Part II
Redefining Joy – Is joy an emotion, a choice, or both?
We may still have doubts about whether Jesus truly wants us to be happy. Jesus tells us so many times in Scripture to rejoice that it would be hard to conclude that He doesn’t want us to actually be happy. We’ve may have heard to rejoice means to paste a smile on our face when we don’t really mean it, or that joy is a choice. There is some truth to this, but joy comes from the heart. It is easy to look at rejoice commands as another burden we must add, another line on our already full to do list. We believe that not only do we have to do right, but we also have to have a good attitude about it.
While it is true that joy can be an attitude or a choice, and happiness can be temporal we need to be careful not to redefine joy as being emotionless. While it’s true that joy is not merely emotion, it certainly can’t be defined as unemotional, or by simply making a choice. You can change your attitude without really feeling joyful. In studying Jesus’ words further, His heart for us is much more than an attitude adjustment when it comes to the Kingdom of God. Non-believers can have an attitude adjustment.
Here is a sprinkling of verses about joy. The first are descriptive. They describe to us joy that someone experiences. Rom 15:3 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope”. 2 Cor 7:4 “I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy”. 1 Cor 8:2 “For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part”. 1 Thess 3:19 “For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God”. 1 Pet 1:8 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.”
Listen to the language of some of these verses. “Overflowing with joy”. “Abundance of joy”, and “joy inexpressible.” These are not merely attitude adjustments. Joy is spoken of as something they felt (I Thess 3:19), not just chose. While joy is not only an emotion, it is evident from Scripture that emotion is a large part of defining joy.
These next few verses are prescriptive. These are God actually telling us He wants us to do something. Mt 5:12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. Rom 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer”. Rom 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”. 2 Cor 3:11a “Finally, brothers, rejoice”. Phil 2:18 “Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me”. Phil 3:1a “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord”. Phil 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice”. I Thess 5:16 “Rejoice always,” I Pet 4:13 “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed”.
If joy is defined not by just a choice but an emotion, and we know Jesus will not ask us to do the impossible then it means He will give grace to obey what He asks us to do. Maybe impossible in our own strength but through dependence on Jesus, we are given the ability to truly rejoice. When we are told to rejoice, it is not just a command to change our emotions, but a hope that change is possible. It is actually a hope that Jesus wants us to be happy and that is why He said it. Not a happiness based on getting what we want from our idols, but a true happiness that comes from the Holy Spirit. A hope that in the midst of very difficult circumstances we can be like Paul who said, “in all our affliction I am overflowing with joy.”
What does this joy produce?
Here is the kicker – when we actually do experience the Holy Spirit – the result is holiness. A deep desire to work with, for and to experience more of the Holy Spirit actually produces a holiness that is addictive. There is no way to accurately describe how much joy comes when we experience both the Holy Spirit Himself, as well as the gifts of the Holy Spirit and then get to exercise them by blessing others.
Nehemiah 8:10b “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” There is nothing that motivates and strengthens us in doing good works like joy. Excitement about the work that the Holy Spirit is calling us to, and the gifts that He has given us to exercise, cause good works to follow. It is not that we have to work up to good works, but actually, it would be hard to stop them! Joy is a better motivator than duty. Jesus is incredibly strategic when He tells us to seek joy in the Holy Spirit.
We can also apply this to peace. Col 3:15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Peace isn’t simply a choice we make in our minds. Jesus wants our hearts to be at rest. He cares about our hearts and our emotional state.
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”. If this is what we were created for then the big question is this: Why didn’t Jesus tell us to seek first good works? Our own sense of right and wrong or knowledge of good and evil tells us to “seek good works first”. But Jesus didn’t say this.
Jesus again is brilliantly strategic. If we have true joy in the Holy Spirit, we also have strength to do righteousness. If the joy of the Lord is our strength, then when the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts to exercise in good works, it will all just flow together. When we do what we were created to do from our hearts, rather than out of obligation, we may discover the Kingdom of God. True joy in the Holy Spirit actually produces good fruit which produces good work.
