“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. . . . You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:20-24 ESV)

As we enter Easter week, I want to reflect on another passage from Jesus’ last words with His disciples prior to His crucifixion.

Last week we looked at John 15:10-11. There Jesus talked about true obedience and finding complete joy. Here in chapter 16, the theme continues. Jesus knows His followers will soon “weep and lament” while the world will rejoice in His coming death. But Jesus promises, “Your sorrow will turn into joy.”

These men do not know the horrifying events that will soon crash into their lives. They will run from their Master, grieve over His death, and then doubts will surely overwhelm them, causing them to wonder if they had wasted three years with a master manipulator. Satan will seek to decieve them in any way possible.

Jesus knows what will soon happen to Him, but even as He knows of His impending death, He cares for these followers in whom would be entrusted the future of Christianity. They need extra reassurance to make it through the events of the coming days unscathed. He had already told them three times in the course of the last three years that He would die and rise again, but it seemed they never really heard it. Oddly enough, He doesn’t repeat that here; He just speaks these words of assurance, of hope. If they will just listen and believe, their sorrow will turn into joy. They will see Him again–for real. Then they will be able to ask anything in His name and their joy will “be full.”

Grief turned to joy; joy complete–all centered around the resurrection. Because of the resurrection on Easter morning and the coming of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ presence will be so real, so vital, that He will hear every request, every need, every concern, every desire, and He will answer.

Imagine such a promise! Imagine that it is true for you and for me! Hey wait–it is! “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” This is joy so complete that no one and nothing can ever take it away.

So we ask. That doesn’t mean the answer comes immediately or even that it is always the answer we think we want, but we have the joy of knowing that our request is heard, considered, and will be answered not “in the order it was received,” but when the time is exactly right in the vast landscape of our lives and of God’s plan for His world.

I’ve discovered that even in the most unhappy times, in the times when my prayers seem to be on hold, I can still find joy. It’s there–and it carries a deep weight working like ballast on my soul, keeping it from flopping to and fro on the waves of my emotions and impatience. All is well eventually, eternally, even when life hurts right now. My requests are heard in the halls of heaven and God will answer in exactly the right way at exactly the right time.

The joy that gives me–well, no one can take that away.

Dear Acquisitions Editors,

At Livingstone, we love acquisitions editors. Truly. Now, not in the sense that freelance writers love acquisitions editors because you are the gatekeepers of all things published. No, we love you because we understand your world.

We understand what you have to go through around the clock, month by month, year by year. We understand what it takes to sit at writers’ conferences hearing 15-minute pitches and hoping to find that “diamond in the rough” idea that just may be the next bestseller (and hoping for a bathroom break soon!).

Did you know that Livingstone exists to help publishers—folks like you who are looking for ideas to fill those slots in your lineup? Maybe you’ve got a book that was slated for a particular genre but the author isn’t delivering on time. Maybe another book project just isn’t coming through as you had hoped. At this time you may be trying to come up with yet another dynamite idea for Christmas for next year (or this year!). Or maybe you’re still looking for ideas for 2010 and beyond.

Livingstone’s motto, “Ideas to Marketplace,” is focused with you in mind. You see, while we can write, edit, design, and typeset (with more than 20 years of experience doing so), we also have a really good record of coming up with great ideas to help you get your job done.

For instance, maybe you didn’t know that the bestselling Life Application Study Bible (which started our company) was the brainchild of our owners along with our friend Ron Beers (who is currently at Tyndale House). Maybe you didn’t know that some of Zondervan’s bestselling Bibles (True Identity, True Images) were conceived by our team. Sticky Situations (a book we proposed and wrote for Tyndale House, volume 1 published in 1997 and still selling) has passed 100,000 copies sold. Another book 500 Questions & Answers from the Bible (Barbour, 2006) has already sold almost 94,000 copies after just six months.

Maybe you didn’t know that Livingstone products have won 11 Gold Medallion awards and been Gold Medallion finalists over 30 times?

In short, we can deliver what you need, when you need it, with top-notch quality. And we’ve got the ideas for you!

We don’t want you staying awake at night worrying about how to get your lineup filled and ready to roll. We are committed to getting God’s message out in a variety of forms and have worked on hundreds of Bibles, devotional products, study guides, trade books, curriculum, and reference products to help make that happen.

You won’t find our names on the covers. Like you, we help get the ideas out there and then quietly retreat to our desks while authors and publishers enjoy the credit.

