Beware! (of Good Weather and Easter Baskets)

It's been about a year since I wrote a blog, and I have a lot of things to do right now. But this is important.

Yesterday, here in Eau Claire, it was a beautiful (though windy) 75 degree day. The first day this year that it has really felt like summer. It was wonderful. I was happy. Good weather has a way of doing that. People were outside, enjoying the day. They were playing golf, going for walks, riding their bikes, and smiling all the while. What a gift!

And I was among them. Enjoying the day.

But it's a dangerous thing! We can be such shallow creatures. I tend to be a very lazy creature. There's so much to do, but many of those things are hard. Many of those things involve work. It's easier to go play golf, then go to Caribou and drink coffee while wasting time on the internet.

But it can be much more insidious than that. The truth is that this world is not going to last. All the physical things we enjoy are only temporary. The things that are permanent are the things that we can't see - the spiritual things.

Some people are atheists. They go around the world happily (or sadly) ignoring the possibility of spiritual things and trying to make the most of this physical existence, all while hoping that when they die it is really the end.

Everyone else correctly concludes that death is probably not the end, and they have at least a vague understanding that there are some non-physical things going on. This is where the danger of good weather (and Easter baskets) comes in.

My good friend Brian paraphrased a quote to me the other day from C.S. Lewis. The quote was from "The Screwtape Letters, " which is a series of letters from a fictional demon to his apprentice demon, Screwtape. Screwtape was working hard to keep one of his assigned humans from coming to know God and from understanding who Jesus was.

But he had a problem...

Apparently his human had heard some Truth, and he was beginning to think about it. He was coming closer to knowing who God is and closer to understanding the very purpose of his existence. Our demon Screwtape was beginning to be very concerned.

He was thinking of doing something extreme, from what I understand - some sort of spiritual attack. But his teacher, brilliantly, warned him, "No. If you do something like that he is more likely to realize that the spiritual things are true - that there is really something to these things he is thinking about. What you should do instead is just remind him that it's almost time for lunch and that it's nice outside." That's the death blow.

"Just remind him that it's almost time for lunch and that it's nice outside."

How often has such a thought derailed me from doing things that are eternally important! When we focus on enjoying these physical pleasures and gifts at the expense of thinking about spiritual things, and enjoying God himself - beware!

John Piper, a famous pastor from Minneapolis, said once "The good things in life will keep more people out of heaven than the bad things." He was teaching on Luke 14:16-24 where a man hosted a great banquet and different people decide to not respond to the invitation because they just bought a field, or just bought some oxen, or just got married. These are good things, and God means for us to enjoy them! But the point is that there are much, much, more important things, and we have to get things in perspective. You have been invited!  Drop your things and clear your schedule. Come to the banquet :-)

As we approach Easter you may be, like me, expecting to get an Easter basket full of delicious chocolatey goodies. And hopefully, you'll get to spend time with family and friends. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful.

But don't miss the point. The point is about God and his self-sacrificing plan to pay for our sins with the life of his only Son, Jesus Christ, who was afterwards resurrected!  It's about this God that is so much more pleasurable and important than all the good things we will experience in this life put together.

His greatness literally cannot be exaggerated.

So don't get distracted by the blessings you have in this season. Don't let the enemy win by tricking you! You're capable of more than that with God's help. Spend some extra time thinking about Jesus Christ, and his resurrection, and what that means for you. Do it today!

And enjoy, but beware, of good weather and Easter baskets.

Thanks for reading.

Gifts That Stay

A robust theology

Of our Christ, it teaches me

That true friends, good health, and wealth

Are not good exclusively

No - our hurts and trials, they too

When pain’s real and our doubts loom

Are producing things not seen

Treasures found outside our view

Yes, in suffering God is there

When pain causes hearts to tear

We’re vowed best eternal good

We’re vowed strong unceasing care

Trust through our great trials we sow

Causing precious faith to grow

Testing fire makes this gold pure

Bringing glow we’ll someday know

Deep cavernous truth indeed

But right balance is in need

Yet I have been only here

I am needing to be freed

So this morning I’ve been stopped

From fear of the hammer drop

Wrongly thinking blessings near

Benefit only when cropped

Really gifts in fullness bring

Joy to Him my glorious King

When received with grateful heart

And enjoyed with one that sings

See His words long written there

Joined with mine said now in prayer

Make these pleasures set apart

While my worries He will bear

He delights in my delight

And it takes his heart aflight

Jesus truly loves and gives

Joy that’s holy in his sight

So though God in wisdom may

Give a thing then take away

He stands mighty, eager, free

To give lovely gifts that stay

Thanks for reading.

