Five Truths You Need to Believe about . . . GOD!

Introduction to the Series:
These posts are in preparation for my writing a series of 30-page booklets which will be designed to teach and apply fundamental truths of the Christian faith. While they do not pretend to address all the issues in a particular area of Christian belief, they will cover some of the basics which every Jesus-follower should affirm and put into practice.

We’ve discussed the issue of FAITH, not referring to our confidence in God but to the content of truth which God has revealed. Heresies are alive and well in our world and we desperately need to know the doctrines, the truths, which God’s Word spells out for us.

We continue our study with . . . FIVE TRUTHS YOU NEED TO BELIEVE ABOUT . . . GOD! What do we need to believe about God?

Five truths about GOD:

1. The EXISTENCE of GOD: The book of Hebrews clearly states, ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb. 11).

C.S. Lewis famously said, “God has more to do than simply exist!” The evidences for God (cosmological, ontological, teleological, moral, Christological, etc.) are strong, the greatest being that God has actually walked the face of His planet in Jesus!

2. The WORKS of God: God’s work of creation (Genesis 1, Acts 17) as well as His providential care of His world (Psalm 19, Acts 17) display His glory. The work of salvation (planned by the Father, accomplished by the Son, applied by the Spirit) shows the love of God for His world.

3. The PERSON of God: The doctrine, the concept of the Trinity is clear in Scripture, although the term “trinity” isn’t used in the Bible. And the Bible is filled with references to God’s character or attributes (His mercy, holiness, love, justice, wrath, etc.).

4. The GLORY of God: We were created to bring God glory. Here’s a great quote for the late J.I. Packer on why we should bring God glory:

5. The KNOWABILITY of God: Packer’s best known for his classic book Knowing God. The bottom line is we can know God! I love John Piper’s book God Is the Gospel. He says when you believed the gospel, you got God! One definition of knowing God, Jeremiah says, is to defend the cause of the poor and needy (Jer. 22:16). We are to choose to know Christ (Phil. 3:10), to advance in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10). We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pe. 3:18). And we can know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands (I Jn. 2:3). We should be marked by a quest to “know Him who is true” (I Jn. 5:20). Peter tells us that “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Pe. 1:3). We are to be confident in Christ, especially when we are suffering “because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”

TODAY’S HOMEWORK: Imagine that you have five hours to study the Person of God. Where would you start? What passages would you pour over? And why? What do you hope to gain by such a study?

 

God’s Difference from Us — A Great Michael Horton Quote!

 

The Theology of Jesus: Part 3 Theology Proper

What did the Lord Jesus believe — and teach — about GOD? That has got to be one of the hardest questions one could ask of the theology of Jesus. Why? Because He was and is God “manifest in the flesh.” The Son has “exegeted” the Father (Jn. 1:18). He has made visible what is invisible.

We are trying a bit of an experiment in these posts. We are asking about the theology of the Lord Jesus. What did He believe? And what did He teach about the areas of doctrine such as sin, salvation, the church, etc.?

We are attempting to put into logical categories His teachings, not because we don’t believe and accept the rest of the New Testament canon, but just as an experiment.

We’ve seen that in terms of introductory matters (prolegomena), the Lord Jesus put the highest possible value on belief. In our last post we looked at the theological area called bibliology and saw Jesus’ affirming both general and special revelation as well as predicting the completion of the Scriptures in the New Testament.

But what did the Lord Jesus teach about GOD?  This area of theology proper deals with such matters as God’s existence, His attributes, and His works.  By “attributes” theologians (at least good ones) don’t mean that we attribute qualities to God that we would like Him to have.  Rather they are referring to characteristics that God possesses that He reveals to us. Discovery, not creation, of these attributes is a primary concern of theology proper.

Where to begin?  Does one begin with the sermons of the Lord Jesus?  They teach us some very specific things about God.  Does one plumb the parables of Christ to learn about God?  Would there be profit in studying the controversies that the Lord Jesus had with the religious leaders of His day?  How often were their arguments about the nature of God?  What about Jesus’ “interrogatory method” (by this we mean the 250 or so questions the Lord Jesus asks.  This was a paper prepared for the Evangelical Theological Society and will be sent to you if you ask for it)?  How do the questions of the Lord Jesus reveal the character of God?  Jesus Himself made specific claims of deity.  So we could say, “Want to know what God is like?  Look at Jesus!”  But this post isn’t about the Son of God, but rather God “in general.”  That is, which attributes of God does the Lord Jesus emphasize in His teaching?