And that’s why we love you!

Watch for a special e-mail from Christopher Ribaudo with some ideas for Christmas books—books we’ve conceived, books we can deliver from start to finish (some even this year if you’re really desperate!).

Ideas to Marketplace. That’s us. We’re here to help. Give us a call or drop an e-mail. We love to hear from you.

Love,
The Livingstone Team

Linda Taylor
Editorial Director at The Livingstone Corporation.

“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:10-11 NLT)

As we enter the Easter season, I want to reflect on a couple of passages from Jesus’ last words with His disciples prior to His crucifixion.

Here we are at what is known as the Last Supper. The disciples are not yet getting it. The betrayer has gone out into the night. Jesus has a few final hours to give to His disciples words that will carry them through the coming hours, days, weeks. “I am the vine,” He says. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (vv. 4-6).

And then the amazing statement, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me” (v. 9). That statement alone should give us pause. How odd that He then has to say, “Remain in my love.” Are we that prone to stray from true love? Apparently so. And the way to remain in His love? Obedience. “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love” (v. 10). And when we obey? “You will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (v. 11).

Joy and obedience. One sounds like freedom; the other sounds like rules. But in reality, both are freedom. Obedience protects us from false joy–from following after something that makes us feel good but might be wrong or sinful. Consider the woman who falls into an affair because the other man “makes her feel like she’s never felt before.” Maybe she feels a level of “joy” and so mistakes this for God’s will. Obedience would tell her not to follow after that feeling and thus commit sin (along with causing a host of other problems). It might “feel right,” but it’s wrong. A commitment to finding joy along with obedience helps us to find true joy because we are following God’s will for our lives. We are remaining in His love.

Joy is found in obeying and obeying is discovered in God’s Word and seeking God’s guidance daily. There is no greater joy than staying within the boundaries of obedience to our Savior. You save yourself a whole lot of pain and regret, you don’t hurt other people by sinning against them, and you live the life God called you to live.

Obedience is the way to true joy. With these final sayings before His death, Jesus showed us the way to find the joy He Himself had. Such a gift to us.

This Easter, let’s recommit ourselves to discovering that joy through our obedience. It’s a gift that’s ours for the taking.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

It’s a rainy day in Chicago today. I should be used to this by now after almost 28 years. Spring means rain, cold, clouds, thunderstorms. Yeah, yeah, I know that all this rain just gets us ready for the blooms of spring, but on these dark mornings, I need a good dose of joy to get me going. Care to join me?

It’s probably an overused metaphor, but those gray rainclouds do indeed connote sadness and depression. And when those clouds encircle us, it’s difficult to find a ray of joy at all, much less to feel and act joyful. Even as winter winds down and spring approaches, you might feel a bit melancholy. Maybe this economy has affected you and your family. Job loss. Tight finances. Sorrow. Hurt. Illness. Dare I go on? We’re all dealing with something that seeks to rob our joy.

My friend, I’m here to tell you not to try to manufacture a feeling of joy–you’re only working against yourself. Life is tough and if you’ve been facing great difficulty, you need not berate yourself for just not being in a joyful mood. I am here to encourage you, however, to reach deep down into your soul and discover that you already have a dose of joy there, for if you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit who promises that “the fruit of the Spirit is . . . joy.” You see, joy is already there, deep in your heart. So whether you feel joyful is not the starting point. The starting point is to quietly sit before God and express to Him your deepest hurts and concerns and to ask Him to grow in you His fruit of joy.

If you do that today, your spirits will lift and your mood will lighten. Why? Because by seeking God and taking Him at His word, you are trusting in His promies. And the more you trust, the more you comprehend that whatever is happening in your life is indeed part of His plan, it will result in good, it will give you a future and a hope. The promises, far from being stale or pat answers, are instead living and breathing promises that are true for you today.

Take a deep breath. Let the Spirit of joy make its way to the surface today of your life. I promise you–you’ll feel better and you’ll bless someone else who needs a dose of joy along the way.

This past year, 2008, I turned 50 (yikes!) and a dear friend (who also happens to be a publicist at Tyndale House) asked me if this would be my Year of Jubilee. Hmmmm . . . hadn’t thought about it, but what a great idea! 

In the Old Testament, God called upon His people to celebrate what He called the Year of Jubilee every 50 years. At that time, all debts would be cancelled, all slaves would be freed, and all land would return to the original family of owners (Leviticus 25:8-17). What an amazing concept—it would have kept people out of the cycles of poverty that we see today. Imagine the joy of such a year! Yet there is no indication in Scripture that the Year of Jubilee celebration was ever carried out. 

