“Joy Over Yeshua! (J.O.Y)”

By Ramesh C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

April 15, 2009

SCRIPTURE:
"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (John 20:19-23, NIV)

BACKGROUND:
Earlier in John 20, the disciples learn that Jesus came back to life and was not in the tomb anymore. They realize He had RISEN!

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what do we learn about the disciples?
1. On the evening of Sunday night, the disciples were together.
2. On the evening of Sunday night, they had all the doors locked for fear of the Jews.

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself why the disciples feared the Jews?
The disciples knew that Jesus had risen as head knowledge but they had not experienced it personally in their lives so the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, did not transform them yet. They had not experienced the power of the RISEN CHRIST and were as cowardly as they were when the soldiers came to take Jesus away for His crucifixion on Friday. But something happened on Sunday night that began the transformation in their lives.

OBSERVATIONS:
I asked myself what did the disciples experience on Sunday night later?
1. Amidst the locked doors, Jesus came and stood among them.
2. Jesus said, 'PEACE BE WITH YOU'
3. Jesus showed them His hands and side.
4. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
5. Jesus again said, 'PEACE BE WITH YOU'
6. Jesus said, 'As the Father has sent me, I am sending you'
7. Jesus breathed on them and said, 'RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT'

I decided to look at POINT 4 today:

POINT 4: 'The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.'

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself what is significant about 'The disciples were OVERJOYED when they saw the Lord?'
The disciples were really, really, really afraid of the Jews and what they were going to do to them so they hid behind locked doors. So, Jesus appears to them amidst the locked doors and says 'PEACE BE WITH YOU'. Then Jesus backs up the words by His actions by showing them His hands and side. The significance of the disciples being OVERJOYED puts a 360 degree turn around on it especially when the disciples were really, really, really afraid before they saw Jesus. Jesus speaking 'PEACE BE WITH YOU' and showing His hands and side confirmed to the disciples it was really Jesus.

IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. No matter how afraid I am of a situation or things happening around me, it does not have to be that way when I allow the LORD JESUS to work in my life. It is Jesus who changed the disciples emotions around and it is Jesus who will change my emotions too from FEAR to JOY. It is so exciting to know that I can be OVERJOYED in the Lord Jesus for all He has done and all He will do. I am so overwhelmed to know how much Jesus loved the disciples and reached out to them where they were at even though many abandoned Jesus during His arrest, trial, and crucifixion because of FEAR.

Jesus came to take away the FEAR and fill their lives with JOY. I know all that Jesus did on the cross at Calvary, Jesus wants me to experience JOY in Him and Him alone. Resting in Him and experiencing His presence daily in my life can give me that JOY. It can also give you the JOY OF THE LORD.

We can hold on to fear, we can hold on to shame, we can hold on to pride, but when we HOLD ON TO JESUS, we will be HOLDING ON TO HOPE.

I ask you now dear friend, why can you have J.O.Y in life?
Dear friend, you can have JOY in life because of how much JESUS LOVES YOU SO MUCH. Yes, friend, if you were the only one living, Jesus would have paid the price to set you free from the bondage of sin and death. Knowing that Jesus came to give you and me JOY, we can experience that JOY when we turn to Him in all our fears, worries, shame, pride, etc. But the bottom line is HIS GRACE working in your life that will eventually give you that JOY.

We can have the JOY OF THE LORD, not because things will be peachy in our lives without any problems, etc but AMIDST THE PROBLEMS, we can find JOY IN THE LORD.

You see friend, the disciples were facing a lot of fears and Jesus appearing to them did not necessarily mean their problems outside of their quarters disappeared. The Jews still were after anyone who followed Jesus and showed allegiance to Jesus but knowing JESUS was with them gave them that JOY. In their minds they knew Jesus will take care of them no matter what happens.

In the same way, I do not know what you are facing right now. The economy is rough, finals are coming soon, relationships don't always go how we want them to go, family problems arise in people's lives, etc but AMIDST all that JESUS says to you 'PEACE BE WITH YOU'

Yes, friend Jesus is here to give us PEACE when we rest in Him. When we hold on to Him, we can find JOY AMIDST OUR PROBLEMS.

It is not a forced or superficial joy but the joy of the Lord can be seen in our lives through the pain and suffering. I know it can happen because I have seen it happen in people's lives who are faithfully yielding to Christ, their Lord and Savior.

I need to experience that JOY in my life. Jesus is showing me that I am not there yet because instead of letting the Lord Jesus be in control of my problems, I want to find solutions to my problems many times. This only leads to frustration and sorrow. JESUS wants to give PEACE and JOY among so many other fruit for us to have.

You and I can experience it only in the Lord Jesus Christ. When others see us and they see the JOY OF THE LORD in us, it is because of Christ the Lord working in us. We need to pray and ask the Lord Jesus to instill His JOY in us whatever we need to do.

Pray for His strength and hold on to hope in the Lord. JOY OF THE LORD comes also when we surrender our lives to the King of Kings and Lord of lords with all our baggage and shortcomings. He alone can fix us and we cannot fix ourselves.

We cannot force JOY in our lives neither can someone say, 'I WANT YOU TO DO IT WITH JOY' because unless the Lord in His GRACE helps us experience that JOY we cannot experience it. Just as Jesus reached the disciples in His perfect timing that Sunday night, He will reach us in His timing to experience His joy.

