What Brings You Joy?

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 18:23-28 ~~~ Psalm 47 ~~~ John 16:23b-28 ~~~

 

"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name;
ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete..."

Jesus reveals his oneness with God the Father.

Your prayers to the Father can be made in the name of the Son, Jesus.

When you make prayers to the Father they can also be made through the Jesus.

The Father will respond because the Father and the Son are one.

 

Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God the Father,

but now that he is leaving them things will change.

He is encouraging them to pray to himself as well.

 

Answered prayers contribute to our complete joy.

What is your initial thought when you reflect on the word joy?

St. Paul says 'consider it all joy'.

How is that possible within the world we live in today?

Do we need to look for joy?

Do we need to create our own circumstances for joy?

Is your joy the same as my joy?

Do we make up our own definition of joy?

 

What brings you joy?

Is it loved ones...nature...prayer...God?

 

 

 

'...the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me...'

 

This is one of the most wonderful statements made by Jesus.

If you were thinking that the Father was strict and sometimes even cruel;

per some accounts in the Old Testament.

 

Most parents have affection for those who love and care for their children.

Jesus is validating this truth as well as the closeness between

the Father and the Son.

 

This great love between the Father and the Son is what made our salvation a reality.

Without this unfathomable love we would be a very different people.

Jesus also expressed great joy in being reunited with the Father.

 

"...Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

 

The love between the Father and the Son

has given us a picture of complete joy.

 

The Easter Blessing of complete joy

given to us in answered prayers.