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such as material destitution, famine, and bringing glory to His Father’s Name.
pestilence, flooding and horrific wars. Such will be our abiding joy in our Sav-
Like the apostle Paul, many have been iour, as we move in obedience to His will
wrongfully imprisoned, persecuted and for our lives, always having in view the
cruelly treated for being Christians. The heavenly glory that lies ahead. Rejoicing
writer to the Hebrews refers to some “in the Lord” (Php 3:1) necessitates our
who “took joyfully the spoiling of your obedience to His commands and to the
goods, knowing in yourselves that ye Word of God. We wouldn’t rejoice specifi-
have in heaven a better and an enduring cally in suffering adverse circumstances or
substance” (Heb 10:34). It would likely physical persecution. But we are always to
be such believers who can particularly be rejoicing in the One we acknowledge
testify that nothing robbed them of their as Sovereign Lord and Ruler of our lives,
joy in the Lord, enabling them to be able knowing that He is in full control of all the
to say every day, “This is the day which circumstances of our lives. Whether we are
the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and experiencing adversity or prosperity, per-
be glad in it” (Psa 118:24). We almost need secution or peace, everything is upheld by
such circumstances of adversity for the His sovereign hands. He is the Lord who
cause of Christ to fully appreciate the joy has promised that He will never leave or
that can always be found in Him.
abandon us in our need. We can always be
Abiding in Christ’s Joy in joyful appreciation of who He is, what
The apostle Paul is in harmony with the He has done for us in the past, and all He is
presently doing as He intercedes for us as
words of the Lord Himself to His disciples the risen Man exalted at God’s right hand,
in the upper room before He went to Cal- until “the Lord himself shall descend from
vary. “These things have I spoken unto heaven” (1Th 4:16) to take us out of this
you, that my joy might remain in you, and dark scene and into His eternal presence.
that your joy might be full” (Joh 15:11).
Our Saviour desires that His fullness of joy Paul is about to give grave warning to
will likewise be our fullness of joy. His joy the Philippians in 3:2 concerning the false
was found in knowing intimate fellowship teachers who were seeking to influence
with His Father, and doing those things them in a distinctly negative way. They
that pleased His Father. “In that hour had to appreciate they were on a spiritual
Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank battleground, and that they would need
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth to be strong in the face of such vicious
... even so, Father; for so it seemed good in “evil workers.” Where can the believer
thy sight” (Luk 10:21). Hebrews 12:2 says, find strength to go on when compassed
“Who for the joy that was set before him about with many enemies and much op-
endured the cross, despising the shame, position? Nehemiah 8:10 says: “The joy of
and is set down at the right hand of the the LORD is your strength”; we must find
throne of God.” While that joy is primar- the needed spiritual strength in the joy of
ily connected with His final destination Christ who is our Lord. Paul was clearly
in glorious heavenly exaltation, there was in the good of that exhortation of Ezra the
also abiding joy all the way through His scribe for God’s people of a past day, and
earthly sojourn, knowing that He was do- may we also be in the good of looking only
ing the Father’s will, finishing His work, to Christ as our constant joy.

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