The Joy of the Lord is My Strength. What does that mean?

The Bible tells me that if my salvation depended upon my behavior (mental as well as physical) I would be lost-eternally but at the same time the God chose to fill his word with commands and exhortations that tell me the kind of behavior that pleases God. In words addressed to believers the Bible says very bluntly, "You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."      (2 Peter 3:11-12)

Is my repeated failure to live a life pleasing to God--a holy and godly life--an indication that I am destined to fail and to perish? How does God's word answer that question? That is what the rest of this meditation is all about.

That anybody is saved is God's choice. That God pardons anybody, and has not left everybody as a prisoner of sin (Galations 3:22) is God's choice. God said, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.... "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Romans 9:15-16,18)

•  "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" (Romans 9:21)
  
  
• In the Gospel according to John we hear in Jesus' own words about God's role in the lives of the people who believe in him (his disciples)--"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world..." (John 15:16-19; see also 17:9,20,23)

According to the Bible it was God the Father, "who has qualified (us) to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." (Colossians 1:12) It was he who delivered or rescued us from the control or dominion of sin. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. " (Colossians 1:13)

•  "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)
  
  
•  It was God who chose us. The Bible says God "chose us (not 'everybody') in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us (not 'everybody') to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--" (Ephesians 1:4-5)

"The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4; See also John 16:33) That is what God's word tells us. It was he who delivered or rescued us from the control or dominion of sin (Colossians 1:13)

I must remember, bring to mind, whose world am I living in. This world is not just there. It is God's creation. He runs it as he wishes and only for as long as he wishes. "The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:10-13)

DOES GOD HAVE 'FEELINGS', 'EMOTIONS', --A BURDEN
FOR HIS PEOPLE?

 

God's attitude toward his people has been unequivocal both in eternity and in history. "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3) "From everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children--" (Psalm 103:17).

• "For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye." (Deuteronomy 32:9-10)
  
  
•  "... I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. "But now, this is what the LORD says--he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.'" (Isaiah 43:1)
  
  
•  The following verse oozes with God's concern-- "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:2)
  
  
•  What does the Lord say to his people? "Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)
  

•  "Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life." (Isaiah 43:4)
  
  
•  Jesus said to his disciples, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. " (Matthew 10:29-31)
  
  
•  "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13:5)
  
  
•  This is how the apostle Peter expressed God's truth: "In his great mercy he (God) has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)
  
  
• Jesus also said, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

The apostle Paul years after the sacrificial death of Christ and his resurrection says to the believers at Ephesus, "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:3-5; see also Titus 3:4-5)

Does the Creator and Sustainer care? In 1st Peter believers are told: "Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (1 Peter 2:10)

Remember the words of Jesus-- "Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even (king) Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!" (Luke 12:27-28)

Who am I to think that God does not care? Who am I to dare to think such a thing about God's motives and integrity? Thinking such a thing is not a neutral or academic issue. To think that God does not care is an attack on God. To dare to think God does not care is just as much a terrible sin against God, a terrible violation of God's purity as adultery, cold-blooded murder or treason is. It is the grossest insult. It is doing exactly what Satan did in the Garden of Eden--calling God a liar and implying God had ulterior motives that were malevolent. (See Genesis 2:16-17;3:2-5)

Hardships, afflictions, trials are not accidents or alien intrusions into God's world. Believers are told in God's word, "Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6-7; see also Acts 14:22)

The trials and set backs that come my way are not an indication of my being beyond the reach of God's compassion--love--care. To think that any success or failure of mine could put me outside of God's jurisdiction amounts to a challenge. Me challenging God the Creator and sustainer of this world! Me questioning whether God has the power to accomplish whatever he purposes! If I am one of God's people trials and hardships are not symptoms of failure or being unsalvageable; just the opposite is true--"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!" (Hebrews 12:5-9)

Even the apostle Paul prayed for relief from something that was causing him grief. The Lord's answer was "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." At some point the apostle understood what this truth meant and would say to the believers at Corinth--"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. "   (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; see also James 1:2-4)

Over and over again I should set before my mind the way my God describes the status of every believer--"you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9)

What God did for each of his people is incredible! The Bible says it was "Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:13 & 14)

Because my God, the Creator and Sustainer of the world I live in has the freedom and power to bestow mercy upon whom he chooses as his word reveals (Romans 9:15-16,18 quoted above) he says in detail what his mercy means for sinners--."he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him" (Psalm 103:10-13)

Another way our position is expressed is this: "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." (Psalm 32:1-2 and repeated in Romans 4:6-8) Believers are in this position because the consequences of their sins (which includes my sins) have been deliberately laid on Jesus the Son of God--"he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) This amazing fact is repeated in the New Testament portion of God's word--"He himself (Christ) bore our sins in his body on the tree, ...; by his wounds you have been healed. " (1 Peter 2:24) This is the position God has put believers in.

• "By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14)
  
  
•  "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2)
  
  
• According to the Bible it was God the Father, "who has qualified (us) to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." (Colossians 1:12)  

Another way the position that God has put believers in is described is this: He has delivered or rescued us from the control or dominion of sin. "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. " (Colossians 1:13).