We're a Total Mess

So - I was at church this morning. It was the end of the service and we were singing songs. I looked around and was really amazed for a moment that all of these people were believing in Jesus with me. That we were all singing to him in thanks for everything he did and continues to do. I was so grateful.

And my mind started to wonder...how did we all get here? All of these different people with different backgrounds and stories. Different parents and childhoods. Different scars and victories. The diversity is amazing.

But then - I started to think of the people who were not  here. So many people not attending any sort of Christ-centered gathering this week. It made me sad.

The thing is I know that there are many people more virtuous than us in homes nearby, within earshot of our jumbled and off-key voices. And so many of them don't know this Jesus. And they need him. Because though they are more virtuous than me, I'm not the standard - Christ is. And the stakes are high.

Mostly I just wish that all of those people would understand who we are and come to join us, because here's the big secret:

We're a total mess.

I know these people. I've been walking with this church family for over four years and I love them dearly. But I'm not kidding, we do not have life figured out. We wake up every day with struggles. I see these two people who are in bitter relational disagreement, striving to mend the relationship with grace. I see this guy going through a divorce. I see this guy struggling with pornography. I see these guys playing six hours of video games a day when I know God built them for so much more. There is insecurity and doubt. There is emotional disconnection with God and with the church family.

Don't get me wrong. God is certainly here. And things are most assuredly better than they would be without his Spirit helping us all to think differently and act differently in response. God changes lives. He restores people and helps us to prefer Himself over our sin. Christians are to be growing more and more like the Christ our religion is named after, the his Spirit does that by changing us from the inside out.

But we are not all put together. There are churches like that. Where people are religious and pretend to have everything all buttoned up into a neat little package. Maybe the people there really are way better at life than me. Either way - I don't fit in there. I'm part of this mess.

All I'm saying is that I wish you were there. I hope that you know that church is not for the people who have it all together, but for us - who are living in reality. It's a place for us to be taught by people who have been around the block a few more times, who know God's design for life a little bit better. It's a place to receive God's Spirit to help us in our time of need. It's a place for us to be honest about how life is really going - good or bad.

MORE THAN ANYTHING, it's the place where we can come to celebrate the spiritual transaction that took place of that single Roman cross 2000 years ago. Where Christ took upon himself all the junk that separates us from God, and gave us his perfection. So that even though we're a total mess - we understand that by faith in Christ, "God has made perfect those who are being made holy."

Those who are being made holy.

We're not there yet - but by God's grace we are striving for it. Won't you join us?

Thanks for reading.

"I honestly thought I was going to die..."

I've never claimed, I don't think, to be sane all of the time, but I'm much more often coldly logical than I am anything else. Sunday, however, I had quite a bout of irrationality. And yet - I was thinking more clearly than ever.

To paint you a story, I've been working overnights, and Friday night after work (at 8am) I spent a few hours outside. When I got home I immediately started suffering from the worst allergy symptoms I've ever had. I got very little sleep that day because of them, worked again that night, and was up until 3:22pm (i'll explain) the following day.

I was still feeling terrible and had just taken some Benadryl* to go with the Allegra I had taken that morning. I was not doing well physically or emotionally. As I laid down to sleep for what I was hoping would be a good 10 hours, my throat constricted just a little bit (a little swollen and sore) and I had a sudden fear that it would close completely during my drug-induced coma and I would suffocate and die while I was sleeping. And that no one would think to check on me due to my abnormal sleep schedule.

Now, this wasn't just your run of the mill, random, crazy thought - I honestly thought I was going to die. My mind started racing through the people in my life, and how they would be affected. When was the last time I called my Mom? What about that friend living out of town whose phone call from last week I hadn't yet returned? What about my fiance of only four days? Could I calculate her devastation? My mind whirred and spun.

What was my life about? Last year when I started calculating the days since my birth at 10,000 - would this Sunday, my 10,359th day, be my final one? The unseen counter that was not counting up from birth but down till my future death - was that really at a mere 359 that day I started counting up from 10,000?

And I was scared. I was scared to die. And that surprised me because I know in whom I have believed and where my true citizenship lies.

