John 3:16 Revisited

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He (even) gave up His only begotten (unique) Son...”

Imagine this!  Think about who is actually voicing these words?  It is Jesus, talking to Nicodemus about God’s love and God’s plan for the world.  Jesus is the one to whom He is referring...that His Father gave Him up.  And for whom – the world!  That’s us, in our sin, violence, idolatry and rebellion against the Father of Heaven, The Almighty.

I wonder at the willingness and peace with which Jesus Christ said this.   Fully aware and fully supportive of the plan, God’s plan to save us!  He was in on the discussion and there are no feelings of rejection here.  Just amazing grace, and total surrender to the will of the Father.  Jesus knew from whence He had come.  Back up a few verses and Jesus speaks of His deity.

Joh 3:13  And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is One Who has come down from heaven--the Son of Man [Himself], Who is (dwells, has His home) in heaven.

And the reason for all of this....

Joh 3:15  In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!

Christ knew His purpose in the plan, to be the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:8) He knew that He was the only begotten Son of the Father to be given up for us.  Ponder the love both had for us, both willing to give up their best – The Father His Son, and the Son His Life.  Both of them in total agreement, both of them proactive in dealing with men’s sinful condition.  Jesus trusting the Father, coming in human flesh to dwell among His created, knew what His suffering and pain would bring.  He was separated from His Father when He bore the sin of the world upon Himself at the cross of humiliation yet great victory.  The Father trusted the Son to accomplish the plan to the very “t” – not strive from it but strive toward it – not to run from the cross of suffering but to run toward it and embrace it.

Humankind desperately needed a Saviour as the prophets’ lamented about our condition.

Isa 59:12  For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord], and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know and recognize them [as]:

Isa 59:13  Rebelling against and denying the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and muttering and moaning from the heart words of falsehood.

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

In our despair and suffering of our own making, God and demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)

I encourage you, mediate upon this Love.  Mediate upon the cross of Christ and may the revelation of God’s full Love be yours forever.

Battle over souls

Jesus came to earth to fight one battle.  The battle for men's souls!  He came to establish a heavenly kingdom in men's hearts.  The Jews were looking for a Messiah to establish an earthly Kingdom and freedom from Roman oppression, but the main battle, even in Jewish history, was a battle for the hearts of God's people; people who would fear the Lord and worship Him alone. 

Throughout their history, the Jewish nation, who was called out to be God's people, swayed back and forth between worship of God and worship of Baal. Even in the wilderness, satan told Jesus to bow down and worship him, stupidly offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He would.  An earthly Kingdom with riches and success was nothing compared to the Heavenly Kingdom that would touch and change hearts and reconcile sinners with a Holy Father.  Listen to the Father's lament over His people:-

Is 63:8-9 He said, "They are my very own people.  Surely they will not be false again."  And He became their Saviour.  In all their suffering, he also suffered, and he personally rescued them.  In His love and mercy He redeemed them.  He lifted them up and carried them through all the years."

Roman oppression was nothing compared to the oppression in satan's kingdom.  Hate, lies, envy, unforgiveness, self-centred living and bitterness of soul are hard task masters robbing those caught in the trap with a loss of joy and peace and hurting others in the wake.

Throughout Jewish history, men with a heart after God, had a showdown with the powers of darkness and encouraged the nation to turn back to God.  The most significant confrontation is the story of Elijah on top of Mount Carmel.

1Ki 18:21  And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.

We know the story well.  God showed Himself strong burning up the bull sacrifice on the altar well and truly sodden whereas the prophets of Baal had worn themselves out calling upon their "god" to show up.  Elijah even mocked them to call out louder in case Baal had gone on holiday, was deaf or relieving himself.  What a picture of those caught in satan's kingdom.  Weary, heavy laden and lacking the peace of those who trust in God when storms come out of left field.  A picture of those who have to drive themselves hard for wealth and success, always wanting more and trying to prove themselves to others all because they can't find their contentment in Christ. 

Through the cross, Christ paid for and won the hearts of people.  With the power of the Holy Spirit now in us, we have died to sin and are alive to Christ.

Rom 6:11  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Eph 2:1  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.

Eph 2:5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

What good news.  And even better news, Jesus is coming back and will establish a glorious earthly Kingdom too where people will willingly give their allegiance to Him.

Rev 21:4  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

If we are the body..

