What a thought! At this very moment, Christ is in heaven preparing joy for me. "In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?" (John 14:2) And what characterizes this place He prepares? "In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (Psalm 16:11) Jesus is preparing joy for me.
And He is also preparing me for joy. His Spirit is working to keep me from falling away, and the end result of that persevering power is joy. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 24-25) He is empowering my servanthood, and the end result of that empowered love is joy. "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'" (Matthew 25:21) He is sustaining me through sovereignly ordained sorrow, which is designed to enlarge my joy. "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith... may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." (1 Peter 1:6-9) All these verses point towards the glory of God as the highest goal, but the glory of God seems to be inexorably linked to my joy. So in every moment of every day, God is glorifying Himself as He prepares me for joy. Good news!
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