The Joy of the Lord

I've been on a quest the past few months to find the joy of the Lord. Actually I could say it's been a lifelong search. I believe I'm saved and on the night the sweet Lord entered my heart I knew a peace and joy I'd never known.  Since then however joy eludes me.  I mean the great delight that is the gladness of heart.  I long for the happy state that results from knowing and serving God.  I covet that deep, abiding, inner-rejoicing in the Lord or to rejoice and be glad as the Scripture indicts.  That joy of the Lord is our strength. Perhaps that explains the weakness of my faith.  My life, without the joy of the Lord is dull and dry.  It is depressing to the point of despair.  There's the lack of the strength that comes and brings an incredible surge of power in your own daily walk. The Joy of the Spirit is given to those who ask and are in close communion with Him.  The Spirit releases the joy and keeps it running consistently and on a regular basis when you are in sweet fellowship with the Triune God.

I've been reading Charles Spurgeon's "Joy in Christ's Presence."  It is a meaty book stuffed full of truth.  I envy the descriptions Spurgeon makes of his own sweet communion with the Lord and those available to all who love Him.   It seems to elude me however.  The author wrote a chapter on one of my favorite verses, Matthew 11: 28: "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." He speaks of rest for the heart, the conscience and the mind.  He writes that the Spirit who is our Comforter and our Sympathizer is real and present in every form of temptation.  Spurgeon states: "A disciple should know neither grief nor joy that he could not reveal to His Lord."

Spurgeon ends the chapter by giving reasons as to why we should have this rest.  These include that Jesus Himself gives it.  It refreshes us.  This rest improves our focus and is necessary for our growth.  It enables us to testify for the Lord. It also prepares us for heaven and the author states that the "streets of heaven begin on earth."  Spurgeon explains that to get such rest we must come to Christ, yield to Him and learn of Him.  As I LEARN more about the joy of the Lord I pray that I HAVE more of it.