"MaintainingTrue JOY Seem Elusive In Life?"

"TRUE JOY" requires A transformed soul!

One fall rainy November day a Wisdom Master and her student were walking along a nearby road which lead to a friends home.  The Master was explaining to the student what perfect joy "was not".   The Master said to the student "even if a novice student had the gift to give sight to the blind, heal the broken hearted, drive out evil spirits, give hearing to the deaf, make the lame walk and greater still, bring the dead back to life, you can write in your journal, perfect joy cannot be found there.  And so the Master continued: "there are many other different forms of grace filled spiritual successes which produce spiritual enjoyment, but also write down, perfect joy cannot be found there either."  After she, had been talking this way for about two kilometers the student in great amazement asked: “Master, I beg you in God’s name to tell me where perfect joy is to be found?”  She replied: “When we arrive at our destination, soaked by the rain and frozen by the cold, all soiled with mud and suffering from hunger, and we ring at the gate of a our friends home, who greets us with anger and says  ‘Who are you?’ and we say: "We are two of your friends!" And he contradicts us, saying, ‘You are not my friends and you are not telling the truth. Rather you are two rascals who go around confusing and deceiving people with your cleaver wisdom.  Go away!" and he does not invite us in but makes us stand outside in the cold and rain, shivering and hungry all night.  Then, if we have learned to endure all insults and cruel remarks patiently, without being troubled and without complaining, and if we reflect humbly and lovingly offering only thoughts of forgiveness towards our friend knowing that he really does not understand what he is doing or saying, write this in your journal, perfect joy is to be found there!  “And if we were to continue to knock and our friend returns only to show us anger, and drives us away with curses and hard blows saying "Get away from here! Who do you think you are?" and if we bear patiently all hurt, pain and rejection with only love in our hearts, it is here my dear student that perfect joy will be found, and no one nor any unfortunate  circumstance can steal it from you. 

If we have the ears to hear, there is a lesson for us all here.  Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to his friends is this:  True love for Christ is:  conquering ones own ego and willingly enduring sufferings, insults, humiliations, and hardships for His name sake.  Philippians 3: 7-10   1 Thessalonians 1: 6-7

Now that is truly the transformed soul.  A person who has been "Truly re-birthed, born anew, or as some might say Born Again".   It is not a once in a life time experience as many claim, but a life time of being transformed reborn over and over again.  Here we see a truly nonviolent and liberated learner. Clearly this is a different kind of “I” that is speaking here, may I conclude it is the “I Am” in you speaking, Christ hidden within you, Christ in God. {John 17: 21}  Rediscovering this joyous and free "True Self" is the goal of all transformation as you journey toward holiness and a right relationship with your Creator.  True Joy for many is difficult to experience but never out of reach.
                                                        "Come Lord Jesus"