This is Definitely not a Tree of Life

Christians are taught that the Holy Spirit will put joy in them. We’re taught this, but not many of us believe it. If we did, we would be considerably more excited about it than we are, and we would be trying to find out why almost none of us are filled with joy.

It sounds selfish to ask God for joy, but God has made it clear that he wants us to have it, so it’s obvious that we displease him by failing to pursue it.

Joy is an important thing. Joy makes us strong, so without it, presumably, we are weaker than we should be. How do I know joy makes us strong? Because God says the joy of the Lord is our strength. God doesn’t talk just to hear his head rattle. He means every word he says. If God says joy is strength, then joy is strength.

If we really believed the things God says, we would behave a lot differently.

Humans are full of it. We say a lot of things we don’t mean. Christians are big offenders. We talk about how much we love God or other people, for example. Usually, what we really mean is, “We’re SUPPOSED to love God, so I’m saying I love him, even though I’m not sure he’s there and I don’t really have feelings for him.”

People write and utter all sorts of pleasant words that mean nothing. We are used to hearing hot air from human beings, so when God says something, we treat it like hot air. God says he will heal us, but how many Christians believe it? Maybe 5%? Who do most of us go to first when we need healing? Other Christians? Of course not. We go to doctors first. That’s completely backward. Prayer should always be the first thing you do when you need help.

The Holy Spirit offers a whole bunch of gifts. Love, joy, and faith are among them. If you lack any of these gifts, something is wrong, and you should be trying to find out what the problem is.

I’m writing about this because the joy of God has been all over me lately. Maybe it’s because I’m not unequally yoked with my dad any more. I wake up and look forward to the day. I feel reluctant to go to bed, because there are still things I want to get done.

Joy is connected to accomplishment. If you lack joy, you will be lazy. If you have joy, you will have energy to get things done.

I thought I had a lot of energy in the past, but I have much more now. I’ve been putting out old fires right and left. Tasks that used to fill me with dread don’t intimidate me as much now.

Today I did something nuts. I got on my roof with an 18-foot pressure washer lance and blasted the crud out of my gutters. I also bleached the whole east side of the house. It was a miserable job, from the natural standpoint, but I was raring to go this morning.

I went to Walmart and bought myself 6 white T-shirts and some white painter’s pants. Yesterday I got bleach on my Carhartt jeans while pressure washing. That’s not going to happen again. Now I have a uniform. I also tried to buy a cheap straw hat with a strap, but the lady at the register couldn’t find the price, so I let it go. Just as well. It turned out to be a Corona beer hat.

I had to extend the lance, lean it on the pool enclosure, go upstairs, and climb out a window. I pulled the lance up and went to work. It kept catching on things. The job took well over two hours, and I had to go up and down the stairs over and over.

The gutters were disgraceful. I admit it. They filled up during Hurricane Irma, and ever since, I had been hiding my head in the sand. I had to do something, because I had a pretty respectable tree growing over one downspout. When I tried to pull the tree out, I had to fight with it. The root system was about 4 feet long. The tree was tiny, so I had figured there were a few little roots attached to it. Not so.

I was amazed to see dirt in the gutters. I can’t figure out how it got there. I can see how leaves would rot and leave some kind of organic mush, but sand? How does sand get into a roof gutter?

When I blew the junk out, of course, a great deal of debris went through the screen and into the pool area. I had to pressure-sweep the patio, apply bleach, vacuum the pool, skim the pool, and backwash. I was extremely tempted to put it off until tomorrow; it was about 5 p.m. when I got started on the pool stuff. Something inside me kept saying, “Christians have to shoot for excellence.”

That idea came my way via Derek Prince. He complained about the way Christians underachieved. He said that when found out a firm that was helping him publish a book wasn’t run by Christians, he said, “Thank God.” That really hit home. Christians have a reputation for slacking. No one wants to rent a property to a church or contract for services with one, because they are pretty likely to miss rent payments or run out on bills. Christians have a reputation for refusing to tip; even worse, some leave gospel tracts instead of money. I, personally, have learned never to give anything to a church. You can give them money, but if you give them something like a vehicle or a musical instrument, they will destroy it or give it to the pastor or some other idiot in his family.

We’re supposed to do things conscientiously, as though we were working for God. Ouch. I don’t think God liked my roof tree.

I had a spirit of acedia cast out of me once. Acedia is a condition which includes things like laziness and apathy. For quite a while afterward, I got a lot done. It was wonderful. Then something went wrong, and my new joy left me. I think being unequally yoked must have interfered with my deliverance. Non-Christians are oppressive to be around. When you’re yoked up to a non-Christian, you will always have a lot of ideas shot down, and that leads to a state of chronic discouragement. Maybe that’s the problem.

Anyway, I am very grateful for joy. I feel it inside me now, like fire in a steam locomotive. I need strength in order to live correctly. I don’t want to people to look at me and say, “If that’s how Christians live, what good is their God?” I want to be on top of things.

It’s startling how useful a pressure washer is. I buy several things a week to help me get more use out of mine. I have a pressure-adjusting device coming, so I can wash the car safely. I just received a special attachment for cleaning gutters. I installed a new muffler protector today, because I felt bad about the way my dad and I had let the old one rust. I’m going to buy a replacement pump so I’ll have it ready to go when the old one dies.

The pressure washer cleans the house and my car. It also cleans my concrete. On smooth surfaces, it’s better for moving leaves than a blower. I’m thinking I may take the bird cages out and blast them with it; there are things on them I have not been able to dislodge. Every home needs a pressure washer. There are a number of jobs no other tool will do as well.

Tomorrow I hope to get the remaining side of my house clean, and I can start on the workshop. I’m also going to call some people about mowing my hay and managing my timber so I can get tax exemptions. After that, I may climb Mount Everest and swim the English Channel.

Joy is good. Joy is necessary. Joy is better than caffeine, because it doesn’t keep you awake all night. I recommend it.