The Joy No Words Can Tell

Thursday, April 20, 2023

You love him even though you have never seen him.  Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.  The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.  This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.  They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.  They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you.  And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.  1 Peter 1:8-12

There is much about life that is indescribable with just words.  It’s something like seeing something so funny, but when you try to retell the story there’s no way to recapture the moment with mere words.  Have you ever used the phrase:  Well, you would have to see it for yourself?  I believe the kind of joy Apostle Peter was writing about is just that… “unspeakable…full of God’s glory.”

Today is our first grandchild’s birthday.  She’s the upside-down one in the picture, taken when we got to have most of our grands in one place at one time.  

Her smile helps understand how you can’t explain extreme happiness. 

I was there when Chelsea was born.  For many months I was anxious, nervous, and wondering what it would be like to be a Grandpa.  It was like an extended version of Christmas Eve….you know it’s going to be good, but you still haven’t got a clue.  Then it happens, and you know life will never be the same again.

Peter wrote to believers who had never laid eyes on Jesus, yet the Apostle knew of their love for the Savior, and how they trusted their past, present, and eternity to the Lord’s keeping.  And it brought them unbounded, unending joy!  That’s a lot of words nobody can understand, unless they have been there.

For You Today 

If you have trusted Christ with your life, and invited Him to be your Lord, all of today’s devotion makes perfect sense.  If you’ve not yet trusted Jesus, I could write a ton of books about it all, and the rejoicing it brings to your heart, and you would still not truly see the joy your heart will know, when you know Him. 

It’s something like watching someone else bite into a wonderfully fresh apple, or peach…all their words about how wonderful it tastes still leaves you wondering.  Words are no substitute for personal experience.  The Psalmist said it best:

Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Psalm 34:8a

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Rottweiler Joy  and  Joy Unspeakable  and   Better Than Baby Toes 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

There Comes a Time...

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true.  The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.”  Revelation 22:6-7

All faith is birthed from the perch of unbelief.  What that perch seems to an observer, hatred, fear, ignorance, or arrogance, makes little difference; it remains the absence of faith, which is unbelief.

When our oldest grandchild was six, she had a grand time swimming in our pool.  She could not, however, bring herself to plunge into the water.  It was always a baby steps kind of process…toes first, then ankles, shins, and so-on.  The head never got more than half-wet.  Most of my time in the water on those lazy, hot Florida afternoons was spent encouraging her to take a leap into my arms from the pool deck.  There were plenty of false starts.  Five steps back to gain speed, begin the run, and….scrrreeeech to a halt, just short of the pool’s edge. 

But, one day, it finally happened.  Chelsea worked up her courage, threw caution to the wind, and jumped – a perfect cannonball…down to the depths below.  When she bobbed-up to the surface, she shook the water from her eyes and proclaimed like a town-crier:  WELL….THAT was an experience! 

Whether faith comes like an unexpected lightning-bolt, flashing into existence to obliterate all else in its path, or in increments like a hardly-observable changing of the tide, faith must take its first breath at some point.  There comes a time when unbelief becomes trust.  A line is crossed.  False starts become certain leaps.  That which was questioned becomes trusted, and faith is born a reality.

God instructed the beloved apostle John to end Scripture’s revelation with that assurance – what you’ve seen and heard is trustworthy. 

·       All the words of Moses, from Genesis to Deuteronomy,

·       and of the chroniclers of Israel, from the Judges to Kings,

·       and the poets of Psalms and Proverbs,

·       to the prophets of minor and major days,

·       as well as the Gospel and Epistle writers,

·       down to the very final invitation to take the leap of faith in the One who stands at the door, knocking…every bit of it is trustworthy and true. 

And every bit of it will change your life from agonizing unbelief to assurance unlimited.  It simply requires letting go of the perch.

For You Today  

If you’ve taken that leap of faith from the perch of unbelief, you know the strength of the Savior’s arms.  Like Chelsea’s first leap into the water, there were many more to come…with confidence growing each time. 

If you’ve never leaped beyond your belief, you’ve not experienced even the baby steps of the adventure God has planned for your life.  Many starts…many screeches to a halt, just short of getting wet.  What are you waiting for? 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

   Distortion   and   The Importance of Jots and Tittles

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©