Basic HTML Version
Most Happy People on Earth, May 22
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in
you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:11
.
We, as Christians, are not required to go about with long faces, sighing
as though we had no Saviour and no hope. This will not glorify God. He
desires us to be cheerful. He desires us to be filled with praises to His
name. He desires us to carry light in our countenances, and joy in our
hearts. We have a hope that is far above any pleasures that the world can
give, and this fact should be made manifest.
Why should not our joy be full—full, lacking nothing? We have an
assurance that Jesus is our Saviour, and that we may draw freely from
Him. We may partake freely of the rich provision that He has made for
us in His Word. We may take Him at His word, believe on Him, and
know that He will give us grace and power to do just as He bids us.... We
may constantly seek the joy of His presence. We need not be all the time
upon our knees in prayer, but we may be constantly asking for His grace,
even when we are walking on the streets, or when we are engaged in our
ordinary daily duties. We may constantly keep the mind ascending to
Christ, and He will freely impart to us of His grace....
The joy of Christ is a pure, unalloyed cheerfulness. It is not a cheap
gaiety, that leads to vanity of words or lightness of conduct. No, we are
to have
His
joy, and His greatest joy was to see men obeying the truth....
Plead with God, saying, “I make an entire surrender. I give myself away
to Thee.” Then be joyful. The Word is in you, purifying and cleansing
your character. God does not want His children to go about with anxiety
and sorrow expressed in their faces. He wants the lovely expression of
His countenance to be revealed in every one of us who are partakers of the
divine nature; for we have power to escape the corruptions of the world....
We are not, because Christ died, left a company of orphans.... It is
possible for us to obtain victory after victory, and be the most happy
people on the face of the earth.
[149]
153