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John 15:11 - Filled With God's Joy.

John 15:11 (NKJV) These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15:11 (NLT) I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

John 15:11 (AMP) I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.

INTRODUCTION

When things are going well, we feel elated. When hardships come, we sink into depression. But true joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstance. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ. When our lives are intertwined with his, he will help us walk through adversity without sinking into debilitating lows and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ daily will keep us levelheaded, no matter how high or low our circumstances. [Life Application SB]

COMMENTARY PEARL

   Christ pointed His disciples to the flowers of the field, growing in rich profusion and glowing in the simple beauty which the heavenly Father had given them, as an expression of His love to man. He said, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow." The beauty and simplicity of these natural flowers far outrival the splendor of Solomon. The most gorgeous attire produced by the skill of art cannot bear comparison with the natural grace and radiant beauty of the flowers of God's creation. Jesus asks, "If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Matthew 6:28, 30. If God, the divine Artist, gives to the simple flowers that perish in a day their delicate and varied colors, how much greater care will He have for those who are created in His own image? This lesson of Christ's is a rebuke to the anxious thought, the perplexity and doubt, of the faithless heart.
   The Lord would have all His sons and daughters happy, peaceful, and obedient. Jesus says, "My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 14:27; 15:11.
   Happiness that is sought from selfish motives, outside of the path of duty, is ill-balanced, fitful, and transitory; it passes away, and the soul is filled with loneliness and sorrow; but there is joy and satisfaction in the service of God; the Christian is not left to walk in uncertain paths; he is not left to vain regrets and disappointments. If we do not have the pleasures of this life we may still be joyful in looking to the life beyond.
   But even here Christians may have the joy of communion with Christ; they may have the light of His love, the perpetual comfort of His presence. Every step in life may bring us closer to Jesus, may give us a deeper experience of His love, and may bring us one step nearer to the blessed home of peace. SC123-125

COMMENTARY

A Joyful Chain
   Hands Across America was a 1986 fundraiser which attempted to create a coast-to-coast human chain across the United States to relieve hunger. Millions of Americans joined the effort - including 50 Abraham Lincoln impersonators in Springfield, Illinois; 100 scuba divers spanning the Susquehanna River; President Reagan at the White House; and Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. The event raised million for charities.
   Jesus told His disciples how to join a different chain. This chain starts with God the Father, connects to Jesus Christ, and is then extended to you: "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you," said Christ (John 15:9). "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (v. 10). Loving Christ means abiding in Christ, which means keeping God's law, the commandments.
   Sin broke the chain between us and God (Isaiah 59:2), but Jesus came to repair that link. This was "the joy that was set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2), to become the Mediator between heaven and earth, to open access to our salvation by "coming in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7) and enduring the shame of the cross. By this, Christ could bring fallen man back up to God's heavenly kingdom.
   If we choose to join hands with Him in the great chain spanning the divine and mortal - if we accept His sacrifice and allow Him to abide in us - Christ promises that we will partake in His joy. His joy of self-sacrifice for the redemption of mankind will become ours; we will have the Father's character of love. Thus will Christ's joy, our joy, "be full," fulfilled in our salvation.
   Dear Jesus, I choose to join hands with You in the spiritual chain and have Your joy replicated in me to the fullest. [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing Facts]

   "Describe yourself in one word," the keynote speaker suggested. "Don't overthink it. Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind. Make it relate to something you'd like to pass onto others.
   Something I'd like to pass on to others? So many options. I settled on hope. I breathe it in from the One who invented the idea. I breathe it out, knowing the world desperately needs it and Jesus has hope to give in abundance (Romans 15:13).
   What word would Jesus pick for Himself? Love? Redemption? HOPE in all caps? In John 15:9-17, Jesus said that joy defines Him and that His teaching about abiding in Him, loving one another, and responding to the Father with obedience leads to this one pinnacle - He wants to infuse us with joy. And not just any run-of-the-mill joy - His joy in us. In other places in Scripture, Jesus tells us that His peace isn't ordinary either (John 14:27). It's not like the faux peace the world gives. In today's passage, He lets us know that His joy is as out of this world as His peace is. My mind still wrestles with what that fully looks like. How can any of us grasp the magnitude of Jesus pouring His joy into us, so much that its complete, full, and fills all the crevices and spaces and gaps?
   I have a new answer to the assignment to describe myself in one word: Jesus-grateful. If it's hyphenated, it's one word, right? Cynthia Ruchti
   Faith Step: Write your name with a fine-tipped pen. Then with a bold marker, superimpose the word JOY over your name. Imagine His joy consuming you as you venture into the day and its challenges. [Mornings With Jesus 2021 Devotional by Guideposts and Zondervan]

   Two Sundays ago, a little girl - two or three years old - wandered through the sanctuary at the end of the service. She looked lost but happily so. The child gazed up into every passing face, as if hoping to see one she recognized. I stooped to her eye level and asked if she knew where her mommy or daddy was. She said no but smiled.
   I took her hand. Together, we made our way through the crowded foyer. A woman about my age approached. "Ellie! There you are!" Grandma said the little one was fearlessly "prone to wander." We all smiled with relief and joy.
   It happened again this past Sunday during the opening worship set. This time, a small boy strolled in mid-service. He peered at all the faces. Again, too young to wander alone, he obviously needed to be reunited with someone. I left my seat and took him by the hand. Soon parents and child joyfully reconnected.
   I apparently hadn't gotten the lesson the first time. Now, though, I more fully understand what Jesus might have meant when He said His "joy" could be ours. Could it be this - reuniting a wandering, lost child with the Father? It explains how Jesus could talk about joy so close to His upcoming crucifixion. Inexpressible joy overflows in the simple task of reuniting people with the Father, as Jesus spent His whole life - and death - doing. After all, we're all prone to wander. Cynthia Ruchti
   Faith Step: Watch for ways Jesus might invite you to rise from jour chair to do some small thing to help reconnect a wanderer with His Father. [Mornings With Jesus 2024 Devotional by Guideposts and Zondervan]

ONE LINER

Happiness Come And Goes
Joy Comes And Grows
[by Randy Roberts]

LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

John 15:11 - Dynamics of Joy.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2020/20201017-1033.html

John 17:13 - Joy In Jesus.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2024/20240607-0842.html

1 John 1:3, 4 - Sharing Jesus With Joy.
https://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210302-1118.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

https://abible.com/links/