Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident (and there is a long list of things that God sees as sin...). and those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God"
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love JOY, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control
Against such there is no law.. and those who are in Christ have crucified their flesh with its passion and desires. So if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit."
Works of flesh equals evil.
Fruit of the Spirit - These are attributes of God - the Holy Spirit that lives in us.
So, let's focus on Joy.
Why? Because I have some personal experience of it and it is no small matter.
Nehemiah 8:10 says "The joy of the LORD is your Strength."
So let me tell you what I know about joy.
In Psalm 51: 12 David, who had let the flesh come between him and God, prayed "Restore to me the joy of Your Salvation, and uphold me by your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to YOU"
David recognized what was missing in his life... he knew where he had gone wrong.
A long time ago (27 years), I prayed this prayer also.
I had no idea what i was asking for. I just knew that something had to give.
I had been saved when I was 15 years old and I knew that I was saved. I believed God. I believed in Jesus and his resurrection. I just didn't know anything else but that.
I had no idea the things that God makes available to a born again believer.
Years later I was at a time in my life when it seemed everything was going wrong. I was not a happy person. Nothing in my life was how I wanted it to be. I was miserable all the time. Plans had not gone well, life was hitting me in the face and all I wanted was for something to go right.
Can anyone relate?
Wanting to be happy is fine. Wanting our lives to be a certain way is normal. Let's face it, we grew up wanting the fairy tale and when it doesn't happen like that, we have to deal with it.
Wanting to be happy is 100% a human characteristic. Totally normal.
Except life is anything BUT normal. It doesn't always go our way.
Life is hard and wacky and intrusive and miserable with a few rays of sunshine and fair weather thrown in.
Which is why happiness just doesn't work. At least not for long. It's not reliable. You can't just be happy because you want to be happy.
But let's get back to JOY. The Joy of the LORD?
You know what happened after I prayed that prayer of David? When I asked God to restore the joy of my salvation?
My life changed.
Forever.
I woke the next morning with a smile on my face and songs of praise in my head.
I couldn't keep my feet on the floor. I was literally bouncing around my house. Feeling light and free and at peace about everything.
I couldn't figure out what in Sam Hill was wrong with me.
... Then I remembered my prayer.
And that is when my relationship with God became a relationship.
You see, that JOY is not only reliable because of its SOURCE. It is transformational.
Because nothing in my life had changed that morning except me. The same issues were there, the same problems and dull routines and dilemmas and disagreements... but the JOY gave me a new perspective. It also gave me the power or the tools to face them and deal with them.
That change begins within your Spirit and expands into your thoughts and actions.
It demonstrates itself to others who witness the metamorphosis in you. It affects others because they want what you all of a sudden have.
And believe me, you NEVER want to let it go.
It is that pearl of great value .... a priceless gift.
And if you let it, joy will settle into you and set up house.
It will clean out the nooks and crannies and toss out all fear and doubt.
It will verify your purpose and God's plan for you.
It will fortify your faith.
It will remain with you all of your days, and from that you draw strength and faith and hope and love.
You begin to see with new eyes and listen with new ears.
You begin to see yourself and others thru the eyes of God. You see their potential and worth.
Happiness? Happiness is dependent upon your circumstances. You are not always going to be happy.
But JOY is dependent on the state of your spirit and your relationship with God.
Joy is strength. It is empowering. It is an attribute of the Holy Spirit. Yes. The Joy of the Lord is your strength.
It comprises a part of the Armor of God. If it is a fruit of the Spirit, then It is part of the SWORD of the Spirit and Shield of Faith and all the rest.
We can use Joy to stand in the power of God's might against the attacks and lies and plots of the Lying demon we call the devil.
Can we even have Salvation without the transforming power of Joy? Is that even possible?
It is an aspect of Salvation... given freely. If we have the Holy Spirit within us, then we have the fruit of the Spirit also. That fruit may be mustard seed size, but it is there. It's up to us to grow and mature it into its full potential.
It is part of the Light that shines through us.
Without Joy, we have no strength to endure.
No strength for battle.
No strength the share the Gospel and produce results.
After all, who will believe you if you are without the joy of the Lord?
This joy thing... it's been with us since the beginning.
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her to "REJOICE highly favored one, the LORD is with you; blessed are you among women."
Just being informed by an angel that the Lord is with you and you are a blessed woman is cause for great joy and great rejoicing.
But then he told her "Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God & behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom there will be no end."
See? Jesus was conceived with joy.
AND THEN, when He was born, the angels announced to the shepherds the greatest and grandest birth announcement ever announced in the entire history of birth announcements.
"Do not be afraid for Behold! I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord."
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and singing "Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, good will toward men!"
They didn't wait around for it to show up on Facebook.... Those shepherds scurried right to the manger to see this brand new ancient baby bundle of joy.
(and you thought i was not going to talk about Christmas)
Here are some OT verses about joy:
Psalm 16:11 "in Your Presence is the fullness of joy!" A very compelling reason to get into His presence.
Psalm 51:8 when David turned back to God he wrote "Make me hear joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sin and blot out all my iniquity."
Let's face it, it's hard to rejoice when you're broken...but God not seeing our sin and cleaning out all our junk is the main reason for us to have joy.
and here's something deep: Isaiah 12: 3 "with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."
Wells of Salvation... makes me think of the woman at the well receiving the living water.. water that never runs dry... Could it be that living water contains living everlasting joy?
and then: Jeremiah 15:16 "Your WORD to me was the joy and rejoicing of my heart for I am called by your name O Lord God of Hosts.
Actually, there are 158 verses that contain mention of joy. I won't read them all.
But this is what Jesus has to say about it:
John 15: 9-11 "As the Father loves me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that my Joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full".
It stays with us. It is always there and never empty. If we abide in His love. And He is pleading with us to do so.
The night before the crucifixion, Jesus prays for His disciples and for all of us: John 17 "But now I come to You, and these things I SPEAK in the WORLD that they may have my Joy fulfilled in them."
That was the Son of God talking with the Father God. Speaking with His VOICE in this world that He CREATED with the POWER of HIS SPOKEN WORD that we may have His JOY fulfilled in us.
Try and wrap your head around that for a minute. (and God said 'let there be light')
How does that make you feel about this little word joy... this little obscure fruit of the spirit?
But then... this is the apex... the pinnacle... the reason for all of it.
Sweating drops of blood, exhausted to the point that angels had to come and minister to Him in the garden and With full intimate knowledge of what was ahead of Him, He willingly said to the Father "Nevertheless, your will be done" and gave Himself over to be tortured and slain like the most vile of criminals.
Hebrews 12:2 states that He did it "for the joy set before Him." He endured the cross, despising the shame (the spectacle, the sin, the separation from glory) and now has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Regardless of the cost, He came for the joy!
He left the glory of Heaven to become a helpless infant trusting himself to a human mother and father. He grew to a boy, a youth, a man, a rabbi, a friend of sinners... and then a lamb to be slain.
All for the Joy.
His gift of salvation is more lavishly extravagant and outrageously generous than anything the world has to offer.
So seek Him.
Be saved and transformed by His sacrifice... His power.
And treasure the JOY.
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