I was being irrational, but I also saw things so clearly. I saw what was truly important in life. How do you really know what you would think about if you were dying - unless you really thought you were dying? What a strange blessing. What a significant revelation.

And what did it turn out was important to me in those moments? Relationships. People.

And I saw with clarity just how tragic life really is. It was all very startling. I even wrote an "if you wake up" note on my whiteboard, with a time signature: 3:22pm. I wrote it to try to remind myself that Christ deserved every moment of my life if I woke up, because he would be the ultimate and only reason I would be graced with more days to live. And I wrote it to communicate what I knew so clearly at that moment to whoever would go through my things and read if after I died.

I did sleep for 14 hours. . . but I woke up.
Praise God, I woke up.

Unfortunately I'm back to my usual self. I don't have that clear picture of what's important. My time and mental energy are being used to make sure my food is tasty, my mind is entertained, and my life is comfortable. My urgency in relationships is gone. Ultimately, I'm wishing that I could be irrational once again so that I could once again think clearly about the important things - the things that will endure forever.

Thanks for reading.


*It was actually a double dose of Children's Benadryl, but who's keeping track.

The Strange Glory of Ordinary Things

Three of ten resolutions by an American author and English professor named Clyde Kilby (1902-1986). 

"He would have said that Christ purchased new eyes for us as well as new hearts. His plea was that we stop being unamazed by the strange glory of ordinary things."

RESOLVED: I shall open my eyes and ears. Once every day I shall simply stare at a tree, a flower, a cloud, or a person. I shall not then be concerned at all to ask what they are but simply be glad that they are. I shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what Lewis calls their “divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic” existence.

RESOLVED: I shall not fall into the falsehood that this day, or any day, is merely another ambiguous and plodding twenty-four hours, but rather a unique event, filled, if I so wish, with worthy potentialities. I shall not be fool enough to suppose that trouble and pain are wholly evil parentheses in my existence, but just as likely ladders to be climbed toward moral and spiritual manhood.

RESOLVED: Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas that in due course I shall understand with joy as a stroke made by the architect who calls himself Alpha and Omega.


Thanks for reading.

Underneath everything in your life there's that...

Louis C.K. appeared on Conan O'Brien a couple nights ago and talked some about why he won't allow his daughters to have smart phones...He totally nailed it.

I appreciate a lot about what he says, not the least of which is his understanding of the necessity to just STOP - just stop. And think about life. He appears to be an atheist, and he holds that view very consistently, something many atheists don't do. I like that.

What I mean is that C.K. understands that, as he puts it, "underneath everything in your life there's that thing - that empty...forever empty. . . That knowledge that it's all for nothing and you're alone." When he says it, it's oddly hilarious, because it's something true that we can all relate to.

It's all for nothing and you're alone.

A consistent atheist must come to that conclusion. And that conclusion is bleak, hopeless, and depressing. But that's why I like C.K. and why I appreciate this video. He really gets that part of it. He even diagnoses our desires for constant entertainment, pornography, and gratuitous food consumption as mechanisms for us to escape the tragic reality we face without God.

I also like this video because it gives me a platform to talk about Christianity not as a religious impracticality, meant only for the moral or gullible, but as the answer to very real and practical questions about life. Faith in Christ's heaven as our future hope is the only way to erase the sadness talked about here in a deeply enduring way. All of our other coping mechanisms, including C.K.'s own as described in the video, are shallow and  temporary physiological fixes. They always leave us wanting.

So I agree with Louis C.K. here. Meet the sadness. "Let it hit you like a truck." But don't then make the mistake of constantly injecting your psyche with some figurative morphine to dull the pain. Pain is protection. And this sadness is like that. It's an alarm bell ringing in your soul. It's telling you that something is wrong. You need treatment to take away the pain at it's source. Otherwise you will go through life "kind of satisfied with your products, then you die." Alone.

If we die in our original state, we really will be alone, in outer darkness pounding on a door that no one will ever answer. But - if we believe the good news about Christ - we are united with Him and will not be alone. We will be with Him and all the other sinners he saved by his grace through his blood - forever.

Thanks for reading.

The Leavers

Selected excerpts from this article.

"So 20- and 30-somethings are leaving—but why? When I ask church people, I receive some variation of this answer: moral compromise. A teenage girl goes off to college and starts to party. A young man moves in with his girlfriend. Soon the conflict between belief and behavior becomes unbearable. Tired of dealing with a guilty conscience and unwilling to abandon their sinful lifestyles, they drop their Christian commitment. They may cite intellectual skepticism or disappointments with the church, but these are smokescreens designed to hide the reason. "They change their creed to match their deeds," as my parents would say.

