Author Archives: Richard Clinton

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About Richard Clinton

My name is Richard Clinton. I began a journey of learning about God in 2011, but did not fully surrender to Christ until January 2015. I began this blog in 2012 and it has evolved continually since then as my faith has evolved and grown and I’ve walked closer with God. My writing is through this page comes in a desire to seek the lost and provide inspiration through the Four Streams that are brought out in John Eldredge’s book, “Waking The Dead.”. As John laid out in his book, the Four Streams derive from the Four Streams through which Christ offered life in Discipleship, Counseling, Healing, and Warfare. I will continue writing in these areas of our faith and life. On the personal side, I reside in Georgia and I am married to my beautiful wife Amber and together we have 3 awesome kids. My life is all about my family and providing the best I can for them and also being there for each of them. 4 Stream Living came about as I was walking closer with God and I felt His Spirit calling me to do more with my life. I knew I was thirsty for more and God had a calling for me. I have spent my entire working life building a career in the corporate world toward what would be deemed as success. I was fully self focused on worldly successes. Standing on a mountain top in Colorado in January 2015, I completely surrendered my life to Christ and God has completely transformed my life. It has reflected in my writing and God has led me to awaken the desire to seek the lost through my writing and through counseling ministry, which I am now schooling for. Irenaeus declared that “The glory of God is man fully alive.” I am now coming alive as I have declared to live the unscripted life to follow God and live for Christ NO MATTER THE COST.

I Can Learn Something New!!!

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I’ve often joked before that I feel like I will be in school for the rest of my life.  I’ve already been in college on some level for over half of my married life.  Makes me feel like Pauly Shore in the move “Son In Law” where he says, “It’s cool…I’ve majored in almost everything.”  While learning never ends at any point, how much more can spend in the academic world.  Being here at Liberty University this week has shown me one cool fact.  I can actually learn something new.  This comes from not just the learning in the lecture sessions, but sitting down and actually doing real and raw counseling sessions with my fellow classmates has been tremendous.

From the very first session, there was a sense of calm about it all.  It was just a short 5 minute practice session with the person sitting next to me in class, but getting into the heart of it all helped me to realize that yes, I can actually do this.  It was an amazing feeling to sit there in the practice sessions those first couple of days and get to practice.  I got the chance to first be in the client seat, which gave me empathy for the people I will be counseling and understanding on some level what they are going through.  It was a great experience.

On night two, I met with two other classmates who are considered my triad and we had to conduct the first of 3 video recorded counseling sessions.  Knowing I was on video definitely added an element of nerves to the experience.  It was a longer 15 minute session as well, which in that first situations just seemed to go on and on.  When I had to go back and watch the session, I could see areas I did well, but certainly see where the nerves effected me.

Coming to today, we had to conduct our second video session.  Wow…what a difference after seeing myself the first time and learning from the valuable feedback from my classmates as well as guidance from my awesome professor.  The smoothness of the sessions and being able to allow the client to really get into the heart of the issues.  It was tremendous and then on top of that, 15+ minutes flew by like it was nothing because I was more relaxed by it all.

As I sit here at Panera Bread eating dinner right now and look over everything and ponder over it, this led me to realize, hey, I can learn something new.  I can actually do this and as I learn my grove will be able to do it well.  First my first week of counseling anyone in a formal setting, it’s impressive to see how far things have moved.  Especially realizing that from all of the reading, all of the theory, I don’t need to over complicate it.  The basics are much simpler than you realize when you get your thoughts out of the way and just stay present with the person.

This brings a lot of excitement.  This week has also helped further reaffirm in my heart that God has me right where I am supposed to be.  I move into the final day of Intensive and beyond with greater confidence.  In my mind I constantly here the words, “I’m walking with the confidence of ten men.”  It’s definitely a Holy Spirit led journey and I walk tall, or as tall as I can :), to the next chapters.

Brain Fried and Confidence Building

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What an incredible start to the week here at Liberty University for the first of my on campus intensive courses.  As I wrote in my last post, before coming here, I had no idea what to expect.  While I was amped up and excited, I was also quaking with in my boots not knowing what I was going to encounter.  Now I sit in my hotel room after completing my second day here.  I can honestly say, that although my brain is fried with all of the learning and work, my confidence level continues to grow.  As I’ve shared, counseling is a new realm for me.  I did not know how I would be actually sitting down and working with someone, but this week, so far, has showed me that I can do this and that God has me right where he wants me.

