"Joy" and Other 4-Letter Words

How was your Christmas? Did you find the peace and joy you were longing for?

Joy. We all want that in our lives. We just don't know how to get it. Can we buy it? We desire a deep, soul-satisfying peace that fills us with comfort and grace knowing we are doing good for people and living an honorable life. So why is "joy" often unattainable and more like a damn curse word? Is "joy" a bad word to you? Maybe we are pursuing the wrong methods of achieving joy. Maybe we are using the wrong 4-letter words to get joy.

Fear. Are we afraid to take a risk toward meeting the goal of attaining joy? Or, out of fear we take too many risks of the wrong kind. What fears do you have? Is it shame, doubt, insecurities? Fear can paralyze as we over analyze. Fear can mesmerize when we despise the future we create in our minds and worry to the point of inactivity. Frozen, we may stifle our dreams since it seems like nothing good will or can happen. Fear makes us weak. Fear can make us overly aggressive. Both are dangerous.

Fake. Sometimes we pretend to be something or someone we are not. The mask we wear tries to hide who we really are. We may surmise that others have it all figured out and are doing great; so the problem must be us. "If everyone else is having such a great life, what is wrong with me?" But, we are all partially fake. Some are fake all the time. We may be afraid of rejection, so we wear a plastic happy mask.

Need. Want. We get these all mixed up and messily inter-twined. In affluent societies many of us have more than we need and less than we want. Some have too much of both. Still, even if we have all our needs and wants met, it is not enough to bring comfort, happiness and that darned "joy" to our hearts. Our minds are not at ease. "There is no rest for the wicked," we tell ourselves as we condemn and accuse ourselves believing the lies being vomitted on our minds by the unseen enemy of our souls.

Dope. Drug. To flee, to hide, to run away from the pain, we often numb ourselves in a weak attempt to avoid dealing with the inadequacy inside. This turmoil must be squelched. If the chemicals inside us can be pacified, maybe that will calm our souls. We want to feel better. We need to feel better. We are wrong to think this will work. It damages our bodies and relationships. It neutralizes our efforts at success and kills our brains. This danger is often disguised as fun. And we all know, fun is what leads to joy. Well, maybe we are happy for a moment, but happy and joy are not the same; a fleeting feeling versus an inner calm and resolute peace of mind and body.

Gang. Lock. Lone. We hang with the masses of people who scream the loudest about how to pursue life, liberty and happiness. We must act, think, vote and behave like them. We make sure we are tied in with the right crowd so we don't feel "so all alone, everybody must get..." If all these plastic people in the media and Hollywood are smiling with their jet-setting lifestyles, then surely they have found the secret to joy. Being rich and thin is in. This must be the correct gang to lock yourselves into. After all, they have such a great track record in happy marriages, great parenting, they don't struggle with drugs or alcohol, and all their children turn out to be wonderful citizens doing such great work for the world and not merely garnering attention for themselves. They have it figured out. Rather than be alone, we join the club of least resistance because they accept everybody on this wide and wandering road to nowhere. It's the easiest route to pursue and the least satisfying in the end.

Fool. Prey. Close. Most people do not realize they are trapped. There is the unseen spiritual enemy of our souls who wants to fool and trick us into believing his deceptions. We become his prey as we close ourselves off to the truth. We are convinced it's going to be OK; it's all good. Everything will turn out good for us and our family and friends. There is no spiritual war going on. There is no God. If I can't see it, then it isn't true. I'm all grown up and no longer believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy or Jesus. Those are all imaginary. I'm an intellectual with a brilliant mind. I cannot be tricked, fooled or deceived. There is no unseen enemy; no hocus pocus, no ghosts, no demons, no angels, no after-life. I am the all-knowing, all-wise one. I am the master of my fate, a rock, an island. I fall prey to no one. I bow to none.

Fire. Surely there is no Hell. Surely everyone gets to go to Heaven or nirvana or be reincarnated endlessly or whatever or wherever. Surely everyone is good...enough. Well, except Hitler, Dahmer and a very few others who really deserve eternal punishment and separation from God. But not me and my friends: we are all nice people. Surely a good God could not; would not punish us. We aren't that bad. We don't deserve wrath like the truly bad people.

Room. Time. We fill up our homes and hearts with so many activities and things that our homes are full and our lives so busy that there is no time or space for anything or anyone else. Our rooms and calendars are packed full. Yet we are empty. We now go shopping Thanksgiving day to buy presents that provide a moment of happiness. Then we rush to the next thing. We over-schedule so we won't contemplate. It's too scary to have time to sit and ponder if we are doing life right. We don't want to think. We just want to experience and feel.

Deny. Quit. That damned, cursed cross where we killed God Who had become visible in human flesh was where we poured out our hatred of God and our lust for sin in a vain attempt to satisfy a demon-controlled, effort to destroy truth, morality and everything opposed to our stern will. We deny God. We quit trying to be good and pursue what we think will but can never satisfy our deep-longings and wounds. We deny we have done any wrongs. We deny that we sin. We quit relationships that make us feel conviction or guilt. We flee to the wide open road where everything is acceptable. We quit listening to our conscience that whispers of a better way. We deny any error of our ways.

Is there a different way to think? Are there 4-letter words that can aid us in solving this damn dilemma?

True. Open. Is there a truth we are unaware of or have been denying? Would we consider another way, another option? Can something be true for everyone? Would we be open to that if it existed? Is truth relative? Isn't perception reality? Isn't my subjective truth the only real truth? Do we all get to determine what is true, good, right, wrong, etc.? Are we the autonomous deciders, judging as we see fit with our omniscient, omnipresence? Are we objective when our scientific views presuppose that the facts can only mean the one thing we want them to? Is it possible we have come to wrong conclusions? Is our logic so sound and insightful, that we are completely accurate and right in our debates and decisions? Would we listen to another point of view? Do we have it all figured out?

