FULLNESS OF JOY

Glory be to God who, in His infinite mercies, has sustained us throughout the first half of this extraordinary leap year. It is with the heart of profound gratitude to the gracious God that I warmly welcome you to the month of July, which is the beginning of the third quarter as well as the second half of the year. The first half of the year has been a great year of experiencing God’s presence, God’s unfathomable ability, divine mercy, open heavens and divine establishment. Truly God is I am that I am (Exodus 3:14). As bible says the glory the latter house will be greater than the former (Haggai 2:9), I pray that this second half of the year will be more blessed for you on all fronts in Jesus name. Without withdrawing His sustaining love from us, God is starting the second half of the year with us on a much assuring note hence He has declared unto us FULLNESS OF JOY as the theme for this month. Joy is what every right thinking person wants to have but when God is now promising us the fullness of it, this calls for celebration and thanksgiving. Our anchor scripture for this month is Psalm 16:11, which says “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore”. From this scripture, it is clear that the fullness of joy is intrinsically connected to the presence of God. So, dwelling in His presence brings fullness of joy. Having our joy being full is the will of God for us. That is why Jesus Christ commands us “ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24b). The only condition attached to this according to the psalmist is that we need to follow the path of life. The life here is Jesus Christ because Jesus says “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).  Hence you need to follow his path before you could have fullness of joy. 

At literal level, one who has bad health cannot have his joy being full, one who is experiencing repeated failures either in academic or in his life cannot have his joy being full, one who is living in perpetual financial difficulty cannot have his joy being full, one who is having unsettled home as well as chaos in his marriage and cannot have his joy being full, one whose children are stubbornly wayward cannot have his joy being full. All these situations are burdens to believers’ heart. However, Jesus promises to lift up those burdens so that we can have joy in its fullness. This is what the psalmist refers to when he requests God to lead him to the path of life, which is Jesus Christ. On the other hand, at the deeper spiritual level, when we talk of fullness of joy we talk of limitless and boundless ocean hence if sickness jump into the ocean of fullness of joy it will get drowned. When we talk of fullness of joy we talk about unquenchable consuming fire hence if failure tries to pass through the fire of fullness of joy it will get burnt. When we talk of fullness of joy we talk of impregnable wall hence if poverty and unemployment knock their heads against it they will be certified dead instantly. The essence of this is that nothing could withstand the fullness of joy in the life of a believer

It is important for us to realize that one will be not able to have fullness of joy if we allow material things, money, position, the inordinate crave for earthly achievements to control and dominate our lives. We are created to dominate and have control over all these things. They are not to dictate to us how we live our lives. Instead the way we live our lives need to dictate the pace for them. Is craving for material things dictating the way you should live your lives? Kindly retrace your steps. According to the bible “know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). You are not expected to be servant to money. Rather money should be your messenger that you send on errands as you like. That is your portion in Jesus name.

In conclusion, you also has an important role to play as it is impossible for you to allow anger, hatred, malice, grudges, bitterness, jealousy, and immoral acts fill your hearts and at the same time think you can have fullness of joy. Hence you must make conscious, intentional and exerted efforts to rid your hearts of all these unworthy things because your heart cannot accommodate them and fullness of joy at the same time. It is advantageous to have fullness of joy in your life because it empowers, it strengthens, it sustains, it shields, it protects and it encourages on all fronts.  Your life will be full of joy in Jesus name. I wish all of you Happy 153^rd Canada Independence anniversary.