My only Hope

There is joy in salvation and the Holy Spirit helps us bear more of its fruit, however, there are also joy robbers. We have learned previously about a number of them - people, circumstances, worry and fear. Added to this list are conflict and self-centeredness.

Conflict and self-centeredness are inter-related. Self-centeredness triggers conflicts, and the root of it all is PRIDE.  For these thieves of joy to be eliminated, the solution is HUMILITY. It can be said, therefore, that JOY IS A BY-PRODUCT OF HUMILITY.

Philippians 2:1-11 says: “If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” How can this passage be applied in relation to the thieves of joy of conflict and self-centeredness?

CONFLICT. We are imperfect individuals, differing from one another in views, personalities and character. It is therefore but normal to have conflicts in human relationships. Conflict arises even among mature Christians. We may not expect uniformity, but we can preserve unity in the body. Although we may disagree about certain things, we can agree to remain in harmony with one another through the fellowship that binds us together by virtue of our identity in Christ.

The devil is the culprit of divisions and discord. When we have something against someone, what do we tend to do? We talk to other people about it. But issues need to be ironed out between the two conflicting parties. Talking about them with people who are not part of the problem or solution is plain and simple gossip. Satan uses the strategy of malicious gossip to destroy relationships and widen rifts. How many friendships have been destroyed by gossip? If we’re not careful, we may encourage it through passive listening, or we may actively participate by adding fuel to the fire. Without realizing it, we are being accomplices to the devil’s demolition job. When we refuse to join in the gossip fray, and instead urge the person who has issues to talk to the party concerned, it terminates the devil’s work.

Most people employ the strategy of fight or flight when involved in conflict. But fighting aggravates the situation while fleeing leaves the issues unresolved. There is a biblical way and that is, to move toward the party we are in conflict with. It means taking the initiative to iron out the differences with humility, with an admission of one’s part in the conflict.

SELF-CENTEREDNESS. Proud people are self-centered.  Self-centered people are usually miserable. Because they have this feeling of self-importance, they think they are important enough to be talked about all the time, and are therefore wary about what other people are saying behind their backs. They drop lines like: “I deserve to be happy.”  “This is my right.”  It’s all about I, me, mine. They think the world owes them and that it exists to serve them. Hence, when the world fails them, they are angry that they do not get to have a piece of joy.

From the time of birth, our selfish nature surfaces even without being taught. We seek attention, lay claim to everything we see as ours, throw tantrums when we don’t get the toy we want from the store, fight with playmates when a piece of candy is taken from us. When we’re older, we scramble to get the last vacant seat in the MRT train without giving way to the elderly. Bus drivers along EDSA load and unload in the middle of the road with no consideration for other motorists.

Jesus, though He is God, rich in majesty as King and Owner of everything, emptied Himself, became poor and took the form of man, in order to serve mankind in all humility. He sacrificed His life on the Cross for death to be conquered, and its sting removed. All these he did in obedience to the will of the Father. Clothing ourselves with humility is to have the same attitude and mindset as Christ’s. It means dying to self.  It is yielding our rights in favor of another. It is thinking less of self and more of others.

Christianity is not an abstract. It is living the example of Christ. When we have Christ in our hearts, joy is ours. We lose it only when we allow joy robbers in through conflict and self-centeredness. Through humility, they are barred from trespassing.

The Secrets of Real Joy Part II
Ptr. Peter Tanchi / Sunday, July 06, 2008

If we wear long faces in these troubled times, how can we be salt and light to the world? A.W. Tozer reminds us: “The Christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally joyful.”  Bruce Larson adds: “The bottom line for you and me is simply this: grimness is not a Christian virtue. There are no sad saints. If God really is the center of one’s life and being, joy is inevitable. If we have no joy, we have missed the heart of the Good News.” For us to do justice to Christianity, we need to unlock more secrets of real joy:

1. JOY IS THE BY-PRODUCT OF RIGHT THINKING. There’s a wide gap between expectations and reality. That gap is called disappointment. When what we expect don’t match what we see, we are in for a letdown. The antidote for disappointment is right thinking. Joy starts with a mental decision to be glad in spite of circumstances or failed expectations. As Leslie Turvey said, “Attitude is a matter of deciding whether the cup is half full or half empty. Too often we look at life… seeing only what we don’t have, rather than being thankful for what is ours.”