In any case, I decided that I would indeed have my own personal Year of Jubilee. A year of letting go, a year of clearing up the past, a year of freedom. As I began this process, I went to Scripture (of course) to discover more about the concept of joy. I invite you to travel with me in coming weeks as I share verses from Scripture that talk about joy, along with some of my personal insights. I’ll be updating about once a week, so be sure to check back for a weekly dose of joy! 

Let’s learn together what God means when He talks about joy and calls us to rejoice. 

And I wish you a joyful day!

“Let the Bible speak for itself,” my friend said over her latté. “All of this specialty gobbledy-gook just waters down what’s really important.”

I had just described for her some of the Bible projects I was working on. I think she went on overload as I talked about the specialty Bible products that pass through Livingstone’s hands every year.

I couldn’t help but wonder if she had a point. Isn’t that part of the struggle we’re all facing in Christian publishing? As Bible publishers jostle for shelf space, as we consider the sheer cost of producing a 2000-page Bible, we also wonder, “Is there room for another Bible?”

I believe there is—there always is. And I don’t say that just because I’m in the business.

I say that because I love God’s Word with every fiber of my being—as do most of us who stare into our computer screens all day laboring over products that are meant to share that Word in a variety of genres.

I love God’s Word because it changes lives. I know that from personal experience.

I remember receiving a specialized New Testament in The Living Bible back in 1975 when I was in high school. I brought that New Testament home and devoured it—and I vividly remember reading the book of Hebrews and actually “getting it.” It was an AHA moment, a moment when I understood what the book was about and how the New Testament fit with the Old Testament. And I’ve been in love with Scripture ever since.

My heart is to help others have those AHA moments. I want them to realize that the Bible is not a big scary book, but a big amazing story—so big that it reaches across time itself. And yet, it can reach into their lives on a rainy day and give them the comfort they need to keep going. Those AHA moments mean they get it. They begin to see how the pieces fit together and to understand how that matters to them personally.

As a kid of 17 in 1975, I needed the simple and clear language of The Living Bible to make the book of Hebrews make sense to me (thank you, Ken Taylor). So as I watch different Bible versions be created, I’m overjoyed. Someone else will have an AHA moment as well.

Now granted, in the same breath I could also say that the same person may find himself utterly confused. Standing at the local Christian bookstore to buy a Bible, he thinks to himself, NIV? ESV? GWT? NLT? KJV? NKJV? NRSV? OK, I really need some help here. I’m drowning in alphabet soup! But if he reads a few lines of these Bibles, it won’t take long before he finds one that reads to his level, his liking.

Aren’t we amazingly privileged to be able to do this? William Tyndale would be astounded.
Beyond that, however, we might ask the question my friend was pondering—specialty gobbledy-gook. By adding our ancillary material, are we guilty of not letting the Bible speak for itself?

I fondly remember purchasing my very first study Bible after wearing out my New Testament. I had started college and wanted something with notes, something that looked serious, something to help me really understand more deeply what the Bible was saying. That first study Bible was a burgundy bonded leather Criswell Study Bible. His “scarlet-thread of redemption”—his way of describing how the salvation message runs throughout Scripture—captured my heart. Through those notes began a journey that has brought me where I am today.

But have we gone too far? Do moms, dads, parents, kids, teens, tweens, sick people, hurting people, tired people, business people really all need a Bible of their own?

I believe that if we can create something that will speak to them, then we should do so. Why? Because of the AHA moments that still need to happen in the lives of those moms, dads, parents, kids, teens, tweens, etc. People need Scripture “in their own tongue”—the material we produce is meant to help those people understand that the Bible speaks to them, it’s relevant. Mind you, we aren’t making the Bible relevant (it doesn’t need our help), but we are helping these many audiences see that relevance, maybe for the first time. For some of those people, that plain text Bible in a particular translation or that specialty Bible designed just for them might provide that first AHA experience.

My friend didn’t want me watering down what was most important. I explained to her that I just see myself as laboring alongside modern-day Martin Luthers and William Tyndales and early church leaders who simply sought to bring Scripture to the people—all people, in all places, in all walks of life, in all phases of life. Whatever it takes, I want them to have that AHA experience that will help them see the message of salvation and grace.

And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Linda Taylor, Editorial Director