Holiness, Godliness, Usefulness
05/20/2014, by John Kincaid
Lesson 242: Delight in Christ
God’s provision of grace, receiving His undeserved favor, is our greatest joy.
Psa.35:9 my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his salvation.
Psa.37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
As we delight in Christ, God uses our faith to bring joy into the lives of others.
Luke 1:14 [the angel told Zechariah that he would have a son, John the Baptist] you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
Yet many believers fail to live with this joy. New believers are “on fire” because they know that they were forgiven & justified by grace. But over time they forget that God still views them in Christ.
The loss of joy, the frustration and doubt, are the result of trying to satisfy God’s requirements in their own strength, trying to keep themselves saved by works.
They see Christian life as a treadmill, where they keep performing, hoping to earn God’s love.
The key: Christ’s strength and Christ’s joy in us. He is more than enough.
About This Series
The goal of this series is to become more useful in serving the Lord Jesus Christ, as an instrument in the Redeemer's hand. The theme verses for the series are Ephesians 4:22-24, Philemon 11, 2 Timothy 2:21
- to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
- and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.
- Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