Talk about a nerve wracking experience sitting in front of people I just met and having their share their story and their struggles with me.  While, of course, I’m still learning this process and starting with the basics, I was really surprised just how easily so of this stuff has already to come.  It’s like God has used a lifetime of experiences and interactions to prepare me for this time and this real purpose.

I made an observation today during our practice sessions before having to actually video a real session.  That is, for one, I’m not alone in this journey.  There are 65 others here on the same journey for all different reasons and purposes, but all God led.  The other is that through all of our unique pains and struggles, God has used each of our struggles in unique ways to pull us back to Him and to live a life driven by Him.  We’re all at different places in our journey, spiritually.  There are many here younger than me, some my age, and then others that are older.  We are from all walks of life, but all called to help people.  We can fix people, but we can help lead them in to the healing they are seeking to find

I’m pumped about the rest of the week.  I’m sure by Friday, I’ll be ready to just sleep for a week, but at the same time, I eagerly wait for the next step of this God led journey.  As I wrote today, during class, it’s all in God’s hands for here on out.

Picture I took over Liberty after team sessions

Led on Another Adventure

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Tomorrow, I will hit the road to embark on a new leg of this journey.  I will head up to Liberty University in Virginia for a campus intensive for the next week getting to some of the theory and processes in counseling I have studied about into practice.  It’s a huge part of this journey as I continue to learn the ins and outs of being a professional counselor.  While I’m extremely excited about this trip, the learning, and experience, I told Amber this afternoon that I’m also shaking on the inside with fear.  It’s not fear of the trip, while I hate leaving Amber and the kids to go out of town, but rather, it’s another journey into the unknown.  I look forward to it, but part of me is filled with fear as I continue to follow God’s lead.  As I’ve shared before, this is a complete life change for me and my family, so moving deeper into the unknown definitely leaves anxieties.

It’s amazing, however.  Not only is my wife so supportive and encouraging of me, but this week, I’ve received so much encouragement from people, which also fills me with with confidence.  A lot of the encouragement comes from people I’ve just met or talked to in passing usually, but this past week, I found myself engaged in deeper conversations with people at church and even at my gym in the mornings, and the encouragement about it all has been tremendous.  It fills me with greater and greater confidence that I am truly following where the Lord is leading.

I come back to a real significant truth.  Coming to a point in my life where I am completely depended on the Lord, allows me to see that trying to find significance and meaning and purpose in life in anything outside of Christ only leads to emptiness.  That’s where I was before, trying to find all my significance in life in completely self-driven aspirations.  Since, I turned all of this around, it’s been amazing and the Lord continues to amaze me each day with the people He has allowed me to encounter to and the direction He continues to lead me.

This is a short post, but I saw all of that to say this.  Everyday from here on is a new adventure.  I continue into the unknown, but I walk with the confidence of being made new and being alive in Christ.  While there is some fear of the unknown, I move forward confidently, knowing that I am now led by the Holy Spirit and each step continues to sanctify me in Christ and will help me to prayerfully lead others to find their restoration in Christ through this work.  I’ll share about the experience after I return.  Praise God for all He continues to bless us with.

Never Knew How Lost I Was

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This year, I came to an amazing realization about my life.  I was lost.  I was desperately lost and wandering through each day unsure of myself.  I was coming to know God more steadily as I’ve written a great deal about lately, but still unsure.  Was I truly made new in Christ?  I really didn’t know answer for some time.  I knew that in years past, the answer was no.  Then something happened and God took a hold of my life and my heart on a level that I had never experienced before.  It started while sitting in a Bible study with our mens ministry at my church.  My heart was pierced and I realized I had wandered so far alone that I was just going to continue staying lost if I stayed that way.  A few weeks later, the whole world changed for me.  My view of life, my view of my faith, everything changed.

Until all of this happened, I never knew just how lost I truly was.  It was until I fully surrendered my life that it all became clear.  God showed me where I was off track, pulled me into my pain and brokenness and allowed me the chance to repent and renounce all of that and allow for Christ to restore me as He came to do.

It’s a truly amazing feeling when all of this happens; when your life is taken by storm and Christ opens our eyes (the blind see), opens our ears (the deaf hear), and you come alive and restored (heal the brokenhearted).  The clarity of life is amazing at this point and you truly begin to see that your old and false self for what it truly is.  Becoming a sold out follower of Jesus Christ was and is the only way to truly find your way again and live.