Things will not always turn out the way we want them to.  When they don’t, our world does not have to crumble.  Learning to play spiritual basketball - throwing the ball to Jesus, surrendering our expectations and disappointments – will help us to accept reality in the right spirit. Habakkuk 3:17-18  fits the paradigm: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.” As A. W. Tozer points out: “To the child of God there is no such thing as an accident. He travels an appointed way.”

Joy robbers, in addition to people and circumstances, include worry and fear, which are signs of wrong thinking. There is a way to demolish wrong thinking. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful… We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When confronted by the Truth as we read the Word of God in the Bible, our mind is swept of garbage.  Realizing that the battle is in the mind, we should take hold of our every thought, so that it does not dwell on what feeds the worries and fears that choke us, but channel it to the right stuff.

2. JOY IS THE BY-PRODUCT OF PUTTING CHRIST FIRST. The apostle Paul had a one-track mind. He was full of Christ. His words bear witness. “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:21-23).

Paul was torn between living and dying for Christ. Either case, it was, for him, a win-win situation. He reckoned that living for Christ, working in His harvest field, is what brings joy and meaning into earthly living. Departing from all these, however, would be like a mere transfer to another outpost, but being in the very presence of our Lord. That is better by far than the best that this world can offer. As covenant children of God, we have inside information. This world is passing away, but the place God has for us is one we can only begin to imagine (1 Cor. 2:9) - where eternal rest shall refresh us, where Christ shall dwell with us and wipe away our tears, where crying and pain are unheard of, and where we will no longer walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Revelations 21:1, 3-6).

Embracing Christ gives us the joy of salvation today and the privilege of serving Him now, with the hope of our future glory. Jim Elliot, who died in his missionary  trail said: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.” Real joy is independent from circumstances; it is focused on biblical truth and on Christ who never changes. As John Piper puts it: “GOD is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

3. JOY IS THE BY-PRODUCT OF HELPING OTHERS. Much of our misery is the product of our self-centeredness.  Helping others keeps our eyes off ourselves and the burdens that trigger us to throw pity parties. Individually, we can do something, but when we band together, we can do so much more. There is power in unity. There is strength in numbers. A pack of attacking ferocious lions become helpless whimps to a herd of buffaloes who stick together to come to the rescue of one of their weak kind. Despite the hazards, when we stop at nothing to help the brethren and to save those who are still lost, the Enemy is put to shame. We can rejoice along with the angels in heaven over one sinner who repents as a result of our concerted effort to save souls.

4.  JOY IS THE BY-PRODUCT OF HOLY LIVING. Living according to God’s design for holiness means conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of our calling as Christians (Philippians 1:27-30). But to be consistent in doing it while in the midst of suffering is another matter. Suffering is often the fiery dart that the Enemy throws at us to steal our joy while living in the pursuit of God’s holy standard. When, however, we stand firm, we not only pass the test of righteousness, but we also taste the fruit of joy.

Fanny Crosby was the victim of medical malpractice at a tender, young age which resulted in her blindness. She could have vented anger on the doctors, but she didn’t. Instead of growing bitter, her zeal for life and the Lord became stronger.  She turned her affliction into an opportunity to praise God through the many hymns she penned. One of her hymns “BLIND BUT HAPPY” says it all: “O what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world, contented I will be; how many blessings I enjoy, that other people don’t! To weep and sigh because I’m blind, I cannot, and I won’t.”

Can we, like Paul, boldly declare: For me to live is Christ, to die is gain? Can we, like Fanny Crosby, exude joy in the middle of adversity? May we learn to turn the key to enter the joy of the Lord.

