Joy (2)

I was always so excited to see my mom and dad come home from work. As a kid most times during the week when they came home I would have either finished my home work or forgotten about it, but either way I would be playing outside. And when I saw their cars pull up the street I would be so happy to know they were home even if I wasn’t at home.

-It gave me a sense of rest, and a smile a sense of relaxing and just that everything was right and as it should be. You could say I was filled with Joy because mom and dad were home and things were as they should be.

-When I got home I could tell mom and dad how my day went

-Being together was just something I loved

-Even if it was just watching a movie and laughing together or waiting for mom to try figure out the ending of a mystery movie or really any movie.

-It was just good to be together there was joy to just have things as they should be

-Share About Carrie’s post?

-Paula having Dr. Phil cued up ready to go

-a snack waiting

-Paula was ready to hear all about her day

-Paula probably liked Dr. Phil but it was that she could be with Carrie that made her day

-When I got married I now have the same sense of fulness, or Joy whenever Debbie or I would get home from work

-I know that we have time to be together and I really look forward to those times

-If I have somewhere else to be when I know she will be home I am just waiting and sometimes counting down to when I can be back home to see her.

When Debbie and I had Christian and Andrew the joy increased and it became an overwhelming joy for me to come home from work knowing I could play with the boys.

-In earlier days I would get home from working in construction and I would be covered in dirt, exhausted and even if I could sit one of the boys on my lap and just talk with them or watch them play with a toy

-When the boys would hear me come in the door sometimes they would run to the door to see me and hug me when I got home......man that just made me almost want to cry. It was so great knowing my kids wanted to see me.

-In the days of having 2 jobs I never looked forward to the times when I knew I would get home after they went to bed .....sometimes I would go into their room and sit next to their bed or just watch them sleep for a little bit.

One thing that God has been showing me and talking to me about recently is how much joy we give him. And how much love he has for us.

-Rick My father-in-law would tease with Debbie when she was little and then with my boys when they were little that...

-He loved them more than they loved him because his hands were bigger....means he was bigger....means he could hold more love because he was bigger.

Since God is infinite his hands are definitely bigger and he is infinite in nature.....I would say his love for us is infinitely bigger than we can imagine.

-His heart melts when we run to him and just want to be with him

-When we just tell him about our day ( he already knows because he walks with us) it is the relational engagement that makes his heart burst with joy

-Just us being us give him such great joy....in fact after he made man Genesis tells us he just looked at us and said.....WOW thats so good!

-sometimes there have been things in the past that have kept people from being able to be with God or things that stop us from knowing he is there.....

-we have gotten caught up in life that burdens us down

-This idea of his children .....his bride being caught up or bogged down with things that take us away from our relationship with him or from just being able to be with him

-His heart just bursts with joy when we are with him that he wants to remove everything from our path that could block us being with him

-In fact since the beginning of time Our Father God has made sure there was nothing that could block us from being with him....only our desire to do things that lead us away from him has been the only block in the life of man. Our freewill

-God still said you know what I’ll build into our community life together times for complete restoration

-THATS HOW COMPLETELY CRAZY GOD IS FOR US!

-HE WILL CREATE A WAY OF LIFE AROUND REBUILDING US TO COMPLETELY RESTORE US!

This is what Isaiah 61 is all about

GOD WANTS TO RESTORE THE WORLD AND HE WANTS HIS KIDS/ HIS BRIDE TO HELP HIM DO IT!

There are four primary economic codes for the children of God in Israel.

i. First is tithing: 10 percent of what is made or raised or grown goes into storehouses for the care of the priests and the poor.

ii. Second is Sabbath: every seventh day is a day of rest and worship, and every seventh year is one of rest for the land and the animals.

iii. Third is gleaning: the edges of fields are to be left unharvested in order that the poor, the refugee, and the traveler may find food.

iv. Fourth is the Year of Jubilee: after seven cycles of sabbath years ( forty-nine years), one year—the fiftieth year—was to be set aside as the Year of Jubilee. The purpose of this year was to reset the entire economic system: debts were to be forgiven, land returned, prisoners set free.

Isaiah 61 is declaring the year of Jubilee.....