If we are the body, why aren't his arms reaching

Why aren't his hands healing

Why aren't his words teaching

If we are the body, why aren't his feet going

Why is His love not showing them there is a way? (Casting Crowns)

Why, I really want to know why?  Why don't we see the people of God manifest His works and glory all over our land? Is it because we see ourselves as "grasshoppers" in the realm of the spirit, looking at the giant of circumstance in the light of unbelief?  The Promised Land is there for the taking, but we're too scared to step over into the realm of the enemy territory and capture what Christ paid for us to have.  To scared to leave the comfort zone where we, in our false status quo, don't want to rock the enemy's boat in case we become his target and so settle for less than God's best.  Is it that we "perish for lack of knowledge",  (Hos 4:6) don't know what God has promised, or worse don't know him well enough for the spiritual confidence and trust in Him to be deeply rooted in our hearts.

Hos 4:1  HEAR THE word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy (a pleading contention) with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness, love, pity and mercy, or knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

 
Is it because we think that the spiritual heavyweights are only those who are in upfront ministry and forget that the Word is clear that we are all messengers of reconciliation?

2Co 5:18  But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favour, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him].

 
Not only that, but Jesus commissioned all of us, that is all who believe in Him, to go into the world drive out demons, speak in new languages and heal the sick. (Mark 16:17-18)
 
Can we be like David, the shepherd boy and a worshipper, who shared the wilderness, not only with his sheep and harp but with the presence of His God, defeating the bear and the lion by leaning on God's faithfulness and power?  He knew God in the secret place, that private place of intimate fellowship, and was bold to take God with Him out into the public arena, declaring fearlessly, to Saul, "The Lord Who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. (1Sa 17:37)  And when the rubber met the road, David proclaimed to the Goliath the giant, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, Whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will smite you and cut off your head. (1Sa 17:45-46)  To David, God was not an impersonal God somewhere off in the bye and bye, but a very relevant, powerful God who touched Him and worked powerfully through him to deliver Israel from the enemy.

What stops us from having and moving in the spirit?

Unbelief is probably our biggest enemy.  Our unbelief does not negate God's awesome power, but it does negate that power available to us, working through us.  Our limited mind with its reasoning and analysing, limits the unlimited power in its flow.  God is willing to heal.  His character and nature is one of perfect order and although we are in a fallen world, His will is laid out clearly in Jesus last command, "they will lay hands on the sick and they WILL get well." (Mar 16:18b).  Do we really believe this or do we question, "who are the "they", surely that does not mean me?  It is for those who are anointed with a healing ministry.  Not according to the Word, Jesus obvious commission is for "he who believes and is baptised". 

I always say, if we really truly believed this, we would all be visiting those sick in hospital and praying for them.  But perhaps we don't have the compassion for the sick and hate illness as much as Jesus seem to dislike it, for we see "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him." Act 10:38 
 
A powerful statement is made by God in the wilderness to Moses' unbelief when he debated God on how He was going to feed the people with meat.

The Lord said to Moses, Has the Lord's hand (His ability and power) become short (thwarted and inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word shall come to pass for you or not.  (Num 11:23)

 
Is it our grumbling and complaining that stops the flow of the spirit in us?

Num 11:1  AND THE people grumbled and deplored their hardships, which was evil in the ears of the Lord, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.

I find it interesting the last few telling words at the end of this sentence.  "Outlying parts"!  Is it that those who grumble and complain are the ones who on the edges of the fellowship.  They are the ones who separate themselves, not sharing the fellowship and union of the saints and becoming involved in service to God and to one another.  They are the ones with the right to be "fed", "watered", "pampered" and to have their "needs" met.  They don't consider service nor do they consider that maybe they should be the first to say "hello", be warm and friendly and solicit relationship.  If they were encouraging others to be the best they can be in the Lord, they wouldn't have the time to complain and grumble about the pastor or the congregation.  If they tried out serving the Lord in some capacity to help church be a place where others are welcomed and comfortable, they would experience the joy of serving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Eph 4:16  For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love.

Maybe we just don't get who we are in Christ? 

·         Alive to God (Rom :1)

·         Free from the law of sin and death (Rom 8:2)

·         Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:39)

·         One body in Christ, individually members of each other (Rom 12:5)

·         Approved and accepted in Christ  (Rom 16:10)

·         Sanctified in Christ 1 Cor 1:2

·         Triumphant in Christ (1 Cor 2:14)

·         A new creation (1 Cor 5:17)(Gal 6:15)

·         liberty in Christ  (Gal 2:4) (Gal 5:1)

·         Justified by faith in Christ (Gal 2:16)

·         Blessings of Abraham for whose who have received the spirit of promise (Gal 3:14)

·         Sons of God (Gal 3:26)

·         Blessed with spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3) (Eph 2:6)

·         Created for good works (Eph 2:10)

·         Forgiven (Eph 4:32)

·         Righteous (Php 3:9)

That is quite a list of the blessings of grace for the new creations we became when we believed in Him.  This is why it is imperative that we do know who we are, the power of the blood to defeat the enemy and God's Word.  No wonder Paul prayed for the church in a relevant way, for us to know Him.

