Joy is a Godly adornment... a virtue to strive after... a fruit of the Spirit in our lives {Gal. 5:22}.
But so many things can distract us from recieving God's gift of joy, and often times we exchange His joy for the temporal "happiness" of this world.
Lydia Brownback has created a wonderful devotional series studying the topics of Contentment, Trust, Purity... and the book that I am going through now is on Joy.
I never realized how distracted I was from truly living in the joy of the Lord... the true joy that is unlike our temporal understanding of worldly joy, which never satisfies and leaves us empty.
These short though thought provoking devotions has encouraged me greatly and has challenged me in my walk with Christ, to live in His joy. There are so many passages of this book that I desire to share from, but I decided on one that I read recently that has truly blessed me....
"These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
John 15:11
Jesus has just given the primary condition for joy, and that condition is abiding; abiding in His love and abiding in His obedience.....
To abide in Christ is to cling to Him, and only as we do so will good be produced in us and in our lives. We will find that what we become in the process makes us joyful. Jesus said, "Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. {John 15:5} The results of failing to abide couldn't be more clear.
Abiding brings us in tune with God's will, which always brings joy. As we abide in Christ, even our desires are conformed to reflect His so that we find our selves wanting what he wants.....
Joy and abiding in Christ are inseperatable.
That is just a tidbit of the many encouraging words that fills this book.
The joy that the Lord offers is there for us, yet we must seek Him and His will in order to receive it. I highly recommend this devotional series, as it has been a tool in my life by which the Lord has taught me and sanctified me.
May the reading of this book bless you and it has me, and draw you closer to the Lord as you embrace His joy!
Blessings,
These books are on my "someday" devotional list! I've been looking at them for the past year and a half and they look really good!
ReplyDeleteI was glad to read another review on them :}
Devin
What a great study! Who couldn't use a bit more joy in their life? Abiding in Christ is such a beautiful subject, but one that sometimes seems so hard to grasp. I just might have to put this one on my to-read list.
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