2022-09-02
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to supply some backup Scriptures to get His points we should know about joy, His second gift to us in addition to love [GA 5: 22-23]. The social experiment of pooling and sharing their assets hadn’t worked well in Jerusalem. Paul had been with the people in Macedonia and Achaia, who were generous with donations. Paul wrote to the believers in Jerusalem that he would go there next. His plan was to help the poor in Jerusalem with the funds he had received. Then, he planned to go to Rome on the way to Spain. RO 15: 30-32, “I urge you brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Pray that I may be kept safe from the unbelievers in Judea and that the contributions I take to Jerusalem may be favorably received by the Lord’s people there, so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and in your company be refreshed.” In asking why Paul would write such a letter, it would have to be so that he wouldn’t lose the joy he felt at the generosity of one group of believers and their willingness to help with others. Sadly nowadays, such a letter might be intercepted and his carrying money would be a security problem. But evidently, Paul didn’t feel the cynicism I’m expressing here. RO 16: 19-20, illuminates the joy Paul was feeling. “Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you, but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Paul could be joyful because his work in spreading the Gospel was succeeding.
Paul went south to Corinth, a busy commercial center off the coast of Greece. He wrote a letter to the believers there also, hoping not to repeat a past painful visit there. 2 COR 2: 3-4, “For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? I wrote as I did, so that when I came, I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.” The basis of Paul’s feelings was his desire to encourage them and convey the confidence he had in the way observant believers had been facing their trials with reliance on the Lord. It was the same reliance that he himself felt.
When Paul had arrived in Macedonia, he had been exhausted and harassed at every turn with conflicts from outside and with fears from within. He wrote, in 2 COR 7: 6-7, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by the coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.
Paul comments, in PHIL 1: 21, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” From other places in his epistles, we learn that Paul indeed did his share of suffering for his faith in Christ [2 COR 11: 22-33].. However, he goes on to say, in PHIL 1: 23-26, “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.” Paul is showing here that he takes joy in their faithfulness and their life in Christ. That the Philippians remained so faithful gave Paul real joy. PHIL 4: 1, “I miss you, Friends, and you give me joy,” Paul wrote, “I’m proud of your standing firm in Christ.” This notion is what Paul called his “joy and crown.” In perusing these verses, we can see a common thread in them all. Paul is showing us his catalyst for joy in the observance of their life in Christ of his followers.
PRAYER: O Lord, it is through the generosity of the Holy Spirit that so many people caught on to faith in Christ in the early church. From what we can read about Paul’s background, we learn of his excellent education, that God gave him the mind of an ethical lawyer, despite his being a tentmaker in making a living. He was given the ability to convey the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that he could anticipate opposing arguments for people having faith in God’s Son even before presenting reasons for this faith. God knew that this former member of the Sanhedrin (Jewish ruling council) whose task it had been to persecute Jewish Christians, would be met by the Lord Himself on the road to Damascus [AC 9: 1-6] and brought to faith in Him. Little by little, Saul of Tarsus would be converted to the apostle Paul, the greatest of all apostles in bringing about growth to the early church. Praise and thanks be to God that Paul could take such joy in bringing faith in Christ to others and observing their help in this great work. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: More evidence for how joy’s crown is earned will be presented next week. God places us where He feels we can bring about the greatest good. Paul was not a handsome or tall man. My understanding is that he didn’t have a powerful speaking voice either. But God gifted him with a facile mind and a genuine heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ that enabled him to be as effective in conveying the Gospel as he was. To serve in ministry is something one would have hardly thought would be the passion of my own life, and yet it is. Despite being in my late seventies, I am still taking great joy and peace in serving God. Not every person feels like they are paid generously or that their career is satisfying. I believe Paul has shown us that he had joy from seeing what Christ was doing in the lives of others. I’ve observed my own life and those of others transformed and renewed by Christ’s presence in them. I pray with all my heart that you too might honestly be able to express these sentiments. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved
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