Eph 1:17  that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, Eph 1:18  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, Eph 1:19  and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power Eph 1:20  which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.

I dearly would love to see the sick healed, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I would love to see people raised out of wheelchairs and the dead raised.  Jesus is doing this around the world.  We hear testimonies of it all the time, so why not in our neck of the woods?  Oh that I would be a humble vessel that God could use.  That my faith would rise to every occasion and that I would boldly proclaim the greatness of Him who delivered me out of the darkness and into the Kingdom of His Son. (Col 1:13) 

"..His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.."2Pe 1:3

May we, the church, hunger and thirst for Him!  May we know Him, really know Him.  May we desire with all our hearts, to see His glory shine into our dark world, and release those who are taken captive by the enemy.  May we not be worried about being on the front lines of the spiritual battle, suffer the losses if need be, to see our nation walk in freedom of the cross.  May we walk under the banner of His love reaching out to see people delivered and healed and may His Kingdom come and His will be done in our hearts and lives.  Amen, so be it Lord.

Jesus Understands

And He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sad (overwhelmed with grief) so that it almost kills Me! Remain here and keep awake and be watching.  (Mk 14:34) (AMP) 

Please don't ever say Jesus doesn't understand the pain you are going through.  Here amongst the olive trees, in a place where olives were pressed and crushed, Jesus was going through His own crushing.  For the last three years He had laid down His life in service to the twelve and the many others who called out, and now He was about to lay down His life on the cross for the salvation of many. 

For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. (Mk 14:21) (NLT) 

This dark night of Gethsemane, when He most needed the support and prayers of Peter, James and John, He grappled alone with the Father's pending judgement to fall on Him because of our sins.  Imagine how He felt that night.   So intense was His struggle that He sweat drops of blood.

At the last meal Jesus had with His disciples, He warned them of His coming trial and death and the betrayal of one whom He had taught and loved to the end.  Not only the betrayal of a friend, with whom He had shared his bread, but all the disciples would run that night and flee as fast as they could away from the situation.

And Jesus said to them, You will all fall away this night [that is, you will be caused to stumble and will begin to distrust and desert Me], for it stands written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Mar 14:27  [Zech. 13:7.]

Peter, James and John who had witnessed His glory on the mountain and His struggle in the garden, could not watch and pray one hour with Him in His deepest need.  Even though Jesus knew of the events unfolding as fulfilment of scripture written well before His time, even from the foundation of the world, there was no comfort found in the agony of the moment.

Jesus knows what it feels like to be abandoned by His closest friends and yet even as they forsook Him and stumbled in their faith, His promise was to go ahead of them after He rose from the dead and meet them in Galilee.

The writer of Hebrews is quick to allay our inadequacies, hurts and fears with this little gem:-

For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathise and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Heb 4:15 

Isn't that so comforting, that the Creator of the Universe, understands.  He has shared our plight, by putting on flesh, coming and dwelling among us.  He knows what it is like to be tired, hungry, cold, alone, abandoned, hurt, lied about, envied, distrusted, condemned, misunderstood, put on trial and sentenced to death.  He has loved His own, taught, healed, raised the dead and yet been despised for it all.  He has felt the sharp bite of the whip upon His back in order that we could have continued healing.  He heard the condemning and accusatory words, was spat upon and mocked. He felt the weight of the cross as He dragged it to His pending death.  He heard the sharp reverberation of metal upon metal as the iron pegs nailed him to that tree.  Shamed before all, He tasted death, paid for our sins and rose in power and glory. 

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]. Heb 4:16 

Follow Me

"But Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, following –"  John 21:20

I love the word picture we see in this incident.  Jesus has just commissioned Peter, "Follow me", yet Peter looks back, looks at John and asks, "what about this man?"  What Peter's motivation is, we can only hazard a guess, but Jesus replies, "If I want him to stay until I come, what is that to you? [What concern is it of your?] You follow me!" (Jn 21:20-22)

