Siri, can you help me out here? Choose Joy #6

Siri, can you help me out here? Choose Joy #6

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I am amused by Siri. I often ask her questions - usually about the start times of games or the scores: 'Siri, what is the score of the Warriors' basketball game?' I'm usually polite with her and say 'Thank you, Siri,' to which she responds with her English accent, 'you are most welcome, Christine.' Other times, I bait her just to see her response because it amuses me: 'Siri, you're so stupid.' 'That's not nice, Christine.' Predictably, I laugh every time. Beyond silly. This morning I asked her a different question, which I will tell you about in a minute; her answer was not satisfactory in the least.

When Dylan, 24, was three years old, he was already a force to be reckoned with. When he wanted me to sit down and play with him, he would say, "Here da choices . . . Legos or Thomas (the train)?" It was not in question whether we would play, just what we would play.

In a passage where Jesus was talking about prayer, persistence in it, and the good heart of our Father, two gospels give us a little different information:
Here da choices: Which one would you rather have Matthew 7.11 or Luke 11.13? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Written by the gospel writer and disciple, Matthew.

And then, Luke the historian, contemporary of Paul, writes:
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11.13

In both instances, Jesus is talking about prayer - that we are to ask, seek, knock and keep on doing so, because we have a good Heavenly Father who will answer. Which would you rather have-good gifts or the Holy Spirit?

Not sure ... well, let's think about it. We just celebrated the Resurrection, and forty days later, Jesus ascended into Heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the Father - still today, which as Jim Cymbala1 states, means that the Holy Spirit is God's only agent on the earth.

And in our quest for joy, God has told us in his Word several things:
~> In his presence is fullness of joy.2 You and I can find joy in God's presence!
~> The joy of the Lord is my strength.3 ...and strength in the joy he gives.
~> the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace . . .4

So, wait . . . is the Holy Spirit the one who gives us joy? Looks like it. See, here's the thing. When we walk with God, through relationship with Jesus Christ, we are filled with the Holy Spirit . . . and the Holy Spirit births within us joy. Paul explains, "Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God..."5 Yes, from God comes all good gifts.

The gospel writers wrote from different perspectives - Matthew, the disciple of Jesus, wrote his account in about 41 A.D., just eight years after the death of Jesus. He mentions good gifts, which we could certainly content ourselves with; however, Luke the historian who wrote later referenced the giving of the Holy Spirit which Jesus had promised. Luke also wrote the account of the early church in the book of Acts, inaugurated by the coming of the Holy Spirit to rest upon and within believers, (Acts chapter two). Indeed God the giver of good gifts gives us the Holy Spirit of God. And catch this: the Holy Spirit not only gives his children gifts, when we walk with God, he waters the seeds, sees them blossom to become the fruit of love, joy, peace, and so much more.

So, this morning I asked Siri another question: "Siri, what is the source of joy?" She said, "When you know, you know." Oh, brother. Siri, what in the world? Clearly, you must not have read the Word of God. The source of joy in our lives is the Holy Spirit of God of whom Jesus said: the Father in heaven will surely give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

Can that really be so? Yes, God loves to give his children good gifts . . . aye, the best gift of all, the Holy Spirit of God living within you.Not feeling his presence or power? Ask him to fill you anew. Go ahead, ask him. He is a good, good Father.

Christine

PastorWoman.com

1 - Spirit Rising, Jim Cymbala, Zondervan. This is an outstanding book on the Holy Spirit!!
2 - Psalm 16.11
3 - Nehemiah 8.10
4 - Galatians 5.22,23
5 - 1 Corinthians 2.12