Ususally when you hear the word supreme, you ususally associate it with chocolate. Or maybe that’s just me and my chocolate obsession at work again. But what is supreme joy? Here are some of my ideas about what supreme joy is:
Supreme joy is when you willingly surrender your heart’s desire to Jesus, not in order to gain something better, but simply because He’s worthy of it. To lay down that desire to be liked back by a certain someone or a desire to be recognized is hard sometimes, but it is as hard to do as Jesus is hard to love.
Supreme joy is when you do for others, expecting nothing in return, giving out of the sheer joy of giving. You are most like Jesus when you give sacrificially and unconditionally, because that was His whole purpose: to give everything– His life, His blood, His body– for your restoration and redemption and salvation.
Supreme joy is savoring the small, insignificant moments of life and not rushing past them in your neverending quest for a bigger, better tomorrow. It’s the laughter of friends, the shared joys and sorrows that bind us, and the common bond of Jesus’ love in us overflowing from one to another.
Supreme joy is being at peace at the end of the day, knowing that the Perfect Love of Jesus is casting out your fears and replacing them with hope. It’s being able to rest in Abba’s love and to finally be able to stop striving for other people’s approval, attention, and affection.
Supreme joy is fleeting in this life, because we are fallen and the foe we fight is a mighty foe. Our own sinfulness and the sinfulness of others comes in and wrecks our joy all too often. But supreme joy is also constantly just on the horizon, on the tip of your tongue, in the words of the song you can almost remember the name of.
My prayer is that supreme joy be yours this night. It is God’s delight to give you His joy.
Amen and amen.
Ragamuffingospelfan's Blog 
This isn’t directly related to this blog, but when you speak of supreme joy as being a willingness to lay down our desires, it reminded me of a passage I recently read in “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard J. Foster:
“Speech is a frantic attempt to explain and justify our actions. Having seen this in yourself, experiment with doing deeds without any words of explanation whatever. Note your sense of fear that people will misunderstand why you have done what you have done. Try to allow God to be your justifier.”
That’s a radical thing to attempt, but I think it goes right along with what you’re saying about supreme joy. If we allow God to be our justifier in everything, we wouldn’t have to strive so much.
It goes without saying – easier said than done.