The miracle of Joy - Chambers, Oswald
Joy is the great note all through the bible. We have the notion of joy that arises from good spirits or good health, but the miracle of the joy of god has nothing to do with a mans life or his circumstances or the condition he is in. Jesus does not come to a man and say cheer up, he plants within a man the miracle of the joy of gods own nature. Then will i go unto the altar of god, unto god my exceeding joy (psalm 43:4). The stronghold of the christian faith is the joy of god not my joy in god. It is a great thing for a man to have faith in the joy of god, to know that nothing alters the fact of gods joy. God reigns and rules and rejoices, and his joy is our strength. The miracle of the christian life is that god can give a man joy in the midst of external misery, a joy which gives him power to work until the misery is removed. Joy is different from happiness, because happiness depends on what happens.
There are elements in our circumstances we cannot help, joy is independent of them all. That my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. ( john 15:11)
What was the joy of Jesus? That he did the will of his father, and he wants that joy to be ours. Have i got the joy of Jesus, not a pumped-up ecstasy? The joy of Jesus is a miracle, it is not the outcome of my doing things or of my being good, but of my receiving the very nature of god. In every phase of human experience apart from Jesus, there is something that hinders our getting full joy. We may have the fulfilment of our ambitions, we may have love and money, yet there is the sense of something unfulfilled, some- thing not finished, not right. A man is only joyful when he fulfils the design of gods creation of him, and that is a joy that can never be quenched.
. . . Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. (Hebrews 12:2)
What was the joy set before Jesus? The joy of bringing many sons to glory, not saved souls. It cost Jesus the cross, but he despised the shame of it because of the joy that was set before him. He had the task of taking the worst piece of broken earthenware and making him into a son of god. If Jesus cannot do that, then he has not succeeded in what he came to do. The badness does not hinder him, and the goodness does not assist him.
Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. ( john 16:24)
Ask in my name, says Jesus, i. E. , in my nature. How can i have the nature of Jesus? By being born from above (rv mg), by the holy spirit coming into me on the ground of the redemption and put- ting into me the disposition of Jesus. It is all done by the miracle of gods grace. For the father himself loveth you, it is the wonder of a complete communion between you and the father.
There are crushing, unspeakable sorrows in this world. To any man with his eyes open, life is certainly not worth living apart from Jesus christ. If it is worth living, it is because he is blind (see 2 Corinthians 4:3 4). Am i going to live in a fools paradise, or let god open my eyes?
The joy of god remained with Jesus, and he said, i want my joy to be in you. The wonder of communion is that i know and believe that jesus christ has redeemed the world; my part is to get men to realise it and then devote themselves to Jesus. Am i willing to forgo every other interest and identify myself with Jesus christs interests in other people? . . . That we may present every man perfect in Christ jesus. The people who influence us are those who have stood unconsciously for the right thing, they are like the stars and the lilies, and the joy of god flows through them all the time.
Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore an eternity of gratitude. Am i grateful to god for showing me the way of life? I am the way, not creed, nor church, nor doctrine, but Jesus Christ. God can take any man and put the miracle of his joy into him, and enable him to manifest it in the actual details of his life.