Man of Sorrows He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Isaiah 53:3
That these words strike a note of Beauty in the hearts of those attuned to hear the Beautiful, shows truly that the heart recognizes the need for the Man of Sorrows. That it sees nothing contemptible in One despised by the world. That it recognizes the vast difference between the values of Heaven, and those of the world. Fame and acclamations are accorded to earth's great, contempt and rejection to the Son of God.
One of the things My disciples must ever seek to do is to set aside the valuation of the world, and judge only according to the values of Heaven. These are not for you. Do not seek the praise and the notice of men. You follow a despised Christ. See the mob is hooting, throwing stones, jeering, and yet in that quiet little throng there is a happiness and Joy the reviling crowds could never know.
Follow that little throng with stones and gibes, and it appears to be of men, mean, ludicrous, contemptible. Be one of the throng, and you feel the Majesty of God in the presence of Him, Who was despised and rejected of men. Wreaths around His Brow, and shouts of applause, would belittle that Majesty.
In your dark hours, when human help fails, keep very close to the Man of Sorrows. Feel My Hand of Love press yours in silent but complete understanding. I, too, was acquainted with grief. No heart can ache without My heart aching too. "He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world .... For all that is in the world, ... is not of the Father, but is of the world." 1 John 2:15-16

Mysteries
Your Hope is in the Lord. More and more set your hopes on Me. Know that whatever the future may hold it will hold more and more of Me. It cannot but be glad and full of Joy.  So in Heaven, or on earth, wherever you may be, your way must be truly one of delight.
Do not try to find answers to the mysteries of the world.  Learn to know Me more and more, and in that Knowledge you will have all the answers you need here, and when you see Me Face to Face, in that purely Spiritual world, you will find no need to ask.  There again all your answers will be in Me.
Remember, I was the answer in time to all man's questions about My Father and His Laws. Know no theology. Know Me. I was the Word of God. All you need to know about God you know in Me. If a man knows me not, all your explanations will fall on an unresponsive heart.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.  Psalm 43:5

Quiet Lives
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of thy Lord."  Matthew 25:21
These words are whispered in the ears of many whom the world would pass by unrecognizing.  Not to the great, and the world-famed, are these words said so often, but to the quiet followers who serve Me unobtrusively, yet faithfully, who bear their cross bravely, with a smiling face to the world.  Thank Me for the quiet lives.
These words speak not only of the passing into that fuller Spirit Life.  Duty faithfully done for Me does mean entrance into a Life of Joy - My Joy, the Joy of your Lord.  The world may never see it, the humble, patient, quiet service, but I see it, and My reward is not earth's fame, earth's wealth, earth's pleasures, but the Joy Divine.
Whether here, or there, in the earth-world, or in the spirit-world, this is My reward. Joy.  The Joy that carries an exquisite thrill in the midst of pain and poverty and suffering.  That Joy of which I said no man could take it from you.  Earth has no pleasure, no reward, that can give man that Joy.  It is known only to My lovers and My friends.
This Joy may come, not as the reward of activity in My service.  It may be the reward of patient suffering, bravely borne.
Suffering, borne with Me, must in time bring Joy, as does all real contact with Me.  So live with Me in that Kingdom of Joy , My Kingdom, the Gateway into which may be service, it may be suffering.
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.  Isaiah 12:3

I Am Beside You
In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11
Do not seek to realize this fullness of Joy as the result of effort. This cannot be, any more than Joy in a human friend's presence would come as the result of trying to force yourself to like to have that friend with you.
Call often My Name, "Jesus."
The calling of My Name does not really summon Me. I am beside you. But it removes, as it were, the scales from your eyes and you see Me.
It is, as it were, the pressure of a loved one's hand, that brings an answering pressure, and a thrill of Joy follows, a real, and a joyful sense of nearness.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Psalm 51:12

Glad Surprises
Our Lord, we know that all is well. We trust Thee for all. We love Thee increasingly. We bow to Thy Will.
Bow not as one who is resigned to some heavy blow about to fall or to the acceptance of some inevitable decision.
Bow as a child bows, in anticipation of a glad surprise being prepared for it by one who loves it.
Bow in such a way, just waiting to hear the loving word to raise your head, and see the glory and Joy and wonder of your surprise.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings.  Philippians 2:14

The Imprisoned God
Our Lord, we praise Thee and bless Thy Name forever.
Yes! Praise. That moment, in the most difficult place, your sorrow is turned to Joy, your fret to praise, the outward circumstances change from those of disorder to order, of chaos to calm.
The beginning of all reform must be in yourselves. However restricted your circumstances, however little you may be able to remedy financial affairs, you can always turn to yourselves, and seeing something not in order there, seek to right that.
As all reform is from within out, you will always find the outward has improved too. To do this is to release the imprisoned God-Power within you.
That Power, once operative, will immediately perform miracles. Then indeed shall your mourning be turned into Joy.
Fret not thyself because of evildoers ... Trust in the Lord, and do good ... Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:1-4

You Are My Joy
Thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. -- John 17:6.
Remember, that just as you thank God for Me, so I thank God for His Gift to Me of you. In that hour of My agony on earth, one note of Joy thrilled through the pain. The thought of the souls, given Me by My Father, who had kept My Word. 
They had not done great deeds, as they did later, for, and in, My Name. They were simple doers of My Word, not hearers only. Just in their daily tasks and ways they kept My Word.
You, too, can bring Joy to My Heart by faithful service. Faithful service in the little things. Be faithful.
Do your simple tasks for Me.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant:  thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.  Matthew 25:21

Love Me More
Jesus, our Lord, we Thee adore. Oh, make us love Thee more and more.
Yes! I would draw you closer and closer to Me by bonds of Love. The Love of the sinner for the Savior, of the rescued for the Rescuer, of the sheep for the Loving Shepherd, of the child for its Father.
So many ties of Love there are to bind you to Me.
Each experience in your life of Joy, and sorrow, of difficulty or success, of hardship or ease, of danger or safety, each makes its own particular demand on Me. Each serves to answer the prayer: "Make me love Thee more and more."
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.  1 Peter 1:8

Gratitude
Give Me the gift of a brave and thankful heart.
Man proves his greatness by his power to see causes for thankfulness in his life.
When life seems hard, and troubles crowd, then very definitely look for causes for thankfulness.
The sacrifice, the offering of thanksgiving, is indeed a sweet incense going up to Me through the busy day. Seek diligently for the something to be glad and thankful about in every happening, and soon no search will be required.
The causes for joy and gratitude will spring to greet your loving hearts.
As the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. 2 Chronicles 5:13