Let’s think about one passage in each of these categories:  His sermons, His parables, His controversies, and His questions.  First of all, His sermons.  We have, of course, the “Sermon on the Mount” (Mt. 5-7) and His “Upper Room Discourse” (Jn. 14-16).

There is so much about the Person and nature of God in these sermons. Let’s focus for a few moments on Matthew 6:25-34. There Jesus says that we are not to worry about our life, what we eat or drink, or about our body, what we are to wear, because life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. He then directs our attention to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. The birds don’t sow or reap or store away in barns and the flowers don’t labor or spin. Jesus says we are much more valuable than they. “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?” (v. 30). We should not worry about such things for “your heavenly Father knows that you need them (v. 32). In fact, worrying about food and clothing makes us look like pagans who “run after all these things” (v. 32). Rather, we are to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to us (v. 33).

I draw several conclusions from this section of Jesus’ sermon:
(1) God knows what we need before we ask Him. And His knowledge of us and our needs shows His personal care and omniscience.
(2) Trusting Him — instead of worrying about such things — distinguishes us from the pagan world which denies His existence and love.
(3) The rulership of God and His righteous character are to be pursued by the believer. And such a pursuit is the antidote to worry.

Of the 46 parables which Jesus told, the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 says much about the Lord.  Jesus told this parable to encourage us to pray and not give up.  This widow who needed justice had to appeal to a judge who “neither feared God nor cared what people thought.”  The judge actually admitted that he neither feared God nor cared what people thought, but he finally gave the widow justice because the widow kept “bothering” him and he was concerned that she would eventually come and attack him if he didn’t!

Jesus drives the parable home when He says, “will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (vv. 7-8).

We are to persist in prayer because our God cares about us, His chosen ones.  He is a just God who will see that we get justice — and quickly!  The question is — do we have faith in that kind of God?

“Meek and mild Jesus” was always getting into arguments, wasn’t He?  He never backed away from a fight, especially when the religious authorities were twisting God’s Word.  Jerry Bridges says “The essential problem lay in their different understanding of the nature of God.” [See his “Jesus Challenges the Pharisees”].  Here is a list of some of the absurd rules the Pharisees developed to keep others from breaking God’s rules!

My favorite controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees has got to be the story of the man born blind (John 9).  [I’ve done a number of posts on this chapter-long healing which you might want to look up.  Just enter “Insight” in the search box at the top of the webpage].

Rather than praising God and thanking Jesus for the giving of sight to this man who was born blind, the Pharisees dismiss Jesus because He spat on the ground and made mud, a violation of the Sabbath (in their view).  [By the way, one of their rules was that it was fine to spit on a rock on the Sabbath, but you could not spit on the ground, because that made mud and mud was mortar, and that was work!].

There are many points of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees in John 9, but the issue of SIN jumps out at me.  They were convinced that Jesus was a sinner (because He broke their view of the Sabbath), that the blind man was a sinner (because he was born blind), and that God just doesn’t listen to sinners.  But they can’t explain away this man’s miracle and their only recourse is to toss him out of the synagogue with the words “You dare lecture us!  You were steeped in sin at birth!”  The theology proper point in this controversy is God’s attitude toward “sinners” (which we all are).  He wants to rescue them (Remember:  Jesus sought this man out!); the Pharisees want to remove them.

Sometimes the best way to teach is to ask questions.  Jesus asked over two hundred questions in the four gospels — and some of them go to the heart of what one ought to believe about God.

Jesus asks a series of questions in Matthew 7, appealing to a father’s heart (to give his son bread, instead of a stone, or to give him a fish, instead of a snake). He then draws the logical conclusion: If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!.  Please don’t miss these basic truths about God from these questions of the Lord Jesus:

(1) He is our “Father in heaven”;
(2) He is not evil, but good;
(3) He knows how and what to give His children; and,
(4) He still wants us to ask Him for things.

The sermons, the parables, the controversies, and the questions of the Lord Jesus tell us much about the character and works of God.