Is Seeking Joy in the Holy Spirit Selfish?
If Jesus wants us to actively pursue the Kingdom of God because the outflow will be good works then it’s no wonder the enemy downplays righteousness, joy, peace and fulfillment in our hearts. He whispers to us we are selfish and superficial to seek these, and that we should just focus on doing good works rather than the fruit of the Holy Spirit. But seeking the Kingdom actually results in loving and serving others more, and endurance to finish our race well. We do need to be doing good works, but they are not our top priority; they are an outflow of our top priority. The kingdom of God is relationship. It’s an interaction in and with the Holy Spirit that brings the greatest emotions we can experience on earth. Intimacy with the Holy Spirit brings what John Piper calls “Christian Hedonism”. The pursuit of happiness in Jesus brings much glory to God.
If we believe that seeking joy in the Holy Spirit is selfish, we are misunderstanding the way God created us, but even more, we are misunderstanding His character. We were created to be joy seekers, and we were created to desire reward. The way God describes Himself in Heb 11:6 is this “And without faith it is impossible to please Him for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (NASB). The word “rewarder” actually means, “one who pays wages.” If we believe that desiring this reward is selfish, we are actually making less of this part of God’s character.
I remember hearing someone with much zeal for Jesus ask sincerely, “Would you serve Jesus for nothing?” He was asking about our commitment to Jesus, but this question frustrated me because it felt like he was devaluing God’s character. Honestly, I serve Jesus because I know it is best for me. To think otherwise would be to see Jesus as less than good. It would be like a young girl who thinks that selflessness sacrifice means marrying a man who is drunk, lazy, beats her and wants her to support him. She might see this as selfless sacrifice because thinks she’s in love, but we all know that it would just be plain foolishness. We trust Jesus because of who He is. His incredible goodness to us is unparallel. If He were anything less, we would be stupid to give our lives to Him
We need to re-align our thinking. In looking to Jesus as an example, we need understand His purpose in going to the cross. Heb 12:22 tells us the motive of Jesus. “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” One of the meanings of the word “for” here is “for this cause”. For this cause – the joy set before Him – He endured the cross.
It makes me think of the airline attendant analogy. Put the oxygen mask on first, so you will be able to help others. If my heart is continually receiving this “oxygen” of joy from the Holy Spirit, blessed in not being dependent on circumstances, filled with true peace and happiness in Jesus, fulfilled on the inside – then my overflow is going to be others focused, not self focused. When we are unhappy, or in pain, we focus on ourselves. We do this in order to survive. But when we are “whole” on the inside, filled with the fruits of the Spirit we will have the strength for selflessness. Seeking joy in the Holy Spirit is not selfish. Since joy truly produces strength to do good works, seeking joy is imperative to selflessness.
So how do we actually experience this joy in Jesus?
If we are supposed to seek this joy, how do we do it? What work do we have to do to have the right heart? Thankfully Jesus has done the work for us. He only calls us to ask and receive by faith. If we somehow think God’s sovereign will is long term unhappiness with our circumstances, we will settle for a heart that is less than joyful or at peace or righteous. We may not even bother to ask Him to change our hearts because the enemy has convinced us that this is what selfless denial really means and that it’s ok to live in drudgery. Jesus wants us to ask for something different than we are experiencing right now. This is the essence of faith in boldly approaching His throne. (Heb 4:16).
We need to the see value of joy in the Holy Spiirt. We won’t seek something valueless. Jesus told many parables about what the kingdom of Heaven is like, and He often used the illustration of someone placing a great deal of value on something (a coin, a treasure etc) and then seeking it and asking in faith.