We can learn quite a few lessons from this incident.  Firstly, Christianity is about relationship, not ritual, but a living relationship with the Risen Christ.  We can so hold up the "badge" of denomination as though this is salvation in itself, but this only produces pride in our hearts.  This reminds me of the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in the synagogue. (Lk 18:10-14) The Pharisee, proud of all the religious activities which I'm sure he kept to the 't', whilst the tax collector, recognising his deep need of forgiveness humbly beat his breast in humility of heart.  I hate to burst your bubble, but Jesus wasn't an Evangelical, a Catholic or even a Pentecostal.  He was not a denomination.  He is the Saviour who came and showed a radical way to live by relationship not ritual.  Personal relationship!  That is, intimacy with Him, one-on-one, face-to-face fellowship not ritualistic going-through-the-motion, once a week duty.  Hence in that one-on-one relationship of love between Himself and Peter, He commissions and equips.  Jesus is clear, each must have their own relationship with Him.  "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."  1Jn 5:12 

This leads us to the second lesson.  We are not to look at others.  We are not to compare.  We alone, each one, are to look at Jesus – period.  We look to Him, we love Him, we obey Him and we follow Him.  Are you following Him?  Are you following Jesus – no one else, just Jesus!  We don't follow any man, any priest, teacher, evangelist, man or woman.  No we follow Jesus.  We do what He did, love God and love others.  We learn from Him, He is the Light (Jn 812), He is the burden-bearer, He said, "Take my yoke and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls". (Matt 11:29)  This is not to say that we cannot be encouraged by others of faith but we are to listen, each one of us, to the personal charge of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He speaks to us through the Word of God.  And we give grace to others who are also on this journey of getting to know Christ intimately as their Saviour and LORD.

The third lesson I get from this is that God has a plan for each one of us. (Jer 29:11)  Peter who became a leader of the church in Jerusalem along with James (Jesus brother) had a big impact on the Jewish nation to whom they were called.  Equally John's revelation of "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14) has made and will continue to make impact upon humankind.  John's gospel oozes with the revelation of love and relationship.  He presents Jesus in intimate ways, such as the Vine and we the branches, connected yet pruned for greater fruitfulness, receiving health and vitality from the Vine. (Jn 15:1-6) Close, joined, abiding - the only way for the life to flow from Vine into branch.

Lastly we learn about God's amazing grace toward those who are repentant and His restorative desire to reconcile relationship.  Peter had mucked up, and mucked up bad. He had declared his allegiance to Jesus before all the disciples – "I'll die for you, even if the others leave you and stumble, I won't." (Matt 26:31-35) We know the story, when the crunch time came, the crunch of Peter's retreating footsteps became a distant, quiet sound in the dark night.  Peter denied His Lord, not once but thrice before he fled into the night.  We don't see him standing at the cross.   We see the fulfilment of Jesus words,  "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I WILL STRIKE THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK WILL BE SCATTERED.'"  Imagine how Peter felt, the remorse, the bitter weeping, the shock that what he declared he would do - stand by his Lord - he couldn't do.  He let down Jesus who had loved him thoroughly for 3 years, sowing into His life and building him up.  Now the Risen Christ stands before Him and asks Him to "follow me".  There is no recrimination but reappointment.  Grace is extended, mercy received and Peter became one of the "Fishers of Men". (Mat 4:19)  Peter's journey had led him back to the shores of Galilee where Jesus first called him and where he had put down his nets to follow.  The reappointment came on the shores of Galilee where once again they were fishing.  And the commission was clear, the fishing is behind you, service in the Kingdom is in front of you.  "Follow Me."

Jesus is still calling today.  He calls to you, "Follow Me."  What will your response be?

God-given purpose

What is my God-given purpose? Is it not to worship, and to bring glory to God? These are the priorities of my walk with God and living in this priority, His work will be established through us.

When Moses was sent to Pharaoh he was to announce to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, "Let My people go, so they can worship Me in the wilderness." (Exo 7:16). Worship was God's priority for them. And Jesus declared in John 3:4 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."

Worship is most important in our walk with God. I keep mediating on this scripture, that Father is seeking those who will worship Him. I don't know about you, but I want the Father to seek after me. That He is looking for my company and wants to spend time with me, is an astonishing truth. It makes my heart sing and yearn to spend the time with Him too.
 
This God-given purpose, to worship, is what I need to keep before me continually. Jesus prioritised His life by spending time with Father.......and then "went about doing good." (Acts 10:38)

I believe in the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us but do we tend to worry too much about our gifts? I don't seen anywhere in scripture Jesus expounding His gifts or worrying about what they are. He just lived in the presence of the Father and in this intimacy of worship and mutual love, the works and words of the Father were manifested through Him. The more we fellowship with someone, the more we know their heart and desires.