I was talking with a couple of brothers this week, one at service Sunday and then at the gym one morning this week.  We were talking about the desperate need of so many for counseling and restoration.  So many people all around us and some of you reading this may be included, are desperately lost.  You may have some idea of who Christ is, but you don’t fully know Him or have not opened the door to let Him into your heart (I stand at the door and knock).  These types of conversations have allowed me to continue seeing that God is moving me in the right direction to help lead people to discover their brokenness and that they are lost, and be able to find the real healing that is only available in Christ.

I never truly knew how lost I was until I truly found God and I allowed the restoration of Christ.  Wandering through this world without that relationship will only lead to emptiness in the end.  It’s a Truth that none of us are above.  Fortunately there is hope in Christ for ALL who come to Him.

 

Understanding The Flawed Motives

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There is motive and motivation that drives nearly every aspect of our decisions and directions.  Motivation can impact our family life, our careers, our spiritual choices, and so much more.  I’ve written about this before, but reading this week and then in conversations I have had, it reminded me again about the importance of understanding our motivations behind everything we do.  Something we all have difficulty with is allowing our motivations to be driven by anything outside of relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  This is certainly a flaw in my life that I have had to come to terms with and still struggle with and I know I will continue to struggle with throughout the course of my life.  The problem here lies in the fact in our fallen nature, and with so much to tempt us in this world, it is so easy to strive to seek having our needs net apart from a relationship with with God through Jesus Christ.

In his book, “Effective Biblical Counseling,” Larry Crabb explains that motivation is “the drive or urge to meet our needs.”  It is that sense of momentum that impels us to do something to become significant and secure. As a fallen people we experience an acute, keen desire to be significant secure.”  Simple stated we are all filled deep down a sense of longing and need.  We know there is something out there we need to fill that need to help us feel significant and secure.

In this world it is everywhere.  We may tend to feel secure in our work and career and believe that striving to continually earn more will show significance to your life.  Believe me, this is where I was for a long time.  For married couples, it could be trying to find significance with your spouse and thinking you need to keep doing things to make them love you.  Crabb gives a great example of this.  Even in the church, we may find significance in getting ourselves involved in every aspect of what is going on and allowing people to take notice of your works.

Now, I am not saying there is anything wrong with career advancement, anything wrong with doing things for your spouse, or anything wrong with heavy church involvement.  Those are not the problems.  The problem here in can lie in the motivations behind that.  Is the motivation driven for self or is it driven out of a sheer desire to glorify Christ in your life.  Proverbs 16:2 says, “All ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.”  James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”  Lastly, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:1, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

Our motivations drive our lives in many ways and if the motives are not right and are not centered on our faith in Christ, which for one is called sin, then we need to do some serious re-evaluating ourselves.  Like I mentioned, I had to do some real evaluating of my life.  For a long time, I found my significance and security in career advancement.  Building my experience and education so that I could make a higher income and give my family more.  You know what I found in that? Emptiness.  Why?  Because the motivation was wrong.  It was all built around me and what I wanted and thought I needed to do.

Now moving into a life as a Christian counselor, once again, I had to check my motives.  Was I doing this because I was stuck and wanted an escape or was it really driven on faith and the desire to truly glorify God and fulfill the Great Commission making disciples for Christ through helping people find their significance in Him and healing and restoration through Him alone.  I cannot heal people and I know that.  I can only help lead them to the one that can provide the real healing and restoration.  The same thing that I found through Christ and is available to everyone.

I’ve had to do some evaluating of myself nearly everyday to ensure my motives are in line with my faith.  I pray every morning to have my actions and thoughts centered on Christ. With each passing day, I realize that God is leading me and now being centered on Him, I can follow Him as my motivations are now centered on Him. Is this the case for every part of my life? No.  I have to continually check my motives in everything.  We all do.  Understand the results that flawed, self-driven motivations bring.  Real significance and security in this life is not possible apart from a relationship through Christ.  Trying to seek it through worldly things will lead to emptiness and deeper brokenness.  This is another part of the reason why I believe God is leading me as a counselor.  So many have found this emptiness through self-reliance and need to be led differently.  Having been there bares a strong testimony.

So I’ll close with this, motives drive us.  We need to closely evaluate what really drives us in our desire of significance and security in this life.  Don’t let a self-driven life be your motivation.  Instead, seek your motivations through your faith in Christ and let Him be the driver of your motives.

