Experiencing the Joy of Jesus

By Max Lucado

A letter of joy

Go with me back in history a couple of thousand years. Let’s go to Rome … to a rather drab little room, surrounded by high walls …Inside we see a man seated on the floor. He’s an older fellow, shoulders stooped and balding. Chains are on his hands and feet.

It is the apostle Paul … the apostle who was bound only by the will of God is now in chains—stuck in a dingy house—attached to a Roman officer.

He is writing a letter. No doubt it is a compliant letter to God. No doubt it is a list of grievances … He has every reason to be bitter and complain. But he doesn’t. Instead he writes a letter that two thousand years later is still known as the treatise on joy… Philippians…Why don’t you spend some time with it?

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Speaking of Jesus, Paul wrote that,

He was joyful. He was joyful when he was poor. He was joyful when he was betrayed. He was even joyful when he hung on a tool of torture, his hands pierced with six Roman spikes.

Jesus embodied a stubborn joy. A joy that refused to bend in the wind of hard times. A joy that held its ground against pain. A joy whose roots extended deep into the bedrock of eternity.

What type of joy is this? What is this cheerfulness that dares to wink at adversity? What is this bird that sings while it is still dark? What is the source of this peace that defies pain?

I call it sacred delight.
It is sacred because it is not of the earth. What is sacred is God’s. And this joy is God’s.

It is delight because delight can both satisfy and surprise.
Sacred delight is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It’s what you’d always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. God as your pinch-hitter, your lawyer, your dad, your biggest fan, and your best friend. God on your side, in your heart, out in front, and protecting your back. It’s hope where you least expected it: a flower on life’s sidewalk.

It’s no accident that the same word used by Jesus to promise sacred delight is the word used by Paul to describe God: “The blessed God…” (1 Timothy 1:11 NIV); God, the blessed and only ruler…” (1Timothy 6:15 NIV)

Think about God’s joy. What can cloud it? What can quench it? What can kill it?
Is God ever in a bad mood because of bad weather? Does God get ruffled over long lines of traffic jams? Does God ever refuse to rotate the earth because his feelings are hurt?

No. His is a joy that consequences cannot quench. His is a peace that circumstances cannot steal.
There s a delicious gladness that comes from God. A holy joy. A sacred delight. And it is within your reach. You are one decision away from joy.

Spend some time in prayer this week.

Dear Father, Help me to know the joy that is at the heart of Jesus. I know that, the joy that you give, cannot be affected by circumstances, other people, or my own emotions. Show me how I can experience this same joy in my life. Amen.

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Experiencing the Heart of Jesus, © by Max Lucado. Published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. P. O. Box 141000, Nashville Tennessee, 37214, page, 97