The last two weeks, I’ve experienced via Facebook Live and The Foundry Publishing, a very nice Bible study led by Dr. Jesse C. Middendorf. Dr. Middendorf, now retired, served at the highest level in the Nazarene church.
Last week the topic covered Joy, one of the established fruit of the Spirit. In the Bible, believers are told to be joyful always, even in the worst of times. Dr. Middendorf explained that joy does not equal happy. Rather, “Joy is a decision. It’s a decision we make based on a reality we have embraced.” For the believer, that reality is the knowledge of God and the saving grace made possible by the resurrection of his son, Jesus Christ.
Truthfully, I’ve always struggled with joy. Many times I’ve wondered where is my joy? Why don’t I feel this joy they speak of? My little internal voice just kept whispering, “Buddy, you must be doing it wrong.”
After the Bible study, I realized I was looking for joy to hit me from an external source, like a better car, more income, a new home. If joy is a conscious decision, then it must come from an internal belief and not as a response to some event that may not be within my control. If my joy is to be a lasting joy, it must be imperishable. Its source must endure the trauma we face in life. Things like financial ruin, degradation of health, loss of a spouse, even the Spector of death from Covid-19 or a simple automobile accident.
I immediately knew where my joy was hiding. My faith and understanding of the Bible, from creation to end times, has been rocked by a book, “The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible” by Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Dr. Heiser, a Bible Scholar, presents deep analysis of Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old and New Testaments, as they would have been understood by the Hebrews and first and second century Christians. The book opened my mind to an awesome new understanding of the Bible, from creation through end times. i can’t possibly say more in any concise way but I’ll close the post with a quote from book.
Maybe you don’t need a jump start to make a decision to embrace joy, If so, I couldn’t be happier for you. If you do, abandon the idea that your joy depends on things that make you happy. Instead, fully grasp your internal faith in God and navigate the pitfalls and sorrows of life with a joy unspeakable.
Finally, my prayer for readers is that God will use this book in your life the way he has used its content in my own spiritual journey: to marvel at the intricacy of the biblical narrative, to be blessed by the love of God for his human children, and to acknowledge the role of the unseen world in the inheritance of salvation (Heb 1:14).
Michael S. Heiser