"Joy and Glory in the Lord"

Scripture John 15:9-14; Daniel 6:10-12

As we grow in our discipleship with Jesus, the reasons for our gratitude will continue to grow in ways we can’t even imagine. Our life is constantly being enriched, and by faith in Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, we become fruitful branches on that precious Vine of God. And the Fruit that comes from this relationship will produce a harvest of bounty. But the joy filled blessings don’t stop there!

The life of a faithful disciple creates a joy in the heart of our Almighty God! And not only is our faithful life a blessing to the Lord, but when others see the life we have within the Lord’s grace, it will almost always raise a sense of interest and amazement in their lives. And every time a new soul comes to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, heaven rejoices, again!

A life in Christ brings us one great glory after another, and as each of these blessings reign in mighty ways, glory is heightened in our God. How can a life like that not be a reason for continuous joy and thanksgiving??

Read John 15:9-14

We have been invited into the grace of Christ for several reasons. First, he has chosen us to receive his love. And this isn’t some new kind of love – it is the love that exists behind and beneath and around all that the Lord has done – first at creation, then at Calvary, finally at the Judgment, and in everything in between. This passion continues to flow endlessly to us through the power of the Holy Spirit and in his call to service, as we faithfully follow wherever we are led.

But once again, Godly love still never ends – it is positioned to flow continuously as we obey his will and way, and even then, it is given as we enable it to flow, without ceasing, to others who come into our lives. This Godly way is never intended to cause competitiveness over who God loves the most, or arguments over who obeys the Lord most closely, or disputes over who is showing the right kind of Christ-like love. We must always remember that this isn’t our love to show – it is the Lord’s, and we have nothing to say about it except “receive, and be blessed”!

And as that divine love grows within us, so does our joy. The Christian life will never be easy, but even in the most difficult of days, the joy of Christ can still thrive within us. This is the kind of joy that sees us through those trying times, that is what makes this life worthwhile, that makes a gloomy, depressed, fearful Christian a contradiction in terms. The joy of Christ reminds us that we aren’t just sinners, but that we are sinners redeemed by the grace and love of Jesus.

What a marvelous hope we have, what a marvelous hope we have to share, what a marvelous hope we have to share with the world! The love of Christ, the joy of Christ, the hope of Christ is given to us, not to be our blessing, but to become the blessing for others.
Hope and love and joy are not the normal feelings of slaves and servants. Once, we were slaves to the law, but now we have become so much more. By obedient faith in Christ, our slavery has been set aside, and now we have become friends of the Living God!

Friendship with God is not some shallow or half-hearted relationship. It is not a human type of friendship that can come and go, that diminishes though time and distance, that is blown here and there by the wild winds of life. Friendship with God is an unbreakable and unshakable partnership, one that can accomplish anything within the Lord’s will, one that establishes us as members of the family of God!

And in that closeness to the Lord, we accept the responsibility to share the good news of his life, his ways, and his promises. After all, he has shared his life and love with us, so how could we possibly keep it all to ourselves? We are to proclaim him in everything we do – in our jobs, in our families, in our social circles, in the organizations we belong to, when we are alone, and when we are buried in the activities that involve a myriad of others. As his close friends, we also feel the need to stay in touch with the Lord through prayer and obedience. This is exactly what Jesus did all the time, and probably several times every day. He stayed in touch with his Father for many reasons, but primarily, I think, to remain within his will.

We need to see this relationship as a privilege. It is to be cared for and cherished and nurtured and respected. It can never be self-serving or selfish, and it must never be seen as exclusionary! Ours is a blessing to be used to bless the people of earth.


In our second reading for today, we read of Daniel who had become a cherished advisor to the king. He was an exile in Babylon, a captive Jew, a servant of a foreign regime. But above all, Daniel was a faithful “friend” of God. And in Jeremiah 29:4-7, we read that the Lord told his people that they were to continue to live as though they weren’t exiled from their homeland. Build homes, get married, have children, and, surprisingly, they were to promote peace in the cities they lived in, and they were to continue pray to their great God Jehovah.

Daniel continued to be a faithful servant of God, even while he was a valued advisor to the secession of kings of Babylon. At the time of our passage, Babylon had been conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire, and Daniel had been named as one of three administrators in the entire kingdom. Darius ruled, but he had been tricked into issuing an edict that he, and he alone, was to be worshipped, with the penalty for disobedience being a one way trip to the den of lions. Daniel would serve him, would honor him, would be respectful toward him, but his worship was reserved for only one – his God.

Read Daniel 6:10-12

Daniel’s life was in jeopardy – he knew it, and he expected it, but it never caused him to change his daily conversations with his true Lord. His prayers continued three times a day without fail, and lion’s den or not, praise to the Lord had to be an integral part of this time of connecting with his Jehovah God.

And we all know the story – how Daniel was, indeed, thrown in with the lions, but how God shut the mouths of the beasts who would not even scratch or harm the faithful man all night long. When the morning came, the king rushed to the den, expecting to see only remains of his trusted friend. But much to his surprise, Daniel was very much alive, sharing the story of how his Lord had moved to save his life.

Daniel never doubted that his Lord was with him. We have no idea of whether the man expected to die or not – we only know that he had placed his life in the hands of the only one who could make a difference for him. For Daniel, it was all about trust.

Trust is possibly the greatest trait of a true friendship. Never doubting that the friendship means far more than you could ever know; never fearing that something else might come between the two of you; never hesitating to let your friend work through your situation in the best possible way, even when you didn’t quite understand how it would work.

Did Daniel love his Lord? Did Daniel find joy in his Lord? Did Daniel and Jehovah have the kind of relationship that you have always wanted with God?

So what’s stopping you? Follow the example of Daniel – give the Lord your trust, your confidence, your obedience, your hope, your love, and give him complete authority over every moment of your life – for that is when the insurmountable joy of heaven will enter into our life, and we will be blessed beyond measure!

Is anyone thankful yet for all that the Lord can and will do for you, if you will just put your whole trust in him? It’s a friendship unlike any other! Don’t miss out on it.