”If therefore [there is] any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any sharing of spirit, if any inward parts and mercies...”
-these are all strong ‘heart’ words in the greek. encouragement is paraklésis. consolation is paramuthion. paul also mentions agapé, koinonia, splagchnon and oiktirmon. these are some very strong words, full of meaning. and despite the fact that paul leads with the conditional ‘if’ clause, he is not suggesting these concepts are improbabilities for those who are in Christ. they are very real, and they are powerful. their conditional nature rests in the fact that they have Christ as their source, and thus they must be drawn from Him.
-paraklésis is God’s comfort. He is the God of all comfort (2Corinthians 1.3, 2Corinthians 7.6, 2Thessalonians 2.16-17). the Holy Spirit is in fact the paraklétos (John 16.7), the One God sent to empower and encourage and comfort and help His people (John 16.7, Acts 9.31). and God also is quite pleased to send and use His people to minister and pass on His comfort to those who need it (2Corinthians 1.4, 2Corinthians 7.7, 1Thessalonians 4.18, 1Thessalonians 5.11, Philemon 7). in this case, paul is saying that paraklésis is available for those who are in Christ, and that in abundance, as it is meant to be shared. everyone has a story to tell, something they have gone through or are going through. our world is broken, and life is full of challenges (cf Genesis 3.17-19). indeed for many, even getting food is a daily struggle. and those who follow Christ are meant to be there to help one another keep going.
-encouragement is giving someone support, confidence, hope, giving someone helpful words or resources that stimulate them to do or to continue to do something. it says to someone, ‘i believe in you!’ talk about a way to keep someone going! paul says IF there is encouragement in Christ. you know what, there should be no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. this should be a no-brainer. too often we are critical or complaining or just silent, withholding encouragement, often without even realizing it. God’s people should be at the ready and over the top in this area, ready with words that affirm and build up and do not tear down, words that reinforce that which is good, words that bless and give life, words that express appreciation or sympathy. in this sense, we are not just the hands and feet of Jesus but also the mouth. WE are the ones He most likely intends to use to encourage and comfort His people. in our roles as parents, spouses, children, bosses, employees, leaders, followers, teachers, students, customers - words are powerful things. use them carefully. use them generously. encourage the ones closest to you. encourage those who work hard for you. encourage people in what they like to do. encourage, help, comfort - this is a powerful way to minister to others, and there should be no if’s about it.
-paramuthion can also be comfort. we see it given particularly to people who are grieving or fainthearted (John 11.19, 1Thessalonians 5.14). in this case, the comfort is delivered on the wings of love, agapé love which has its source in God as well. this giving, selfless love which reaches out to those who are hurting comes only from God and is seen (or should be seen) in the lives of those who are walking with Christ. it is certainly able to provide whatever consolation is needed for those who are hurting or struggling in any way.
-koinonia, that sharing and common-unity which is produced by God’s Spirit as His people gather together, is both rich and intoxicating (Psalm 55.14, Psalm 133.1-3). but it requires that God’s people actually spend time together, pray and study God’s Word and worship together, do life and ministry together. the root idea is that something is dirty because it has been shared. it means that God’s people get dirty together, sharing the dirt of life and of their souls with one another, carrying each other’s unbearable burdens (cf Acts 2.42-47), etc. it is not just having a meal together every once and a while, altho those times can be very enjoyable. it takes more than just a semi-regular Bible discussion. it is an ongoing journey of joint perseverance and giving and caring and celebration.
-splagchnon and oiktirmon are both feeling words, the former specifically refering to the bowels or inward parts, and the latter describing the feeling one has (or should have) on seeing the misery of another. these words together signify feelings of affection and caring and compassion for others, for their needs and struggles, and in this case particularly for others in the body of Christ.
-taken together these words form a powerful description of caring and loving relationships within the body of Christ. they clearly have God as their source, so when ongoing fellowship with the Lord is lacking, of course these qualities will also be lacking. but paul knows that these things are readily available to the believers in philippi, and he has something in mind for how they are to be used, as we will see. the question for me is, do i see these qualities in my life and am i using them with fellow believers? am i aware of how others in the body of Christ are doing and feeling? do i even take the time to stop and ask them how they are really doing and listen to their answer? do i validate their feelings and really want to do something that will comfort them? do i even care or am i too busy or too caught up in what is going on with me? and then do i even get the dirt of their souls on mine? am i willing to get dirty with folks who are different from me or with whom i don't get along? do i actively pursue and engage with my fellow Christ-followers in ways that help them get up and keep going, or do i initiate with them only because i am supposed to or when i need something from them?
i have a long, long way to go... but God's is good and His grace is sufficient!
