Joy...Do You Have It?

Whether you believe in God or not…or unless you have lived totally secluded from human contact, you have probably heard of the Ten Commandments. Many people know, understand and try to implement the following of the Ten Commandments into their daily life…they live trying to keep the letter of the laws to make themselves “good enough’ to earn their way in to God’s perfect heaven.

But, as Christians, we know this is an impossible task …no one makes it to heaven on their own merit. We are not and can never be good enough to qualify for admission. So our gracious God provided a way through the shed blood of His Son and our admission of guilt; thus, by placing our faith in Jesus and His redemptive power, we are declared righteous and invited to spend eternity with God and His Host of heavenly beings.

But while we are still sojourners here, Christ gave us two commandments that I believe now supersede or at least encompass the former ten and place on each of us a higher calling of service and obedience.

The first is found in some of the last words shared with His disciples on that fateful night of the Passover Supper in John 13:34-35. “A new command(ment) I give you: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples because you love one another.”

I consider this the eleventh commandment and surely one that Christ himself lived out in giving himself for our redemption. It is the greatest commandment that we love God with all our heart, mind, body and strength…and as Christ taught; our neighbor as ourselves. So in love we are to love on three accounts….Love God, love others and love ourselves.

I fear that all too often, we in the Kingdom community get these out of balance and our lives begin to flounder in ineffectiveness and chaos…we fail to find JOY in living because we have our love quotient unbalanced…..Jesus-1st ….Others-2nd ….Yourself-3rd.

J O Y…..do you have it? Are you living as God intended and Christ commanded? Are you known by the love shown in your life…or are you loving yourself first, God on Sunday and others whenever it will prove to be beneficial to you and your personal agenda?

If so, then that might explain the lack of JOY in your life and the absence of peace that passes all understanding. Living outside the will of God and breaking His commandment to love so that you might be known as a disciple of Christ has many ramifications ….but one in particular….and that’s the other commandment that Christ gave his disciples before He returned to His Father.

Come back tomorrow and get the rest of this story….

Loving as He loved…Obeying the Master,

WPQ

Thought for the Day:

If I’m living for the Lord
The proof is easy to see;
I’ll be loving others
And not just loving me.

I’ll seek to obey His command,
To make it all about His love;
Then Jesus will smile down on me
From His heavenly home above.