“We have a Father, and He cares about our internal world – issues of motive, issues of fear, issues of validation.”  – John Eldredge

Four Years of Continued Growth

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Four years ago today, I made a decision, that while it may seem trivial to some, began to change the course of my life.  I began to make it daily mission to read through the entire Bible.  I started with one of those One Year Bible plans, where you read through a few chapters, OT and NT, each day.  I was 33 years old and felt I needed to finally learn something beyond the standard stories I learned in Sunday School growing up.  It was time to truly get a real sense of God’s Word and learn all that He reveals to us there.

So the mission began.  Morning after morning, I logged into my Samsung phone or tablet, and would read.  Some mornings, I plugged it up in my truck and listened on the ride to the office.  I learned a lot that first time through.  I was able to finally know more of the stories and more of the details, that I did not have a clue about, or heard others talk about without any idea of what they were referring too.

One year later, after that first time through, I decided to do it again.  Like reading any other book, often times, you miss a great deal the first time through.  This time, I learned more and absorbed more.  It seemed like with each day, God had something new to reveal, so I stayed intentional in it.  After that 2nd year, there was a new tug on my heart.  I began to read in a way the 3rd year that allowed me to begin linking OT with NT.  Prophesy to fulfillment, etc.  My eyes began to open more and my heart continued to change as I was seeing the world differently.

I look back on where it all began and it is absolutely amazing to me, to see the continued work that God has done on my heart.  I wasn’t going to listen to the ear ticklers, I was not going to let the wind sway me in one direction or another any longer.  Everything I learned, I wanted to be God revealed whether in His Word or through my heart from the Holy Spirit.  This growth continues too.  I am made new in Christ and the rest of my life will be spent learning more and getting to know God on a deeper and more intimate level.  He desires that intimacy with all of us.

Paul said in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your mind, so that you may prove that the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  My life has truly been transformed and I strive to live like this each day so that the light of the Lord is shining through me.  This is where continued growth comes in.  I’m not going to get this right everyday.  I know that.  I am at war with my old self and the enemy each day, but I am strengthened with the armor of God each day now.  With each day, we spend in His word, the stronger we become.

Ephesians 4:23-24 says “…Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”  Learning this has been a huge part of my life.  I have a new and authentic self in Christ, now.  Knowing Him, I no longer needed to be ruled by my false self and my old nature.

I share all of this to share this.  Each of us grow, spiritually in different ways.  Even in my own home, my wife and kids grow uniquely in their way.  I try to guide them, but it is up to them in the end.  I challenge you, if you struggle with growth, start somewhere.  Start with just reading the Word.  Learn to be intentional about that.  It may take a while to go through, but do it.  After you read it, read it again.  Then you can began to put the pieces together and start diving deeper and deeper.  My pastor, Tim, challenged me this week on how to now dive even deeper though expository study, and that is where I head next.

It all starts somewhere folks.  Trust me, just starting with taking the time to read, will move you in the right direction.  You have to want to though.  I promise you the work God will begin to do on you will be immense.  It may take time, but the more intentional you get about it, the more He draws you in and the more you will get to know Him and build real intimacy with HIm.  It allowed me with real authenticity to just say to God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), “I Love You!”  This is my challenge to you.  Dive in.

In his album ’13 Letters,’ Rapper, Trip Lee has a song called Dig In and the hook says..

Bible, check; spiral, check, highlighter check
Now dig, dig
You want to know Him? Got to dig, dig. You want to know Him? Got to dig, dig

That’s where it begin.  Just start digging.  You will get to know Him more than you could have hoped for and the learning and growth never ends.

Never Be Stagnant… Be Ready

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Everywhere we turn today, the world seems to heading on a downward spiral in many different ways.  I believe the closer we get to the return of Christ, which seems to be drawing nearer, things get worse.  The world has has come to a point where evil is taking hold into every segment of society.  As we see day in and day out, our Christian faith is continually under attack.  If you dare to stand in public and declare your faith to the world, you are going to be ridiculed, mocked, and attacked.  It’s the way this world has come as the enemy continues to run rampant and people continually fall away from any sense of faith, or they follow false doctrines and teachings that draw them away from the faith.

I was pointed to an blog post by a gentleman named John Wesley Reid (click to read) that talked about things that Christian millennials need to stop doing.  It was very telling as to the state this world has come.  Tolerance, neglecting theology, drawing to the world, bashing the church, and declining accountability.  From the age of the baby boomers, to gen X, to the millennials, this world has lost a sense of itself and of true faith.  Look at me…it took me 33 years to get a real thirst of learning about God and another 3 years or so to finally come on fire for my faith.  The world and the heartaches, temptations, and everyday garbage, pulled me away.  I was too focused on success and making more money, to know that God had a different plan for me.