"...having the same agony, such as you saw in me and now are hearing in me."
-paul knew something of suffering, this second gift of grace. he was no stranger to it. in fact, it would appear from paul’s new testament letters that suffering and paul were constant companions.
-the word paul uses to describe his experience is actually agon, which gives us the english word, agony. it describes laboring and struggling and striving, especially in the face of some significant obstacle or opposition (luke 22.44, 1corinthians 9.25, colossians 1.29, colossians 2.1, colossians 4.12, 1thessalonians 2.2, 1timothy 4.10, 1timothy 6.12, hebrews 12.1). it is a race. it is a wrestling match. it is a fight, and in many ways the battle ground is internal. there is a wrestling match in our hearts and wills as we are faced with the prospect of following hard after the One Whose own path led to the Cross (luke 9.23), Who Himself was betrayed and abandoned by His friends and rejected and beaten and killed by those who opposed Him. there is an internal battle to be waged and won in order to hold onto joy not only in the face of opposition but also in the midst of a broken and dying world.
-paul mentions that the philippians had seen paul experiencing agony, or conflict. we read about this in acts 16.19-24, where paul and silas while in philippi were beaten and thrown in prison without a trial. but we see their Gospel-worthy conduct in acts 16.25-32. in the midst of extreme adversity and suffering, paul and silas stood firmly together and chose the path of gratitude and trust. they were filled with joy as a result. not only were they focused on the Lord, but they were also able to focus on others, on their felt needs as well as on their need for the Good News.
-and as paul was now again in chains for the sake and cause of Christ, these believers in philippi had heard about and had responded to help and encourage paul, as we will read in chapter 4.
-but the greater point in this verse is that these philippian believers were having the same agon that paul was having. no doubt it was one thing for them to see someone else having agon, but it was another thing altogether to actually have the barrel of opposition turned on them. now they were having the opportunity to live into hardship in ways that showed off the breathtaking goodness of God. they were being given the chance to choose the path of joy and faithfulness and obedience no matter what they were going through, and even if it meant giving up their lives. theirs was the chance to boldly live for Christ in unity and exalt Him in their bodies, to pour out all they had in laboring fruitfully in His cause, to struggle mightily together for the progress of the Good News in their own lives and among the nations.
-this same opportunity is handed down to us today. each and every day is a new gift, a chance to live for Christ, to live a life that is actually worthy of such a sacrifice, such a cause. ours is the same admonition which tom hanks delivered to private ryan: dont waste this. don’t squander the gracious opportunities that God gives you to hold onto and show off glimpses of His breathtaking goodness to a broken world. don’t get bogged down in grumbling and complaining and navel-gazing and pining for greener pastures. give the world the chance to see that you are convinced that God is really good, that the Gospel really is Good News, that there is hope and joy and caring community even in the midst of hardship and brokenness. Don’t. Waste. This.
"Because to you it was granted on behalf of Christ, not only to be trusting unto Him, but rather also to be suffering on behalf of Him."
paul mentions two grace gifts, two ways that God has shown His mercy and undeserved favor to those who follow Jesus. the first is that He gave them faith in the first place. faith is a gift. it is not something we earn. it is not something at which we arrive completely on our own. Scripture makes it quite clear that trusting in the Lord it is not something which someone can do without the kind enabling of God’s grace (cf acts 5.31, acts 11.18, romans 2.4, 2timothy 2.25, ephesians 2.5, ephesians 2.8). but this first grace gift is one that most are glad to receive. the second, however, is rather more dubious. paul says that suffering is a gift. it is a favor of sorts, a gracious gift from the Lord which He gives to those who receive that first gift of faith (matthew 5.10-11). the word is pascho. it is the word which Jesus and the NT writers used repeatedly to describe what He experienced on and leading up to the cross (matthew 16.21, luke 24.46, acts 3.18, hebrews 2.18, 1peter 2.23). He was the paschal (Passover) Lamb of God, the One God sent to be sacrificed to pay for the sins of the entire world (genesis 22.8, exodus 12.21-22, isaiah 53.7, john 1.29, 1peter 1.19). and for those who follow Jesus, suffering is normative (2timothy 3.12). Jesus Himself promised it (john 15.20). it is not only a litmus test of sorts (cf romans 8.17 - true faith which is God-given will outlast any oppostition), but it is the part of the heritage of the people God chooses. history is replete with an innumerable list of souls who have suffered for/as a result of their faith in the God of abraham, isaac, and jacob. some are household names. many are known only to the One Who rejoices to be called their God (hebrews 11.32-38). it is actually said that more people were killed in the 20th century because they were following Christ than in the previous 19 centuries combined, and the trend continues. read about it at www.persecution.com. suffering for the Name of Jesus, for the sake of Jesus, is guaranteed for those who follow Him, but so is ultimate victory (luke 21.12-19, romans 8.35-37). sadly, many of God’s people in the west know very little of this second gift of grace. while a post-modern, humanistic, pluralistic, relativistic, narcissistic ethos increasingly prevades the cultural landscape, the church is mostly prosperous, mildly accepted (and/or dismissed), and very comfortable. would it be fair to even suggest that at some level if the world is not pushing back, then God’s people are perhaps not pushing hard enough?