Isaiah 61:1–4 NLT

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. They will rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities destroyed long ago. They will revive them, though they have been deserted for many generations.

Isaiah 61:8–11 NLT

“For I, the Lord, love justice. I hate robbery and wrongdoing. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be recognized and honored among the nations. Everyone will realize that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. The Sovereign Lord will show his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring, with plants springing up everywhere.

What the people look upon as despair, God wants to use for a new beginning.

a. The hopelessness of the lost city, of trampled gardens, of burned homes, God is going to transform to joy. The ashes of this place are going to be the fertile ground in which new life is born. A crown will replace the ashes.

b. This is a place to start over. It is a level playing field that will give them the opportunity to become the people God has called them to be. “They will be called oaks of righteousness” means they are going to become a righteous (justice-loving) people.

c. The sin and mistakes of their past can be left behind in the rubble, and they can start a new life. “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.”

The children of God are called to participate in the joyful renewal that God is enacting in the world.

a. Even though it is ultimately God who is bringing about healing, hope, and joy, it is clear that humanity is invited to participate in this work.

i. Verse 3 talks about their righteousness, which implies that they will participate in right actions, living out God’s justice in the world.

ii. Verse 4 says “they will rebuild,” and “they will renew.” The people of God are actively joining God’s restoration work.

iii. The people of God are called to do the work of God. Verse 8 talks about how God hates injustice. The implication is that the people of God will act in just ways. Verse 8 also talks about hating wrongdoing but rewarding righteousness and justice.

b. One of the ways we see justice and righteousness being enacted in the world is in the ways that God is going to bring about the Year of Jubilee, which will include good news for the poor, binding up of the brokenhearted, freedom from captivity, release from the darkness, and comfort for those who mourn.

i. These are all active ways that God is going to usher in Jubilee, but the people of God were called and still are called to enact these things in the world in partnership with God. The work of Jubilee is a cooperation between God and the people of God. We can see holiness lived out in the ways that God and the people of God work together in bringing about the kingdom of God on earth.

JOY IS NOT ABOUT WHAT WE SEE BUT WHAT WE KNOW......OR AS THE BIBLE CALLS IT OUR HOPE

WE KNOW GOD IS CRAZY ABOUT US

life is not as we might want it to be, but we know that God loves us so much

He made a way that everybody can be with him through Jesus.... we can sit on his lap, lay on his chest and just rest

He is so crazy about us and loves us out of his mind that he doesn’t make us guess what we need to do. He doesn’t hide what he wants for us....he tells us through speaking to us

scripture

prayer......he will talk back when we listen

JOY IS THE FRUIT OF GOD AND HIS PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER IN THE WORLD

a. We don’t know for sure whether Israel ever observed the Year of Jubilee, but whether they did or did not, their calling to celebrate Jubilee didn’t change. And, regardless of Israel’s faithfulness (or lack thereof ), God remains faithful and good, despite their disobedience. God will usher in Jubilee.

b. The land is destroyed, yet God is at work to transform hardship into beauty.

i. This doesn’t negate the hardship or grief but redeems it into something beautiful.

ii. This does not mean God caused hardship but that God is able to take even the worst situations and bring something good out.

1. As resurrection people, we also believe that God will ultimately take the worst parts of life— even death—and transform them into new life.

iii. God is good despite the circumstances. The text talks about God’s faithfulness in spite of the unfaithfulness of the people of God. Despite the people putting themselves in such a dire situation, God is still working for their good.

c. Working together with God brings about good news for the poor and joy instead of mourning.

i. We can see examples of the way that working for justice and righteousness brings about joy in the world in very real ways.

1. When a family is freed from cycles of abuse, we see joy. 2. When hungry people are fed, we see joy. 3. When those who mourn know they are not alone in their grief, there is joy.

d. We are called to be joy bringers in the world.

i. Joining the mission of God in the world shares hope and joy with a world that is often hopeless and filled with despair.

ii. Hopeless-seeming situations are not hopeless for the people of God. iii. Despair can turn to joy.

Where can we bring the Joy of our relationship with him and his love for people into the world?