In our teaching this past Sunday, we dove into 2 Timothy 4:1-5.  In verse 2, Paul calls on us to “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (NASB). We are all called to continue sharing the word of God, just as Paul tells Timothy and always be ready to do so.    The NLT translation says, Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not.  As we were in the teaching, never lose your sense of urgency, never be stale, stagnant, & complacent.

Unfortunately, too many of us in the church have become stale and stagnant.  We are so caught up in the pains, temptations, and struggles of this world, to even worry about our faith except on Sunday.  How many of us actually look at our Bible or sink to our knees at any other point of the week.  There’s a line from a Luke Bryan song that says, “we cuss on them Mondays, pray on them Sundays.”  Not ripping on Luke, but the line shows a lot of truth in the way people approach faith and life.  It’s a Sunday thing, if at all.  For me it was a never thing, then became an occasional Sunday thing, before it finally became an every single day thing.  I have to start my day in prayer and then in the Word.  It sets the tone for everything that day.  Doesn’t me I’m perfect, but it helps me to focus on what is important and keeps God the center piece of the story.

Be ready…Be prepared.  That’s what we have to do know.  Get to know the Word and in the face of all the chaos of this world, in the face of the certain struggles we will face, in the face of our brokenness, we will be prepared, no matter what to stand on the Truth of our faith through every facet of our day.

In Verse 3 Paul says, “For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” (NASB).  NLT says, “For a time is coming when people will not longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.”  That time is upon us.  People want their ears tickled with what they want to hear only.  We have to be bold in standing on the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not the prosperity gospel or other false teachings that the enemy uses to cloud us and our thinking and draw us away from Christ, from repentance, from sanctification in Christ, from healing, from real restoration in Christ.  We cannot compromise our faith and what is Truth.  Be ready always.

“Be Bold in Proclaiming. Urgent in your approach. Uncompromising in convictions. Patient in style. And: Intelligent in understanding and delivery.” – Chuck Swindoll

A Lifetime of Growth

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There is a common misconception of Christians that even used to dwell in my mind at one time.  This is the thought that once one comes to faith in Christ then they have figured things out.  They are good to go now and should not have a life of struggles and pains any longer.  I guess it’s not that I thought of them this way, but more they saw themselves in this light.  Over the past 4 years, as I began to slowly walk closer with God, He has began to show me knew things and give me new perspectives and an understanding that this is not even close to being the case.

In my reading this week, I ran across a great statement from Larry Crabb which states, “Just a quick glance beneath the surface of our life makes it clear that more is going on than loving God and loving others. It requires only a moment of honest self-reflection to realize that no matter how much we may have already changed, we still have a long way to go.”  This statement helped to cement a new belief and perspective that I had come to learn over the last few years.  This that we life and growth does not end with accepting Christ or Baptism.

Coming to Christ does not mean that we are now perfect people do no wrong or look at ourselves in this light.  Granted there may be some who do feel this way, but this is not the case.  We instead have come to grips with the reality that we do not have all of the answers and that this life is not about us and our own story, but it is about God and his epic story and what He desires for each of us, which is holiness.

In our lives and because of our inherent fallen nature, holiness is something that we will never be able to achieve in this world.  We can start leaning that way, but our fallen nature will always right back down at one point or another.  It’s a part of who we and the nature that we have.

God gave us something awesome though.  Through Christ, we are justified to seek Him and be sanctified throughout our lives to reach holiness and glorification.  So how does this happen?  Through study, prayer, fellowship, and discipleship.  All of these pieces fit together to allow us to grow throughout the course of our lives and to be sanctified in Christ over the course of our lives.

Just as Larry Crabb’s stated, while we walk in this life, no matter how much movement and change we’ve undertaken, we still have a long way to go.  None of us will ever have all of the answers.  None of us will ever make all of the right decisions all of the time in life.  However, we can all choose the direction of our lives.  Humble ourselves in understanding that we are still fallen and that we can never grow enough through this life.  As John Eldredge  has stated, “We get to live the life of Christ through a thousand small choices” and those choices run the full course of our lives to define who we are in Him.

Piercing the Heart with a Double-Edged Sword

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While reading last night for my counseling studies, I came across some great writing about how our relationships with God or rather understanding the distortions one may have in a relationship with God, can help to guide someone to building a deeper and more intimate two-way relationship with Him in Christ.  When we stay living in our brokenness and can’t build on that relationship of truly getting to know God and living in His presence, it makes it difficult to find any of the healing that Christ has offered or the life He offered.  We stay broken.