The premise in asking Jesus for joy is to understand that He commands us to rejoice. So asking him for joy, and receiving it is actually part of obedience. We understand the concept of receiving at salvation, but receiving from Jesus is something we need to do our whole life. He tells us to ask with tenacity. The parable of the judge and widow in Luke 18:1-8 was given to us “to the effect that we ought always to pray and not lose heart.” Mark 10:15 & Luke 18:17 “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” When we think of the concept of receiving like a child, it is the opposite of striving. It’s from the heart. When a child receives a gift, he doesn’t analyze it (is this joy gift emotional, or a choice?) – he receives it!
I spent almost a year pondering the word “receive” in regard to Jesus and spiritual gifts and fruit. Receiving needs to be something we consciously do, both from Jesus and from others. We cannot give what we have not received. When we open our hearts to receive good fruit will come from our heart.
Theologians and scholars call this good fruit from the heart the doctrine of regeneration. This is my favorite doctrine! It is unbelievable to me that God can take a heart that looks at life with drudgery or duty and change it, so my sacrifice or duty becomes light, joyful – and at times, something I look forward to. My circumstances may not change, but my heart does. Yes it is a process, yes it doesn't mean that obedience isn’t difficult at times, but He is faithful and does what He promises.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Seek Ye First; A Three Part Series on the Pursuit of Joy by Molly Part I
Part I
I am a maximizer. My husband jokingly calls me Molly the maximizer. I want to be extremely productive when necessary, so that I can relax at the right time. As a believer, my desire is to do things that are eternally significant, not just practical. But there are some days where I have no idea where to start because so much has to be done. Bible? Prayer? Bills? clean house?study for Bible Study? scheduling? homeschooling? devotions with the kids? exercise? Of course when everything seems too overwhelming there is always escaping to solitaire or Netflix.
We were not created to live this way. Knowing we would be distracted, frustrated and discouraged, Jesus tells us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). That’s it? Yes – that’s it.
This isn’t the only time Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God. In fact, many passages describe it’s qualities and characteristics (Mk 4:11, Lk 8:10 , Mt 19:24, Mk 9:1, 47, 10:23-25, Lk 6:20, Lk 9:27, 62 13:18, 17:20-21 Jn 3:3, 5). However, we find a powerful definition in Romans 14:17, which says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
If Jesus asks us to seek first the kingdom of God, we are to seek first righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Seeking righteousness, joy and peace are not exclusive to Christianity. Most people say they want to be a good person, the pursuit of joy or happiness is pretty much written into U.S. history and some will go around the world find peace and to eliminate stress. The last part of this verse is significant. Outside of the Holy Spirit, we can get an appearance of righteousness, peace and joy. But appearances can lie.
False Righteousness
There is a false righteousness causing us to think we are being responsible. It is outward righteousness where we do right things without having the right heart. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are inward attitudes of the heart (Gal 5:22-23), but we take good works and call them fruit. Good works are not bad, but if they are only outward, this is false righteousness.
Legalism (making our own rules and morals outside of Scripture) is also a false righteousness apart from the Holy Spirit. We may do righteous acts because we are created in God’s image. But no one can have a truly righteous heart apart from Jesus.
False Peace
Peace can be counterfeited as well. Peace is not the absence of conflict or bad circumstances, but it is what the Holy Spirit gives in our hearts in the midst of it. We overly-control outward circumstances by reducing stress to make our life calm, comfortable, and free from hassle. We also control people either by eliminating friendships with those who cause us stress or by using anger or guilt to manipulate them. We refuse to confront and call it peace, or we confront until the other person is silenced and call it peace. Trying to have peaceful circumstances isn’t necessarily wrong, but it is not true peace. Peace in the Holy Spirit is what He gives us inside.