I think there's some truth to this—more than most young leavers would care to admit.The Christian life is hard to sustain in the face of so many temptations. Over the past year, I've conducted in-depth interviews with scores of ex-Christians. Only two were honest enough to cite moral compromise as the primary reason for their departures. Many experienced intellectual crises that seemed to conveniently coincide with the adoption of a lifestyle that fell outside the bounds of Christian morality.

However, in many cases, moral compromise wasn't the whole story. For example, one friend has had distinctly postmodern misgivings...I also met leavers who felt Christianity failed to measure up intellectually...Others have been hurt by Christians...A sizable minority of leavers have adopted alternative spiritualities. A popular choice is Wicca. Morninghawk Apollo (who renamed himself as is common in Wiccan practice) discussed his rejection of Christianity with candor. "Ultimately why I left is that the Christian God demands that you submit to his will. In Wicca, it's just the other way around. Your will is paramount. We believe in gods and goddesses, but the deities we choose to serve are based on our wills."

In my interviews, I was struck by the diversity of the stories...What pushed them out? Again, the reasons for departing in each case were unique, but I realized that most leavers had been exposed to a superficial form of Christianity that effectively inoculated them against authentic faith. When sociologist Christian Smith and his fellow researchers examined the spiritual lives of American teenagers, they found most teens practicing a religion best called "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," which casts God as a distant Creator who blesses people who are "good, nice, and fair." Its central goal is to help believers "be happy and feel good about oneself."

Where did teenagers learn this faith? Unfortunately, it's one taught, implicitly and sometimes explicitly, at every age level in many churches. It's in the air that many churchgoers breathe, from seeker-friendly worship services to low-commitment small groups. When this naive and coldly utilitarian view of God crashes on the hard rocks of reality, we shouldn't be surprised to see people of any age walk away."

Thanks for reading.

RESOLVED

As a practice - I found it very helpful to make a list of resolutions today, giving my life a scope and creating a standard by which at the end of each day, I can work to judge and critique my actions and more clearly see how and where I can improve.

I won't share my list, but I will share with you a few of Jonathan Edwards' 70 Resolutions that I find especially admirable or challenging.

"“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. “

15. Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.

19. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour before I should hear the last trump.

24. Resolved, Whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavour to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

25. Resolved, To examine carefully and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it.

29. Resolved, Never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession which I cannot hope God will accept.

32. Resolved, To be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Prov 20:6. ‘A faithful man, who can find?’ may not be partly fulfilled in me.

37. Resolved, To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,—what sin I have committed,—and wherein I have denied myself;—also, at the end of every week, month, and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.

39. Resolved, Never to do any thing, of which I so much question the lawfulness, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

51. Resolved, That I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

53. Resolved, To improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Resolved, Whenever I hear anything spoken in commendation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, that I will endeavour to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

58. Resolved, Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.

69. Resolved, Always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723. "


I hope you will consider crafting a list of resolutions for yourself and then pray that God, by His power, will fulfill them, as you work in faith to glorify Christs' name in yourself, according to His grace. (2 Thes. 1:11-12)

Thanks for reading.

Fight the Good Fight

I urge you...

"Teaching doctrine that
does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
conceit,
an unhealthy craving for controversy,
quarrels about words,
envy,
dissension,
slander,
evil suspicions,
discontentment,
the love of money...

As for you, O man of God, flee these things

Pursue
righteousness,
godliness,
faith,
love,
steadfastness,
gentleness.

Fight the good fight of the faith.

Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I charge you in the presence of:
God, who gives life to all things,
and of
Christ Jesus,
who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach

until

the appearing of our Lord - Jesus Christ...
the blessed and only Sovereign
the King of kings
the Lord or lords
who alone has immortality
who dwells in unapproachable light
whom no one has ever seen or can see
To him be honor and eternal dominion.
Amen.

Grace be with you."

1 Tm 6:3-16

Thanks for reading.

Rejecting Christ or Christians?

