The Promise of Real and Lasting Joy

Does it seem, sometimes, that even though you are striving to live a Christian life and your faith is solid that you do not have the joy that you thought you would (or should) have? It is during those times that we are tempted to question everything from the genuineness of our faith to whether or not your doing this whole Christian thing wrong. It is easy to look around and think that everyone else seems to be doing fine and think, "what am I missing"? We might even begin to question whether or not God wants us to be joyful at all! As is often the case when we sense that we are adrift in our spiritual walk, it is good to return to first things and the text today speaks of those first things. You and I sometimes don't see the connection between doctrine and life in the very real practical ways we should. But that connection is made explicitly in the text. The text also implies that there is the real possibility that we may experience these disconnections from time to time. But when we return the fundamental truths of the Scriptures and understand that the Lord has shown the way, we will find that the promised joy will be present and even may have been there all the time and we just didn't recognize it because our expectations were faulty. – Pastor Schlegel