“Yes, Your Joy Will Overflow”

August 13, 2015

“Yes, Your Joy Will Overflow”

“Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

John 15:15b-17

I quoted above just a portion of the marvelous fifteenth chapter of John’s Gospel. We would do well to often visit this chapter and even camp out there for a season. As I read through it this morning four words caught my attention.

Fruit. Jesus expects his disciples to produce much fruit for him. Jesus’ mission is to make disciples for the transformation of the world. Therefore the fruit he is expecting me to produce, as I remain in him, is lasting fruit that helps people know and love him, and lasting fruit that builds for Jesus’ Kingdom here on earth. This word fruit gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that my focus, my priorities are aimed at producing fruit for Jesus’ Kingdom.

Friend. This word friend gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that I have more than head knowledge about Jesus. Do I actually live my life in the reality of a relationship with Jesus? If so, is that relationship more like boss and employee or servant; or do I hear him call me friend? As his friend, how well am I representing him to my neighbors?

Joy. Six times in this portion of his Farewell Discourse Jesus speaks of joy. Just as King David said in Psalm 23 that his cup overflowed with the goodness of God, Jesus says he wants me to be filled with his joy. “Yes, your joy will overflow” Jesus said (John 15:11). This word joy gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that Jesus’ joy overflows in my life.

Love. In the last portion of chapter fifteen, Jesus speaks of love ten times in eleven verses. Over and over again, he affirms his love for me. Over and over, he affirms his command for me to love others in the very same way he loves me. I believe it is his love that makes it possible for me to produce fruit; it is his love that raises me up in friendship; it is his love that fills my life with joy.  This word love gives me pause to examine my life for evidence that I actually live my life in the truth of Jesus’ love for me. How differently might I be living my life if, in the very depths of my being, I truly believed Jesus loves me?

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. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.