"So Jesus explained, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does." Joh 5:19

In looking for my gifts, and I still don't recognise them, I have found that I sometimes struggle with envy of another's gift. It comes from a pure (or maybe not so pure) motive to serve God and a desire to move in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I certainly have had to repent and I have to constantly ask myself, are my motives pure? Is there this smidgen of pride in me that maybe seeks my own glory? Oh let it not be Holy Father, but that, even like Jesus, I would seek to do your will and give all glory to You, recognising that in doing so and living this priority will bring certain opposition.

In the early history of the church, the apostles moved in such power, the work of the Holy Spirit evidently witnessed by all. This resulted in persecution because of the jealousy of the religious leaders of the time. (Acts 13:45; 17:5) Envy and jealously of those moving in the spirit is a real thing. Look at the example of Simon the Sorcerer. He had the crowds, in awe of the magical signs at his hand, yet when he received his salvation, he became an ordinary, on the same level as others who witnessed the outpouring of Holy Spirit signs. Seeing the power of the Holy Spirit being imparted at the apostle's hands, he offered money to move in the same gift. (Act 8:24) Thankfully after a rebuke from Simon Peter, he repented. God's power cannot be brought. It comes to those who by faith and grace, boldly move in obedience to the pulse of the Holy Spirit, when His compassion compels us and His love declares through us the wondrous truth of salvation.

We need to know the Father to know what His will is and to know the work He wants to do. We find our God-given purpose out in gazing upon His face and connecting with His heart. It's in worship and prayer that the sweet whisper of the Holy Spirit compels us to do, to give, to encourage, to love and to show grace to others. When we live in worship, our intimacy with Him is strengthened in His presence. When we know and walk in the presence of God, we will know the power of God.

"but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." (Dan 11:32)

Fullness of Joy

Need more joy in your life?  The answer is to live in His presence.  The Psalmist emphatically stated, "In His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right Hand pleasures forevermore". (Ps 16:11)  David, the Psalmist certainly knew the joy of the Lord, dancing with all his might before the Ark of the Covenant (the symbol of God's Presence and Power), and in his extravagant worship of the Lord was disdained by his very own wife for his open display of ecstatic joy in God's presence.

As the song goes, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."  It is when we look into His face that the things of the earth, the worrying, crippling or niggling things are washed away in the Presence of His Holiness.  Our joy is found in His All-Sufficiency, The El Shaddai. 

The first mention of this name of God is found in Genesis when God commands Abraham, "I am El Shaddai.  Walk before me and be perfect." (Gen 17:1), an impossible command unless, like the baby who nurses at its mother's breast for its nourishment and survival, we come to the El Shaddai to receive from His Hand the power to change whilst we trust in the All Mighty one, who is able to conquer and destroy all the destructive strongholds that seek to suck the joy out of our lives.  When we know God as the Omnipotent One, all our struggles and negative circumstances can be left at the foot of His Throne while He appropriates the grace and help we need to overcome.

Yesterday has gone.  Tomorrow may or may not come.  People have died of the most bizarre circumstances.  The only moment we have is the now.  Should we waste this moment choosing anything less than being joyful, even in the challenging circumstances of living life?  The Apostle Paul is still a great example of having joy in the midst of taxing conditions.

The crowd [also] joined in the attack upon them, and the rulers tore the clothes off of them and commanded that they be beaten with rods. And when they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. He, having received [so strict a] charge, put them into the inner prison (the dungeon) and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them, Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were unfastened.   Act16:22-24

Paul and Silas's praises transported them out of the severe discomfort, filthiness and smell of the rotting goal into the presence of His Majesty.  As their praises rose into the heavenly realms, it captured El Roi (the One who sees) heart and "Inhabiting the praises" of these two disciples, an earthquake of His presence burst open the doors of the prison and prisoners and guards alike (who were listening to this worship) were swept into the fullness of joy and salvation as the bondages that sought to keep them in despair fell off.  In the midst of circumstances, we too can chose to praise the One from who deliverance comes.  Or we can choose to sit amongst the disappointments, disillusionment and disenchantments of broken dreams and be consumed by these instead of looking heavenly to the One who gave us all, so that we might have LIFE in Him.

Oh the power in praising when we don't understand and when circumstances are beyond our control.  No extreme expression of faith could be more powerful when we choose to praise in the dark of "I don't know why this in happening" and invites the Light of the Spirit to comfort and drop in the seed of peace that surpasses all understanding.  An expression of faith, when we can say no matter what the circumstance, Lord God I trust in you that the outcome will be to my advantage.  We show we trust in what God can do in and within the circumstances when we hand over the control of our life to the control of the only One who is All-Sufficient.  His joy will be our strength.  His joy will help us laugh in the face of adversity and stop the enemy in his tracks. 

His joy!  Found and contained in His Presence.  Linger there today.