Reformed Theology and JOY

Challies pointed to a great article that I encourage you to check out:

It reminded me of a prayer request that one of our church members made during a concert of prayer last year …

She thanked God for the many blessings we enjoy in our church—Christ-centered preaching, the sacraments, servant headship by our leaders, corporate worship, genuine fellowship. But then she also prayed for all of us, individually, in our families, and in our church, that we would have joy.

Her prayer request has stuck with me and I think about it a lot. Some days I feel like so many of us are right on the tippy-top of a pyramid, balanced in such a way that we COULD tip right on over into JOY. But some of us, instead, just get stuck there; hanging on. Grateful. But not joyful.

The author ends his article this way:

“In the Reformed church we need to do a better job of emphasizing this spiritual joy in our own lives, in our congregations and in our pulpits. We must remind our people that, just like our righteousness, spiritual joy is not something we can create or produce. It is an alien joy. It comes from our communion with God and it is only made possible through the propitiation of Jesus Christ. We must remind God’s people that it is God who sovereignly bestows this gift upon his children. We must tell them that this joy is so powerful that it can be experienced even during our trials (James 1:2) and at all times (Philippians 4:4). We must commit ourselves to proclaiming to God’s people the “benefits of the covenant of grace.” This is exactly what I plan to do in 2010. I plan on emphasizing this Reformed joy in my preaching in 2010. I hope you will consider joining me in reminding God’s people that the joy of the Lord is their strength!”

To that, I say, “AMEN!”

How I pray that we will all REJOICE in our ALIEN JOY in 2010.
Secured for us by Another.
 Regardless of circumstances.

(Did you know that irregardless is not a real word? 😉 )

Happy, blessed, joyful Wednesday to you all!

Your friend,
Tara B.

PS
Soph is feeling much better. My FaceBook update for today even showed her throwing us a little “Pez Party”:

And I’m doing great re: bleeding (none), but OH! I forgot how painful it is to have metal removed from bone. When pain killers and ice don’t help, you know it’s bad. But all in all, we’re doing well. And thinking about joy! 🙂