Living in the Abundance of God (9 page)

The psalmist says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). We all have times of heartache and pain. We all have shed our tears. We all have had our times of sorrow and unhappiness. But if we have the Lord Jesus in our hearts, we may weep for a night, but joy comes. Joy is on its way. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

It’s wonderful what Habakkuk says: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls—yet I will rejoice in the L
ORD
, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17–18). In today’s words, if your lights go out, your gas is turned off, you can’t pay your bills, the doctor says you’ve got cancer, you’ve got all kinds of trouble with your in-laws and your out-laws, and every other kind of trouble in the world, it doesn’t make any difference. Just make up your mind you’re going to rejoice in the Lord!

We will rejoice in the Lord, not in our heartaches and troubles and life circumstances. If you are joined to the Lord by faith, you can rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of your salvation.
Salvation
means “deliverance.” You can be joyful in the God of your salvation.

I see in Daniel 3 the three young Jewish men—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego—refusing to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image and headed for that fiery furnace all bound up. I can hear them shouting, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” If you asked them
what they are praising God about, they would say, “We’re not praising because we’re going into the furnace; we’re praising Him because we’re coming out!”

I see Daniel refusing to stop praying and being thrown into that lions’ den in Daniel 6. Similar to his three friends, Daniel goes down in the den praising God. He has the inner joy of the Lord. If you asked him how he could be so joyful going into the lions’ den, he would say, “I’m not rejoicing because I’m going in, but because I’m coming out. I take joy in the God of my salvation.”

I see Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They’ve been beaten with rods and have been put in stocks in the Philippian jail. It looks so bad. It has to feel bad. Yet at midnight they are singing praises to God and praying. If you asked them why they are praising God, they would say, “We’re not praising God because we’re in jail; we’re praising God because we’re going to get out of jail.”

You see, the joy of the Lord is God’s secret formula. We have a secret weapon that can hold us in the storm. We have a supernatural joy that is independent of our circumstances but dependent upon the Word of God.

This amazing truth of joy is seen vividly in Jesus’ words to His disciples: “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven’ ” (Luke 10:17–20).

Be filled with joy that

YOUR NAME

is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

As wonderful as it is that we are given power over the enemy, Jesus said that we should not get excited about that. That’s not the real reason for joy. He said, “Don’t rejoice because these defeated demons are subject to you in My Name. It’s fine to be glad about that, but that’s not the reason to rejoice. Rather, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

There are many reasons for rejoicing. There are reasons for joy. And one of the greatest reasons in the world that Christians should be filled with joy is that our names are written and enrolled in heaven. Notice that it doesn’t say to rejoice that your name is written on some church’s membership list. It doesn’t say to rejoice that your name is written on some organization. It didn’t say rejoice that your name is written in a social register. He said, “If you’ve got your name written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life, there’s a reason to rejoice!”

We can have all kinds of trouble and trials and pains in the world and still have joy, because we know that our names are written in heaven and we’re headed for an eternity where there’s no sighing, no crying, no dying and no death, and no separation. That’s a reason for real joy. Come on, rejoice!

In Revelation 13, it states that all the people who worship the Antichrist and take the mark of the Beast are those “whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (v. 8). Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He is that sacrificial Passover Lamb, the One who fulfilled all the millions of lambs that died with the Jewish ceremonial system pointing forward to the cross. They had many lambs, but John said, “This is
the
Lamb of God. Their lambs just covered their sins. But the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.”

It’s wonderful to know that your sins can be eradicated, taken away forever and forever. Who is enrolled in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Not those who are spiritually dead, but those who are spiritually alive. There is a book recorded with all of those who have received eternal life through Jesus Christ. Your religion is not going to help you in death. Your organization is not going to help you in death. Your social standing is not going to help you in death. The question is: is your name written down as one who has bowed the knee to Jesus, surrendered your life to Jesus, and made Him the Lord of your life? And are you in the Lamb’s Book of Life? That’s what counts.

Rejoice not that you have the gift of prophecy or you cast out demons; rejoice because your name is written in heaven. Come on, rejoice! Yes, you can know your name is written in heaven. If you’ve made Him the Lord of your life, if you’ve turned from your sin and committed yourself to living for Jesus all of your days, that’s what gives you eternal life and that’s what gets your name in that Book of Life in heaven.

Now consider Revelation 20, which brings us to the end when God will bring everyone up before Him. “I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them” (v. 11). Every man, woman, and child will stand before that great white throne, and there will be no place to hide. You can hide now in your church, in your organization. You can hide in immorality. You can hide in drugs and alcohol. But when you stand before God, there’s no place to hide.

Notice what else it says: “And I saw the dead, small and great” (v. 12). The insignificant ones who had little or nothing are standing right beside the great ones who have been kings and rulers and mighty CEOs and have handled millions and billions of dollars. It will be a leveling place. You might have been great on this earth, but you’re just like all the others at that great white throne. With every tick of the clock, you’re headed for that meeting.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (vv. 12–15).

You can rejoice because your name is written in the Book of Life.

Joy doesn’t depend on how much money you’ve got. Joy doesn’t depend upon whether you don’t have any storms in life. Joy doesn’t depend upon what happens to you and your family. Joy does not give way to heartache and pain. Joy is knowing your name is written in heaven and Jesus is your Lord. So rejoice!

And what the world needs is joy. Joy will sustain you when the winds are blowing. Joy will sustain you when it’s dark. Joy will sustain you when you get a bad report from the doctor. Joy will sustain you in the battles of life. And the reason we can rejoice is because our names have been enrolled as the sons and daughters of the Most High God. Let heaven shout it and earth send it back with joy. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and we are tapped into the abundant life of God.

If you know your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, you can have that joy because everything is settled in life and in death. When you realize what you’ve done, and your name is written there in letters of gold, no matter what happens to you, you’ve got it made, because you’re headed for an eternity where there’s no death, no sighing, no crying, no pain, no separation, no sorrow; where you’ll be happy forever and forever. If we don’t see you here, we’ll see you over there.

So if you have trouble and trials and tribulations, get joyful about it. Start thinking about how great your God is. Start thinking about the greater One who lives on the inside of you. Recognize that whatever heartache may have come to pass, it didn’t come to stay. Joy unspeakable and full of glory is in Christ!

You just have to face the fact that you’ve got a decision to make. When the trouble gets bigger, turn up the joy valve. Do a little dance. Glory in your God. Just praise Him more and more. Let your joy come out, not because it’s in the natural that you should be joyous; but you know something that the world doesn’t know. You hear something that the world doesn’t hear.

That joy is God’s secret formula. That joy will get you through any trial, any storm, over any mountain, and through any tunnel of pain. Oh, you may be hurting in your body, but your spirit is singing. That is joy.

You know how it’s going to come out. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Jesus is your Lord. God is your Father. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. Angels are all around you, and goodness and mercy are following you.