“Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry (grieved), for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
Dear Ones:
The Gospel of Christ is a most extraordinary declaration of the revelation of God to man. In that revelation is not only “a knowledge of the holy,” but the unveiling of what God has created man to KNOW in his experience. Man was essentially created first and foremost to know God, experience God, live BY God…by the Spirit. That experimental knowledge of Christ is the communication of the nature of God to our souls and spirits. It is because of this oneness with Christ which God brought about when we believed in Him, that all experience of Christ becomes possible. However, it is in the understanding of the TRUTH of this relationship, and the revealing of what the will of God is in it, that we are brought face to face with a question: “How well, or much, do I really know Him?” We can truthfully say, regardless of how long we have known Christ, that we know only “the edges of His ways.” Hence, our experience of Him is so little compared with that which God desires and wills that we know. For this reason, we look at the matter of Joy, Christ’s joy, and the very real consequence of it in our living.
The people of Israel had returned from the exile. The temple had been rebuilt under the direction of Zerubbabel. Nehemiah had arrived on the scene to rebuild the wall around the city. It was by the instrumentality of Ezra that the people would gather together, “as one man,” to hear the words of the law of Moses read to them. The result would be the over-whelming sense of need in the congregation, a sadness and despondency which came over the people. Their recognition of the holiness, and goodness, of God as compared with their lack of faithful obedience, brought them to sorrow and weeping. It would be a this point, when they were so very downcast, that Nehemiah and Ezra would tell the people to not mourn or weep. On the contrary, they were to “eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those who had nothing prepared.” Why? Because, “…the joy of the Lord was their strength.” It is when they would look up at the mercy and grace of God that faith would revive. Joy would replace sorrow, strength would replace weakness.
One of the fruits of the Spirit of God, characteristics of the nature and disposition of Christ, is JOY. The Lord Jesus was intent that His disciples know HIS joy. At one point, in addressing His disciples, He would speak concerning prayer, declaring to them: “Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be FULL.” (Jn. 16:24) In Psalm 16, with regard to that experience forever in the presence of the Lord, David would write: “In Thy presence is FULLNESS of joy.” (Ps. 16:11) And lastly, with regard to that which was beyond the coming crucifixion of Christ, we read: “…who for the JOY that was set before Him, endured the cross.” (Heb. 12:2) What do we learn in these verses? First of all, that one essential and lasting facet of the character and nature of Christ is JOY, the very joy of God. This is that joy that He has called us to know. To what extent are we to know this joy? “…that your joy should be full.” What is the effect of that joy? “…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” How LONG is that joy, and what is to be, not only the lasting existence of that joy, but the overwhelming, all-eclipsing effect and experience of that love? “In Thy presence is FULLNESS OF JOY.”
Dear Father, anoint us with Thy blessed Spirit of joy, communicating to us, and through us, the very joy of Christ, of God. Give us to believe Thee for Thy fullness, so that Your joy will BE our strength day after day. And lastly, give us to understand that for eternity, we will know the fullness of joy in Your presence. It is “set” before us, and there will be no altering of it. We praise and thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad