Noble, Not Wasted

Matthew 26:9-11

Noble, Not Wasteful

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Matt. 26:9 (Holman) "This might have been sold for a great deal and

given to the poor."

 

We can't know for sure what motivated the disciples to say this. Were they truly worried about the poor? Did they fear they would individually be financial losers due to money being taken from the group's treasury?

One thing is sure; one of them was a thief. Always beware the Judas ever lurking in our heart. He was the group treasurer, and would steal from their moneybag (John 12:6).

Their complaint is interesting to try to analyze because Jesus Himself was poor. Therefore, the gift actually was being given to the poor.

Their outburst indicted the lady of wrongdoing. By claiming she was robbing from the poor, they in essence were saying she was sinning.

The Twelve remind us; critics are not always better than the ones they criticize. The one speaking to us certainly has a logistical advantage over the one being spoken about, but be slow to judge the absent party. "The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him" (Proverbs 18:17).

 

Matt. 26:10-11  But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you

bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for Me. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me."

 

Jesus and the lady could feel the anger of the Twelve. He and she were not deaf. They had heard the Twelve's self-righteous storm of protest. He knew they were implicating Him as an accomplice to this outrage. "Why did He let this happen?"

They should have looked at Jesus' face before deciding if the lady's gift was good or not. One glance at Him would have told them the most important person in the room was looking at the lady with glad approval.

Their contentious outburst was built on two fallacious premises. One, they missed the interlocking connection between giving to Jesus and giving to the poor.

They wrongly felt they could not do both, but the truth is; the poor never lose due to generosity to Jesus. No one loves the poor less due to loving Jesus more. Anyone whose heart is open to Jesus will care for the poor. People who give to Jesus tend to give more to the poor than those who don't give to Jesus.

Jesus is by far the best thing that ever happened to the poor. Giving to Jesus and to His Kingdom-work drives the piston that made it culturally acceptable in the first place to help the poor. Jesus lifted their station by teaching others the poor have dignity and value in His eyes.

When Jesus commanded us to love God and others, He was not giving two mutually exclusive requirements. We are to honor God, and help others, with equal fervor at the same time. Doing one does not nullify our chance to do the other.

We gladly do both simultaneously. In giving to Jesus, our hearts are expanded to give more to the poor. In helping the poor we know we are lovingly serving Jesus.

In our text, Jesus reminded us we would always have ample opportunity to do both. He referenced Deuteronomy 15:11, "There will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, 'You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.'"

Poverty's ongoing existence does not excuse ignoring the poor. It rather ever gives us a chance to act like Jesus, to show self-denial and love.

The Twelve's second fallacious premise was; they wrongly estimated the purpose and value of possessions. They said, "Waste!" Jesus said, "Noble." What they deemed useless, Jesus deemed useful.

By rebuking them, Jesus reminded us; not everything we do in loving Him has to be practical. We tend to dissect details and fret through all kinds of options ad nausea. We are sometimes too cranial. Live occasionally from the heart. There is no loss in spontaneously honoring God and helping the poor.

What we see as imprudent giving, God may view as abundant love. A gift is most consequential when it includes sacrifice, which in the context of this story means when it can be said to include an element of waste. The sacrifice inserted in the gift increases its value, making it more appreciated.

In the final analysis, we must come face to face with the stark choice; which is more wasted; what we spend on Jesus or on us? Before the Great Depression a wealthy Texas businessman paid to build several buildings on Baptist college campuses. He later lost his wealth in the stock market crash.

One day he was walking with a friend past a building that bore his name. The friend remarked, "I guess you wish you had the money back you gave to build this building." The now-poor businessman immediately replied, "Oh no! What I gave away is all I still have. What I kept, I lost."

I fear we USA Christians, having long lived in a soft low-risk atmosphere, too often have amnesia when it comes to remembering our "wasteful" legacy. Our best forbears include a seemingly infinite number who so sacrificed to carry out the Great Commission that most of us would look at their lives and say, "Why this waste?"

In 1935 John and Betty Stam, in their twenties, laid down their lives as missionaries in China. Why this waste? Their martyrdom sent scores to the mission field.

I will never forget reading the biography of Bill Wallace. I already knew he died a martyr's death in China after the Communist takeover, but I was totally unprepared for the book. As I read it, I grew very fond of this gentle, brilliant medical doctor who fell totally in love with the Chinese.

