The End Result Is Joy - Daily Devotional February 11th, 2010

Daily Bible Reading - Genesis 44, Mark 14, Job 10, Romans 14

The End Result Is Joy

Today in Romans 14 we find one of my life's scriptures and there is so many great things we can learn from it. Romans 14:17 says, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit". Here we see that if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to orchestrate our lives that we have righteousness, peace and the end result being JOY.

I love this verse because I think all of us want joy and more joy in our lives. The cool thing is that if we understand the Bible we know that according to Psalm 116:11 "in his presence is the fullness of joy". If we want joy and more joy in our lives we need to understand how to get into His presence and allow the Holy Spirit to orchestrate more of our lives. I believe if we do this we will be less stressed, less frustrated and truly experience that joy.

There are many principles we could apply here but I want to look at Romans 14:17-18 and see that the end result is joy. In Romans 14:17 we see two things happening before the joy comes. We see righteousness and we see peace. Reading further into Romans 14:18 we see this principle reiterated as it says, "Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men". This shows us that in order to have the end result of Joy we must:
1) Be in right standing with God (righteousness). We must make sure that there is no sin in our life and that we are allowing Him to point out character issues that we need to work on. The best way to do this is to make sure we are in the scriptures daily and maintaining a healthy prayer life.
2) We must make sure we are in right standing with people (peace). The easiest way to be at peace with people is to make sure that you have number 1 done. If we are allowing righteousness to take place in our lives than being at peace with other people is much easier. The Holy Spirit will show us those we have an offense against and encourage us to go and make things right with them. We see this principle again in Hebrews 12:14, ""Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord".

As we apply these two principles in our lives the end result will always be joy.

How is God wanting to produce righteousness in your life today and who are some people you need to make peace with? I assure you that if you do it the end result will be joy. So if you are frustrated, stressed or just lacking a little joy trying the above valuable lessons will get you to the end result you are seeking.

Tomorrows Bible Reading - Genesis 45, Mark 15, Job 11, Romans 15

Dream Big
Ben