19 Now Jesus…said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
20 … you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.
21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
23 And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
This is not a blank check for carnality.
It doesn’t say ASK and RECEIVE that:
your wallet may be full-
your house may be full-
your garage may be full-
your bank account may be full-
your fleshly pleasures may be full-
your fame may be full.
It says JOY. That your JOY may be full.
It doesn’t mean the JOY of getting all the things your selfish heart is desiring.
Some people look at this promise of God as a blank check. It is a promise, He is generous, but He isn’t allowing us to fill in any amount that our hearts desire in the way of earthly possessions.
The Lord Jesus is actually talking about the sorrow they were going to endure and He was promising the sorrow would be replaced with JOY.
They would have JOY when they saw Him again in Heaven.
There would be JOY in that because the common people would now have immediate and direct access to the God of Heaven, and would be granted answers if they asked in the name and will of the Lord Jesus.
This JOY cannot be purchased with money. Why is it that some people love to use ASK and you may RECEIVE in speaking of fine houses, cars, jewelry, money and fame?
Do they think wearing and living in the wealth of this world would represent their spiritual blessings? It only represents their spiritual shallowness, if they would even think those things could compare to the beauty of the JOY of the Lord’s presence.
Joy is a natural outcome of the presence of the Holy Spirit, possessions are not.
Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith….”
Money is not evil, the Bible tells us the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. It is not evil to have things things. It’s not even evil to be wealthy. The error is thinking this is what brings JOY to the Christian.
JOY in the New Testament was never a response to a physical possession, it is the natural outcome of the presence of the Holy Spirit in a believer who has entrusted Christ for their salvation.
If He promised us eternal life,
how would we
how should we
how could we
ever be satisfied with JOY in anything else?
May YOUR joy be full!
Sorry I was accidentally signed in as my husband in that last comment:)
Love this! Thanks for linking up!
But Godliness with contentment is GREAT GAIN.
Beautiful thoughts to begin a new week!
Thank you for another thought & self-searching blog. 🙂
I remember a few years ago doing a word study on joy, which I don't think I ever finished because it is such a hot topic in the Bible. It is definitely something I need an often reminder about — to choose joy. None of those superficial things really matter when we find the thrill of God's joy. Thanks for jogging my memory!~Erin