The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges

Author:Jerry Bridges
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / Personal Growth, RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth, RELIGION / Christian Theology / General
ISBN: 9781631465956
Publisher: The Navigators
Published: 2016-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

THE FRUITS OF JOY

One of the results of experiencing this joy is that God is pleased (see Romans 14:17-18). If Christ came that we might have joy (life to the full), if the Holy Spirit is at work in us to produce joy, then it is a contradiction of God’s purpose for us when we are not joyful. Certainly, some people are more joyful by nature than others, but every Christian is to exhibit a balanced display of all the virtues of Christian character, regardless of his temperament. We must look to God and apply all the means He has given us until we can rejoice in the Lord always.

A second result of joy is that we are strengthened physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Nehemiah said to the returned exiles, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (8:10). Sanderson asks, “How much of our physical weakness, apathy and illness is probably due to a heavy spirit?”[24] I have experienced the direct relationship of physical strength to joy in my personal exercise program. When I am rejoicing in the Lord, the strength is there and the jogging and other exercise go much easier. If I am discouraged, I seem to have no energy at all.

What is true in the physical or emotional realm is also true in the spiritual. I recall one morning going into our living room to begin my quiet time. Just prior to that I had been sinning by entertaining resentful thoughts toward a Christian brother. As I started to kneel to pray, the thought came to me, You cannot enter the presence of God with the thoughts you have been thinking. Thinking of Hebrews 10:19-22, I said, “Lord, I acknowledge my sin, and it is true, I cannot come into Your presence in my own merit. I come in the only way I can come. I come through the blood of Jesus.” As I uttered (and believed) those words, I thought, What a wonderful thing that I, a sinner, having just indulged in the sin of resentment, can through the blood of Jesus come into the very presence of a Holy God. Then I thought, That’s not all! Not only can I come into His presence, but I can call him Father.

That little episode changed my whole day. It changed me from a discouraged, resentful person to a joyous and forgiven person. And the joy of God’s gracious forgiveness enabled me to deal with the root of that resentment. Joy does give spiritual strength. The joy of discovering the sufficiency of God’s grace enabled Paul to delight in weaknesses, in insults, in difficulties (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

So the choice is ours. We can be joyless Christians, or we can be joyful Christians. We can go through life bored, glum, and complaining, or we can rejoice in the Lord, in our names being written in heaven, in the hope of an eternal inheritance. It is both our privilege and our duty to be joyful. To be joyless is to dishonor God and to deny His love and His control over our lives.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.