•  "It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." (Romans 8:33-34)

It was not in the heart and plan of the Creator and Sustainer of this world to sit idly by while sinners multiplied their sins and increased their guilt in the sight of holy God. The lengths God went to demonstrate how much he cares for his people. To accomplish his purpose for us he sacrificed his own sinless Son. "For what the law (the perfect law of God) was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man" (Romans 8:3) "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

The Bible tells us what our savior's mission was--"Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us" to do what? --"to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:13 & 14) To bring about this purpose of his for each and every believer God did an astounding thing--"God made him (Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

•  "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Galatians 3:13)

What love God revealed for his chosen people--"While we were still sinners, Christ (God's Son) died for us." (Romans 5:8)

How can I forget what God, what Christ has done? How can I live as if these actions of God never happened? This too is one of those iniquities that God does not treat believers according to!

It is so good to be in God's sheep fold. It is so good to be in Christ, in his protection as Noah's family was protected from the flood by being in the Ark. (1 Peter 1:5)

"You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God ..." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; see also 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:28; 2 Peter 3:13-14;1:3-9) Thank God I am not the Creator. Thank God I am not the master of my fate. Thank God my destiny does not depend upon my inability to be perfect.

What does the Creator of this world, the Creator of however many universes there are say to each and every believer in his word? 'My purpose or goal for you is that you be conformed to the shape of my Son'--"those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he (Christ) might be the firstborn among many." (Romans 8:29) That was his purpose. Both this purpose of his and its accomplishment are in the past tense. "Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30)

In Ephesians 1:4-5 we are told this: "He chose us in him [that is, in Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--." From the very beginning the completion of God's purposes was in the past tense--a foregone conclusion--even an already existing reality. "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:29-30)

As mentioned above God's choice to make us children of light was not a purpose recently created. What happened in history when the Son of God sacrificed himself on the cross around the year A.D. 33 was only the outworking of the purpose and plan God had before history. "This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:8-10)

After filling my mind with what God says about his 'feelings' and taking note of God's actions by which he has demonstrated how deep his feelings for his chosen people are it is even more incredible that anyone can still doubt or question God's determination to complete what he began in us and purposed for us?

MORE OF GOD'S STATEMENTS ABOUT HIS PURPOSES
       THAT REFRESH MY SPIRIT

 

• "Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'" (Exodus 19:5,6)

• "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession." (Deuteronomy 14:2)

God is able to bring about that purpose that he had for believers before the creation of this world--"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority" (Jude 24,25)

No situation is beyond or outside of God control. This includes all things. This includes situations which appear accidental. This includes situations which are painful and which interfere with daily activities, even godly activities. He who 'hears' our thoughts, He who 'hears' our questions, He who 'hears' our agonies tells us the truth about each them-- "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."           (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The Lord knows our circumstances. To repeat a statement previously quoted which God addressed to suffering believers--"though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6-7)

Remember Jesus' statement about what lies ahead for believers and what God's role in his creation is--"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

• "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

• "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8)

Since we were predestined to a particular end--being holy and blameless, and since God has the power to        (and actually does) "work out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will..." (Ephesians 1:11) and since "those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified" (Romans 8:30) both God's purpose and its achievement are in the past tense. Therefore there is no reason to doubt what is already accomplished. There is no reason to doubt what is already a reality.

The apostle reminds us that "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)

Remember God's declarations and promises. In the gospel according to John Jesus speaks of the 'foreverness' of God's protection: He says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:25-30)

After the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross believers are told--"You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God ..." (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) Don't dare treat what God did (the greatest possible sacrifice) as a waste, as a sacrifice that accomplished nothing. What a terrible sin against God!

It is hard to believe the awesome fact that my sins, my failure to live up to God's standard, my failure to honor God does not and cannot prevent him from fulfilling his promises and bringing to completion his purposes for those who trust in the accomplishment of Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) My apparent condition at present is no indication that I am outside the purpose of the Creator and Sustainer of this world who has the power to bring about his purposes and plans. My cooperation or lack thereof does not limit or in any way decrease the power of the Creator and Sustainer of this world and of the eternal kingdom.

Am I hearing what my God has been saying? I am not the Creator. I am not my creator. I am not the master of my fate. The Lord is. "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; see also 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 12:28; 2 Peter 3:13-14) Am I remembering who it is who is speaking and in whose hand I am? -- The Creator and Sustainer "who chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." -- The Creator and Sustainer "who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3,4) Praise be "to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--" (Jude 24)

"I lift up my eyes to the hills--where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip--he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you--the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm--he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore." (Psalms 121:1-7; see also Galatians 3:29; 6:16;Philippians 3:3; 1 Peter 2:9)

While the number of times I have failed to live in ways that are pleasing to God is a reality that stings and repeatedly gets my attention that is not the big picture. What God says about his purposes and power is the big picture. Remembering what he is to me and what I am to him is my strength: The Joy of the Lord is my strength.

 

 

(If you appreciate what you read here please tell your friends about this URL and sign my guest book on the homepage. Also, if, as you read any of the meditations, you feel you know of a situation that beautifully illustrates any of the points made I would be delighted to learn of it. I might incorporate it.)    mailto:camppp21355@comcast.net

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