False Joy
Lastly, there is a false joy. Temporal joy comes from looking to things or people to make us happy. We may call this happiness vs. joy. This is basically idolatry, believing that I can get from someone or something the joy that is only found in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
There is also a joy-by-choice or an actor joy. This mindset says, “I’m going to choose joy by pasting a smile on my face, pretending to have a good attitude about my crummy circumstances even though I feel awful inside.” True joy/happiness once again is inside of us. Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Counterfeit Kingdom
The enemy wants to make us rely on counterfeits, in our own strength and then says “That’s it. That’s the kingdom of God”. We were made for righteousness and joy and peace in our hearts. But he whispers, “You are doing the right things (don’t worry about the motives of your heart). You have peace (by manipulating and controlling stress in your circumstances and relationships). You are choosing joy (by pretending to be happy despite how you feel, or by reaching for idols of relationship or things). Then he tells you this is the Christian Life. Believing these lies causes many to be disillusioned by Christianity. The enemy wants us to think that living by our actions, not our hearts is the answer.
Many say if you do the right thing, what you feel doesn’t matter. As with all lies, there is a portion of truth mixed in. Sometimes we have to choose what is right or choose joy or peace despite our circumstances or emotions. But if life is characterized by living this way continually, we are not seeking first the kingdom of God, but a counterfeit man-made religion. We are not living from our hearts, but instead living like robots in our own strength.
The other lie sell is that we should emphasize one of these things over the other. This is personal for me, as I’ve lived long with the mindset that righteousness is more important than peace or joy, and that doing good things is much more important than what is going on inside of my heart. Jesus warns against this in Mt 23:26.
Holiness or Happiness?
You may have heard, “God wants your holiness more than your happiness.” When you look into Scripture, the emphasis is not that they are mutually exclusive but of equal importance and in truth, one actually leads to the other.
There are two false ways of thinking about holiness and happiness. One is that God cares less about my happiness than He does about my holiness. The other is that God wants me to be happy; therefore I should do what I desire and strive to get what I want.
The word blessed (makarios) in the New Testament means happy. Given how many times Jesus talks about blessing, as well as how many times He blessed people, it is safe to say that yes, Jesus does want us to be happy. Matthew 5 shows us Jesus wants us to be blessed or happy. Sometimes this happiness does come from gifts that He gives us, both spiritual and physical.
However, happiness or joy that comes from the physical blessings that we so desire – even the blessings that Jesus gives us – doesn’t last. Things or relationships we want or think will make us happy aren’t bad. But if we believe they are going to fulfill us like Jesus Himself, or give us long term joy; disappointment is in store. True happiness or joy in the Holy Spirit comes from experiencing a relationship with Jesus, hearing from Him, and exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit by working alongside of Him on this earth to bring Him glory.
In evaluating these two thought patterns, did an informal study of the words holiness or righteousness and the words rejoice or joy in Scripture. To my surprise – they were fairly evenly matched in emphasis. It would appear that both holiness and happiness are important to God.
I am a maximizer. My husband jokingly calls me Molly the maximizer. I want to be extremely productive when necessary, so that I can relax at the right time. As a believer, my desire is to do things that are eternally significant, not just practical. But there are some days where I have no idea where to start because so much has to be done. Bible? Prayer? Bills? clean house?study for Bible Study? scheduling? homeschooling? devotions with the kids? exercise? Of course when everything seems too overwhelming there is always escaping to solitaire or Netflix.
We were not created to live this way. Knowing we would be distracted, frustrated and discouraged, Jesus tells us to “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). That’s it? Yes – that’s it.
This isn’t the only time Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God. In fact, many passages describe it’s qualities and characteristics (Mk 4:11, Lk 8:10 , Mt 19:24, Mk 9:1, 47, 10:23-25, Lk 6:20, Lk 9:27, 62 13:18, 17:20-21 Jn 3:3, 5). However, we find a powerful definition in Romans 14:17, which says, “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
If Jesus asks us to seek first the kingdom of God, we are to seek first righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Seeking righteousness, joy and peace are not exclusive to Christianity. Most people say they want to be a good person, the pursuit of joy or happiness is pretty much written into U.S. history and some will go around the world find peace and to eliminate stress. The last part of this verse is significant. Outside of the Holy Spirit, we can get an appearance of righteousness, peace and joy. But appearances can lie.
