“Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.” - 2 Corinthians 7:4 (NASB)
We will find our promises not so much in our selected verse but in those which answer our questions today. What is extraordinary about the example the Apostle Paul left us is his durable joy? Even when things were very difficult to live with Paul proclaimed his joy. Where do we learn this and where did it come from for Paul? First, directly from Jesus Christ. Jesus said: “Blessed are you when people hate you. . .Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.”Luke 6:22-23 (ESV) Experiencing troubles for Jesus compound our interest in heaven — which lasts a lot longer than earth. Second, we also learn this from the Holy Spirit, “The fruit of the Spirit is. . .joy” Galatians 5:22 (ESV). “You received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit” 1 Thessalonians 1:6 (ESV). A third source is our belonging to the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” Romans 14:17 (ESV). There four are more to look at and rejoice over…Tomorrow.
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Material for this blog was gleaned from Dr John Piper’s Desiring God
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