From the Inside Out

"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." - John 15:11

Suicides are up. Drug additions are epidemic. Divorce rates continue to climb. People are tired, frustrated, angry, vengeful, filled with hatred and contempt. No one is happy. No one has joy.

The Bible tells us these things will be seen in people in the last days. This world is not going to get better. We need a plan to cope with the ongoing problems and stresses of this world during these wicked and perilous time.

The answer is the Joy of the Lord.

Joy must come from the inside. No person, place, or thing can provide the Joy only Jesus gives. An absence of Jesus will lead to an absence of Joy. The fullness of Jesus will give the fullness of joy. If your hope is built on people, places, and things, you will never have satisfaction. These all come and go and eventually will lose their value and ability to give you satisfaction. Your profession, career, or vocation will not substitute for the everlasting and eternal peace of God that Jesus gives. Your ministry callings and gifts will not give you joy. Temporal things only serve as a rush and once that rush is gone, you need another dose to give another rush and keep the adrenaline flowing.

The Joy of the Lord provides peace, contentment, and calm when hell breaks out, or areas of your life suddenly begin to unravel. The Joy of the Lord keeps you still and if you focus on the Lord during tests, trials, and tribulations, He will give you peace and perspective. Your faith will grow and soon nothing in this world will be able to shake you.

Our Lord is unshakeable.

In the 1980s, gospel artist Steve Green wrote a song called, "People Need the Lord." Here is one verse of that song.

"Every day they pass me by. I can see it in their eyes. Empty people filled with care. Headed who knows where. On they go through private pain. Living fear to fear. Laughter hides their silent cries, only Jesus hears. People need the Lord. People need the Lord, At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door. People need the Lord. People need the Lord. When will we realize that we must give our lives for people need the Lord."

No matter what you invest your time and money into, if these are not centered on the Joy of the Lord, you will never be content. You will continue to look for the next best thinking the more you have, the more you will be fulfilled in your life. It won't have and all you will have done is wasted time hoping something material would give you what your heart yearns for - Jesus. Only He satisfies.

"I am not complaining about having too little. I have learned to be satisfied with[a] whatever I have. 12 I know what it is to be poor or to have plenty, and I have lived under all kinds of conditions. I know what it means to be full or to be hungry, to have too much or too little. 13 Christ gives me the strength to face anything."

- Philippians 4:11-13

If you are going through life's tests, and ready to quit or give up. Don't. Love Jesus and put your confidence in Him. Trust His way. Trust His plan. Trust His process. He does not lie. He never fails and neither will you if you believe and have faith.

"To him who is able to keep you from stumbling 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, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."

- Jude 24,25