Our Joy May Be Full.

1Jn 1:1  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 

1Jn 1:2  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

1Jn 1:4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 

Loved unconditionally- this is joy- this is Christ Jesus.

Fellowship with Jesus, fellowship with the Father- is there anything more joyful? 

We can have the knowledge of truth, and that knowledge brings understanding as the Holy Spirit enlightens us.

We are sinners. We are filthy sinners. Even the kindest person upon earth is a sinner. The only ones exempt from sin are those who are innocent through youth, and through mental impairment, these have no knowledge of sin or its consequences. Only those who comprehend can be held accountable.  We are sinners and as sinners we are separated from our Creator by our sins. Having a way to overcome that separation and be reunited with our Creator is miraculous. Through NO effort of our own are we able to redeem ourselves. We are presented with the truth of salvation and told we get to choose to accept it or not. Salvation will never be forced upon a single person.

We can choose salvation.

What does it mean to choose salvation? It means we choose to be reunited with our Creator, and then in turn be the creatures He created us to be. Salvation doesn't mean a trouble free life on earth. As long as sin exists we will be at war with it. Salvation assures us of victory over all sin, because our Savior already gained that victory and promises us His victory. So while we live here and now, we can have that promised hope and that promised hope gives us fellowship with our Savior, with the Father God, with the Holy Spirit and this is our JOY, that knowledge is our JOY, that HOPE is our JOY. 

We Are Warned.

Be Warned.

1Co 4:14  I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

Warned.  When we warn someone, what are we doing? If I warn you about something I'm essentially telling you to be cautious, that you are going to encounter something possibly unpleasant.  We don't warn people of good things coming their way, we happily tell them something nice is on its way. When we warn we are instantly putting things in a certain light that reveals a bit of dread. If I say, "I'm warning you, you might not like that." I'm giving you advanced notice so I can put you on alert. Warnings serve to ward a person off doing something that might have negative consequences. Warnings also are used to brace a person for something that is inevitable it they are not able to avoid the thing warned about. I might warn a person that it's not pleasant inside an MRI machine, but that doesn't mean I don't want them to get their MRI. I want them to know that they may experience discomfort and to prepare themselves for what's going to happen.

We are warned that being a follower of Christ will be difficult. 

For some in our world today, being a Christian means being tortured, and even killed. There are numerous people imprisoned around the world just for being a Christ follower and nothing more. Here in the United States we are sealed off from that sort of abuse for the most part. I don't fear someone knocking down my door and dragging me off in the night to throw me in prison after beating me within an inch of my life. Most Christians here in the U.S.A. are not tormented in any way at all, they are allowed to go about their business of Christ following unimpeded. We are blessed in this, truly blessed.

Do we still need to be warned that being a follower of Christ will be difficult? I think we do. I think every single Christian no matter where they reside needs to comprehend the difficulty of following Christ Jesus.  There are many different sorts of difficulties and we have to comprehend that if our lives are filled with one upset after another, things that are God allowed, that we can scarcely comprehend being afflicted with- that these difficulties could very well be heaped upon us because as we are warned- it is difficult being a follower of Christ. We might not have to worry about others torturing us for Christ, but we do have to know that we will be tortured and tormented emotionally, mentally and sometimes even physically through our health- because Satan is our great tormentor and he will stop at nothing to make any Christ follower he can, very unhappy with their life.

We have to comprehend the 'trial of our faith' can take many forms.  We are WARNED, and being warned we shouldn't be surprised when things happen the try our faith to the uttermost! While I say- we shouldn't be surprised, that doesn't mean we won't be dismayed when things happen. We can't help but initially react in possibly fear, upset, anger, anxiety and the like. It's after that initial reaction we have to take stock of our situations and place our faith in our GOD. If our faith is to be tried, we must allow it to be refined and tried and strengthened by the process. Knowing that we believe even as our world is being ripped apart in and all around us, that eternal life through the forgiveness of our sins, through the salvation of our Savior who was sacrificed for us, is a REALITY, a future set in stone, the Rock of Jesus Christ our Lord! We have to drill it in our minds, in our hearts that this world and all its awfulness - every single horror- is temporary to eternity in Christ!

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 

1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

2Co 4:16  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 

2Co 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Psa 119:75  I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. 

Lam 3:32  But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. 

Lam 3:33  For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. 

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

Job 9:27  If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself: 

Job 9:28  I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent. 

Psa 119:28  My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. 

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Rom 9:2  That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 

Php 2:25  Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. 

Php 2:26  For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. 

Php 2:27  For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 

Php 2:28  I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. 

Php 2:29  Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation: 

Php 2:30  Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me. 

