Today’s Daily Bread ~ Joy? Yea, right.

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.

For about a week now, the phrase “fullness of joy” has been rattling around in my mind.  There are several aspects of Christianity, to be quite honest, that have always (or at least until a year or so ago) felt unattainable to me.  Peace, for starters.  Living a worry-free life.  And joy through all circumstances.  Who can feel joy through bankruptcy?  The death of a loved one?  Sickness?  War?

Jesus speaks about the fullness of joy many times through Scripture:

John 15:11 – “I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!”

John 17:13 – “And now I am coming to You.  I have told them many things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy.”

The Apostles John and Paul did, as well:

1 John 1:4 – We are writing these things so that our joy will be complete.                                                          

Philippians 4:4 – Always be full of joy in the Lord!  I say it again – rejoice!

I started to pray about it…not just having joy in the Lord, but having the fullness of joy.  Paul wrote the letter to the church in Philippi while chained in a Roman jail cell.  Scholars believe that when John penned this particular letter (1 John), he was the only remaining apostle.  He’d witnessed horrific persecution, knew of His brothers’ executions, but still remained bold and courageous in the faith.  I want that kind of joy.

As I asked the Holy Spirit how to go about receiving the fullness of joy, He showed me a picture.  Me, aproaching Him with a cup three quarters full.  “How can I fill you,” He whispered, “when you are filling yourself with many things?”  A startling and convicting revelation.

How many times have I come to the Lord with my plan, my agenda, and asked Him to bless it?  When I have an open afternoon, how many times have I chosen TV or a magazine over quiet time with God?  How many times have I busied myself in unimportant or trivial activities?  How often have I mourned something I don’t have, forgetting to look around in awe over all God has given me?  How can He possibly fill us…when we fill ourselves with things that fail to sustain us?

The word used for full or fullness is pléroó, and has an interesting definition: I fill, fulfill, and complete.  The insinuation, especially when reading “I fill,” is that this is not a fulfillment we will ever achieve on our own.  This is literally God filling us.  We cannot attain it, we can only receive it.  It gets better…read on…

Pléroó doesn’t just mean full.  It means to cram – the picture used is to fill a net so full it’s expanding, nearly ready to burst.  It also means to satisfy, to finish, to perfect.  God does not settle for mediocrity.  When He fills us, He expands us, increasing our capacity to receive.

The word for joy is deeper than it appears, too.  Chara (khar-ah’) does mean joy as we know it, but it also means a source of joy.  When God fills us with joy, He is filling us with the source of it – the Holy Spirit.  Chara comes from the root word chairo, which indicates joy to be exceeding, gladness, cheerfulness, and calm delight.  Many times during my quiet time with the Lord I have felt that all-encompassing sense of calm delight, wrapping around me like a warm blanket.

God gave me another picture on the fullness of joy.  We are not vessels that come to Him to be filled, and remain full.  God is the source of inexhaustible peace, joy and love.  We, on the other hand, exhaust quickly.  I believe that God wants us to come to Him without agenda; a blank page for Him to author, with a heart willing to love and hands willing to serve.  We let Him fill us, we receive the joy He intends for us, and we remain in Him.  I believe that is only way the fullness of joy in Christ is possible.

John 15:9-11 – “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love.  When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in His love.  I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for this clarification.  So often we are filling ourselves with worldly things; more concerned about money, power and success than seeking Your face.  Please forgive us for this.  So many times we have our lives all worked out the way we want them to work, forgetting that Your ways are good and Your will is perfect.  How many blessings have we missed trying to steer our own ships?  Convict us on this, Father, and remind us that apart from You there is no peace, no joy to be found.  Remind us that this world is passing away, that we need to take a heavenly perspective.  Let us feel the constant Presence of the Holy Spirit, let us never stop seeking Your face!  We come to You empty, Father, fill us.  Bless us with generous hearts, so that we might be a blessing to others.  Let us love what You love and hate what You hate.  Let us seek Your counsel on even the most mundane decisions, remembering that You delight in every detail of our lives.  We love You so much, God, and we pray these things in the blessed, holy name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.