Inspired by . . . Day 26: the JOY of salvation

Inspired by . . . Day 26: the JOY of salvation

 

 

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

 

 

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him,

One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast,

and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven:

and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Mark 10:21

 

The JOY of our salvation: Jesus Christ our Savior!

Chances are, if you are a believer, this is how you view Jesus, as Savior, Redeemer, and Friend.

He is certainly all of those things. But He is so much more.

If we are truly going to achieve JOY in the face of sacrifice, sorrow, obedience, brokenness, and surrender - - all these things we have talked about, then a correct and complete view of Jesus is necessary.

We talk about the JOYs and comforts of salvation;

Jesus Christ talks about taking up the cross and following Him.

 

 

Yes, Jesus is our Savior, Redeemer and Friend. And we praise Him and need Him to be all these things to us.

But He is first and foremost our LORD and KING.

He demands and expects our loyalty and obedience.

Ouch. That doesn’t sit well on our 21st century free-American ears very well, does it?

We like to think of His grace and mercy. We like the idea of Him as a comrade, standing along side of us {maybe a little out in front} in this battle we call LIFE.

We like to think of Him as one of us.

But He is not.

Yes, He is our brother. We are co-heirs. But the balance in our thinking of Jesus as man, and Jesus as God needs some fine tuning.

JESUS IS GOD.

And we are not.

There are times when we need to climb up in His lap and lean lovingly against His chest. There are times when He carries us. Defends us. Disciplines us.

But there should be times when we fall on our face in front of Him. When we remove our shoes, because He speaks and we are in the presence of a HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS GOD.

I confess that I do not do this often enough.

I confess I am more focused on enJOYing God’s kingdom, than sacrificing to further the kingdom.

And, yes, for these failings there is grace.

But fullness of JOY comes only when we receive and accept the fullness of Christ’s deity.

May we be compelled, yet terrified to enter His presence.

 

 

Then Hwin, though shaking all over, gave a strange little neigh, and trotted across to the Lion.

   “Please,” she said, “you’re so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I’d sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.”

    “Dearest daughter,” said Aslan, planting a lion’s kiss on her twitching, velvet nose, “I knew you would not be long in coming to me. JOY shall be yours.”

 

~C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

 

Enter His presence, beloved,

and JOY shall be yours.

 

Blessings,

 

 

 

Quotation taken from He Shall Glorify Me, © Discovery House Publishers

 

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