You now get to pick a sermon, parable, controversy, or question of the Lord Jesus — and ask what He was teaching about the nature of God.  Feel free to post your comment below. (to be continued)

 

 

 

Time for a Great Tozer Quote: The God of Modern Christianity

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #18 God and THE PROBLEM OF EVIL! (Part 3)

We are thinking about the PROBLEM OF EVIL and the issue of theodicy (a defense of God’s justice in the face of evil’s reality).  There are religions that try to deal with the problem of evil by denying its existence (Christian Science comes to mind, for example).  Other religions compromise the character of God in this area.

Thankfully the Bible affirms both the reality of evil and the truth of God’s justice.  One text that merits our attention is Luke 13.  There we read —

We’ve seen in our previous post that this text deals with two major sources of evil in the world: vicious crimes and violent accidents.  We’ve looked briefly at Pilate’s vicious crime of executing some Galileans while they were worshiping God!

Jesus’ response to their unspoken question of “Why?” may seem odd to us, but He asks, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?”  He answers His own question by stating in effect, “No!  The issue wasn’t their sin or their comparative wickedness.  They serve as an example of the need to REPENT!”

The text then records JESUS bringing up a current event.  He says (my paraphrase): “You know about that tower in Siloam that fell on those eighteen people and killed them?  Were they more guilty that all the others living in Jerusalem?”  Here it is Jesus who brings up a current event — a violent accident.

Accidents happen.  But what do they mean?  They are not necessarily indications that God has gotten someone.  They are not necessarily barometers of a person’s comparative sinfulness.  Jesus again answers His own question and says, “I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

We read with horror of the pedestrian bridge at Florida International University that collapsed on March 15, 2018, killing several.  Were those innocent victims ready to meet the Lord?

Part of Jesus’ theodicy is simply:  “Be ready to meet the Lord!  Life is quite uncertain.  Vicious crimes and violent accidents happen every day.  Are you ready?”  (your comments?)

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #18 God and THE PROBLEM OF EVIL! (Part 2)

We must deal with the problem of evil in this ongoing discussion about God.  How can there be a good God and so much evil in the world?  Christians must respond to this question — and thankfully the Bible does!

One of the passages that has helped me is Luke 13:1-5.  There we receive what I call a bit of Jesus’ theodicy.  A theodicy is a defense of God’s justice in the face of evil’s reality.  Here’s what we read in Luke 13:

There is so much in this passage, but let me suggest that it deals with the problem of evil.  In fact, Jesus’ theodicy here covers two major sources of evil: vicious crimes and violent accidents.

Some people (perhaps Galileans) report to Jesus an awful event that has taken place.  Somehow some of Jesus’ countrymen had so angered the Roman governor Pontius Pilate that he had them massacred — while they were at a worship meeting!  Not only did he have them executed, he had their blood mixed with their sacrifices (desecration).  A vicious crime!

Jesus’ response to this report is quite astounding.  One perhaps expected Him to rail against Pilate, to call down God’s judgment on the evil governor.  But that’s not what Jesus does.  He asks a question of the reporters of this event:  “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?” (v. 2).  He asks a question of comparison.  Perhaps He was asking, “Do you think God got these Galileans and punished them through Pilate?”

The Jews knew that God could use an evil nation to punish His own people.  But fortunately Jesus answers His own question:  “I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  Jesus doesn’t rail against Pilate.  He doesn’t pontificate on the problem of evil men doing despicable things.  He challenges His questioners on a very personal level.  And His response to this vicious crime is — the need to repent! (to be continued)

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #18 God and THE PROBLEM OF EVIL! (Part 1)

“If there is a good God, why is there so much EVIL in the world?”, my non-Christian friend asks.  And “why do the wicked prosper and the righteous take it on the chin?  If there is a good God,” he continues, “He wouldn’t want evil in His world.  And if He is a powerful God, He could put a stop to it.  Why doesn’t He?”

These questions can’t be avoided, especially in light of the February 14th mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida (17 people killed and 17 wounded), or the October 1, 2017 massacre of 58 people (and 851 injured) on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada while they were at a music festival, or the April 17, 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA which left 33 people dead.

