(Joy of Living)

While in France, some Christian friends who were accompanying my wife and me on a preaching tour on the European Continent, joined us at a New Year's Eve party at the home of an agnostic banker just outside of Paris. Although we were among the minority that did not drink alcohol that night, it was clear to many of the party-goers that we all seemed to be having the best time. Animated conversation, loving exchanges, and our passion for life overflowed from our hearts that were resting in the assurance of what was ours "In Christ". Although we were not conscious of it, we were demonstrating the genuine 'joie de vivre' that many of these upwardly mobile Parisians were looking for.

There was a young man, Bernard, at the party who was an accomplished classical guitarist. As the hours went on, the joy of the believers did not diminish.  During that time we were able to answer his surfacing questions and those from other inquiring guests.

One week later, Bernard gave his life to Christ. I asked him what it was that first captured his attention.  He said , "It was so obvious that you people had the joy I desired to have. But I was looking in all the wrong directions. At 4 A.M. you Christians were as joyful as you were when you arrived just before midnight.  And yet you never touched a drop of wine." I reminded him, "None of us had a hang over the next day either."

The Lord has made a difference between His citizens of heaven and those who are citizens of this world only, just as He put a difference between His people, Israel and their oppressors in Egypt, during the time of Moses and Pharaoh (Exodus 11:7). Whereas today the hearts of many people are full of fear and despair, believers can lift up their heads knowing the time of their full redemption is drawing near. While others despair, God's people can rejoice. While others panic, God's people can have peace. While others are perplexed, God's people can rest in God's perfect solution (1Corinthians 1:30).

Some times we forget that Jesus is not only the 'man of sorrows' (Isaiah 53:3) but He is a man filled with the 'fullness of joy'. On the night he was betrayed, the eve before His crucifixion, Jesus plainly told His followers that He wanted them to have 'His joy' so that their joy would be complete. No joy is complete without 'the joy of Jesus' rooted and springing up from our hearts (John 15:11).

Then He told them the secret of His joy. His joy came from outside Himself. It came from trusting and pleasing the Father. Do the will of the Father was the center of His delight. His joy came from outside His own soul (the seat of his emotions, mind and will). His joy rested in the assurance of the Father's love, acceptance and pleasure resident in His spirit. Out of the innermost being of His spirit flowed springs of joy. Jesus' joy came from outside self-seeking. Jesus did not live to please Himself (Romans 15:3). He pursued the interests of His Father and thereby promoted the welfare of others. He adopted the Father's agenda, the kingdom of God, and said that we should do the same (Matthew 6:33). His spirit rejoiced at the thought of doing that which brought pleasure to the Father. Jesus said, "I have meat to eat that you do not know of...My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and finish His work." Jesus' joy was in finishing the work that God the Father called Him to do. The Father's joy was to receive and rest in that perfect work of redemption He accomplished on our behalf. It was offered out of perfect love. The Holy Spirit's joy is to be able to impart the joy of the Godhead to believers and help them communicate this genuine, gigantic joy to others.

You cannot be joyful by trying to be joyful. When it comes to matters of faith, the word 'trying' needs to be replaced with 'trusting'. We rejoice because we trust Who God is as the center of our joy (Luke 1:46-47). He is now the source of our doings. The joy of the LORD (God the Father) is a person- Jesus. And Jesus lives in us by the Spirit. He, the Father's joy, is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), and only hope for righteousness. We rejoice because joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit's indwelling (Galatians 5:22). We rejoice because we know the mercy of the law: What the Law required - God provided in full. The finished work of Jesus Christ secures our forgiveness, acceptance, our belongingness forever! No longer are we left under the condemnation of the Law of Sin and Death! (See Romans 7 and 8:1). Every one of God's demands is now being fulfilled by the power of His own dynamics: The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-4). The law that revealed God's justice (that our sins should be punished by death) also revealed God's mercy (a provision for our salvation by means of Christ's death and resurrection). Jesus took the capital punishment our sins deserved under the law and then rose again to fulfill righteousness for us, and imparted His Holy Spirit to fulfill righteousness in us on a day by day basis.

Is there room for more joy in your life? Here is the secret to genuine 'joie de vivre': Joy can be yours if you trust Christ. Let His joy spring from your spirit! Happiness depends upon what 'happens'. Joy depends upon Who God is as Your Savior, Your Center, and Your Source. Let your joy be dependent upon Who God is and you will rise above the ebb and flow of mere happiness.