Desperate Joy

  In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we find the story of David and Jonathan building a strong, intimate friendship, "...The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." (1 Samuel 18:1) This is a powerful example for us. We all need a friend like that who we can love as our own soul, and who will love us the same. Someone we can knit our lives together with. Not a spouse, but a like-minded friend of the same gender. Men especially need other men in our lives to enrich us and strengthen us. Longfellow, in his epic poem, "The Song of Hiawatha," described this kind of friendship that Hiawatha had with two other men: "Two good friends had Hiawatha, Singled out from all the others, Bound to him in closest union, And to whom he gave the right hand Of his heart, in joy and sorrow; Chibiabos, the musician, And the very strong man, Kwasind. Straight between them ran the pathway, Never grew the grass u...

  God's love works backwards from ours. When we are looking for someone to love, we look for somebody attractive, someone who meets our standards of beauty.   They have to have the right face, height, shape, and size.   Preferably someone with plenty of money and a good job.   We look for status, affluence, and attractiveness. We want to find somebody who will satisfy and fulfill us sexually, and someone we can satisfy in return.   We want to have our needs met.   Our ideals of love and sex are tied to our emotions and the chemical fireworks that go off in our brain when we meet someone attractive. Once we find someone who can check off all the appropriate blocks, then we gradually give that person our love. Even as we give that love, we hesitate.   If we don't feel that love reciprocated, if they don't love us as much as we love them, then we will take our love elsewhere.   If, for some reason, we feel our own love dim and grow cold, then...

One of the things that amazes me in this world is how spiritual reality is woven into nearly everything. In John 15 Jesus describes himself as a vine and we are branches who "abide in him". The vine exists to teach the truth that we are to abide in Christ and draw life and nourishment from him. In Psalm 23 the Lord is described as a shepherd and we are his sheep.  This teaches us to humbly follow Christ and depend on Him for provision and protection. It may be that the sole reason that God created vines, shepherds and sheep is so that they could be used as illustrations to help us understand our relationship with God.  One of the most dramatic and powerful images that God has created for expressing the truth of who he is and how he relates with us is the institution of marriage. There are layers of eternal, spiritual truth that God has woven into marriage that are revealed throughout Scripture. We have been in a series of sorts looking at what the Bible teaches about sexu...

  God often brings men and women into our lives to lead us on our journey of faith and help us in our expedition to find joy.  Throughout my life, He has been good to show me these shining examples to inspire me and encourage me in my Christian walk.  I wrote about two men last time, Pastor Lovell and Mr. Dahlmann, a pastor and a teacher, both were men of God, committed to serving Him and helping others.   Pastor Lovell, Mr. Dahlmann, and other joy-filled servants of God I have known over the years share three qualities in common that I believe contributed to their joy, that allowed the Holy Spirit to pour His joy into their hearts.  These are commitment, service and sacrifice.  Let's focus on commitment today.   Commitment is key to unlocking joy.  Commitment is considered a virtue even in secular circles, but it is not commitment in and of itself that is important.   It is the object of that commitment that makes the diff...