GIVER
OF IMMORTAL GLADNESS
BREAD
10 Nehemiah
said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who
have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the
joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (NIV)
11 You
have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your
presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalms 16:11 (NIV)
“May
they always say, ‘The Lord be
exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.’” Psalms 35:27 (NIV)
15 They
are led in with joy and gladness; they enter the palace of the king. Psalms 45:15 (NIV)
19 Moreover,
when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them,
to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. 20 He seldom reflects on the days
of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. Ecclesiastes 5:19-20 (NIV)
10 And
the ransomed of the Lord will
return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their
heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee
away. Isaiah 35:10 (NIV)
3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will
look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her
wastelands like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Isaiah 51:3 (NIV)
11 The
ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 51:11 (NIV)
1 The
Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on
me, because the Lord has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners, 2 to
proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who
grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil
of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV)
17 “For the
Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to
springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Revelation 7:17 (NIV)
3 And I
heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with
men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will
be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be
no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has
passed away.” 5 He who
was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write
this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:3-5 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the
sunlight of our gladness. That He is
wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own foolishness. That He is mighty should cause us to rejoice
who tremble at our weakness. That He is
everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that we wither as the
grass. That He is un-changing, should
perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That He is full of grace, that He is
overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant He has given to us; that
it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect
us, ours to bring us to glory – all this should tend to make us glad in
Him. This gladness in God is as a deep
river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear
sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more
impetuous in its joy.” Charles
H. Spurgeon
“We all know the value of joy.
It alone is the proof that what we have really satisfies the heart. Just this makes gladness such a mighty
element in the Christian character:
there is no proof of the reality of God’s love and the blessing He
bestows, which men so soon feel the force of, as when the joy of God overcomes
all the trials of life. And for the
Christian’s own welfare, joy is no less indispensable: the joy of the Lord is his strength;
confidence, and courage, and patience finds their inspiration in joy. With a heart full of joy no work can weary,
and no burden can depress; God Himself is strength and song.” Andrew Murray
“Peace without joy is contradictory. Joy is fundamental for the Christian; sorrow
is peripheral. For the unbeliever, sorrow is fundamental and joy is peripheral.” Ravi
Zacharias
“No
joy can excel that of the soldier of Christ:
Jesus reveals Himself so graciously, and gives such sweet refreshment,
that the warrior feels more calm and peace in his daily strife than others in
their hours of rest.” Charles H.
Spurgeon
“The chief mark of
the Christian ought to be the absence of fear and the presence of joy.” Ray Stedman
“Though
we now see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, we hold the certainty of the
hope of glory in our hearts. And what
does that entail? As believers, we are
presently objects of Divine approval and blessedness because of the blood of
Jesus and His righteousness and we presently possess this glory in spirit by
the Holy Spirit. One day – either upon
Jesus’ return or our death – we will be transformed outwardly as well into this
glorified beautiful condition. It is a
state into which one is accorded the fullest enjoyment of the admiration of God
as objects of His highest regard and praise and further the enjoyment of
fullness, satisfaction, joy, righteousness and ceaseless delight. It encompasses outward splendor, grandeur,
pomp, elegance, magnificence, beauty, excellence of appearance, impressiveness,
brilliance, illustriousness and eminence (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible – New
Testament Lexical Aids). Therefore,
encourage one another with these words!”
BHY
“Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn’t rescue the suffering. The converse does. The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small . . . and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world.” Ann Voskamp
“Here’s the truth: Happiness isn’t apart from our holiness; it’s a part of it. Happiness isn’t the opposite of joy; it’s hemmed in. Happiness is a gift from a happy God. It’s permissible by God, and achievable through Him.” Jennifer Dukes Lee
HEART SAVOR
·
Joy should flow from the Christian
as brightness flows from the sun.
·
Believers are objects of Divine
approval and blessedness because of the blood of Jesus and His righteousness and
we possess the precious Holy Spirit Whose fruit, among many others, is joy in a
life.
·
God desires for His children to
be joyful and thankful.
