Joy is Our Norm

Meditations for Ragamuffins

April 15, 2024

Joy is Our Norm

“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy.

John 17:13 

When Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he was addressing those of us who realize that our spirits are broken and separated from God by sin. Jesus said these people are blessed because he offers healing and wholeness for our broken spirits. Through his healing we “become a new person” (Matthew 5:3 & 2 Corinthians 5:17). However, it is not only our spirits that are broken. We also have broken emotions and broken bodies. While our new life in the spirit is instantaneous the moment we believe, our emotional healing and the healing of our bodies may take a lifetime and may not be fully realized until the Age to Come. I thought about this truth this morning as I read Jesus’ words in John 17.

Most of the people who encountered Jesus in the Gospels experienced exceeding joy. Sometimes their joy was simply cheerful, as when they toasted and danced at the wedding in Cana, or when a multitude found more than enough food for all as they gathered to hear Jesus teach. For others, their joy was beyond their wildest dreams as Jesus raised their loved ones from the dead. Still others responded to Jesus with an incredibly beautiful and intimate joy as they anointed Jesus. (See Luke 7 and John 12) My point is simple; joy is the norm for the followers of Jesus.

My Takeaway: When the church sings, The Lord of the Dance, there is within me a smoldering wick that wants to get up and sing and dance with my Master. As I press on to fully experience life filled with the joy of Jesus, I hold on to Jesus’ promise, “I came that (you) may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b NRSV)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.