How to Obtain Life-Joy
What would you be willing to do in order to be so spiritually prosperous that others envy your relationship with God? To enjoy being alive – even when life isn’t fun?
Jesus had something to say about this.
“Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when . . .”
When …? When … what? Are you sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation?
Are you ready to read the rest of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:11 (AMPC)?
He said we’ll be spiritually prosperous – to the point of envy – “. . . when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.”
Are you still on the edge of your seat? Or did you slump back in disappointment hoping for a different ending to this verse?
No one likes to be mocked and lied about. Persecution, in any form, is painful. Thankfully, here in America, we haven’t experienced near the level of persecution others have.
At least not yet.
But are we willing to lay down our lives for those who haven’t yet trusted Jesus as their Savior? Notice the word “when” in the second half of the verse. If we’re living and talking about our faith, we will risk rejection in our sorority or fraternity, experience damage to our reputation on the job or in our community or suffer lost opportunities.
Sometimes I don’t share my faith when the Holy Spirit nudges me to do so, which always leaves me feeling disappointed in myself. I suspect I’m not alone.
What if we loved the lost more than we loved ourselves? And stopped worrying about our fragile reputation and hurt feelings and cared more about those who might spend eternity in hell?
How would loving others this way affect our witness?
And finally, what if we allowed every form of persecution to make us (individually and as a church) what we want to be – spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor?
Let’s talk more about this next week. (Are you sitting on the edge of your seat again?)
What do you think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this post. (Others might also benefit from your comment.)
- What was your first reaction when you read the second half of Matthew 5:11?
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Great post!
Thank you so much, Delores. AND thank you for sharing this devotion on your Facebook page.
It’s so nice to see you whenever you drop by Today Can Be Different, Delores. I hope you do so again!
Sheryl, thank you for your exceptional blog message today! I found it to be enlightening and thought-provoking as it prompts us to confront our own weaknesses in expressing our testimonies and in reaching out to share the good news of the Gospel with the unsaved: “No one likes to be mocked and lied about. Persecution, in any form, is painful.” I love your opening question: “What would you be willing to do in order to be so spiritually prosperous that others envy your relationship with God?” May we always lean into Him for His strength and guidance in every area of our lives. Amen! ❤ [Honored to share your message on our A Women’s Fellowship/Ministry outreach and on my Timeline. ❤ ]
You always leave great comments, Joyce. Thank you for the compliment and insights! “May we always lean into Him for His strength and guidance in every area of our lives,” indeed.
And thank you for sharing my devotion on A Women’s Fellowship/Ministry outreach and on your Facebook page, Joyce!
I AM on the edge of my seat to hear next week’s blog. She is always “spot-on” as if she has a camera in my house! I always get something spiritually good or great from her blogs. People can relate to her as she is the real deal/Christian.
Hello, Chris.Thank you so very much for your kind words. I love how the Holy Spirit works in helping me to write messages helpful to my readers. Truth be told . . . I benefit from my devotions too. 🙂 😉
AND welcome to Today Can Be Different, Chris! Stop by again often!!
(I’ll try to get the next post up soon so you can relax in your seat. Lol)
It’s enough to almost make you want to be persecuted… until you think that through. This would really help with dying to self. Kinda like a crash course.
Very interesting comment, Barbara. I get what you’re saying in that the thought of becoming “spiritually prosperous – to the point of envy” is so great that being persecuted would be worth the cost.
Let’s pray that every day we ask God to help us boldly (lovingly, sensitively – yet boldly) stand strong in our faith so that as the times of persecution get stronger, we’ll be better equipped to persevere.
Thank you so much for stopping by, Barbara – and for sharing this devotion on your Facebook page.