Category: FINDING JOY

SHE STILL LOVED

Another holiday dinner at my Aunt My’s home. There the little girl in green sits, beaming for all the angels (and the camera); my red-haired cousin Sandy. Our family didn’t take a lot of photos, especially of extended family. I treasure this snapshot of joy. Everyone else seems to be caught up in the meal, but Sandy is turned to the camera, grinning from ear to ear. Sandy gave and invited love her entire life. I don’t know of anyone who didn’t love Sandy, except for her future husband.

DIFFICULT YEARS

Young little Sandy has no clue regarding the heartache she will experience through the years. All she wants is to someday become a wife and mother. Instead, God chose to give her years of infertility. Finally, after a difficult pregnancy, He blessed her with one child, a daughter. Sandy treasured Kelsey, her precious baby, red-haired just like her mom. Sandy glowed with joy.

Too bad Sandy trusted her husband to share the same love for their home. Their marriage deteriorated at an alarming rate. Sandy kept saying everything was fine. We knew it wasn’t. After years of abuse, Sandy’s parents finally convinced her that living with him would never improve. He possessed no desire to change.

COURAGEOUS AND FIERCE

My red-haired cousin with the huge grin became a single parent. She longed to stay home and concentrate on raising her daughter. Instead, she became part of the workforce, a role she never sought. Sandy grew courageous and fierce in taking care of Kelsey, providing a stable home, and relying on God each step of the way. Her smile stayed firmly planted on her face.

THEN CAME THE CANCER

Then came the cancer. Her doctor missed the warning signs. By the time she was diagnosed, the disease was Stage 4. Next came the surgeries, the chemo, the radiation, and the loss of her beautiful red hair. And all through this, Sandy still loved.

SANDY STILL LOVED

She not only loved family and friends, but she fiercely loved the temporary workers employed at her company. Most of them were from Central America and Sandy was their advocate in helping understand their adopted country, its culture and its laws. She is the one who drove to the jail in the middle of the night to help an employee who needed a friend to help navigate the system. Sandy was fierce despite everything she was personally going through. Sandy still loved.

People might ask what Sandy accomplished in her short life. She never went to college, never aspired to have a grand successful career, and didn’t want riches and fame. Instead, Sandy created a godly legacy that made a mark on all who knew her. We knew that she loved Jesus, no matter what evil planned for her.

SANDY’S LEGACY

My darling, beloved cousin, in my heart is a special place for your beautiful ear to ear grin. While the rest of the family in the picture is focused on their meal, were you somehow focused on the joy you would bring to so many? Your legacy taught me how to grin from ear to ear when the storms of life blow their hardest. Thank you, Cousin Sandy, for showing me Jesus.

This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness. (Titus 2:12-14)

WHAT IS YOUR JOY LEVEL?

He was a new convert. As a newbie to anything Christian, the handbook for him might as well have been written in Swahili.

Ahh, the delights of the Student Handbook. It was a freshman’s first required reading years ago when I began Bible College.  Contained within were all the rules which would ensure a “happy” college existence.  The list of prohibitions was long and infractions were harsh. Included in possible “crimes” were attending movie theaters, guys’ hair extending over their shirt collars and girls’ skirts to not touching the floor (if the girl was kneeling). For many of us (including me) it was a culture shock. 

I met Carmen, a new convert. As a newbie to anything Christian, the handbook for him might as well have been written in Swahili. Carmen was recovering from drug and alcohol addiction and clearly not prepared for the rulebook. What he desperately needed to learn was what fellowship with the Savior was all about. Carmen was unable to find the joy of the Lord.

TO LOSE JOY IS A GREAT LOSS

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “If any of you have lost the joy of the Lord, I pray you do not think it a small loss.” Spurgeon believed Jesus’ promises regarding joy. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11) But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves (John 17:13) If joy is not found in a college rulebook, where can it be found?

JOY IS IN A PERSON

Joy is in a Person. In I John 1:1-4, the Apostle John makes sure every reader vividly knows exactly Who Jesus is. Jesus is not some vague historical figure, but Someone who John and hundreds of others heard, saw, touched, testified about, and knew. The believers formed a holy family circle with the Savior. Even 2,000 years later, this circle is open to all believers. The individuals in the circle do not have all the same skirt length, haircut, or even choice in entertainment.  What we gather around is the very Word of God, Jesus Christ.

WE LONG FOR CONNECTION

As believers, we long for connection. Jesus offers fellowship with God Himself. Christians tend to loosely throw around the word “fellowship”. God’s usage is not a church’s potluck. a high school lock-in, or a good old fashion hymn sing.  This is a deep connection with God which aims to flood our being to its very core.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 

JESUS’ HAIRCUT WAS NEVER AN ISSUE

How does one gain fellowship with Jesus Christ? By agreeing with Him. Christ functioned on this earth always in deep fellowship with God, agreeing with the Father. They never disagreed.  Jesus’ haircut was never an issue; the will of the Father was.

HE LONGS FOR YOU

Agreeing with God and taking action on what He actually says in His Word brings joy. There is a place setting for you at God’s table and He longs for you to dine with Him.  Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Sadly, Carmen was unable to follow the college handbook and was kicked out in the Spring of his first year.  He never learned that fellowship with God is not created via manmade rules. If only someone would have drawn him into the circle of fellowship with Christ and what His Word actually said.

THE LITMUS TEST

Maybe this week, take some time and begin making a list of what is keeping you from having deep fellowship with God.  The litmus test may be the questions: “What is your joy level? What is preventing your joy in the Father from being full?” God longs for you. Do you long for Him?

For further reading on vital fellowship, clickhttps://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/1-john/life-with-father