Full of joy NOW!

NOW!

A So. Cal. transplant to the North West, I am enthralled with this big, wide, green, wet, wonderful world where fishing is my husbands all encompassing hobby. All other activities pale in comparison. Salmon are the big catch. Only minutes away is the Bonneville Dam which has ladders for the salmon to climb (not that I have seen a salmon actually do this thing). God put an instinct in these beauties to return to the place of their origin.

God has placed that exact instinct or desire in the hearts of man:

Romans 5:5 to know the "LOVE of GOD which has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

We too have a ladder to climb in this earth bound life we live. It’s described here in Romans 5 showing a process that all of us experience no matter your age, status or background. It’s called LIFE! How we deal with life’s ladders, or hurdles, or bumps or TRIALS determines how much joy we will have through the hard knocks. You see, God has poured out HIS love in our hearts but so often we don’t really ‘feel’ loved because we are ‘feeling’ hurt by life. Do you want to be ‘full of joy NOW?’ Do you want peace in THIS life? What does God’s process in Romans 5 lay out for us?

Romans 5:1-5 Amplified

1 THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (^[a]acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to ^[b]enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

2 Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.

3 Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

4 And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of ^[c]character (approved faith and ^[d]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] ^[e]joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

5 Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

Simply stated:

Vs. 1: Accept through faith that in Jesus you have been given a right standing with God.

Vs. 2: Through Him we have entrance into the state of God’s favor.

Vs. 3: Be full of joy NOW! (boast, rejoice, joyfulness) & triumph in our troubles & sufferings. Now, here’s that ladder of life that I talked about:

KNOWING

· Pressure & affliction & hardship (tribulation) produce patient & unswerving endurance (perseverance)

· Endurance develops maturity of character (approved faith & tried integrity)

· Character produces [the habit of] joyful & confident hope

When you are assured of ETERNAL SALVATION what on earth can compare?

WE CAN HOPE

· HOPE never disappoints or deludes or shames us

· Because GOD’S LOVE has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was GIVEN to us

One more time:

Tribulation = perseverance

Perseverance = character

Character = hope

Hope in GOD

Why is this my life verse at this phase in the adventure? Because life hasn’t turned out the way I planned it. So, what am I supposed to do about the feelings that come with that? Pout? Be angry? Make every one around me pay for the outcome? Oh man, I think that’s just how I do react and that’s why God’s word, which is alive and sharp enough to judge the thoughts and attitudes of my heart, is helping me welcome the difficulties, disappointments, disillusionments, distractions, destinations. They are teaching me to persevere. They are developing a character (I’ve always been told I was quite a character) that is Christ like, not Connie Jo like. Because character is producing the HABBIT of joyful & confident hope in God I can ‘be full of joy… NOW!’

So, how do you see it?