1. God loves you and created you to know Him at a deep, personal level. He created you to experience and to share in the joy and the gladness that forever defines His character and identity (who He is).
“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
–Psalm 32:11 NKJV
“Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” 28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.”
–Psalm 35:27-28 NKJV
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
–Isaiah 35:10 NKJV
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy.”
–Isaiah 65:18 NKJV
“Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!…The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
–Zephaniah 3:14, 17 NKJV
2. All people have crossed into the wrong spiritual territory, and the result includes disappointment, sorrow, sadness, anxiety, grief, depression, disease, and death.
“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. 26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.”
–Proverbs 12:25-26 NKJV
When we think, act, and make choices contrary to God’s best intentions for us, then we “trespass” the healthy boundaries that He established for our maximum happiness, health, and welfare. Like a loving, involved Father who admonishes His beloved children not to play in the street with matches and explosives, it is in our best interests to follow His instructions (or commandments) and to trust His judgment and heart.
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”
–1 John 3:4 NASB1995
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
–Romans 6:23 NKJV
Since sin (crossing into dangerous spiritual territory by breaking God’s laws) leads to disappointment, distress, death, and sorrow, then how can we overcome it?
3. God sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from sin’s influence in our lives. Through a relationship with Jesus, God’s joy can become ours and our sadness can be removed.
“But of the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.’”
–Hebrews 1:8-9 NASB1995
Most assuredly, I say to you that 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.
–John 16:20-22 NASB1995
Jesus is talking about his impending death and resurrection to His friends the night that he would willingly sacrifice His life for the sins of the world. No one murdered Jesus against His will, plan, and permission, but he faced his excruciating death with joy because of the reward He had on the other side of the pain.
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
–John 10:17-18 NKJV
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
–Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB1995
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
–Isaiah 53:3-6 NKJV
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
–Psalm 118:22-24 NKJV
4. We must enter into an agreement (covenant relationship) with Jesus, where He becomes our Lord and we are united to him in loving submission and obedience for all eternity. Only then can our sorrow be removed and we be filled with fullness of joy.
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
–Proverbs 16:11 NKJV
When we experience His love for us, we are set free from guilt, grief, shame, fear, and condemnation. Communicating with Jesus in friendship brings us eternal pleasure.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified…. 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
–Isaiah 61:1-3, 10 NKJV
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
–Acts 2:22-39 NKJV
What does it mean to “repent”? To repent is to change our direction. It means to change the way we think, which in turn will change the way we live.
What does it mean to “be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness and removal] of sins”?
When a person (or thing) is baptized, it is fully submerged in water, which here represents total submission to Jesus’ leadership and immersion into all that Jesus is, does, and says. Baptism is a picture of death and burial, for just as a dead body is completely lowered into and covered by the earth in burial, when we submit our allegiance to Jesus, we declare how we are dead to our old, dead ways (performance-driven self-righteousness, sin, bitterness, anxiety, slander, arrogant pride, foolishness, rebellion, rage, selfishness, lying, stealing, shame, or anything that is not of God or His love nature).
What does it mean to “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”?
In baptism, when a person comes up out of the water, this is a picture of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and a declaration that we too have been born again to live a new life in God for all eternity. The promised gift of the Holy Spirit is God Himself coming to live inside of us from the very moment that we submit our allegiance to Jesus.
From the moment we receive Jesus by entrusting our lives to Him, we belong to God, who comes to live in us by the Person of His Holy Spirit so that we can hear His voice, grow more deeply connected and nourished by His love and His instructions, and become more like Jesus every day. As a result, we will even more actively demonstrate God’s love to other people in our daily lives and choices.
Would you like to submit your allegiance to Jesus, for Him to be your Leader and Savior?
“But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.’”
–Acts 5:29-32 NKJV
The following is a suggested prayer for receiving (or trusting in) Jesus, submitting yourself to His authority. You may pray it aloud if it expresses the desire of your heart, for “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
–Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
Father God,
I want to know You for who You are. I confess that I have not been filled with joy because I have not known or trusted You. I have done things my own way and not seen things rightly the way that You see the whole picture with perfect accuracy. I have done foolish things and not lived honorably and rightly according to Your best plans and desire for me.
That’s why You sent Jesus to rescue me and to bring me back into a right relationship with You. I was like a wandering sheep who went the wrong direction, but You sent Jesus to lay down His life for me, so that I could be restored to back You safely and live with You forever. I submit my life to Jesus as my Lord and Master, and I thank You for forgiving me for all my sins and wrongs against You.
Thank You, Father, for giving me eternal life and for giving me Your Holy Spirit as You promised. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead, proving that you have rescued me from the kingdom of darkness (sin) and transferred me into the Kingdom of Your beloved Son, in whom all my sins are forgiven. As I commit my entire life to You, thank You for making me more and more like You every day as You teach me to love, to enjoy, to find my rest in, to trust, and to obey You more each day.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Conclusion:
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
–1 Peter 4:12-14 NKJV
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
–1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NKJV
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
–Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV
As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
–John 8:30-32 NKJV
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
–John 15:7-11 NKJV
(1) Four-point format based on Would You Like to Know God Personally? A version of the Four Spiritual Laws, written by Bill Bright.