and there is yet another way in which suffering can be seen by believers as a gracious gift from God. remember that we were designed and are destined for paradise. we are bent and driven towards comfort and ease. we want trees full of low-hanging fruit, all our ducks in a row, and everything to go according to plan. we want to live in the promised land. we long for life that is free from pain and trial and hardship. what that really is, however, is a dangerous place to be in this life. it is in fact a life which is devoid of opportunities to really trust the Lord for His power and provision. the normal challenges and extra-ordinary challenges of life are in fact God-given gifts of grace that provide us with new opportunities to be on our knees and kept at a place where we are essentially forced to trust wholly in the Lord and lean on Him for wisdom and strength and provision. a life which is devoid of these challenges, a life devoid of suffering and need would be paradise, to be sure, but in this life it would allow us too much room to cease depending on the Lord for daily bread. “give us this day our daily bread” is more than just a mantra - it reflects a life and a heart which is remaining at an appropriately high level of trust and abiding and dependence. so watch out! (deuteronomy 6.4-13) is my life hard today? am i facing an extraordinary challenge of some kind? this is in fact a gracious gift from the Lord in the form of an opportunity to trust Him and lean more fully into Him for wisdom and power and provision. and it is why we are able to not only rejoice always and thank God IN every circumstance (1thessalonians 5.16-18) but also thank Him FOR every circumstance (cf philippians 4.6-7). this level of gratitude recognizes these grace-gifts and also demonstrates our trust in the Lord - in His sovereignty and power, in His goodness, that He knows what He’s doing and is faithfully working out the good plan He has for our lives (cf psalm 139.13-16). oh, for the grace to live more fully into this truth every day. i have a long, long way to go.
"...and not being spooked in no way by the [ones] opposing, which is to them proof of destruction, but of your salvation, and this from God."
-so, those who follow Jesus and are living out an obsession with Him by standing together and striving together for the faith of the Good News about Him should also not be at all afraid when they encounter opposition to this faith, to the spread of this faith, much less resistance to the very existence of the Empire of Heaven itself. there is in fact an ancient enemy waging a long war against God - millenia ago he rebelled and was kicked out of heaven down to earth (isaiah 14.12, luke 10.18), whence he has endeavored to establish a dominion of darkness and direct it in a losing battle against the kingdom of light and against the God Who made him (cf daniel 10.8-13, 10.18-21, john 12.31, colossians 1.13, ephesians 6.12). we are told that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy (john 10.10). he has blinded the eyes of billions who he is holding captive to do what he wants (ephesians 2.2, acts 26.18, 2timothy 2.26). he is a clever deceiver and a pathological liar who is bent on tempting people into joining in his rebellion against God (john 8.44, 2john 7, revelation 12.9, cf genesis 3.1-5, matthew 4.1). he raises up arguments and opposition against the knowledge of God (2corinthians 10.5) and tries to accuse believers and discourage them from devotion to the Lord (cf job 1.6-12, zechariah 3.1, luke 22.31, 1timothy 3.6-7, revelation 12.10). he wants to scare them into timidity and devour them (1peter 5.8). there will even be a short time when he will be given temporary authority to wage war against God’s people (revelation 12.12, revelation 13.5-7). thus there is the incomparable significance of the Good News which Jesus and those who follow Him bring to the world (luke 4.18, luke 5.10, matthew 4.18), and also the need for God’s people to stand together and resist the temptation to give in to fear and run away (ecclesiastes 4.12, ephesians 6.11, 6.13, james 4.7, 1peter 5.9). truly, greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world (job 1.11-12, 2corinthians 10.4, 1john 4.4, 2timothy 1.7, romans 8.31), because those who trust in Jesus are in fact overcomers. they are destined for victory! (romans 12.21, 1john 2.14, 5.4-5, revelation 2.7, 2.11, 3.5, 12.11)
-the word paul uses for spooked is pturo, and is only found here in the NT. it describes the terror experienced by a startled horse.
