Today is the 26th day of Lent. 
 
Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.   
 
Take a moment and quiet yourself. Take a deep breath. Welcome God’s presence. And say, “Come Holy Spirit.”    
   
Today’s reading is from the Book of Colossians, chapter 1:9-14.

 
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 
 

In this passage, Paul gives us several examples of what it looks like to please God: that we bear good fruit, that we grow in our knowledge of God, that we are strengthened by the Spirit, that we demonstrate endurance and patience, and that we are filled with joyful thanksgiving. Which of these is an area in your spiritual life that feels most vibrant, most alive? Can you see areas of good fruit being born in your day-to-day life? … Is your time of study and growth in knowledge going well? … do you feel strengthened by the Spirit’s presence regularly? … Are you practicing endurance and patience right now? … Is your life marked by joy and thanksgiving? Where are you thriving? 
   
Like anything else, we tend to focus our spiritual attention on things that come naturally to us, and we often need to put extra effort toward other areas. As you listen to the passage read again, identify one marker that feels like an area of weakness, or of gap in your life. 
   
I love how often scripture speaks of joy! CS Lewis wrote that Joy is the serious business of Heaven. The Apostle Paul, who by all accounts was likely a pretty intense fellow, wrote often of joy. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. It must be cultivated. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the Welsh minister and doctor, wrote,

"in any definition we may give of New Testament  joy, we do not go to a dictionary; we go to the New Testament instead. This is something quite peculiar which cannot be explained; it is a quality which belongs to the Christian life in its essence, so that in our definition of joy we must be very careful that it conforms to what we see in our Lord. The world has never seen anyone who knew  joy as our Lord knew it, and yet He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” So our definition of joy must somehow correspond to that… Joy is something very deep and profound, something that affects the whole and entire personality. In other words it comes to this -There is only one thing that can give true joy and that is contemplation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He satisfies my mind; He satisfies my emotions; He satisfies my every desire. He and His great salvation include the whole personality and nothing less, and in Him I am complete. Joy, in other words, is the response and the reaction of the soul to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Life in Christ Studies in 1 John by Martyn Lloyd-Jones) 
 
We live in an age that is marked for many by anxiety, depression, isolation, and exhaustion. As we end, would you invite God to give you the gift of His joy… Not a joy that pretends, or a joy that ignores, or a joy that denies… but a joy that can be present to you, no matter your circumstances, by the power of God’s spirit?  
    
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your saving help again and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.   
 
Music - Cherry Blossoms - Vineyard Worship - (YouTube)