And that’s only one kind of evil.  How about so-called “natural” disasters? In 1931 the death toll from floods in China was estimated to be between one and four million. In 2004 an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean took the lives of over 280,000. In 1920 the Haiyuan earthquake killed over 270,000. The Bhola cyclone in 1970 left between 250,000 and 500,000 dead. A cyclone in 2008 made landfall in Myanmar (where I am going in August) and killed 84,500 people with 53,800 missing. In 2005 a Pakistan earthquake registered 7.6 on the Richter scale. The official death toll was 75,000 people along with 106,000 injured. Need we continue with additional examples?

But the problem of evil is not a new one.  The Bible does not sugarcoat the issue.  The people in the Bible knew suffering, perhaps much more than we do.

So, how are we to respond to the problem of evil?  (to be continued)

 

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #17 The JOY of the Lord! (Part 3)

This is our final post on the delightful topic of God and JOY!  There are many verses that speak of God and JOY!  In our last post on this topic we looked through the text in Nehemiah 8:10 that says “The joy of the Lord is your strength!”  Let’s briefly summarize the other verses on JOY (the whole list is added to the end of this post):

Some further points on JOY:

1. It is the Lord who gives us great joy. Our hearts ought to leap for joy.
2. It is pleasing to God to make a whole day of feasting and joy!
3. He can turn our sorrow into joy and our mourning into a day of celebration. However, suffering can make us feel that our days are flying away without a glimpse of joy. The Lord wants to give us comfort and joy instead of sorrow. Paul says “In all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.”
4. One key to joy is taking refuge in the Lord. We are to find our joy in the Lord.
5. God wants to fill us with joy in His presence, for there are eternal pleasures at His right hand. He wants us to be glad with the joy of His presence. He wants to fill us with joy in His presence. He wants to clothe us with joy. We are to dance and leap for joy.
6. God’s precepts give joy to the heart.
7. Sometimes we need to ask that the joy of our salvation be restored. Sometimes our joy can wither away.
8. God calls forth songs of joy from creation itself! We are invited to “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord!”
9. The prospect of the righteous is joy; there is joy when the wicked perish! Everlasting joy will crown their heads! Gladness and joy will overtake them!
10. God’s word ought to be the joy and rejoicing of our hearts.
11. It is possible to receive the word with joy — and then lose it.
12. The Lord Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit.
13. He wants His joy to be in us and for that joy to be complete. He wants us to have the full measure of His joy.
14. Such basics as rain and crops and food and joy are evidences of God’s existence and care for His creation.
15. We are to be joyful in hope, recognizing that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who gives joy in the midst of severe suffering.
16. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit; we are to pray with joy; we are to seek the progress of other’s joy in the faith.
17. We should be able to say of other believers: you are our glory and joy.
18. Jesus was no reluctant Savior — for the joy set before Him He endured the cross . . .
19. Submitting to spiritual leaders helps make their work a joy, not a burden.
20. Walking in the truth brings great joy to Christian leaders.

Whew! What a lot about JOY! Someone has said that the Christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally joyful! Yes, we do. And it ought to be the normal, the default setting, of the believer!

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Deuteronomy 16:14
Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

Deuteronomy 16:15
For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Deuteronomy 28:47
Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, HE GETS ANGRY WHEN WE DON’T SERVE HIM WITH JOY!

1 Kings 8:66
On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

1 Chronicles 12:40
Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

1 Chronicles 15:16
David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals. GOD LIKES JOYFUL SOUNDS!

1 Chronicles 16:27
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place. THERE IS A SIGN OVER HIS HOUSE THAT READS “JOY!”

2 Chronicles 20:27
Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.

Ezra 6:16
Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

Ezra 6:22
For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel. GOD DELIGHTS IN FILLING HIS PEOPLE WITH JOY!

Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Nehemiah 12:43
And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

Esther 9:18
The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

Esther 9:22
as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

Job 9:25
“My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

Job 33:26
then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being.

Psalm 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 21:6
Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

Psalm 30:11
You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 33:1
[ Psalm 33 ] Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Psalm 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Psalm 51:8
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Psalm 65:8
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalm 66:1
[ Psalm 66 ] [ For the director of music. A song. A psalm. ] Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

Psalm 86:4
Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.

Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Psalm 95:1
[ Psalm 95 ] Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Psalm 105:43
He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

Psalm 126:3
The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Psalm 126:5
Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

Psalm 126:6
Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Psalm 145:7
They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

Proverbs 10:28
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

Proverbs 11:10
When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.