(observations from a lifelong horse lover:
-you never really know what will/might spook a horse (i.e. they spook easily)
-their reaction when spooked might be to run, jump, or even plant their feet. they might then turn to face the object with eyes bulging and nostrils flaring
-TRUST IN THE RIDER HELPS REDUCE SPOOKING!!! (“when i first got annie she would not EVER walk over water. after a while she went anywhere i asked her to”)
-desensitizing/exposing to many different stimuli helps reduce spooking
a spooked horse will run, or will perhaps fight and rear and kick if it cannot run, but to be sure, it is a flight animal. they instinctively sense danger and avoid it. when spooked a horse is unmanageable, and even dangerous to be around - it is definitely unable to serve its master while in that spooked state. similarly, the instinctive response of believers who encounter opposition while sharing their faith and even just while following Jesus can be to run away, and in that state they of course will not be useful to the Master. no doubt the opposition faced by those who followed Christ in philippi could have been deadly, as it would still be in many places around the world today. it would of course be natural for someone to try and avoid a situation which could cost them their life. even in contemporary western society, where opposition is not likely to be deadly, the temptation is to shrink back from declaring the truth of the Gospel and from standing for Jesus. paul says don’t do it. don’t shrink back. don’t be spooked by those who oppose your attempts to follow Jesus or to tell others about Him. don’t run away from opportunities to help others learn about Jesus. AND trust your Rider! if Jesus is your Rider, give Him the reins - give Him free rein. He really is in control, He knows what He is doing, He will supply whatever strength is needed to get through it all, and He is working it all for good.
-now, paul gives another reason why God’s people should not be spooked. he says that the reality of opposition is proof positive (from God Himself) of two things - it is proof that those who are being opposed in following Jesus have definitely been saved, and it is proof that those who are doing the opposing are definitely heading for destruction. in other words, for those who are living out an obsession with Jesus and spreading the Message of the Empire-Kingdom of Heaven, when they encounter opposition, they can rest assured that they are on the right team - the winning team, and the ones who are standing in opposition to believers - persecuting them, hindering the spread of the Message, etc - they are most assuredly on the wrong team, the one which will ultimately lose.
"Only worthily be living as citizens of the Good News of Christ, in order that whether having come and having seen you or being away I may be hearing the [things] about you, that you all are standing firm in one spirit, in one soul competing together the faith of the Good News..."
-paul here gives his first imperative. having just shared his big, overarching purpose and goal in life, this command flows naturally out of that, out of this logical obsession with Jesus and full out commitment to help bring the Good News about Him to bear on the lives of others.
-several word pictures here. the first is politueo, which is the verb form of polités, which is a person who is a citizen of a polis, or city. politeuo then relates to the life that is lived by a citizen of a certain city. citizenship in paul’s day was a big deal, esp. to be a citizen of rome. it carried with it significant rights and privileges and protections. it was something to be proud of. it was something to aspire to. it was something to inform and color how you would live and behave and carry yourself. it was more than likely your lead foot, your primary identity. despite being located in macedonia, philippi happened to be a roman colony, and the people who lived there took pride in the fact that they were full-fledged citizens of rome, the great city which gave its name to the empire over which it ruled. being a citizen of rome was not just an identity to be lived out by individuals in isolation. roman colonies were to be reproductions of the parent commonwealth (albeit on a smaller scale). with this in mind, paul has in mind that these believers are citizens of an even better city, with even better rights and privileges and also with an even higher standard of behavior. he is exhorting this Christian assembly on how to conduct itself collectively as a colony of the Gospel empire, the one ruled from Heaven by the Lord Himself.
-he is talking about living a life that is worthy of such citizens. one which is representative, good enough - living and behaving in a way which measures up to the expectations and standards of such a place. and following on the heels of his declaration of purpose in life, he says that this worthy citizen-living is the main thing, the only thing he has in mind for them to pursue. so what does this look like actually?
