I have come to realize the reality of the verse below.
Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. (2 Nephi 2:25)In April 1829 Joseph and Oliver inquired of the Lord pertaining to whether John The Beloved had died or tarried in the flesh. In part of this revelation the Lord addressed John stating.
Verily I say unto you, ye shall both [John and Peter] have according to your desires, for ye both joy in that which ye have desired. (D&C 7:8)
The Lord gave them according to their desires and than states "for ye both joy in that which ye have desired". A consistent theme in the scriptures is the Lord gives us what we desire. "What desirest thou"? (1 Nephi 11:2) By desiring we bring it into reality from the spiritual.
Men are created to have joy. I wonder if part of the reason God always (almost) gives us according to our desires is because we have joy in which we desire. And we were created to have joy. Even when that joy is misplaced the Lord honors our agency.
When the Lord appeared to the Nephites he stated
And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.
But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewndown and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. (3 Nephi 27:10-11)Whether the works be of man or of God, the people find joy in that which they desire. I guess we should seek to have joy in the works of God rather than our own.
We've been attending a local Christian Church and this has been the topic they have preached on for the last two weeks, and will continue for the next two. The pastor suggested that God desires us to have joy, and shared a verse which indicated that God is joyous, and commands us to be joy-filled as well. Like that verse says, that we are so that we might have joy. The pastor believed that it is a commandment to be joyful, therefore he proposed that it is sinful to NOT be joyous. That really resonated for me and has caused me to be mindful of whether or not I have the joy of the Lord as my strength each day. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGood post.
ReplyDeleteAnd with the long term view the Lord has, I'm sure he allows us to experience and realize which things lead to true joy, and which desires were more temporary joy, or more shallow joy. But he allows the learning "by our own experience", even if it takes a long long time.