How Can I Be Joyful?

    If the Holy Spirit enables us to be honest, it is a fact that there can be no real inward joy when we evaluate ourselves.  Whenever we look within we get discouraged because all we see is corruption.  Yes, we do believe Christ, but we do not pray enough, we do not read the Bible as much as we ought, we don’t love the Lord like we should, we do not love each other like we are supposed to; our hearts are sometimes cold and seemingly lifeless.  


Every thought, every deed, every motive, every imagination is polluted by sin.  Who among us can find any comfort in our own conscience with regard to our relationship with a holy God upon the basis of anything within us.  Let this be established, the heart can only be genuinely comforted when we look away from self and cast the eyes of our souls upon Christ Jesus the Lord.  


He is our hope, our joy, our confidence, our righteousness and our salvation.  When we look only to Him, then each of us can say with the prophet, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).  It is not a sign of spiritual maturity to be constantly looking within yourself in search of personal holiness.  


The Spirit of God, however, brings needy sinners to look to Christ for all things.  The first and last command to us poor sinners is this: “Behold the Lamb of God.”  Let us live our lives “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of the faith,” and then we will have a greater measure of joy and contentment while making our pilgrimage through this vile world.  How can we be joyful in this world? Here is the answer: “Rejoice in the Lord.”

 

 

-preacher Jim Byrd

Audio Gospel Sermons here, friends:

https://www.sermonaudio.com/broadcasters/13thstbaptist/sermons 

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