Heavenly Joy With Honest Tears
Joy and sorrow can share one bowl, and in Jesus both are held by heaven.
Devotional Credit
In Christ, E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit
Unsplash
Ephesians says that God made us alive together with Jesus, raised us with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. The devotional slows down and lets those words sink in. With Jesus, raised with Him, seated with Him. Not beside the life of Jesus, but in Him. Redemption is not a distant target we aim at. It is a new location, a new life we inhabit right now.
Life in Jesus is life in heavenly places even when our feet stand on hard ground. Paul wrote from prison about a joy that sang while the chains rattled. Early believers were described as completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. Their circumstances could not evict them from their address in the heavenlies.
Today’s reading from E. Stanley Jones also surprises us with a forgotten virtue. Sadness, rightly held, belongs in the Christian life. A Persian believer once listed sadness among the graces. Not gloomy despair, but tender sorrow that witnesses to love. A friend of the author even said his funeral should sound like a hymn of praise, not a panic of grief. That kind of sorrow does not deny pain. It sets pain inside the larger joy of being in Jesus.
To be in Jesus is to be where He is. Come sickness or health, come life or death, our spirit lives from a higher place. Whether we dwell in a hovel or a house, we are in Him, and in Him we are already home.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I have made you alive with My Son. I raised you with Him. I seated you with Him in the heavenly places. Your life is hidden with Jesus in Me, and when He appears, you will appear with Him in glory. Your citizenship is in heaven. You are not reaching for the throne. You are welcomed to it because you are in the One who sits there.
You will know tears in this world. I said that those who mourn are blessed, and I collect your tears. Yet in Me you are sorrowful yet always rejoicing. You can grieve with hope, since Jesus died and rose again. Present pain is real, yet it is light and momentary compared with the eternal weight of glory that is working for you as you look to the unseen.
Do not mistake sadness for unbelief when it is joined to trust. I comfort those who are cast down. I am near to the brokenhearted. I give songs in the night. I console you so that you may console others with the comfort you receive from Me. Fix your eyes on Jesus who endured the cross for the joy set before Him. As you abide, I produce in you love, joy, peace, and patient endurance. I keep you fearless in trouble, gentle in conflict, and radiant in loss.
Stand in what is already yours. You were crucified with Jesus. You live, yet it is Jesus living in you. Walk as one raised to newness of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Let your reasonableness be known to all. The Lord is at hand. I will finish what I began in you, and nothing will separate you from My love in Jesus.
Scripture References: Ephesians 2:5–6, Colossians 3:1–4, Philippians 3:20, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 56:8, 2 Corinthians 6:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14, 2 Corinthians 4:16–18, 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, Hebrews 12:2, Galatians 5:22–23, Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:4, Philippians 4:4–5, Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:37–39, Acts 5:41, 1 Peter 1:6–9
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a pot of soup that is both warm and salted. The warmth comforts, and the salt sharpens the flavor. Remove either, and something important is lost. In the same way, Christian joy and honest sadness can share the same bowl. Grief does not cancel joy. Joy does not silence tears. Together, they tell the truth about love and the larger hope we have in Jesus.
A practical moment. When you stand by a hospital bed, or read a hard message, or step into a quiet room after a funeral, you can let both notes sound. You can weep with those who weep, and you can quietly anchor your heart where you are already seated. Breathe, pause, and say, Lord, I trust You to express Your compassion and Your resurrection hope through me in this moment. Then listen, speak gently, and let His life carry the conversation.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that I am alive with Jesus, raised with Him, and seated with Him. I praise You that my address is the heavenly places, even when my day is heavy. I affirm that my sorrow and my joy both find their meaning in Your Son. I rest in Your nearness to the brokenhearted, and I rejoice that nothing can separate me from Your love. Today I draw from Your fullness, and I trust You to overflow through me with the kindness and courage of Jesus.