By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
Na ka u nei toku whakaaro ki tenei, e matau ana ahau tera ahau e noho, ae ra, ka noho iho ahau ki a koutou katoa, hei whakaneke ake, hei whakahari i a koutou i runga i te whakapono;
‘Ua ‘ou mautinoa le mea lenei, ‘ou te tumau; tatou te tūtūmau fa‘atasi fo‘i, ‘ina ‘ia alualu pea ‘outou ma ‘ia fiafia i le fa‘atuatua;
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
Philippians 1:25
Today is the final day of the CCCNZ PastorLink Retreat in Taupō, which began on Tuesday.
We’ve been working through the book of Philippians with Marcus Honeysett from Living Leadership in the UK.
Throughout his sessions, Marcus highlighted the place of joy in Paul’s ministry. He notes that Paul said he would continue to be with the Philippians for their progress and joy in the faith (Phil 1:25). Paul, despite being in chains, is working out of his joy in the Lord, for the joy in the faith of the Philippians.
Marcus defined the joy of the Lord as:
1. The appetite we get for God when we accept that Jesus is all our righteousness.
2: A character trait that the Holy Spirit is growing in us as we trust in Christ.
3: The delight we get when we are satisfied with Jesus and his lordship.
The Riuwaka Resurgence is a special place for our family. It’s a deep, clear pool where the Riuwaka river emerges from the depths of the Tākaka Hill in Golden Bay. It’s the source of the river. To me, it’s an image of the unending spring of God’s grace to us in Jesus, welling up and overflowing into our hearts.
It has struck me repeatedly today that the way God sanctifies me, the way he shapes me into his likeness, is by helping me be satisfied with Jesus and his lordship.
When I’m joyfully satisfied with Jesus, I’m less inclined to strive for self-promotion. When I’m satisfied with Jesus, I’m less inclined to look for substitutes to fulfill me. When I’m satisfied with Jesus, I’m less likely to spoil God’s good gifts by focusing on them instead of the giver.
Joy flows from satisfaction in Jesus.