Hebrews 4:12 says “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  When I was reminded of and read this verse, it reminded me of the power that being in the Word of God, both his written Word and His Word in our hearts, can have over our lives.  There is so much Truth and so much power in getting to know God in His Word and then allowing Him to come into our hearts and speak to us in our hearts.  When this begins to take place, the transformation of the heart and of your life is huge.  What I am learning is that for counseling individuals helping to guide someone to this understanding can be huge in their own healing and restoration.

I see this transformation in people in my life just as I have seen it in my own life.  I have been reading and studying God’s Word for about 4 years now.  Through that time I was sharpening one side of the sword.  I was building knowledge and understanding of God and who He truly is.  In the past year, I began to sharpen the other side of the sword as I began to really let Christ into my heart and opening the door of my heart to be able to hear the Lord and understand on a deeper level who I was as a son of God and understand the places in my heart that I needed to confront and seek the Lord’s healing.

Discovering this, my life was transformed.  I know that this is possible for others as well.  When you allow that double edged sword to sharpen completely and enter your heart, WOW!  It transforms your life.  It’s a transformation that can never be ignored again and can only get sharper and sharper the more you walk with God in His Word and in the heart.

WAH_Sword

Be Joyful Always

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I was finishing up my current reading through 1 Thessalonians this morning.  Every time I pick up God’s Word, He tends to reveal something new to me, or at least remind me of something I may have gotten away from.  In chapter 5, there are, as always, so great teachings, from being prepared for the day of the return of Jesus and how He will come like a thief in the night to needing discernment in testing the spirit of everything in order to avoid evil.

One verse that stuck out to me was verse 16 where Paul says to “Always be joyful.”  That seems like such a cliche statement nowadays.  Be joyful, be happy, or as the song goes, “Don’t worry….Be happy.”  I thought about this statement more and meditated on it a little deeper this morning.  I believe there is a reason this is just a 3 word verse.  There is so much power in that statement and where we stand in the faith as children of God through Jesus Christ.

Always be joyful.  In the world we now live in, this seems like something that is just not realistic.  We see pain and suffering unfold before us in the news and we see it in our own lives and with those we love around us.  In the midst of all of this struggle, how can we be joyful? What is there to be joyful about?

The answer to this question is very simple….Jesus Christ.  He is the reason we can stand in this world and be joyful.  Why?  Because of the victory that Jesus has already won over our lives.  The Fall of mankind came just 3 chapters into Genesis.  From that point, God did not abandon us.  Through our fallen state, God had and has orchestrated a plan to restore man to the glory we were meant for as His image bearers.  He has been orchestrating our rescue.  The great invasion to execute this plan came when God took on a robe of flesh in Jesus setting aside deitic privileges in order to walk with man.  Having given his life for us on the cross and being raised to life again and ascending to the right hand of God with all authority in heaven and earth, Jesus was and is victorious.  He has won the battle for our restoration.  We, however, have the free will to decide whether we accept this and follow Him or choose to live for our selves seeking this world and all it offers, which is very temporary.

We can also choose to walk in the victory that Christ has won.  Now, because this world is still fallen and Jesus has yet to return to finally fully restore creation and man, we will continue to have pain and struggles in this life.  We will have worries, doubts, and fears.  We will lose loved ones, we will fall to addictions, we will turn to the less wild lovers of this world.  It’s now etched in our nature because in the flesh we still hold the fallen nature that came from Adam.  Christ is the second Adam and the new man.  He is what we will be restored to when we reach our inheritance in the Kingdom and at the wedding feast..

Paul says in Romans 5:1 says that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ because we have been justified by our faith.  As I have said before and I learned this from reading Larry Crabb, that we will never reach full happiness in this life, but we are justified because of faith in Christ to seek Christ and be sanctified in this life until we are glorified when we enter the Kingdom.  We can be joyful because we are justified.  We are victorious in Christ.  We will continue to have battles through out our walk in this life and in the flesh, but if we keep a fix on Jesus, we can remember to be joyful.

Verse 17 in 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us to “Never stop praying.”  This is a key to how we can keep our hearts fixed on Jesus.  Getting in the practice of praying each day and meditating on the Word.  Not just reading to read, but reading to get deeper understanding.  This will help to keep a constant reminder of the victory Christ has won for us and we can be joyful each day in that and armor ourselves to be able to withstand the spiritual battles we will face in this life.

“Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” – C.S. Lewis

“Joy is not necessarily the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God.” – Sam Storms