As the Communists began brutalizing him in prison, and beat him into unconsciousness, I was appalled. Nearing the end of the book, knowing the moment of death was near, I fell off the couch at the parsonage of First Baptist St. John. Lying on the floor I read the account of his death. Why this waste? Was it a waste? My life was totally rededicated to God due to it.

In 1956 the world was mesmerized by a Life Magazine front page feature on Auca Indians in Ecuador killing five missionaries: Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint, and Roger Youderian. The world collectively grieved with their widows and children. I'm sure some thought, "Why this waste?" But their death sent hundreds of missionaries to the field.

In the early years of Africa missions, missionary graves outnumbered converts. Most Western believers were baffled at the staggering number of missionary deaths in Africa—"Why this waste?"—but some understood. In those hard days, Spurgeon foretold, "By heroic sacrifice the foundation of the African church should be laid." Livingstone also believed the rigors of his day were a prelude to a huge harvest of souls in Africa. Both were right. If they could see Africa now! "Why this waste?" Africa began the twentieth century with four million believers, and ended it with four hundred million.

Many missionaries have launched out for the cross, only to find a shore to die on. Disease has wiped out thousands, cruelty has killed hundreds. The record of "Go" is written in blood. Many have died that missions might live. We may wonder why God allows it, but submit to Him. This we know—"Why this waste?"—God lets no consecrated life be wasted.

Spurgeon once grieved especially over a young man he had nurtured for three years, preparing him for the mission field. The "beloved Hartley" left, landed, and died. Out of his sadness Spurgeon drew this conclusion, "Surely the Lord means to make further use of him; if He did not make him a preacher to the natives, He must intend that he should preach to us."

Of every fallen missionary, it can be said, "They being dead yet speak." Dying without regret in the cause, they challenge us to follow.

They went forth, looking forward to unbelievers; they went down, looking backward to believers. Their deaths are heroic fingers pointing onward. They fell, assuming others were coming behind them.

         Can we pray to the point of being considered wasteful by some? Can we give and go till some might think we are wasting our time and resources?

 

Why this Waste?

Matthew 26:7b-8

Why This Waste?

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Matt. 26:7b (Holman)  She poured it on His head as He was reclining at

the table.

 

This lady found what we seek; she drew near to God's heart. What lessons can we learn from her to help us in our quest to know Jesus better?

One, she was bold, unashamed of Jesus. The religious establishment turned on Him, but she didn't. We never have any valid reasons whatsoever to be ashamed of Jesus. His people may disappoint us, but He never will.

We cannot draw close to anyone we are ashamed of, or embarrassed to be identified with. Ask the Holy Spirit to give us supernatural courage toward Jesus in a culture slipping ever farther away from His influence.

Two, she was focused on Jesus, not herself. She could tell He was preoccupied. She was perceptive enough to sense a foreboding in Him. Others were distracted with everyone else, but she focused on Him. Sensing the weight on His shoulders, she wanted to encourage her sad, weary friend.

Jesus needed to know someone understood and cared. She looked into His soul and saw in His eyes a shadow being cast by a cross.

Our prayers are too often solely about us. When did we last express concern to Jesus about His pain over the suffering caused by a world run amok, and by multitudes entering a Christless eternity? We are not the only ones sorry about our sins; He is too. Ask Him to help us make Him less sad.

Three, she was generous. This socially awkward moment reminds us nothing is too precious to be poured out for Him who poured out His blood for us. We know this, but too often falter at the attempt to live up to it.

The event in our text is incredibly memorable because deeds like it are rare. This should not be the case. I wonder why we don't do this more often.

By pouring out her expensive perfume, this lady gave Jesus her best. She poured out her everything, nothing held back. True worship is generous.

 

Matt. 26:8   When the disciples saw it, they were indignant, "Why this

 waste?" They asked.

 

This was not a great moment for the Twelve. Love's actions always seem absurd to selfishness. Had we been in this room I fear we might have shared the disciples' incredulity. The disciples had forgotten, as we too often do, sometimes love has to do something wild to adequately express itself.

Affection sometimes needs to be so strong that it entirely forgets self, disregards what others think, and lavishes itself on the beloved. Occasionally we all need to give or do something that causes cooler hearts to ask, "Why this waste?" Our God deserves unexplainable expressions of love.