-the first thing that characterizes the worthy conduct of citizens of the commonwealth of Heaven is this concept of standing firm. the verb is stéko, which has the idea of something which has stood or has been made to stand in one place and is continuing to do so. it comes from the same root as stérizo, which is another verb which has the idea of standing so firm and enduringly as to be established and fixed. the position has been confirmed. for these philippian believers (and all others for that matter), worthy conduct involves stick-to-it-iveness, a steadfastness and firmness of belief and commitment to and engagement with the Gospel, with Jesus.
-not only sticking to the Gospel, but sticking to each other. this place where believers are standing in one place is a place where there are others who believe, and those who follow Christ are in it together, a togetherness in which there is one spirit. there should be an amazing, enduring unity. the same Spirit which gives us life and which animates our physical being also gives us new birth, gives us spiritual life and power and the fruit of transformed lives. this One same Spirit indwells every Christ-follower and in fact is constantly at work forging bonds of love and peace and joy between those who are polités of the heavenly city (cf ephesians 4.3). worthy conduct for citizens involves allowing that oneness of the life of the Gospel to manifest in such a way that we are being just as firm and fixed in our relationships with fellow Christ-followers as we are with Christ Himself. we are a stake in the ground, and we are not moving. it is samwise gamgee saying to frodo:
Sam: I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to.
Frodo: Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone.
Sam: Of course you are. And I'm coming with you.
we are sticking to each other through thick and thin, through whatever life and a broken world and our opponents might throw at us. we are there for each other, we help carry one another’s unbearable burdens, and we encourage each other through life’s ups and downs. we go through the dirt of life together. we share our junk and we share our stuff - we are generous. there are (or should be) no glaring unmet needs in an assembly of citizens of the Empire of Heaven (cf acts 2.44-45, acts 4.32-35). we give grace to each other, we are patient and kind and forgiving to each other. we believe the best about each other and we bear with one another’s gaps and failings - other believers are NOT the problem, and they are not our enemies! they are our brothers and sisters, children of the King who He loves a lot. we don’t get to pick and choose in our Heavenly family any more than we get to pick and choose in our earthly family. none of us is perfect, but we are family. we work it out, and stick together.
-the last word picture is that of competing together in one soul for the faith of the Gospel. the word is synathleo, where the root verb is athleo, which means to compete for a prize as an athlete (which is also where we get our english word, athlete). the prefix syn means with or together. in other words, we are talking about a team. not just a club that only hangs out and does life together, but a purposeful, missional community that is also competing together for the progress and spread of the Good News in the lives of people and communities and throughout the world, competing together to spread the knowledge of the breathtakingly good God and share His blessings in every nation. and we are talking about a team - there is one soul. not just tacit intellectual agreement about certain facts. there is shared passion and volitional commitment and momentum around the advancing cause of Christ, and every citizen-member has a role to play on the team. there are no spectators, no bench warmers. if you are in Christ, if you are following Jesus, you are a citizen-member of the team of Heaven, and there is a local team that desperately needs you, and you need them, and you just need to get over it, whatever it is that is keeping you on the sidelines. let go of your fear, let go of your insecurity, let go of your hurt, and find a way to join a team and get in the game. the stakes are too high, eternity is too permanent, God is too breathtakingly good to be riding the pine. Gospel-worthy conduct means competing on a Gospel team as an excellent teammate - it’s the one thing paul is telling us to do.
-paul doesn’t mention it here, although it perhaps shouldn’t go without saying, that this Gospel-worthy conduct, this citizen-of-heaven life that competes together as part of a team for the faith of the Good News is produced in those who follow Christ as they trust in and depend on Him (matthew 4.19). Jesus can and will reproduce the representative life of His heavenly empire in the lives of those who are faithfully following Him - we just need to let Him. i have a long, long way to go.
"In order that your boasting in me may be abounding in Christ Jesus through the coming of me again to you."
-whether paul knew that he was going to actually see these believers in philippi again may be a matter of speculation. whether or not he was eventually released and was able to visit them is uncertain. but what we do know from this verse is that paul knew he not only needed to remain on earth for the sake of people but that it meant being with them - face-to-face, IN THEIR PRESENCE. letters were fine, but actually being physically present with someone was even better at some level for some reason.
