This weeks promise. God promises to fill you with joy!
John 17:13 "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.
Remember how I suggested on Sunday that I think He is letting us partake in a small measure of the joy He feels because we have come home to Him? This verse is what makes me think that. Jesus was praying when He said this...talking to our Father. We are His joy! In return, as well as saving us, He gives us a measure of this joy! Isn't that wonderful? It's hard to imagine someone loving us that much. It's amazing, and I often find myself wondering how he could possibly love me at all, much less with a love and joy so deep that I can barely understand it. The Lord then showed me another verse which shows again how much He loves us and again shows that He is filled with joy over our salvation and desires to share that joy with us:
Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you in His love, He will rejoice over you with singing!
Can you imagine a God who loves you so much that He rejoices over you with singing? That's what our God does! The next time you're feeling alone or unwanted, remember this verse which shows how very precious you are to the Lord of all creation!
I wanted to share some other verses with you that also show that our Joy in Christ comes from Him and is a result of our salvation and our blessed hope. Our blessed hope is when our salvation will be complete, because at that point we will have our new bodies and be with Him forever. The following verses show that the completion of our salvation brings joy to our Lord and that He also can’t wait for that day!
Psalm 132:16 I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints will ever sing for joy.
Isaiah 35:10 and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 55:12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Just as the Lord gives us salvation here and now but will complete it at the rapture when we are given our new bodies, so He also gives us His joy now and will complete that too when He comes for us. What a marvelous and wonderful God we have that cares for us so very much!