This lady showed the potential we have for showing love to Jesus. It is possible to do for Jesus a loving act so selfless that only He can appreciate it. We can give to the point that not even John the Beloved could understand.

When did you or I last give Jesus a gift so generous that it prompted someone to gasp out loud, "Why this waste?" We cannot do this all the time. The emphasis is spontaneous generosity. When did love last overwhelm us?

By failing here we find one cause of our spiritual listlessness. By not letting there be any moments when we lavish on God we develop a habit of ho-hum devotion. When a young preacher, as I was entering the auditorium one evening, our church treasurer told me our people had given more money in the previous month than we had ever given in any month in the fifty-year history of the church. Thrilled, I shared this with the people. We all rejoiced.

I then on a whim asked who had made a conscious choice to sacrifice anything to help us achieve this remarkable victory. Only one person raised a hand. Young and immature, I blurted out, "Then why don't we give that much every month?" It was a bad question; I regret I did it, but the event has stayed with me, reminding me we often let our giving become perfunctory. Somewhere in life it becomes routine, rather than an outflowing of love.

By not letting white-hot lava flow sometimes, the heart stays cold always. Is mediocrity acceptable in our giving to God? Is moderation a plus when showing love? Some highly value dull, thinking a yawn is better than a wild gift.

It's been a long time since Ruth and I gave a "wasteful" offering to God. When we were young, we gave everything we had to buy all the buses for our bus ministry in Gosnell one at a time. People would reimburse us after each purchase; Ruth and I would go buy another bus. At what age do our hearts begin to cool? When does giving become duty rather than delight?

Don't try to stop our children if they want to give a lot; they will become like us soon enough. Leave them alone; let them give recklessly. Let them create their own high standards to strive to reach again later in life.

When did we last do or give more than was expected of us? Shall we be content with giving God what we deem His due, and nothing more? Extravagant love ought to break out in all of us from time to time.

Abundant generosity has long marked the best among us. When Jacob was told his son Joseph was still alive, the old patriarch did not believe it, until he saw extravagant gifts loaded on the wagons sent to retrieve him.

In the wilderness, the Israelites gave so much for construction of the tabernacle that Moses had to make them stop giving. In Paul's day, the poor Macedonians, whose land was repeatedly ravaged by wars between Greece and Persia, gave beyond their ability to give. When the Prodigal Son came home, the father was lavish, so lavish the elder brother could not understand.

In each of these cases we could ask, "Why this waste?" But before we ask it about these examples or about the woman in our text, ask it about God.

We certainly don't learn miserliness from God. He never gave to us with hesitation or a cold heart. As we scan the works of creation, we readily see ours is a God of power and wisdom. We also see more. God is lavish.

God pours His love on us. He does not merely calculate His benefits or weigh His favors on scales. God is not only practical in His creation. He built extravagances into it. He gives each flower far more than barely enough seeds to reproduce its beautiful self. The sun shines far more light than our planet needs. Rain falls on rocks as well as soil. Incredibly beautiful sunset scenes are everyday unseen by human eyes. "Why this waste?"

Sometimes we need to respond to God's love with extravagant waste. When did any of us last lavish one act or gift of love on Him who is love?

Love for God is not ruling us if the minimum is all we want to eke out for Him. For instance, if we can talk ourselves out of tithing, our hearts are going the wrong direction. Love seeks no loopholes to crawl through, but floodgates to give through. Selfish love is a contradiction, an oxymoron. As a furnace melts ice, even so love melts selfishness.

When we capture the truth "God is love", we no longer ask of our giving, "Why this waste?" But always wonder "Is there any way I can give more?" When was the last time any of us labored over a checkbook or checked our savings accounts and wondered, "Is there more we can give?"

Dr. Larry Reesor, founder of Global Focus, tells of an African village where everyone became a believer. As they studied Scripture, they decided to send out a missionary. In three successive attempts, they tried to sell enough of their possessions to fund a missionary. Once they ran out of items to sell, and still fell short of their goal, they sat down as a group and wept.

Jesus taught us; the first command is to love God, and true love never coldly calculates, or thinks how little it can give. Love gives to the uttermost limit, and after giving all, is disappointed it cannot give more.

 

Peace That Passes Understanding

Philippians 4:6-7

Peace That Passes Understanding

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

We have begun our New Year (2016) by looking at the first two fruits of the Spirit: love and joy. This message will look at the third fruit: peace.