Two paragraphs from This Article:

"My own period of doubt came not because the idea of God or miracles seemed wrong, but because God himself wronged me. That's how I saw it, at least. Though atheists may argue that the existence of a supreme being is impossible, their arguments often reveal a belief that God just doesn't behave as they think he should. In a debate, Christopher Hitchens complained about war and killing in the Old Testament. He said he wrote his book God Is Not Great in response to the murders in Muslim countries that followed the publishing of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. None of these are arguments against God's existence, but rather arguments against how God and especially his followers act."

"Atheists may have an arsenal of arguments against God or religion. But at heart, rejection of God seems not to be a purely logical choice against the possibility or desirability of God. Rather, it is often a rejection of God's people. Atheism's recent popularity should serve as a warning to us. Apologetics conferences and passionate rebuttals may have their place. Certainly we should be ready with reasons for our faith. But before we begin dueling on blogs and arming ourselves with television talking points, let's learn to see atheists not as deniers of God, but as wrestlers with him. And let's remember that their deepest arguments against belief are the people they're arguing with."

Thanks for reading.

Trendy Jesus

Interestingly to me, I find that Jesus is almost trendy is today's society. The majority of people believe in God and many people will say they like Jesus...or Jesus Rocks...or Jesus is my homeboy...or whatever. The more interesting part is that Jesus CHRIST is much less trendy. I don't hear people casually saying, I love the Christ. I love Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus. Anything like that. I feel like there is something to this.

Biblically, I checked it out, and in Paul's letters he refers to Jesus almost 200 times, and in less than ten of those does he refer to our Savior as simply "Jesus." He almost always writes Christ. When he doesn't specify the title Christ, he makes certain to write "the LORD Jesus." Often times he would combine them: "The Lord Jesus Christ." In the Gospels Jesus is conversly referred to as simply Jesus, but this makes sense as the stories are about the man Jesus. His life and work. Luke especially focuses on Jesus as a man, as a type of theme, and the other three Gospels refer to Jesus as "The Christ" the first time they mention Him and defer to simply "Jesus" after that.

SO WHAT?
So what? Why does this matter? I don't know. But I think it may be significant. I feel like our emphasis on having a personal relationship with God has something to do with it. Now I'm not taking ANYthing away from this. Our God is a personal, loving, wonderful God who truly wants to know us and this is what sets the True God apart from many other gods. It is also a crux of Christianity. What I do fear is that we have forgot that Jesus is also ALMIGHTY GOD. He is our Lord. We don't grasp that terminology in our society as much. But he is our Boss, our Superior, our King. He is the Authority. He is also the Christ! The Messiah. He is the one promised to come and save His people from their sins. He was long awaited as the Ruler who would finally deliver peace to the world.

Listen, God is a paradox. 100% of many different things. He does call us His friends, and this is so wonderful and important and life-changing. But He is also our Master. We are servants; and more literally - his slaves. I don't want to forget the importance of Jesus as LORD. As Almighty God, whom we are to fear! He created all! He will judge all! Mountains melt before him! He is truly awesome in every sense of the word.

I just want everyone to have a clear view of WHO GOD IS. So...I ask you to consider, the next time you talk about Jesus, think about saying "Christ" as well.

The world has stolen his Holy Name as a curse word. Let's reclaim it.

The Example of Job

The other day I lost my guitar. I had it...put it in my car...and the next thing I knew it was gone. Stolen, I figured. I always lock my car but I must have not done that at a quite inconvenient time.

Luckily, I didn't really care. Not because I didn't love my guitar, because I did. But I really am blessed by having a personality that doesn't sweat the small stuff. It's just not something I'm prone to do. But, there was another reason it didn't bother me: I had a bible verse stuck in my head immediately afterward.

"The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." - Job 1:21b

There are many reason I can think of why not having my guitar anymore would be good, and even if I couldn't think of any, I'm confident there would be. Because I believe the Bible when it's says that "for those who love God all things work together for good." No matter what. The name of the Lord should be praised.

So I was looking at my empty guitar stand at home today, wondering what I should do with it. I had my tuner too, which was not in my guitar case apparently. I decided to leave my guitar stand right where it was, rig the tuner in the neck cradle, and print off Job 1:21 to tape onto it, as a reminder that "every good and perfect gift is from above" and that although the Lord may take things away, he still deserves to be praised.

I'm confident that I'm being taught this in the simple insignificant case of a guitar because I will inevitably undergo immeasurably greater losses in the future. God always has done a good job of preparing me for things, even when I'm unaware.