False Righteousness
There is a false righteousness causing us to think we are being responsible. It is outward righteousness where we do right things without having the right heart. The fruits of the Holy Spirit are inward attitudes of the heart (Gal 5:22-23), but we take good works and call them fruit. Good works are not bad, but if they are only outward, this is false righteousness.
Legalism (making our own rules and morals outside of Scripture) is also a false righteousness apart from the Holy Spirit. We may do righteous acts because we are created in God’s image. But no one can have a truly righteous heart apart from Jesus.
False Peace
Peace can be counterfeited as well. Peace is not the absence of conflict or bad circumstances, but it is what the Holy Spirit gives in our hearts in the midst of it. We overly-control outward circumstances by reducing stress to make our life calm, comfortable, and free from hassle. We also control people either by eliminating friendships with those who cause us stress or by using anger or guilt to manipulate them. We refuse to confront and call it peace, or we confront until the other person is silenced and call it peace. Trying to have peaceful circumstances isn’t necessarily wrong, but it is not true peace. Peace in the Holy Spirit is what He gives us inside.
False Joy
Lastly, there is a false joy. Temporal joy comes from looking to things or people to make us happy. We may call this happiness vs. joy. This is basically idolatry, believing that I can get from someone or something the joy that is only found in Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
There is also a joy-by-choice or an actor joy. This mindset says, “I’m going to choose joy by pasting a smile on my face, pretending to have a good attitude about my crummy circumstances even though I feel awful inside.” True joy/happiness once again is inside of us. Jesus says “the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Counterfeit Kingdom
The enemy wants to make us rely on counterfeits, in our own strength and then says “That’s it. That’s the kingdom of God”. We were made for righteousness and joy and peace in our hearts. But he whispers, “You are doing the right things (don’t worry about the motives of your heart). You have peace (by manipulating and controlling stress in your circumstances and relationships). You are choosing joy (by pretending to be happy despite how you feel, or by reaching for idols of relationship or things). Then he tells you this is the Christian Life. Believing these lies causes many to be disillusioned by Christianity. The enemy wants us to think that living by our actions, not our hearts is the answer.
Many say if you do the right thing, what you feel doesn’t matter. As with all lies, there is a portion of truth mixed in. Sometimes we have to choose what is right or choose joy or peace despite our circumstances or emotions. But if life is characterized by living this way continually, we are not seeking first the kingdom of God, but a counterfeit man-made religion. We are not living from our hearts, but instead living like robots in our own strength.
The other lie sell is that we should emphasize one of these things over the other. This is personal for me, as I’ve lived long with the mindset that righteousness is more important than peace or joy, and that doing good things is much more important than what is going on inside of my heart. Jesus warns against this in Mt 23:26.
Holiness or Happiness?
You may have heard, “God wants your holiness more than your happiness.” When you look into Scripture, the emphasis is not that they are mutually exclusive but of equal importance and in truth, one actually leads to the other.
There are two false ways of thinking about holiness and happiness. One is that God cares less about my happiness than He does about my holiness. The other is that God wants me to be happy; therefore I should do what I desire and strive to get what I want.
The word blessed (makarios) in the New Testament means happy. Given how many times Jesus talks about blessing, as well as how many times He blessed people, it is safe to say that yes, Jesus does want us to be happy. Matthew 5 shows us Jesus wants us to be blessed or happy. Sometimes this happiness does come from gifts that He gives us, both spiritual and physical.
However, happiness or joy that comes from the physical blessings that we so desire – even the blessings that Jesus gives us – doesn’t last. Things or relationships we want or think will make us happy aren’t bad. But if we believe they are going to fulfill us like Jesus Himself, or give us long term joy; disappointment is in store. True happiness or joy in the Holy Spirit comes from experiencing a relationship with Jesus, hearing from Him, and exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit by working alongside of Him on this earth to bring Him glory.
In evaluating these two thought patterns, did an informal study of the words holiness or righteousness and the words rejoice or joy in Scripture. To my surprise – they were fairly evenly matched in emphasis. It would appear that both holiness and happiness are important to God.
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