 

Phil. 4:6-7 (Holman) "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through

prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known

to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will

guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

 

Many of us grew up knowing and memorizing the King James Version rendering, "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Of all words ever coined, few are more soothing than peace. Conjuring up images of contentment, peace is pictured by the satisfaction of a baby nestling in its mother's arms.

The word "peace" occurs in 26 of 27 New Testament books (not I John), yet we too little experience it. Neither common nor ordinary, peace is rare.

History, written in ink blood red, records much of war, little of peace. The most written about period in USA history is the Civil War, which cost 700,000 lives. Even when a war ends, what follows can rarely be called peace. "Cease-fire" is usually more accurate. Too often the guns are silenced so we can stockpile bigger and better weapons to fight with. The years between World War I and World War II proved to be merely a temporary quietus in one huge war. Nations honed materials and methods while raising a new generation to do the fighting.

Into this discouraging melee of a world, Christians are sent as peacemakers.  Our Lord said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Christians should strive to foster peace in at least four areas. One, in personal relationships.  In all our dealings with others, peace must be a priority. 

The Bible word for peace is based on the Hebrew greeting "Shalom," which is a prayer asking God to secure another person's well being.  Peace involves trying to help other people enjoy life's best benefits.

Peace is not cease-fire, armed neutrality, freedom from trouble, tall fences between houses, or "you go your way, I'll go mine."  Peace entails desire and effort to work actively toward achieving the highest good for others.

Some Christians enjoy conflict. They delight in watching others squabble or fight.  Our Lord condones none of this. Neither should we. In every situation dealing with relationships, Christians must be healing agents. At work, at home, in social life, believers should help people have peace with us and with one another.

Two, Christians should pursue peace with God. In seeking peace with others, we will never have our best success until we are at peace with God. Always seeking the highest and best good for others takes a miracle. We are by nature so selfish that a Power above us must wield repeated control over us for us to always be promoting peace. Human peace with others must flow from God's peace in us.

Peace between nations is rare because God's peace is rare in the hearts of individuals. World War II started for us not at Pearl Harbor, but in Hitler's heart.

Until God's peace reigns in our hearts, strife and trouble will disturb our relationships with others. "What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you?" (James 4:1).

In Paul's commonly used salutation, "grace and peace", grace always precedes peace. We must have God's grace before we can have His peace.

In whatever way the word peace is used in Scripture, God is always implied in the background. Jesus is "our peace" (Ephesians 2:13-17), for He has reconciled us to God and to each other. Believers, be careful to keep our spiritual peace strong. Stay close to Jesus. Christ's peace is inseparable from His sensed presence.

Peace is an atmosphere surrounding and accompanying Jesus. Sin diminishes it. Learn to hate evil. Peace of heart is too valuable to be without.

Three, Christians should promote peace in their local church. God wants His children to live in harmony. Peace between believers is especially important because the world is watching us like a hawk.

We have to work extremely hard at maintaining peace in a local church because the unity we seek has to be preserved in a context of diversity. A local church is a hodgepodge, consisting of different types and classes of people, having various tastes, attitudes, and mind-sets. Differences are a church's earmark, for Christianity extends its invitation to all kinds of people.

Few organizations give a blanket welcome and say, "All come". Civic groups usually target adults only, making no provision for preschoolers. Most secular groups usually deal only with people of common interests, desires, or ages.

But churches say, "All come". Newborns are provided for, preschoolers taught, children trained, and teens wanted. College students matter, single adults aren't neglected, married adults are welcome, and senior adults are cared for. Rich and poor, employer and employee, immigrant and citizen, Cardinals fan or Royals fan, Democrat and Republican, male and female, Jew and Gentile, "All come".

The Holy Spirit takes people who are vastly different and mixes them into one organization. He then works a miracle. He enables them to live together in peace.  This oneness amidst profound diversity brings huge honor to God and attracts the world's attention. When we don't get along, this dishonors God and unfortunately also attracts the world's attention.

We have to be vigilant in the face of many attempts from inside and outside a local church to take away its God-given, God-intended peace. Ever endeavor to keep peace because many factors ever endanger it. Envy, jealousy, and anger still lurk in our old natures and surface when we neglect our prayer closets.

Pride ever stalks our heart corridors; Diotrephes still "loves to have first place" (3 John 9). Cowardice abides; Demas yet deserts us (2 TM 4:10). Meanness haunts us; Alexander the coppersmith still does us much harm (2 TM 4:14).

