The Joy set before him

Scripture tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him. What joy could possibly persuade someone to endure death by crucifixion on a cross? Hebrews 12:2 Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 15:8 describes how Jesus prays that these things will be in us, that his joy will be in us, and that our joy will be full. The Kingdom of Heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17. There is something special about the Joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh 8:10), and there are many other scriptures that reference Joy. I believe this is more than just a human joy there is some form of divine power behind this joy. What was the joy Jesus was looking toward as he went to the cross?

If that was so powerful that he was willing to endure such agony, then I suggest we grasp hold of it. What could he see that was on the other side of the cross? Looking back from our perspective now, 2000 years later, we understand that he died to save us from our sins and make us right-standing with God, and we can throw out a whole number of Christian cliché about what he did on the cross. The more I learn and study the more I realize how watered down we have made the gospel. 

• Did he really die to see so many of his children lacking in power? 
• Did he really die to see his church powerless and people going to hell without knowing there is a God who loved them and went to the cross for them? 
• Did he get the joy that was set before him?

I will not believe a Gospel that empowers a disempowered Devil and gives Jesus anything less than what he died for. As Christians and some of us have been Christians for many years, we need to scream it from the mountain tops: JESUS IS LORD. He loves you. Come home to all of you who are weary and starving and discontent in debt and who need answers in your lives. So, you want to know how to live a powerful life and come home to Jesus. Do you want to see your family healed and come home to Jesus? He is the answer to every question you are asking.

David had been anointed king, yet Saul was still king. He was running from Saul and hiding in a cave. Men came to him because they could see the leadership qualities in his life. Yet they were a motley crew, discontented debtors, and depressed. Yet further on, we read how they were described as David’s mighty men of valour. They saw God's favour in David’s life, they saw how David responded in a crisis, and over time, they, too, stood strong and responded in the same way. They loved David, yet he was only a man.

We have seen how Jesus responded on the earth we can read it in the gospels, and we can see how he totally relied on his father to do what his father told him to do. Somehow, we have forgotten the man Jesus. Sometimes, we think he did his miracles as God, but no, he did them as a total man. He tells us I only do what I see my father do. Jesus demonstrated perfectly what it was like for a man to be totally united with God and the power and authority he had from that union. Where does that leave us? What responsibility do we have to give Jesus what he died for?

And what again was that joy that he went to the cross for, I personally want to see Jesus get his joy. I believe the Joy Jesus went to the cross for the joy set before him is sitting right in front of me now. It’s each and every one of you. You are his joy; you are the reason he went to the cross to restore you to the original plan of God. God placed The original design in mankind when he put him in the garden. Let us make man in our own image, male and female; he created them. Made in him an image with the express purpose of reflecting his Glory on the earth and subduing the earth. Wow, it's so powerful that we get to express God on this planet. You have to be different from your neighbour; you cannot behave the same way the world behaves. It is time to grow up and step out into who you are and what you have been called to be. You are more than a conqueror, more than able, more powerful than anything the enemy can throw at you. It is time to move from victim to victor, from orphan to son and daughter.

It starts with you. There is no magic wand I can wave over you and make it alright to give you everything you need: riches, houses, school, education, cars, money. It starts with you, where is your motivation? What is it that pulls your heart? God has said, through the Apostle Paul, I have given you every spiritual blessing in heavenly places; he cannot give us anything else. We have everything in our hands already. It is our job to conquer and take possession of the promised land, just as Joshua and the Israelites did. God did not give them everything all at once; they had some battles to fight before they took possession and had peace in the land. How much do you want it?

How much are you willing to pay? Are you willing to give everything? Your life? In 1987, I gave my life to the Lord. In 2016, I made a commitment again to God. I said whatever it takes, I give my life to you again; whatever I have left in this life, I will give you the next 30 years of my life Lord and I will preach your gospel to see Jesus get the joy set before him in me and in everyone who you put across my path. Jesus endured the cross, the shame, and the humiliation for the joy of seeing you come into your inheritance—not just for you but for all the others that you will influence.