-one might speculate how the advent of the electronic age and advances in technology may have changed that reality to some extent. today it has become possible to communicate immediately and directly with people without having to be in their physical presence thanks to telephone and live video, not to mention the ease of just shooting someone an email or a text. however in recognizing this we must consider not only the importance of being able to physically touch someone but what non-verbal message is conveyed when we take the time and make the effort to go and see people, whether it is across the room or down the hall or down the street or across campus or across town or across the world. it tells them that they are important to you, that you value them, that they matter really there is no substitute for actually going to see someone - shake their hand, hug their bod, see and smell each other’s warts and zits and bad breath and stuff. paul knew that actually coming to be physically present with these philippian believers is what would be an overflowing source of joy and help to them in their faith. there is something powerfully visceral about living, breathing, caring flesh and blood encroaching directly into my world, complete with forms of touch as well as words of life.
-paul mentions that the philippians would be boasting in him even more in Christ Jesus when he came to see them. we shouldn’t take that in a spirit other than what paul intended. these folks had a close and caring relationship, and the philippians knew that this very influential person in the early church CARED ABOUT THEM enough to not only found their assembly in the first place but to keep coming back to invest in their lives. we’re not talking about paul having an unrealistic place in their hearts - he was a hero and a role model to them, someone they looked up to and whose example they could follow, nothing more, nothing less. pick any spiritual hero of your own - how would you feel if they made a special point of coming to visit you? exactly.
'And having become persuaded of this, I am having known that I will remain and I will remain beside you all unto your progress and joy of the faith.'
-progress and joy of the faith. this is the outcome for which paul was willing to delay his return to Jesus. progress is prokopé, which means to cut before or forward, hence to forge ahead or advance or make headway. it’s not always a good thing (2timothy 3.13). Jesus did it as He was growing up (luke 2.52). it goes hand in hand with the advance of the Gospel which paul just talked about (philippians 1.12) - we can talk about the forward progress of the Good News among the nations and unreached peoples and we can talk as paul does here about it’s forward progress in the hearts and lives of individuals as they grow in their devotion to Christ, as people become increasingly obsessed with knowing Christ and making Him known, as they progress in loving the Lord with all their heart and in their willingness to do anything and go anywhere and say anything for the sake of Jesus. so paul is fully committed to helping these believers in philippi become more obsessed with Jesus and more absorbed in His cause.
-joy is chara. it simply means joy or gladness. this word along with its verb form (chairo, to rejoice) appears more often in this letter than in any other letter of the NT (18 times in just 4 chapters). fully half these occurrences are paul talking about his own joy, so clearly this state does not depend on our circumstances, since paul as we know was in chains under house arrest. and as we have seen, this is because joy for paul did not depend on where he was or what he had - it depended on Who he had. it totally depended on Jesus. it was grounded in how paul was doing at following and enjoying the Ultimate Source of true joy and in this forward progress of the Good News in the world.
-joy can be contagious. it can be (and is meant to be) shared (1corinthians 12.26, philippians 2.18). as a fruit of the Spirit (galatians 5.22) it shows God at work in our life and is naturally produced as we follow Christ and depend on Him. it is therefore a sign of spiritual maturity as frustrated plans and the brokenness of life increasingly lose their ability to rob me of my joy.
-watch out for joy stealers, things that get our focus off of Jesus, off of God’s breathtaking goodness and greatness and faithfulness. joy in one sense then becomes a choice - paul chose to rejoice in spite of his circumstances (philippians 1.18), and he repeatedly exhorts all those who follow Christ to do the same (philippians 4.4, romans 12.15, 2corinthians 13.11, 1thessalonians 5.16). Christ is both the object and the source of joy. He is the heavenly pearl with Whom we become obsessed, but real joy does come from God (romans 15.32, acts 13.52, john 15.11). He gives His people the ability to receive it or reject it (cf 1peter 4.13, james 1.2). in fact, Jesus said quite plainly that no one (and no thing?) would be able to take our joy away. the only one who can ultimately take away my joy is me.
-it comes down to the question of, is God really good and is He really in control? does He really know what He is doing, does He have my back, is He really working all things together for good, am i going to be a victim of the first mistake He ever made? the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and no. so in any and every situation, i can choose to focus on the negative and choose the path of worry and discouragement and let them steal away the joy that Jesus offers, or i can choose to focus on the Lord Who is in and above and behind all circumstances and Who is always fully present in power and goodness and faithfulness to work out His wonderful plan for my life and for the ones i love, which then sets me up to be filled with real and enduring joy. it is so easy to lose sight of this.
-but here is the kicker: for paul it was not just about his own joy - it was about the joy of others. paul not only knew the secret to joyful living, but he was totally committed to helping others experience that as well. as he says here, one of his main reasons for living was simply so that others could have joy. i have a long, long way to go.
