Jere 32:41 “Yea,
I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
With our endless failures in view, it is such spectacularly
good news that God himself is utterly committed to our everlasting joy in him. God
is righteous, and thus not indifferent to his glory. And by way of our
salvation in Christ, God is not indifferent to our joy. In Christ, not only is
God no longer against us in omnipotent wrath, but now he is for us – and our deep
and enduring joy in him. Yet, in this fallen world we are fundamentally unhappy
and prone to bouts with unhappiness. We are made “happy” by possessions and participation.
Whereas, God is happy or better said, joyful by his essence: he is not joyful
by acquisition or participation of something else, but by his essence. Don’t
fall entrapped in thinking “God will finally be happy with me when X, Y and Z
all goes his way.” God’s joyfulness is not based on our accomplishment, but
rather his essence. Zeph 3:17 “The
Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will rejoice over thee with
joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” God
is so “JOYOUS” that he finds joy even in us! Let that land for a moment. God’s
song of joy over his children is not merely the sum of the joy we cause or
attract from him, it’s his abundant joy that exponentially expresses itself over
us! Unfortunately, if we miss this we miss our needed strength (Neh 8:10). Joy
is not the icing on the cake of a dutiful Christian life, but an essential ingredient
in the batter itself. And no matter how
the cake appears at times or even may taste, there is a deep reservoir of God’s
joy that runs through it.
Joy is the fitting response in the receiver to the goodness
of Giver.
HSAY… Todd
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