Complete Joy

John 15:9-11    ⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

 

As I read this this morning, I am reminded of the simplicity of Christ. Keep my commands. What were Christ’s commands? Love God, love each other. That simple true message is so often lost in this crazy hectic world. We get so caught up in the flash, the new, the job, and the world….we make this life so much more complicated than it has to….no, not has to, but … than it is supposed to be! Imagine today if you resolve to live a life of love, just for today. Just to try it out. If everything we did was out of love of God, or love of neighbor. Nothing else mattered, nothing else came first. There was only God, and love. We would find that we were living well within Christ’s commandments, and do you have any idea what the result would be? We would truly understand the remainder of this passage. His joy would be in us, and our joy would be complete. Let that resonate for a moment. Our joy would be complete. When is the last time your joy was complete? Has it ever been complete? Think of the feeling of actually being full, mentally, spiritually, complete and utter joy. Happy to be alive, happy to serve God, happy to serve those around you. JOYFUL! No your bills will still be there, the hardships will still be there, the irritating people in your life will still wake up this morning and come looking for you. However, none of that would matter because you would know true joy. The bills will go away, one way or another, they are not forever, the hardships will be seen for what they are, an opportunity for Christ to work in your life, instead of you working so hard to fix what you cannot, and the irritating people, well I can promise, they will not be irritating, because when we approach people with love, even those we would call unlovable become softened.  You see, Christ has had the answer all along, of course, Christ has been the answer all along. Resolve to keep His commands today, just today, one day, give it a try, maybe you make the day, maybe today can turn into a week, a month, a year….think of that a year full of joy! Commands of the world are sure to bring disappointment, but the joy that can only be found, and made complete in Christ, that has the possibility to last an eternity. So today, lead with love, and see where the Lord will take you.

 

Peace to all, and love in faith,

 

Brian