126. My Joy
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
When Jesus lives and dwells within us so does His love, His peace and His joy. It is awesome and overwhelming to realize that the very joy of Jesus Himself remains in us. How could there be more joy than that? And we get to share it: then our joy will be full. This is the promise: we will be joyful! The cause of our joyfulness is the joy of Jesus remaining in us; the joy of Jesus results from the things He has spoken. What things has He spoken? He spoke Promises; He proclaims the Gospel. In other words: the Gospel of Jesus Christ produces full joy.
This could be a great self-help book: “How to be Happy.” The greatest “help” book ever written is the Bible that contains the Gospel. Reading and hearing it, believing and applying it lifts our spirit and makes joy. We can leave church with joy in the heart after hearing the Gospel; we can go home from a Bible study with an uplifted spirit because we heard the Gospel; we can get up from the couch where we spent Quiet Time with God with a spring in our step because we reminded ourselves once again of the love of God in Jesus Christ.
Many words that we hear every day and many events that happen to us have the potential to make us sad, or mad, or just weigh heavy and drag us down. Furthermore, depression does not always have an identifiable cause. But the Christian has access to a source of unspeakable joy at any time of need: hear the things Jesus spoke to you; joy comes with it. The promise is real; the joy is present; something really changes even if you don’t feel it right away; we just believe it: “Jesus loves me; I am forgiven; God is with me; my joy is full.” It’s true.