Error remains; Hymenaeus and Alexander still blaspheme (I Timothy 1:20). We sometimes have to deal with people who mistakenly treat their own opinions with the reverence due only to absolute truth found in Scripture. 

Be careful when dealing with troubles in the fellowship. Hold a rein on our passions. Keep our emotions under control. Think and pray before speaking.

Do not fight the Lord's battles with Satan's weapons. Do not hold the Bible in our hands while having the look and sound of Satan on our faces and lips.

If others wish to quarrel with us, do not quarrel in return. If others revile us, do not respond in kind. Our calling is not to win debates. We are to win people, not arguments. In everything we do, stress the importance of peace in a local church.

Four, believers should bring peace between unbelievers and God. Jesus told His followers, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). In this, the fourth of five times Jesus gave the Great Commission, peace was conferred on His followers as a trust to be transmitted to others.

God the Father delegated a worldwide peace responsibility to His Son, who in turn conveyed to us the same task. The peace of this whole lost world has been placed by the Father on Jesus, and by Jesus on us. We continue His work.

Jesus substituted His body for our bodies at Calvary. Now our bodies need to be substituted for His. In Galilee He spoke peace through His vocal cords. Now He speaks peace through ours. He walked on His feet to spread peace, now He uses our feet to run His tasks of peace. The only hands He has to do His work are ours.

We believers are not to be selfish with the peace God has given us to enjoy.  We are to take His peace house to house (Luke 10:5). The King of kings sends us as ambassadors throughout the earth to plead for peace, to urge people to end their hostility against God. In a world opposed to Jesus, we are to go forth to erect outposts of His kingdom, embassies of refuge, lighthouses of peace. We must tell sinners; because of what Jesus has done, the war is over. They are welcome to come home to their Heavenly Father in peace.

 

Joy Unspeakable

1 Peter 1:8-9

Joy Unspeakable

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

         For the first Sunday of this New Year (2016), we looked at the first fruit of the Spirit: love. For this Sunday, we take time to examine the second fruit: Joy.

 

1 Peter 1:8-9 (Holman) You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And

though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with

inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal

of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

For many, this is the favorite Bible verse about joy. The King James Version translates the key phrase as "ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

The Hebrew root word for joy means to shine, to be bright. A believer's duty is not only to love God and others, but also to shine. Woebegone Christians hurt Jesus' cause. Even when gloom completely surrounds a believer's life, unbelievers should be able to see in the midst of the murkiness a glow emanating from us.

Joy, along with love, is to be an omnipresent virtue in our lives. The Bible tells us to rejoice in persecution (Matthew 5:11-12), when dishonored (Acts 5:41), in afflictions and poverty (II Corinthians 7:4; 8:2), in material loss (Hebrews 10:34), in fiery trials (I Peter 1:6-7), in suffering (I Peter 4:13). To put it more succinctly, Paul commanded us to "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4).

Believers are to view even circumstances that normally make people sad as occasions to show joy. Thus it is no surprise when we say "Rejoice in the Lord always" is one of Scripture's most difficult commands to obey. Our success in obeying can be helped if we know precisely what joy is, and where it comes from.

Our loving Master showed us the way. For our own mental health, He wants us to have the same joy He had. Jesus said, "I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete" (John 15:11). Studying Christ's joy helps us better understand the true joy He lovingly wants us to have.

One, our joy must be God Himself. Jesus' joy was built on close communion with the Father. Jesus always sensed His Father's nearness, and knew the Father loved Him. We too must not waver one second from believing in the Father's love for us. "Your strength comes from rejoicing in the Lord" (Nehemiah 8:10).

We share Jesus' joy if our fellowship with God is deep and uninterrupted. True joy entails constant delight in God (Matthew Henry). David said, "I will come to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy" (Psalm 43:4). In any situation, believers can rise to the level of rejoicing if we will seek our pleasure in God.

Other delights grow stale if long used. Unbelief holds no lasting fulfillment. The thrills of pleasure grow bland. Cash's happy jingle fades. Jay Gould, a millionaire, said when dying, "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."

Fortunately, our joy in God can go on forever without turning stale. "In Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures" (Psalm 16:11b).

Two, our joy must be independent of all circumstances. Jesus knew from the first He was headed to the cross, yet His joy was not spoiled by the knowledge.

