COMPLETE JOY

Lord, another week has flown by and a new one is about to start.  I can’t wait to see what this week holds.  Please show me where my true joy lies. 

1 John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.   We write this to make our joy complete. 

When I think of eternity, I think of the future.  My mind can (barely) grasp this concept.  What I don’t always think about is eternity past.  The Bible says that God created the world, and that God has always existed.  I also know that the Word (Jesus) has always existed. 

Here is what I know about Jesus.  He is the second person of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  John proclaims Him as the eternal life in this passage—He has existed infinitely into the past and will exist infinitely into the future.  His life knows no time, as we perceive time on this earth. 

Jesus was with the Father and the Father sent Him to earth.  When I engage in fellowship with Jesus I have fellowship with the Father: Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus came so that my joy could be complete.  Jesus desires not just for me to have a little joy…He wants me to have complete joy.  Do I have complete joy? 

THINK ABOUT THESE THINGS

I confess there are times when my joy is not complete.  I would call it drained, like someone punctured a hole in my joy receptacle.  Father, do you have a patch for that?  Romans 12:12 tells me to be joyful in hope.  Hope involves me trusting in Him for His plan for my life.  Therefore, if I have a lack of trust, I will have a shortage of joy.  That hole in my joy receptacle not only let joy out, but it let doubt in.  What has displaced my joy?  Doubt has displaced my joy, and when this happens, my joy is not complete.  However, Jesus came to complete my joy—to take away my doubt, to patch my heart and to fill it again with joy.  Since Christ lives in me, He is the Creator of all of the joy I feel today. 

Thank You, Jesus! I am so thankful for the joy that You have given me today!