Before going to my computer to print off the verse to tape onto my guitar stand, I grabbed a hat that was lying on the floor, and in an effort to keep my room tidy, went into the hall to put the hat where it belongs - in the big closet. I opened the door, set the hat down, glanced over in the corner of the closet....

And I saw my guitar case.

I just stared at it, more than likely with my jaw hanging open. I quickly scanned my memory to make sure that I had the guitar in the case when I lost it; I had. I touched the case to make sure it wasn't a mirage; it wasn't. I slowly lifted up the case and took it into my room. I carefully unfastened the clips, opened the case, and there it was. My guitar. (or more accurately God's guitar which he has entrusted to my care.)

And true to form I did just what the Tree 63 song would tell me to do.

"Every blessing you pour out - I'll turn back to praise."

So I did. I played and sang and I praised God because He is always good, because he taught me a valuable lesson, and also went above and beyond. Amazing, no?

To Jesus be the glory.

Jesus' Joy - Our Good Example

Ever felt down? Depressed? Joyless?

I have advice. If you're not a Christian. Meet Jesus! If you are a Christian, rely on the Holy Spirit to give you joy! This is where true joy comes from. Galatians 5:22 lists joy as one of the "fruits of the spirit." And Romans 14:17 says that the kingdom of God is a matter of "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Going through a REALLY tough time though? Maybe you don't see how this elusive joy is even possible? Let's look at two biblical examples of attaining joy.

First, of course, Jesus!
Jesus was a man just like us, with all the same temptations common to us, though he never sinned. How did he remain joyful throughout his life? The Holy Spirit. Luke 10:21 says that Jesus was "full of joy through the Holy Spirit..." and then he prayed to the Father. (Notice our trinitarian God here!)

But I can hear the argument already. Jesus, in this context, was probably happy anyway, right? The seventy-two he sent had came back, and although he had just admonished them for rejoicing for the wrong reasons, he must have been happy that they had done the good work of sharing the good news!

I say, regardless, he's still is receiving some supernatural joy from the Spirit, right?

Right.

[EDIT: Also, I think we should keep in mind that Jesus was a "man of sorrows" and "acquainted with grief" or "familiar with suffering" (Isa 53). Plus, Eccl 1:18 says that "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." And Jesus was the wisest man to ever walk the face of the earth! Some may say it was all so much easier for him, remaining joyful in our context, because He was God. But I think the instrumental thing was that he was filled with and led by the Holy Spirit continuously. And that same spirit lives within us; the one that raised Christ from the dead! (Rom 8:11) ]

Okay, well, second example - let's flip over to 1 Thes Chapter 1. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Thessalonica and they were apparently not in circumstances that would be really congruent with joy usually. They were, in fact, suffering severely (Paul's words, not mine). I don't know what kind of suffering, although I assume it included persecution from very angry non-believers, as Paul had been chased out of town by an angry mob when he left! (Read Acts 17).

But...what did the church there do? Paul writes: "In spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit." If we're going through some valleys, even "severe suffering", joy is still available to us!

Fantastic, no?

Now, to finish, maybe you still can't figure out what there is to be joyful about. Well, I believe that this joy spoken of really is a supernatural joy, and we should not, perhaps, try to manufacture it. But let me just jump back to the scene in Luke's gospel quickly. Jesus says to the seventy-two - "Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Well, if you trust Jesus, your name is written in heaven! A proverbial 'guest list' to the wedding feast that will begin eternity for believers! That's something to be joyful about! Just one of many things that can bring us joy regardless of our circumstances. So.....

Rejoice!

Why does God give us grace?

We are told that "God is Love." And that's true.
We are told that "God so loved the world." And that's also true.
We are told that God "chose us...before the creation of the world." And that, my friends, is true as well.

Christianity is based on the fact that God gives people grace that they don't deserve. But why? Well, here's the answer: only God knows.

As Ephesians 1:5-6 tells us.
"He predestined us...according to the purpose of his will - to the praise of his glorious grace."
That's it.
According to the purpose of his will. To the praise of his glory.

This should fill us with awesome wonder...while welling up in us an inexpressible thankfulness.

And how does this grace come to us?
Through Jesus Christ!

[EDIT: As I have further learned, later on in the book of Ephesians, we get a little more insight. It says that God's kindness to us is to show the riches of his grace to those in the coming ages (2:6-7). The really crazy part is that it says this will happen as we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, which seems to indicate that his glory is being shown to angels or other heavenly beings we know nothing about! This idea is backed up in Eph 3:10. ]