“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)
Continuing the question from yesterday’s blog. “Where do we learn the joy that Paul found overflowing? Consider now Four more sources to the three we studied yesterday. It comes through faith, that is, from believing God. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” Romans 15:13. Fifth, it comes from seeing and knowing Jesus as Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always” Philippians 4:4. Sixth, it comes from each other, from supportive believers who work hard to help us focus on these sources of joy, rather than deceitful circumstances. “We work with you for your joy” 2 Corinthians 1:24. Seventh, it comes from the sanctifying effects of suffering trials and tribulations. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” Romans 5:3–4. If we are not yet like Paul when he says, “I am overflowing with joy,” Jesus calls us to be and so does Paul. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1. And for most of us this is a call to earnest prayer. Because a life of joy in the Holy Spirit is a supernatural life.
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Material for this blog was gleaned from Dr John Piper’s Desiring God
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