Today I found myself astonished by Andrew Murray’s words on joy in Abiding in Christ. He writes this:
“Abiding fully in Christ is a life of exquisite and overflowing happiness. As Christ gets more complete possession of the soul, it enters into the joy of its Lord. . . We all know the value of joy. It alone is the proof that what we have really satisfies the heart. . . there is nothing quite so attractive as joy. There is no proof of the reality of God’s love and the blessings He bestows, which people so quickly feel the strength of, as when the joy of God overcomes all the trials of life.. . . With a heart full of joy, no work can make us weary and no burden can depress us: God himself is our strength and song.”
Murray says that a great part of abiding in Christ to know this joy means looking back over God’s faithfulness, looking upward to what awaits us in heaven, and looking outward to “helping sinners home.” Backward, upward, and outward: a recipe for joy.