Of Eeyore, Piglet, and the joy of the Lord

This week, we are continuing our study of the joy of the Lord. We're not talking about always having a smile on our faces. But one can be happy without constantly grinning!
But I don't feel happy, you say?
Do you feel more like our old friend Eeyore?
Ahhh, but I want us to be more like Piglet - he was happy. Shall we say, content? Yus.
In Nehemiah 8, we have two phrases that we're focused on: the joy of the Lord, and the strength that it brings.
Ready?
Let's dive in again!
Just to refresh our memories, we found last week that repentance leads to joy. It also leads to appreciation of God's forgiveness, and a new level of trust as we experience our relationship with a covenant God, Who is in control of all that is happening.
Today, let's talk about God Himself. Do we find joy in Him? Is He our treasure, our best reason to rejoice?
I guess because we are humans, we tend to find joy in lots of things other than God Himself. We find joy in our health when we have it; we rejoice when we are fit and can compete in a 5K run. We find joy in hiking up a mountain with a friend and not being exhausted at the summit! We find joy in the beautiful view from the top of the mountain. We find joy in a wonderfully prepared meal.
Some of us find joy in our possessions, and as long as we thankfully agree that these good things came from God's hand, that's just fine. And of course, we find joy in our relationships with our loved ones.
But as we grow and mature as believers, we should be growing in the knowledge that God Himself is our chief treasure. We are His and He is ours. If everything else in life were stripped away, would we rejoice in Him alone? If we were imprisoned and tortured for our faith, as many saints are today, would we still rejoice in our God? I guess that is one of those things that is easy to say. But would we really, if the "chips were down"?

I think it's possibly the best way to rejoice in God if we focus on His character. If we think about His attributes -- they are revealed in scripture. Truly knowing God requires us to study Him . . . Satan doesn't want that. He wants us to think of God differently, as he encouraged Eve to do. He twisted her perception of a God Who is good to one that made restrictive laws and didn't tell her the whole story. Today, Satan would like for us to think that God is a grumpy guy who always says "no" when we want to have fun.....a cosmic killjoy Who is happy dancing when we are miserable.
Nope.
That's not Him.
Remember what David said in Psalm 16:11? Go back and check that, and then come back!
Here's another clue:

"The Lord your God is with you,    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

Now let's look at some of God's attributes - His character traits found in the Word:

“The Rock! His work is perfect,For all His ways are just;A God of faithfulness and without injustice,Righteous and upright is He." (Deuteronomy 32:4)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  (I John 1:9) 

For this is what the high and exalted One says—    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:“I live in a high and holy place,    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly    and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15) 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:8-10)

That's just a quick pull from the Word of God; He is righteous; He is just; He is holy; He is love. These should fill us with joy as we meditate on the verses.
We can also find joy in His actions -- I mean what has been recorded in the Bible and in the history of our faith, as God has moved in the lives of ordinary people and allowed them to serve and perform extraordinary tasks. We can rejoice in the cross of Christ, and how we have grace and salvation. We can rejoice, too, in the privilege of the daily fellowship we know through the Bible and prayer. How it inspires me to rejoice when I think that I can call Him Father; He sees Jesus instead of my sins; and I can come into His presence through Christ!
Especially joyous is the knowledge that this world is not my home -- I'm almost home: in heaven. What makes us want to go to heaven? The main reason is that we will be with God.....we will have communion with Him and we'll enjoy Him for eternity!
The joy of the Lord is especially from knowing God and rejoicing in Him!

I think it's significant that there are three verses where the leaders tell the people to be joyful because "this day is holy to our Lord." Have you ever thought about the fact that holiness and rejoicing are not incompatible? (Grin) Rather, they are linked! The second fruit of the Spirit is joy:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

The world may put on quite a show of its enticements. And the scripture tells us there is pleasure in sin "for a season." But God and His Word are our best source of joy!

We'll talk about the strength part of the equation next time!