15^th November 2012

A common perception-and deception is that the closer you get to God the further you are cut off from pleasures and joys. And if you are enjoying yourself God is like drumming his fingers and rolling his eyes at the angels waiting for you to get back to the serious joyless stuff of obedience!
Wait a minute!-joy is in the constitution of the kingdom of God. If Satan cant rip off Gods power and majesty he will certainly try to deface and slander the One who dwells in the unapproachable light of the beauty of holiness. The Biblical fact is our Creator delights making his humans happy. Israel was at peace ,they ate ,they drank and they were happy . The cosmos is set up to thrill the sons of God. The Covenants take it further. For David, bringing the ark ,the holy Covenant containing the great law of God for Israel back to Jerusalem was one of the most ecstatically happy moments of his life. David knew the joy that flows from obedience and the symbol of that energised him with joy-he skipped and laughed his way into the city as the priests brought the tabernacle home .
It is right to be joyous before God. Keep your joy! Nourish it by thanksgiving. A mouth-wash of thanksgiving on awaking every morning is arguably the best tonic and health -food you could ever get. God smiles on your happiness. Remember Eric Liddell's comment to his sister when she tried to persuade him to give up athletics and keep himself for missionary work-"but when I run I feel God's smile upon me"
Childlike faith is the joy that finds you humming away. Watch your pre-schooler grandies. When they are absorbed in the happinesses of the day they are often singing and murmuring with all sorts of indistinguishable sounds. Elementary speaking in tongues, I wonder? Become like children to enter the Kingdom, urged Jesus. Catch those frowns and mouth downturns and use them as re-learning opportunities to realise afresh that our all powerful Judge of the living and the dead can look at us and say "how beautiful you are my darling" in the whisper of the blood-paying Redeemer. Be happy! -is the living Word from our true home where the forerunner Son has anchored our souls and our forever parent watches and enjoys! If Our Lord urges us to "rejoice"! it must be right to do so-and there must be good grounds to do so! Go with him against emotions and circumstances to the contrary if necessary.
This is the climax of Pauls teaching in Romans Believing and receiving this gift of reconciliation- this eternal, embracing largesse of friendship with our creator and redeemer-lover must give way to a rejoicing of song. We are DNA'd to overflow with joy. The lying tragedy is that many in these ‘days of Noah' despising the law of Christ are blinded by the spirit of the age from walking as repentant-forgiven in righteousness. Conscience precedes emotion in the journey of joy .
The whole of heaven and its millions of angels sing for joy as the great One breaks the fixed seals and opens up the possibility of God's avenging judgements . Let the Holy Spirit atune our hearts to solid joys and lasting pleasures. The real joy to the world!

Ian Clarkson