The Secrets of Real Joy
Ptr. Peter Tanchi / Sunday, June 29, 2008

At a time when soaring fuel and food prices and news of calamities are upon us, can people wake up in the morning and still say: “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24)? It’s hard to put on a sunny disposition when the weather is bad. It’s hard to wear a smile on your face when the outlook is gloomy.

But Paul exhorts in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Can that be done in a world that seems to be spinning out of control? If that’s the way we view it, it’s a difficult thing to do. If, however, we believe that God is in control, it can be done.

If there’s one piece of advice we can pay heed to in a world full of problems that can put us down, it’s to BEWARE OF JOY ROBBERS!  What are these joy robbers?

1. NEGATIVE THINKING. As Clement Stone opines: “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” Chuck Swindoll submits: “…life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” There is mind power that controls behavior.  Positive thinking projects into positive disposition dictating positive behavior. Vice-versa, negative thinking projects into negative disposition dictating negative behavior.

2. PEOPLE. God allows people to disrupt or interrupt our lives. People’s quirks and peculiarities could spoil our fun.   Some people can be unnerving. How they affect us is up to us.  They can either get to us or we can remain unaffected. Whether we consider them friends or foes depends on whether or not we welcome and accept them as God’s tools to refine our rough edges for character development.

3. CIRCUMSTANCES. There are circumstances beyond our control. But when they come along, there is one thing we can control – ourselves. As Epictetus said, “It is not your problems that are bothering you. It is the way you are looking at them.”

God has a message in every circumstance that comes our way. He is always at work in and through them. We just have to dig into the heart and mind of God for us to have an overview of what’s going on. “When Christ is the center of your focus all else will come into proper perspective.” That’s a great piece of wisdom to live by. So, if we see disastrous global events as God’s way of turning people’s hearts to Himself, we can be still and know that He is God.

Real joy is independent of people or circumstances. Its Source is God. REAL JOY IS CENTERED ON CHRIST, who said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).  Unless we’ve heard the bad news, we will never appreciate the good news. Joy comes from knowing that we were doomed for hell because of sin, but Jesus paid the wages of sin. There is joy in salvation found in Christ alone. Jesus appeals: “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full” (John 16:24). If we will only listen and turn to Christ, we will know that growing in love for God and others more than ourselves will increase our joy. Then we will realize that JOY is spelled J-JESUS, O-OTHERS, and Y-OU.
This became very real in Paul’s life after learning the secret:  THE SECRET OF REAL JOY IS A CHRIST-CENTERED MINDSET, having: (1) CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S GOODNESS; and (2) CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S POWER.

Paul shows us the divine way to pure joy, positive attitude and proper perspective. Paul’s letter exhorting the Philippian church to rejoice at all times was written while he was in prison. He did not allow the circumstance he was in to dampen his spirit, for his joy was in the Lord. In Paul’s turf, there was no room for joy robbers to steal what he had or frustrate the sharing of the Gospel.

Believers and unbelievers alike were encouraged because of the way Paul handled life’s crises. His eyes were on the Lord.  His confidence was therefore in the goodness and power of God. This confidence Paul had in God kept him from grumbling or questioning God, but instead made him cooperate with God’s plans. His adversity became God’s opportunity to bring others to salvation, and later be used to spark a spiritual revival in Philippi and eventually the whole of Europe.  Paul saw how God began this good work in the lives of Lydia, the slave girl and the jailer (Acts 16:12-34). He was therefore confident that He who opens the hearts of people and causes them to believe, will also transform and continue the work until completion when Jesus appears. Hence, Paul wrote: “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

If we are centered on Christ, our confidence will be in God’s goodness and power. In which case, joy robbers will not have any chance of breaking into our lives. And as we see the day of Christ approaching, we can work heartily at breaking the Good News to others in the middle of all the bad news. In any circumstance, in sickness or in health, in good or bad weather, in robust or glum economy, around people of all types, we can, like Paul, be joyful always.