It is reported that a very gloomy personality was standing at the door of a great New York City. church. He was giving out tracts and inviting people to church. One man looked at his doom and gloom countenance and when he was asked to come to the service, he looked at "Mr. Doom and Gloom" and said, "No thanks, I've got troubles enough of my own." In contrast, read Proverbs 17:22: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."
As I face 2001, I cannot control my circumstances but I can control my attitude toward those circumstances. You see, joy is the result of the Holy Spirit having all of me as Ephesians 5:19-20 proves. You have the Holy Spirit if you have had a genuine conversion. (Read Romans 8:9.) But that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit has all of you. Many write to me about the Holy Spirit and various experiences. I usually respond with two reactions. First, I take them to the words of Jesus himself who said that when the Holy Spirit is working there is conviction, concentration on the Word of God, occupation with the eternal and occupation with Jesus Christ (read John 16:8-14). Then I also point out that when the Holy Spirit is in control there is joy regardless of circumstances. Let me illustrate: Just walk into a service where II Corinthians 5:7 is reversed, i.e. they orient totally to experience and not faith.
Now wait until they hit their high notes emotionally and then tell them you just heard the stock market crashed! Is there joy regardless? Probably not and certainly not if they have reversed II Corinthians 5:7. Now let me take you to two areas to help maintain Biblical balance in the year 2001. First, what can be lost and secondly, how to restore what can be lost.
There are a number of things a believer can lose including satanic awareness (II Corinthians 2:11); also, angelic awareness (Hebrews 13:2) and prophetic awareness (I John 2:28). There are many other areas that can be lost but note one in particular. We can lose the joy of our salvation (Psalm 51:12) "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit."
Those great texts that precede Psalm 51:12 make it clear how David lost it. One word stands out -- SIN! Incidentally, this is just one more proof that in this area Christians have bigger problems than non-Christians. No unbeliever ever prays the prayer of Psalm 51:12 because no unbeliever experiences what it means to lose the joy of salvation.
In the sixteen years I was in the pastorate I never found a happy person who caused trouble. Only unhappy people cause trouble, basically because they are miserable and want to make everyone else miserable. Never forget that a Christian who is doing the will of God is joyful regardless but the reverse is true. Read Romans 15:32: "That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed."
Every believer who knows what God wants him to do and does it, is joyful regardless, and is most refreshing to be around. If you are Mr. or Mrs. Gloom and Doom and always see the glass half empty instead of half full you will find Romans 15:32 your best source for counseling. Find out what God wants you to do and do it (ask for the booklet, "8 ways" which shows you how to discover what God wants you to do. Write Songtime USA, Box 100, Barnstable, MA 02630 or call 508-362-7070).
This involves 8 basic steps:
1. Be sure you have saving faith because a total lack of joy might very well mean you do not have saving faith. Read Habakkuk 3:18, "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation." Take the ear and foot test of John 10:27 where Jesus said, "My sheep hear (ear) my voice and I know them and they follow (foot) me."
2. The Savior's word brings joy - John 15:11: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full." Double your Biblical encounters if inner mental attitude joy is a problem for you. I'll never forget my days as director of Youth for Christ in Rochester, NY, there came a time when I lost not my faith but my fervor. The liberal seminary professor was getting to me. Dr. Herbert S. Mekeel of First Presbyterian Church in Schenectady, NY said, "John, take your Bible and go to the mountains until John 15:11 happens." It works!
3. Answered prayer brings joy - John 16:24: "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Find a church where the prayer meeting is top priority. In that kind of atmosphere you have reports on what, not man, but God is doing. That is the impact of John 16:24.
4. Active faith brings joy - Romans 15:13: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Faith is a personal responsibility which begins as we make the Lord Jesus Christ the object of our faith. In Romans 4:4-5 the word "believe" is in the active, not the passive voice. You have the personal responsibility to believe. Then faith is developed according to Romans 10:17 and faith results in our being able to handle the circumstances of life -- I John 5:4.
5. Control by the Holy Spirit produces joy -- Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
6. Winning people to Christ brings joy - Philippians 4:1: "Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." The reason Paul called them his joy and crown is clearly explained in I Thessalonians 2:19-20 where he refers to people who will be in heaven because of His witness. A suggestion: we have just produced a new version of "Decision Determines Destiny." Call us and ask for it. Give us the name of an unbeliever you want to see come to Christ. We'll join with you in prayer. Give them this cassette and let's trust God the Holy Spirit to reach them in the year 2001.
7. Testing brings joy - James 1:2: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations." This is true because of James 1:5. So instead of complaining ask God for the wisdom to begin a Romans 8:28-29 in your life and bring you to a greater maturity because of your testing. The reward of this technique is joy.
8. Loving the Lord brings joy - I Peter 1:8: "Whom having not seen, ye love; In whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." According to Romans 5:5 you can develop your love for the Lord Jesus Christ by the filling of the Spirit technique which is given in four steps in the Songtime USA cassette, "Explaining Christianity" - ask for it.
The only way to make bad people look good is to expose them to the gospel. Even Charles Darwin, the man who contributed so much to evolutionistic thinking, admitted this. He wrote to a minister: "Your services have done more for our village in a few months than all our efforts for many years. We have never been able to reclaim a single drunkard, but through your services I do not know that there is a drunkard left in the village!" Later Darwin visited the island of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. What he found among the people was horrifying savagery and bestiality almost beyond description. But when he returned after a missionary had worked among the people, he was amazed at the change in them. He acknowledged that the gospel does transform lives. In fact, he was so moved by what he saw, that he contributed money to the mission until his death!
In this New Year, make Psalm 51:12 your prayer! You'll soon discover that I Peter 3:15 is happening! "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."