THE JOY OF BELIEVING

The greatest joy that man has ever experienced is ours today through faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter said that it is so great that it is “inexpressible and full of glory.” In other words it is so great that it goes clear off the charts.

I was blessed by this joy long before I saw the Scripture in Romans 15:13 which says: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” I will take you through as much Scripture as I can to help you find this joy but knowledge alone won’t produce the joy. Only as we believe God through His word, and walk in the obedience that pleases Him will we experience this great joy.     

2.   Joy is what we experience when we participate in the activity of God. God enjoys revealing Himself to us and working with us to accomplish His will. God has an eternal plan and when we align with that plan it brings God great joy. When God shares that joy with us we can’t help but rejoice. We respond to God’s joy by rejoicing. I call it the reciprocal response. When this joy comes into our hearts it is like Jesus saying to us; “well done good and faithful servant.”

3.   Joy is a gift that God has prepared for those who believe in Him.  There is joy and peace for those who believe in Him and walk in the way that pleases Him. God gives each one of us a measure of  faith when we are born. Every human being on earth has this faith, but not everyone uses it to believe. God has  provided for every one of us His Word which is our source of faith, but not every one who reads the Word really believes it. When we choose to believe, that pleases God and brings great joy to Him.

4.    Believing brings us into the realm of the Spirit where we can experience the activity of God and participate in His work.  Faith isn't dreaming up things for God to do, but rather finding out what He is doing and believing that he will accomplish it.  Start with simple faith and go on from there.  I have witnessed great miracles and watched God do many wonderful things, but it all starts with simple faith.  Believe what you can believe.  Can you believe that God is love and that He loves you?  That is a start.  Can you believe that Jesus is the  Christ the Son of the living  God?  Why would our believing bring God joy?  God is invisible so we can't see Him, yet He wants us to believe that He is:

 'Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." (1Pe. 1:8)

I like to tell people that being a Christian is real simple: All we have to do is follow an invisible God, down an impossible path, to an unseen destination.

 We don't know anything about God except what He tells about Himself.  God gives us a measure of faith and then wants us to act on that faith.  Believing is the action that we take in response to what God is telling us He is going to do.