These questions demand an absolute answer.  We may do our best to determine guilt or innocence; however, whatever our conclusion, it does not change the truth.  Either the person is guilty or not guilty.  The words are either true or false.   We may try to justify someone’s guilt as lesser or greater a grievance; yet, the truth is either they are guilty or they are innocent. When the whirling lights of the police car stopped me that December the 4^th to tell me my tags had expired, I first protested that they were good through December. The officer quickly pointed out that the tags expired on my birthday which meant they had expired at midnight on December 3-a mere 8 hours prior to his stopping me. There was no argument I could make at that point—I was guilty as charged and received my ticket in silent acceptance. I was not partly guilty, I was guilty.

Many people try to declare that Jesus was a good man, a wise man, or even a prophet; but, not the son of God as he declared himself to be.  The truth is there is no in between.  There is no partial truth in what Jesus said.  Either He spoke truth or He was a lier.  Jesus, Himself made that very clear in His own declarations. Either He was the awaited Messiah, the Savior of Mankind, and the Good Shepherd or none of what He said was true. If He was not who He said He was; then He was a liar, thief, and lunatic. There is no in between of half truths. He left no room for there to be any in between. In all that He spoke and in each act that He performed; Jesus Christ left no room for there to be in between. He either is the Lord of Lords or He is not.

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Why Did The Crowd Leave Sad After Being Fed?

When I first met Dee at the jail, I was drawn to her. There was a brokenness and sadness mixed with a nervousness. She was one of a handful of women that seemed to over the next few years lay heavy on my heart and would be the ones I “took under my wings” to teach. When she got out of jail, I hired her to clean my house from time to time. I invested time and money into Dee’s recovery. She had said that she was saved and following Christ; but, there seemed no joy. She wanted God to pour “things” upon her. The church helped for a long time; but, her needs seemed insatiable and it was found that she intermittently would fail and return to her drugs or the prostitution for the drugs. As everyone in frustration, walked away—I couldn’t. She grumbled about God’s failure and how cruel the world was. One day, I asked, “Do you really know Jesus as your Savior?” Her reply, “I think so.” “If Jesus gave you nothing in return for your praise, would your praise Him anyway?” I asked. I pressed on; “If there were no heaven, would you love Him because He is worthy to be loved?” She said, “NO”. “Then I fear you may not know Him as your Savior” I replied. Over the next year, my finances changed and I could not help Dee; except, to be there to listen and advise when she called. She began to learn to love our friendship even if I had nothing I could give her. She kept reading her Bible as I suggested.

Then, one day it happened that she called. “I got it!!”She exclaimed. “What did you get, Dee?” With such enthusiasm, she then said; “Jesus is all I need. I understand that now.” That is when I finally saw her life take shape and for her to find happiness in whatever circumstance. Life didn’t suddenly become easy; but, she had found Christ as her Savior. No longer was she in search of a “miracle genie”; she now had the giver of life in her to guide her steps.

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Do You Know God’s Sustaining Grace and Love Never Rests?

Jesus spoke and the paralytic of 38 years, walked carrying the bed he had been lying on. He had not called to Jesus. It had been no act of faith on his part; because, he did not even know who had spoken to him. This was an act of grace and mercy that Jesus chose him. Jesus did seek him out again in the temple to heal his heart of sin as well; but, the first healing of the body had been just that to heal the body only. A random act of grace which displayed the healing power of Jesus as the Great Physician. All of this performed on the Sabbath day. Why? Jesus knew what the response of the religious leaders would be. What truth about God’s Glory was Jesus placing on display in performing healings on the Sabbath?

In the beginning, when Jesus beside His Father created the heavens and earth; they rested on the 7^th day. Not from fatigue. They paused and looked out at the beauty of the creation they had just completed. It was a magnificent, perfect sinless creation. They paused to rejoice in its beauty. A display of their own love, glory, and joy. Oh, yes; they knew that sin would enter the world and with sin they would not rest again until once more a new earth would be created with perfect beauty. Man’s selfish hearts would wreak havoc on their creation. Patiently, God would work. Preparing a way for man’s salvation. Providing enough sustaining grace so that the world would not be totally destroyed until that final day of judgement to come. (Deuteronomy 32). Every beautiful sunrise is a display of God’s sustaining Grace. God has not rested a single day from His Labor of Sustaining Grace so that we might have the chance to become His Adopted Children. [bctt tweet=”Every act of kindness, love, or mercy we have known is from God’s Hand of grace reaching out to us.”]

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