Isaiah 9:3
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.

Isaiah 12:6
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”

Isaiah 26:19
But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise— let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy— your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

Isaiah 35:10
and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

Isaiah 49:13
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.

Isaiah 51:11
Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 55:12
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Isaiah 58:14
then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 60:5
Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. GOD LIKES SWELLING HEARTS!

Isaiah 61:7
Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. EVERLASTING JOY!

Jeremiah 15:16
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty.

Jeremiah 31:13
Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

Joel 1:12
The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried up. Surely the people’s joy is withered away. HAS YOUR JOY WITHERED AWAY?

Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Matthew 13:20
The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

Matthew 28:8
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Luke 6:23
“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Luke 10:21
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. THE LORD JESUS WAS FULL OF JOY THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Luke 24:41
And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

Luke 24:52
Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

John 16:22
So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

John 16:24
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 17:13
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. JESUS PRAYS THAT WE WOULD HAVE THE FULL MEASURE OF HIS JOY!

Acts 2:28
You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 14:17
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” JOY AS AN EVIDENCE OF GOD’S EXISTENCE & CARE FOR CREATION.

Acts 16:34
The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. AND WHEN TO SAY “WHOOPPEEEE!”

2 Corinthians 1:24
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.

2 Corinthians 7:4
I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.

2 Corinthians 8:2
In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. WHAT CONTRASTS!

Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, THE #2 FRUIT!

Philippians 1:4
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy

Philippians 1:25
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,

Philippians 2:2
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Philippians 4:1
[ Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity ] Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

Colossians 1:12
and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

1 Thessalonians 1:6
You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ANOTHER CONNECTION OF JOY TO THE HOLY SPIRIT!

1 Thessalonians 2:19
For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?

1 Thessalonians 2:20
Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

2 Timothy 1:4
Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.

Philemon 1:7
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Hebrews 1:9
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

Hebrews 12:2
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. HE WAS NO RELUCTANT SAVIOR!

Hebrews 13:17
Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

James 1:2
[ Trials and Temptations ] Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

1 John 1:4
We write this to make our joy complete.

2 John 1:4
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

3 John 1:3
It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.

3 John 1:4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

Jude 1:24
[ Doxology ] To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—

 

 

Back to the Basics: Theology Proper #17 The JOY of the Lord! (Part 2)

Here are a few points that jump out at me from this brief study of THE JOY OF THE LORD:
1. God likes parties! He’s wants us to have celebrations and festivals. Week-long ones! Involving a lot of food! And a variety of music! (Some of us will have to take dance lessons when we get to heaven).
2. He wants us to serve Him joyfully. If we aren’t, something is wrong and needs to be made right.
3. Our joy is to be in Him and all the good things the Lord has done for us.
4. God’s character is joy — strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
5. There are enemies — and God expects us to rejoice when we are victorious over our enemies. Who or what are your enemies?
6. We are told to enjoy choice food and sweet drinks and not to grieve, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10)

We’re going to have pick this up in a subsequent post. There are too many important truths about joy to include in this one. Someone has said that the mentally and emotionally healthy are those that have learned when to say Yes, when to say No, and when to say Whoopee! (Willard S. Krabill, M.D.)

Be joyful in the Lord today!

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Here again are the texts on JOY:

Deuteronomy 16:14
Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

Deuteronomy 16:15
For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Deuteronomy 28:47
Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

1 Kings 8:66
On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

1 Chronicles 12:40
Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

1 Chronicles 15:16
David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.

1 Chronicles 16:27
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

2 Chronicles 20:27
Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.

Ezra 6:16
Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

Ezra 6:22
For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

 

The Name of God (A Great Quote from Frederick Buechner)

“Buechner is my name. It is pronounced Beek-ner. If somebody mispronounces it in some foolish way, I have the feeling that what’s foolish is me. If somebody forgets it, I feel that it’s I who am forgotten. There’s something about it that embarrasses me in just the same way that there’s something about me that embarrasses me. I can’t imagine myself with any other name Held, say, or Merrill, or Hlavacek. If my name were different, I would be different. When I tell you my name, I have given you a hold over me that you didn’t have before. If you call it out, I stop, look, and listen whether I want to or not. In the book of Exodus, God tells Moses that his name is Yahweh, and God hasn’t had a peaceful moment since.”