If you are not experiencing JOY OF THE LORD right now, don't be down on yourself or feel the Lord has abandoned you, for He has not. His GRACE working in your life will ensure you do experience and exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control in His timing and that's a promise :)

It is His GRACE that will help us experience JOY in His timing and in His way. His GRACE will transform our lives and it is a process. So many people deal with so many things in their lives that the Lord Jesus has to peel away through all the layers.

If Jesus wanted to He can make all the layers disappear like that but I believe Jesus wants us to GROW THROUGH THE PEELING OF THE LAYERS, so for some JOY comes much more quickly than others.  But SANCTIFICATION is a daily process and where Jesus wants you and I to be, that's where we will be in our walk as we yield to Him and depend on Him. Praise the Lord!

^"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." (Galatians 5:22, NIV)

Joy of the Lord (Read Psalm 146)
By Ramesh C. Reddy

Problems getting you down?
Always letting you frown?
Other making you mad?
No solutions not to make you sad?
Well CHRIST can make you GLAD (Psalm 146:5)
No need to Fear. (Exodus 14:13)
All your burdens CHRIST will Bear. (Matt 11:28-30)
Talk to Him, He will Hear. (Jermiah 29:12)
Very, Very, ... much JESUS does Care. (1 Peter 5:6-7)
So much He loves You (Ephesians 5:2)
Cause He died for you, on the Tree ( CROSS ) (1 Cor 6:20)
So you can be set Free (Luke 19:10)
When you confess whatever you Do. (1 John 1:9)
JESUS will give you all the Joy (John 15:11)
Whether you are an adult, teenager, girl, or Boy (Rom 15:13)

May you experience the joy of the Lord in your life now and forever more! Amen!

"Joy Over Yeshua! (J.O.Y)/"Why can you have J.O.Y in life?"

PRAYER:
Lord Jesus I love you very much. Thanks for loving me. Many problems get us down. Many times they make us frown. Sometimes others make us sad or mad. I turn to you Lord. Please help me .Thanks Jesus you always make me GLAD. I don't need to fear because you are very near ready to hear. Also thanks Jesus you care for me. Thanks for having all my burdens. Thank you Jesus for dying for me though I don't deserve to live because of my sins. Thanks Jesus for dying for sinners like me. Thank you Jesus for washing away all my sins. My sins se forgiven when I confess them to you. Thank You Jesus for setting me free. Thank you Lord for the Joy you give us whether we are young or old. In your Name I pray Lord. Thank you for helping the disciples to be OVERJOYED. You can help us to Oh Lord. We entrust our lives to thee. Thank you Jesus for hearing my prayer. Thank you Lord for answering my prayer. AMEN.

May you experience the POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST.

You don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and give you peace to live out your actions.

How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?

One of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:

If you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no peace.

But  as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.

Yes, friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live with us.

Yes, friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE & LIVING GRACE.

When we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.

^"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)

^"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)

Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)

May you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you. Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.

If you would like to invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer, meaning it in your heart and finding your new identity in Christ Jesus.

Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for foreshadowing once again about SAVING US when you spoke to the disciples about the KERNEL OF WHEAT. Thanks for dying for our sin so we can have Eternal Life and be saved when we turn to you. The previous day, you allowed Mary to wash your dirty/stinking feet. Anything you do has a reason and you foreshadowed what you would do for us one day on the cross. You washed away all our sins with your precious cleansing blood on the cross. Thank you so much Jesus.  No matter what we have done or where we have been, we can know that you love us and paid the ransom to deliver us from the stench of sin. Thank you Jesus. I accept the antidote you offer and want you to wash me clean with your precious cleansing blood so I can have new life. My sin I give it all to you so you can cover me with your righteousness. Help me Jesus. I don't want to live like I have been living. I don't want my life to smell because of the stinky/dirty sins of my life. I know you offer cleansing and washing so I come to you now and receive it. Thank you for forgiving me of all my sin when you paid the price on the cross for me which I accept now. Please give me new life Jesus. Come into my heart and make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and help me to serve you the rest of the days of my life so I can say, "Lord Jesus, ANYTHING, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, I am ready" as you strengthen me and walk with me and talk to me. I love you Jesus. I accept you as my Lord and Personal Savior. Please be my Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you for helping me learn about what Mary did for you and the implications for our own lives. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me giving me new life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

"Who is your S.H.E.P.H.E.R.D this HOLY WEEK?" (April 08, 09, 11:28 a.m.)

"How do you know judgment will P.A.S.S.O.V.E.R you this HOLY WEEK?" (April 09, 09, 11:43 a.m.)

"What does the C.R.O.S.S mean to you on and after GOOD FRIDAY this HOLY WEEK?" (April 10, 09, 8:41 a.m.)

"How do you match J.E.S.U.S attitude this HOLY WEEK?" (April 11, 09, 10:03 a.m.)

RESURRECTION SUNDAY:

"Why have you L.O.C.K.E.D youself away?" (April 13, 09, 1:41 a.m.)

"Why are you not at P.E.A.C.E in your life?" (April 14, 09, 11:43 a.m.)

"Will you be in Jesus' A.C.T.I.O.N film called life?" (April 15, 09, 11:55 a.m.)