Joy in Christ, No Matter What | John 17:13

[00:00:00] Real Truth Daily. This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman. Hi, everybody. Welcome back to Daily Truths. On Friday night, I went to my oldest son, my wife, and I went to my oldest grandson's football game. He plays football for Gilbert Christian, which is in Gilbert, Arizona. And they were behind by one point with two minutes to go. His team had the ball. They got the ball at their own 40. They drove all the way down the field, got down to 10

[00:00:28] seconds left in the game. They were at the one yard line. All they had to do was take a knee and kick a field goal or, you know, have one play and score a touchdown. But what happened? The center of the ball had bounced on the ground. The other team recovered and the game was over. The agony of defeat snatched from the joy of victory, right? Oh my goodness. I sat there 10 minutes,

[00:00:54] at least, just stunned that they had lost the game in such a fashion. And I didn't have a lot of joy. In the book of John chapter 17, Jesus is having his high priestly prayer, his intercessory prayer, not only for his disciples, but for you and me. It is a powerful prayer. And he goes on to say this to the heavenly father in verse 13 of John 17. But now I am coming to you. That means he was going to be

[00:01:22] ascending to heaven soon, just what, 43 days later. Okay. But now I'm coming to you. And these things I speak in the world, what things, things about salvation rooted in him, things about him coming back, things about him rising from the dead, things that he's with us always, all these different things that bring his disciples confidence and peace and joy. He was saying all those things. Now listen to

[00:01:48] this. And these things I speak in the world. In other words, while I'm with you, disciples. Okay. These things I speak in the world that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Joy fulfilled in themselves. There wasn't a lot of joy the next day or two when Jesus was crucified on a cross. There wasn't a lot of joy on Saturday when they wondered what in the world

[00:02:14] happened and why it happened. Why did we do what we did? And why did we deny him? And why did we abandon him and all that? Not a lot of joy. But then what happened? He rose from the dead. He hung out for 40 days. He sent the spirit upon them. All of that, the death and resurrection of Jesus and all the things that he was culminating to that. The trial, the betrayal, the denial, all of that made sense.

[00:02:39] They had 20-20 vision now and they had great joy in Jesus Christ. And so it is with us. The Bible says at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. The Bible says rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say it rejoice on the night that Jesus was born. What did the angel say? Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto you and to all people. We have joy

[00:03:08] in our life today, knowing that we don't have to earn our salvation, knowing that our salvation is secure in Jesus Christ, knowing that even when we mess up, God still loves us, knowing that even when we mess up, God still forgives us, knowing that when our life is coming apart at the seams, God will see us through. Knowing that even when we suffer, there can still be joy in that. For Romans chapter five says,

[00:03:37] we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance, proven character and proven character hope. And this hope does not disappoint us because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom God has given. You see, there is joy rooted and grounded in him. This is why the book of Philippians is called the epistle of joy. This is why it says in Philippians chapter four, and I quoted it before, rejoice in the Lord always.

[00:04:06] Why can we find joy in the right hand of God? Doesn't say rejoice in your job always or in your family always or relationships always or in a football game always. What's it say? It says rejoice in the Lord because in him, in union, fellowship, communion, and faith in him, there is sustaining, fulfilling,

[00:04:29] lasting joy. So I go back to my football game and on my way home with my wife and my brother and his wife, I was kind of bummed. But then I thought, I have Christ. I'm good. The next day, you know, I woke up, I have Christ. I'm good. Puts it in perspective, doesn't it? Right? We don't always have joy in

[00:04:54] the circumstances of life, whether it's a football game or whatever it is in our lives that's going wrong. Right? There's not a lot of joy in that, but in Jesus there is. That's why St. Paul said what he said. That's why Jesus said what he said here. Listen to it again. But now I am coming to you, Heavenly Father, and these things I speak in the world. In other words, while I'm still with the

[00:05:15] disciples, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. Man, oh man, 11 of the 12 disciples faced a martyr's death, but their joy could not be taken away. Their joy could not be restrained because they fixed their eyes on Jesus. And so may it be with us. Jesus loves you. He is with you.

[00:05:41] He cares for you. He'll never abandon you. There is joy knowing him. Have a great day in the Lord Jesus Christ. And maybe Gilbert Christian will win this Friday. Have a great day in the Lord Jesus. And that is today's Daily Truth. Thank you for tuning in to Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman. If this ministry is blessing you, please consider supporting us by sharing this channel with a friend. You can also like,

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