Jesus Gives Joy

By Ron and Connie Dahlke

Jesus promises to His followers: peace, joy and love. In this book, Ron and Connie Dahlke trace these themes from the Garden of Eden. How can these promises become active in our lives today? As we live life in harmony with heaven, we not only prepare for our life to come, but we experience a little of heaven on earth today. May this book inspire the reader to a joyful walk with our wonderful Lord. Such joy is from heaven to our hearts, and it is a joy no one can take away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781300739524

Book preview

Jesus Gives Joy

Jesus Gives Joy

by

Ron and Connie Dahlke

C:\Users\Connie\Desktop\Jesus Gives Joy - E-book\Shalom - Edited - Tricolor - Blue Background.jpg

Copyright 2012

Ron Dahlke

[e-mail]

Walla Walla, WA 99362

All rights reserved.

ISSBN  978-1-300-73952-4

Forward

The eternal home of the saved will bring joy to the saints’ hearts. Jesus said this joy should be part of our lives today: These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11).

We often experience difficulties and trials in this life, yet our hearts are to be full of joy – the kind of joy only Jesus Christ can give.

This little book has been written to help us keep our eyes on Jesus and the salvation He so freely offers to us. What a wonderful Savior He is! As we contemplate His great works of redemption and the future He designs for us, may our hearts be filled with joy!

Ron and Connie Dahlke

Bolded and underlined words are generally our emphasis.

Other books by Ron and Connie Dahlke:

The Elijah Message (Foundational)

Let us Heortazo! (Intermediate)

Heortazo! Recipes (vegetarian cookbook)

Preparing for the Latter Rain (Advanced)

The Family of Joy

The anticipation of a new baby joining the family is one of the most joyful of times. The loving parents dream of meeting that special someone soon to be born. They carefully arrange a place to care for the baby. The needed supplies are assembled. The bed is prepared. Everything possible is done to assure the comfort and well-being of the new arrival.

How great the love of God is! God made the world to enlarge heaven. He desired a larger family.[1]

For the new addition to His family, God created a home – this earth. Everything needed for the happiness of mankind was carefully provided. There was a sheltering environment, nourishing food and companionship. Beauty and wonders abounded on every side.

But God did not create man and then abandon him! God wanted Adam and Eve to be part of His family – He wanted a warm, loving and joyful relationship with the new family He had created.

Relationships take time, and so God set aside the seventh day for fellowship with His new family.  God longed for their companionship; so also Adam and Eve longed for God’s companionship. They loved their Creator so much! The weekly Sabbath was a treasured time that was filled with joy!

The Sabbath, then, is foundational to our under-standing of our relationship with our Creator. It points us back to idyllic Eden, to the joys experienced between God and our first parents. There was worship, there was praise: there was joy. Can you imagine God teaching Adam and Eve to sing a song? Can you imagine God’s joy when Adam composed a song in honor of his Creator? Can you imagine the nature lessons God helped Adam and Eve discover?

Honoring the Sabbath day gives us the time to enhance our relationship with our Creator and with our families. But it not only points us to Eden past, it also points us to Eden future. As we experience the physical rest of the Sabbath, we contemplate the salvation rest proffered to us in Jesus Christ. When sin is destroyed and we receive the fullness of salvation, we will experience the same Eden known to Adam and Eve. This, truly, will bring us joy!

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[1] E. G. White, Review and Herald, June 25, 1908.

The Pathway to Joy

We have spoken of the joys of Eden, but some-thing is amiss. As we look around, we do not see anything that looks like the perfection of the Garden of Eden. Whatever happened?

Well, we know what happened! Adam and Eve sinned and were sent out of the garden. When our parents gave their allegiance to the Deceiver, the earth received a curse and life became a tangled mess. Where is joy in that?

But in the curse was a promise. God said to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:15). A descendant of the woman, the second Adam, would come who would reverse the curse and defeat the devil.

Surely as long as the Garden of Eden remained on this earth, Adam and Eve looked longingly in its direction, hoping to see a glimpse of the wonders of their former home. As the centuries dragged on and evil multiplied in the earth, how sorry Adam and Eve must have been for their lack of trust in the words of God. Eventually, Adam and Eve died and with them died the memories of fair Eden. Only their stories lived on to remind their descendants of that peaceful home.

After the flood, the beautiful garden was no more on the earth. Noah and his descendants must have often wondered just where the Garden of Eden had existed. But looking for the garden was to no avail. Would they ever know the joys of that lovely place?

As sin and rebellion against God again raised its ugly head, few of Noah’s descendants paid any attention to the tales of the ancient garden. The patriarch Shem lived to the age of 600 years. He was one of the few people who preserved and passed on the knowledge of the true God