Call. Come. When our hearts are being drawn toward someone or thing, would we listen? Would we move toward that? If we were having a come-to-Jesus moment in life, would we come toward Jesus? If you sense that God is calling you toward Himself, would you answer or ignore or flee? Is Jesus' call to "come and see" too dangerous? Is His call to "come and follow" too filled with peril and fear? Is that road too narrow and to be avoided at all cost?

Walk. Seek. Find. Step. Pray. Fast. Hear. Slow. What do you pursue? What do you walk after? How sure are you of what you think and believe? Will you move toward God? Do you seek Him? I mean, do you seek the real God and not just the one you have imagined in your omniscient head? Can we know what God is like? Is there a real God? Is He different than the one we think we know? Could you hear Him when he spoke to you? Is this 4-letter word information for you? Are these questions pushing you to seek the Creator of joy? Could you talk with God in prayer? Could you sit still and listen not knowing if He were there? Is this a worthy pursuit? Could you slow down and wait to hear? Are you afraid of what you would find? Are you sure of what you will discover? Take a chance. Risk everything. What have you got to lose? What can you take with you?

Give. Good. Help. What if life is not about pursuing things for your own satisfaction? What if life is not about getting? What if life is not about doing good in an attempt to heal inner wounds? Do you do good to gain acceptance? Are you stuck in a performance mentality attempting to earn something? What if approval comes from someone outside of you Who actually loves you and desires a relationship with you? What if this someone is the One Who determines what is good?  What if this someone is the One Who wants to give you Himself because this is the greatest gift you could ever receive?  What if this someone is the One Who alone can help you receive joy? We all need help. Few take the help given.

Heal. If God wanted to heal your soul, would you let Him? Did you know that God can heal your heart, mind, soul and body? If God IS, then He can. What if joy starts with receiving and surrendering to Him and allowing Him to do some major surgery in you so you can find peace, rest and joy? What if none of this is based on what you can see, feel, hear, taste or smell? What if the healing you need are in places you didn't know were broken?

Hope. Obey. Real hope is not a synonym for worry. "I hope bad stuff doesn't happen to ______. I hope you arrive safely. I hope my check clears. I hope my stress goes down. I hope my kids avoid drug abuse. I hope I don't get cancer from _________." Real hope is an inner, eternal peace knowing that someone great IS and will bring about good for and through you. Real hope leads to a pleasant desire to obey His call to follow, obey and serve. Real hope leads to acts of obedience done out of gratitude and thankfulness, not guilt or shame.

Love. Save. Free. Gift. Grow. Once we surrender to His love, He saves us from sin and wrath by giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit [God Himself]. This is a free gift given when we surrender. Some of us need to do this several thousand times before it clicks that it is about grace and not something we earn; and therefore, deserve. We cannot earn the free gift of salvation. God IS love, so He gets to define good, evil, right, wrong, sin, rebellion, kindness, faith, joy. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot save others. Once we get this gift, receive His love and grow in our relationship with Him, then we get the honor and privilege of sharing this free gift with others. It is up to them whether they receive it or not based on the above 4-letter words. How free are you?

Live. Life. With. When we enter into real life with God and become spiritually alive from being spiritually dead, only then will we be free from death, sin and wrath. Until then we are the zombie apocalypse. When we enter His life we will be able to live freely then; when we are with Him and He is with and in us. We will have His hope poured into us. We will be saved from endless empty pursuits attempting to meet our own felt needs by our own foolish methods. We cannot do life alone. Jesus IS life. We need Him and His people. Sometimes His people make us think 4-letter words; lots of them. We need to be reminded that we are all broken works in progress at different paces and different places along this rocky path. We cannot be with Him without His people. That can be scary. Often He pours grace and life into us via His people. We are supposed to do the same for them. Let's do this better.

Full. Holy. Soul. Home. Only by the correct 4-letter words will our souls be full, longings met and we be transformed into someone we never even thought about being. We will be blown away by God's goodness. We will be changed into something other than we knew could even exist; a holy person--someone becoming separated from the depravity of earth's unwholesomeness. We will discover a new home; a place we always longed for but could not describe. Our hearts will be full. Our souls will be whole. We will find the home our hearts have been longing for. We will be changed so that we long to be pure; to be free from sin so we are holy; something other than what this world makes out of people with its foolish 4-letter words. It's time to come home. Come be a son or daughter of Jesus...

LORD. KING. ...Jesus, The King of kings and The Lord of lords. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Some will willingly bow in adoring worship and praise. The rest will bow before this Creator they deny, this Savior they reject. They will not have joy as they unwillingly bow with rebellion spewing from them toward the One True God; the only God Whom IS. There are no other gods and there is no other God. Would they desire to be where this God they despise is? What is heaven for the first group, would be a hell for this second. The Lord is good. The King is God. Run to Him. Joy can only be found in Him. Joy. Him. Two 3-letter words.

That damned, cursed cross where God-with-us-in-the-flesh offered Himself to die for our sin, where He poured out His earthly life and blood to rescue us from sin and wrath due to our rebellion; that damned cross is what paves the way to JOY. Thanks be to Jesus and this relentlessly loving God Whom created and pursues us.

Can we change? Can we learn a new way of thinking and doing? Do we have a real hope for joy? What will you do or think differently now that you have dealt with "joy" and other 4-letter words?