He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and yet had joy. However difficult the road, His trust was unshakable, His resolve always stayed firm.

Life is difficult for believers. Troubles aplenty attack us. If we hitch our happy-wagon to circumstances, we will ride a lurching emotional roller coaster.

Early believers, seeing past difficult life events, found a dependable source of joy. "You sympathized with the prisoners and accepted with joy the confiscation of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves have a better and enduring possession" (Heb. 10:34). Losing material goods, a hard circumstance at best, did not shake these early believers' joy. They knew they had better riches elsewhere.

Circumstances do not have to spoil our rejoicing. When God is our joy, troubles cannot up-end us, and nothing life hurls at us can jerk our joy from us. 

When joyful in God, we can rejoice even in our grief. Paul was "grieving yet always rejoicing" (II Corinthians 6:10). Anyone with this outlook is unshakable.

In the 16th century a martyr, before being burned, wrote these words. "Who will believe that in a dark hole I have found cheerfulness, in a place of bitterness and death I have found rest, where others weep I have found laughter, where others fear I have found strength, in a state of misery I have had great pleasure, in a lonely corner I have had great company? All these things Jesus, my Savior, has granted me. He is with me; He comforts me; He fills me with joy" (Bib. Ill. XVIII, p. 404).

Joy is an inner assurance all is well with God, whatever happens. Beware the world's counterfeits for joy. Do not confuse true joy and earthly pleasure. 

God's joy is not giddiness. The world gives surface pleasures, but beneath them is an aching unrest. Laughter is often merely a diversion to remove attention from inner sorrow.

Joy is a deep-seated confidence God controls all areas of life. Joy believes He works all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).

All can be chaos on the surface, but we can still have joy within. Hurricanes drastically affect the surface of an ocean, but a submarine finds the water a hundred feet down as calm as a brook. Even so, joy lives in the midst of the storm, but refuses to let the storm live in the midst of it.

Joy is independent of happenings. J. Sidlow Baxter said, "Happiness depends on what happens to us. If our happenings happen to happen happily, we have happiness. If our happenings happen to happen unhappily, we have unhappiness. Joy is not influenced by what happens to us. It does not fluctuate like undulating waves, but remains steadfast."

Three, our joy thrives in unselfishness. Jesus found joy in giving Himself sacrificially for others. Joy can never be selfish. It springs solely from knowing we are servants of a God who wants us to love and serve Him and others.

The acrostic is true. "To have J-O-Y, put Jesus first, others second, yourself last." Our society urges us to reverse this, to watch out for self first, to impress others next and be socially acceptable, to think of Jesus last. Treating Jesus and others as mere afterthoughts is a prescription yielding little joy.

Four, our joy resides in holiness. Holiness matters most. Jesus was sinless. David was thrilled with God, but lost this joy when he sinned. With a broken heart, he pleaded with God, "Restore the joy of Your salvation to me" (Psalm 51:12).

At times it looks as if holy living brings hardship, while sin brings ease. But a day always comes when these roles are reversed. Sin's flippant happiness vanishes, and holiness' apparent difficulty turns to joy.

The world's roses are covered with thorns. The wine of transgression soon sours into the vinegar of remorse. The sparks of sinful fun kindle flames of misery.

Our joy can be full only if we choose to dwell at the center of God's will. Another acrostic, shared by Van Segars, is helpful. "To have J-O-Y, pretend the O is a zero, let nothing come between Jesus and you."

Five, our joy is to be complete. Jesus is kind to us. He wants us to be totally filled with His joy. Hear again what He said, "I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete" (John 15:11).

If we shake a bottle half full of water, liquid rushes from end to end in a violent swirl. At the slightest motion, turmoil agitates the liquid because the bottle is only half full. If we fill the bottle and then shake it, all is quiet within. Turn it upside down again and again. All stays still. Calm reigns because the bottle is full.

Similarly, if we are full of Christ's joy, our minds are steadfast, unshakable.  If we often find us easily disturbed, it warns us our filling with joy is incomplete.

Being filled with His joy is not an inalienable right automatically given to us, but a trait we must seek. Jesus said He had "spoken these things" in order that our joy would be complete. There is a vital connection between His message and His joy. As we saturate ourselves with Him, His message, His sensed presence, His Word, the Bible, we find ourselves being more saturated with His joy.