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 

Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 

Psa 34:19  Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. 

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 

1Co 4:9  For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 

1Co 4:10  We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 

1Co 4:11  Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; 

1Co 4:12  And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 

1Co 4:13  Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. 

1Co 4:14  I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 

2Co 11:23  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 

2Co 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 

2Co 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 

2Co 11:26  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 

2Co 11:27  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Heb 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 

Heb 11:36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 

Heb 11:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

Our Joy Might Be Full

Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. 

Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. 

Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 

Jesus' joy fulfilled in us!

Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 

Joh 15:11  These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 

Joh 15:12  This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Joh 16:21  A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. 

Joh 16:22  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. 

Joh 16:23  And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 

Joh 16:24  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 

Rom 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Rom 14:18  For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. 

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 

1Jn 1:2  (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 

1Jn 1:3  That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

1Jn 1:4  And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 

Repenting in Dust and Ashes- Humbling Ourselves.

Job 42:1  Then Job answered the LORD, and said, 

Job 42:2  I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 

Job 42:3  Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. 

Job 42:4  Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 

Job 42:5  I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. 

Job 42:6  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. 

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Ezr 9:6  And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. 

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Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

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Luk 15:18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 

Luk 15:19  And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 

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1Ti 1:13  Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 

1Ti 1:14  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 

1Ti 1:16  Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 

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Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 

Jas 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

Jas 4:9  Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 

Jas 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. 

May we fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Job 28:20  Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 

Job 28:21  Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 

Job 28:22  Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 

Job 28:23  God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. 

Job 28:24  For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 

Job 28:25  To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. 

Job 28:26  When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: 

Job 28:27  Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 

Job 28:28  And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. 

May we fear the Lord and depart from evil.

Psa 111:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. 

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 

Pro 9:10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. 

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 

Psa 34:12  What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? 

Psa 34:13  Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 

Psa 34:14  Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 

Psa 34:15  The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 

Psa 34:16  The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

Pro 3:7  Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 

Pro 3:8  It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 

Pro 16:16  How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! 

Pro 16:17  The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.

Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 

Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 

1Pe 3:10  For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: 

1Pe 3:11  Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 

1Pe 3:12  For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 

Job- Looked All the Way to the Latter Days Upon Earth.

Jesus will stand at the latter day upon the earth.

Job looked towards that day even in all his agony. Job knew his Redeemer lived.  Job knew that even though his own body would face death's decay, that he WOULD see God and he would have flesh.

David said this- I shall be SATISFIED WHEN I AWAKE with thy likeness.  David would sleep death's long sleep and wake from that long sleep having been given immortality upon waking- changed into the same immortality of his Savior.

These are truths we cannot deny, or rather we can deny them if we choose to but we do so only if we desire to be blind to the truth of our Savior.

When death is no more- only then will mortals put on immortality, only then will the corrupted put in incorruptibility. 

At Christ's return we shall rise to meet Him- if we are alive we will be changed/ if we are dead we will raised incorruptible- changed. This is the HOPE we have and it is found ONLY in our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 

Job 19:26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

Job 19:27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. 

Psa 17:15  As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

1Jn 3:3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 

1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 

1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 

1Co 15:27  For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 

1Co 15:28  And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 

Job- Death's Sleep

Job 14:10  But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? 

Job 14:11  As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: 

Job 14:12  So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. 

Truth.

Job acknowledged when man dies and decays that he lays down and does not rise up and will not rise up until the heavens be no more- only then will man awake - being raised out of death's sleep.

Job does not seek death  as a release into a new life without pain.  Job longs for death's sleep. He believes he will rise again, but that rising isn't instantaneous upon dying.

Knowing death brings us the long sleep of nothingness until our Savior calls us to rise and meet Him in the air brings peace of mind while we live. To believe that upon dying we are instantly woke from death's sleep and able in a spirit form to view ALL the pain and heartache still going on in the lives of the living, what torture of mind. To have all our deceased loved ones joyous with their reunion with each other, and yet having them watch a seemingly endless continuation of life's agonies upon left behind loved ones still alive- how brutal that must be. And IF that compassion, that pain is something taken from people who are instantly alive after death, they are not able to watch below and commiserate with anyone's troubles. They would be spectators of horrors without emotion. No person becomes GOD upon death, able to live outside of time as only God and His angels can.  We need to ask ourselves a question- if we all become spirit forms with all our personality and intellect upon dying, and we all get to be with our Savior right then, why does anyone long to live in the horrible existence we have now? We live now as pilgrims upon the earth, ambassadors of Christ to bring the good news- His gospel of the kingdom, salvation through Him. We will have the promise of life after we die, and that promise is for when the last trump sounds and all the dead in Christ rise! 1Co_15:52