Inspired by . . . Day 17: the measure of JOY

Inspired by . . . Day 17: the measure of JOY

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

And they were offended in Him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour,

save in his own country, and in his own house.

And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matt 13:57-58

 

My husband was listening to a talk show radio program last night in the car. The host was saying how some of his listeners have berated him for being too harsh on a certain group of people. They’ve told him that he’s never going to win them over to his point of view by being so abrasive toward them.

He doesn’t care. The purpose of his show is not to win these people over to his way of thinking. His purpose is to teach the truth to those who already believe. Then they, in turn, can educate people one-on-one to the truth.

There are a whole lot of directions I could take that opening, lol!  But this is what I want you to see today. It starts with a quote from Oswald Chambers:

 

If Our Lord had measured His life by its actual results, He would have been full of misery.

We are not here to win souls, to do good to others; that is the natural outcome,

but it is not our aim, and this is where so many of us cease to be followers.

We will follow God as long as He makes us a blessing to others,

but when He does not we will not follow.

The JOY of anything, from a blade of grass upward, is to fulfill its created purpose—

that we should be to the praise of His glory

 

 

Did you catch what Chambers said here? “We are not here to win souls, to do good to others;”

We are here to fulfill our created purpose. Which is to glorify God. This is the only way to achieve true JOY.

Naturally, in glorifying God, we win souls and do good to others.

But that is the OUTCOME, not the PURPOSE.

I don’t think I’m splitting  hairs here. We have to have this in the correct order in our minds.

When we are focused on the blessing {the outcome} what we are really focused on is ourselves.

But when our focus is on glorifying God, above all else, the blessings will flow naturally from their Source.

This is not an easy mindset to change, Beloved, for our human nature and worldly culture flow naturally against it.

Here’s a question to ask yourself {continually} that may help:

How do I measure my life?

Do I use God’s measurements of faithfulness and godliness or

the worldly values of popularity, productivity, and efficiency?

 

I’ll be honest, those last two are most often my stumbling blocks.

 

The JOY of the Lord is our strength!

 

Blessings,

 

Quotation taken from The Love of God, © Discovery House Publishers

#write31days

 

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