Pain and Pleasure

Joy is often elusive to the Christian.  We wish it were within our grasp, but sometimes it just isn't there.  We find ourselves desperately looking for it only to come away disappointed by another exercise in futility.


It is closer than we think.  It involves a spiritual culture shift in what we think joy is rooted in.  Am I wrong in saying that if everything is fine and everything is going our way... then we have joy... and lots of it?  That may be true to some extent.  But the Bible tells us another source of joy.   Of course, God is the ultimate source of joy, as He is all other good gifts.   But consider these passages:


Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us.  Psalm 90:15


Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.  Psalm 119:67


It is good for me that I was afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.  Psalm 119:71


The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.  Isaiah 29:19


These passages indicate that gladness (joy) is sometimes related to affliction.  BEFORE affliction, the Psalmist went astray.  It appears that the affliction was instrumental in helping him keep God's word. It is GOOD that the Psalmist was afflicted... why?  So he could learn God's law.   This causes stability in one's life, and stability plays a vital part in whether or not someone is joyful.  


But the ultimate affliction was what you and I caused to the one and only Son of God because of our rebellion:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.  Isaiah 53:7


Because of the pain that Christ endured on the cross, the one who follows Him in obedience of faith will enjoy the pleasures of heaven forever.   That should not only bring a smile to the saddest face, but that should bring everlasting joy that nothing or no one can take away.  

Whiter Than Snow

We woke up this morning to a fresh coat of snow this morning.  God opened up His storehouses and gave us our first snow to blanket the ground this season.   It was bright. It was pure.  It covered all the deadness of the leafless trees and thistles left over from autumn.  It was beautiful.

My son, not realizing the allegory in his words, said 'Dad, I love the snow, God must love us alot to give us snow'.

My mind immediately raced to Isaiah chapter 1 and Psalm 51.  "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow" and "Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow".  What could be whiter than snow?!  It's pretty white!  And yet God promises to wash us until we are whiter than snow.

I love snow for that very reason... it reminds us of the cleansing we received from the blood of Jesus Christ.  The thistles of sin are covered by the atonement made possible by what Jesus did on that bloody cross.  

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas?  No need to dream about that.  It's already a reality for those who put their faith and trust in the soul cleansing blood of the Savior whose birth we celebrate next week!

Fear Not

What are the fears that grip us?  What kind of things paralyze us?  And what is the antidote to those fears?
As we learned this past week in a great Sunday School class conducted by a guest speaker, the answer can be found in Isaiah 41:10 - "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

In this verse we find five pillars of truth regarding fear:
1).  God is with you
2).  God is your God
3).  God will strengthen you
4).  God will help you
5).  God will uphold you

To put it in a more personal way, you could say:

1).  God is with ME!

2).  God is MY God!

3).  God will strengthen ME!

4).  God will help ME!

5).  God will uphold ME!

Is there any more effective way of handling fear?