Casting Bread Upon the Waters

Have you ever reached the point in your Christian walk where it seemed like your back was against the wall, and every time you overcame one obstacle, it seems like another one comes? Have you ever felt like just throwing up your hands and saying, “If only things would turn around”? I believe we’ve all reached that point sometime in our walk with the Lord.

But I have some good news for you out of the scripture above; it shows us how to turn things around in our lives and maintain victory over the devil, through our obedience to his word. In the above scripture it tells us first of all the voice of JOY.

Now, let’s look at what the Bible calls joy. Believe it or not, that’s a little word, but it’s packed with surprises. When I searched and made references concerning the word joy, it gave me a new insight and strengthened me in my walk with the Lord. And now I’m going to share with you what I found. First of all, there are different responses when joy is received.

There’s a response to joy that comes from occasions.

We see this type of response in marriages, when a newborn baby comes into the world, or when a person gets a promotion on his or her job. As a result of these occasions, the response is one of joy and gladness, which, prior to the occasion, was not there.

There’s a response to joy that comes from people.

People can come into your life and bring joy; it happens every day. God will allow someone to enter into our lives, and as a result of these friendships and new relationships, we respond to this occasion with joy.

There’s a response to joy that comes from things.

You can give a child a brand-new bicycle, or give a person $1,000,000 and that child and the person that received the $1,000,000 will rejoice and run all around town telling everyone about what has happened. Where did this response come from? It came from both the bicycle and the $1,000,000.

There are three things these responses to joy have in common:

1. They all depend on something happening.

2. They all are caused by natural means.

3. They all are caused by something outside.

Joy that comes from the word of God. John 15:10-11: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. Things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” Now that we understand the different responses to joy, and the things that they have in common, I want to share something else of interest in these verses in John 15:10-11. Jesus had just finished teaching the people about the true vine, and the importance of them abiding in him and having his word abide in them.

Then we see that Jesus said something to his disciples that blessed my heart. He said, “These things