I had the privilege to substitute for a vacationing pastor this past Sunday (refer to PS section). I spoke from Hebrews 12:1-2. This Rest Stop focuses on relating to Jesus through His emotions described in verse 2.
Jesus endured the cross with His joy set on you and me! This is an answer to His prayer for us in John 17:13, "Father, I pray that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves."
Jesus endured the cross nobly and joyfully for you and for me! He never wavered. Jesus endured the cross is past tense, meaning that His joyful work in uniting each of us with Him in His death and resurrection is finished!
You and I have Jesus and His joy in us to endure any circumstance. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit of Christ (Galatians 5:22).
Joy is not necessarily feeling happy. Happiness depends on external circumstances, or happenstances. Joy depends solely on the indwelling Christ.
DESPISING THE SHAME
Some Christians advise others to fix or hide their feelings, e.g., "Shame on you for feeling that way," and "God's going to get you for feeling angry with Him."
However, God doesn't want us to try fixing our feelings. He wants us to be free to feel and to trust Him to deal with the root causes of our feelings, not with the feelings themselves. Our feelings are real, but they are not to be relied upon as truth.
John Piper well describes Jesus' freedom to feel while focusing on truth. Piper writes that when shame began to threaten Jesus and tempt Him to abandon His purpose through the cross for you and me, He said to shame, "Shame, I despise you! I will not yield to you. You may do whatever you please -- in the short run -- but I will never obey you or give in to you."
Then Piper adds this great phrase: Though Jesus was shamed (through the cross), He was not ashamed of His Father!
Many Christians feel ashamed because of past sins. As a result, they actually magnify shame rather than despise shame. However, we can despise shame just as Jesus despised the shame of the cross only because Jesus lives in us through His resurrection glory!
CLOSING
Do you realize that God the Father looks at you with all joy and that He will never be ashamed of you? By fixing your eyes on Jesus through faith, believe these truths, even if they don't feel true all of the time.
Believing these truths is the only way you can grow in relating intimately with God with joy, never being ashamed of Him nor of being His child in this world.
With joy,
Fixing Your Eyes and
