Rom. 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
I love this verse, Paul connects joy and peace to the God of Hope. If you really think about it, joy is the fountain from which all of our actions spring. We go on vacations in pursuit of joy, we look forward to the football game in pursuit of joy, we look to the end of the work day for the joy of rest after a hard day’s work. We even do the unlovely things, like cleaning up our house after a flood, in hope of the joy of having your home back again.
Real joy, the joy of the Lord, is supernatural. This joy is the very substance and nature of heaven. This is the joy that our hearts were created for and the only joy that will ultimately satisfy. This joy that comes from the Lord replaces the hopelessness that fills our hearts. Today’s verse says that the God of hope fills us with joy and peace as we believe in the Lord. How does He do this? The verse also says He does it through the power of the Holy Spirit. Here are some thoughts from Matthew Henry on this joy and peace from the Lord.
“Joy and peace are two of those things in which the kingdom of God consists, Rom.15:17. Joy in God, peace of conscience, both arising from a sense of our justification. Joy and peace in our own bosoms would promote a cheerful unity and unanimity with our brethren. Observe, how desirable this joy and peace are: they are filling. Carnal joy puffs up the soul, but cannot fill it; therefore in laughter the heart is sad. True, heavenly, spiritual joy is filling to the soul; it has a satisfaction in it, answerable to the soul’s vast and just desires. Thus does God satiate and replenish the weary soul. Nothing more than this joy, only more of it, even the perfection of it in glory, is the desire of the soul that hath it.”
Once you have experienced forgiveness that comes from the blood of the cross, peace and joy become part of our lives. As we taste this new kind of joy the result is; we want more. As Henry says, “Thus does God satiate and replenish the weary soul.” Satiate is a good word, it means to completely satisfy yourself or a need, especially with food or pleasure, so that you could not have any more. So go ahead, get satiated; then you will know the joy and peace of God.