Fruit of the Spirit : Week Three
And the Fruit of the Spirit is Joy
What is Joy:
True Joy (focus is outward) – Peace, Contentment, Gratitude, Fulfillment, Faith-based
False Joy (focus is inward) – Unrest, Discontent, Ingratitude, Unfulfillment, Self-based
Jdg 19:3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
1Sa 18:6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
1Ki 1:38 - 40 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!" And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
1Ch 12:38 -40 All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with full intent to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king. And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them. And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.
1Ch 16:33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Isa 12:1 You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. "Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
Rom 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Jam 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
What is joy? Joy is something that fills us up, that comes out of us in song, that dwells with a group of people, that accompanies us on the road. It is an attitude, but also a substance. By attitude I mean it is an inner quality: calm, trusting, resting. By substance I mean that it is something that can be transferred: I give you joy, make my joy complete, you fill me with joy. Joy hopes and fulfills hope.
The Attitude:
There once were two friends who had everything, Frank and Bill. Both were very rich. Cows and cars, sheep and stables, you name it, they owned it. They were very happy. Joy was abundant. They loved telling stories and they loved laughing. The men had no earthly need, and were very content with what they had. One day a wildfire came through the town where the two men lived and destroyed everything they owned. All the cows and sheep died, all the cars and stables were destroyed. The men alone were left. Both Frank and Bill were devastated. They had lost everything they held dear. They were very sad. Frank was bitter against God. He blamed God for everything, and was convinced that God was intent on ruining his life. He stopped going to church, and reading his bible, and telling stories, and laughing. His only thought was how to get back all his stuff. Bill however took things very differently. He was still sad, but it had not turned into bitterness. He told Frank one day, “Shouldn’t we receive both the hard and easy from God? Isn’t He the one in charge and sovereign over everything? Didn’t He give us all the stuff in the first place? Why not give thanks for the good and bad? The lord gives and the lord takes away, blessed be His name. This whole world is his anyway. The whole world belongs to Him, he can give of his own what he wants to, to whom he wants to, and he can take away what he wants to from whom he wants to, when he wants to. Why not just give glory to the God who still allows you to breath, and still allows the blood in your veins to move around letting you live? Especially when that is what we are commanded to do. What is more important: All this earthly material stuff that’s going to burn anyway, or salvation and eternal life with Christ? We can be bummed at what we lost, but God is still God, and we are still His children, and need to honor Him as God and give Him thanks.”
The Substance
There once was a poor lady who was left all alone in the world. She had never married, and so never had had any children. She was born in England, but through a sad and lonely lifetime ended up in Russia, without a single friend, or a word of Russian to her name. How she got there is a sad story, and is better left untold here. She lived in a room adjacent to a house owned by a young couple who simply had pity on her and refused to allow her to continue living on the street. She had lived there perhaps close to three years. She had one joy in life, and that was a book. It was an old book and it was very delicate. It had been old and very delicate for so long that it was no surprise that the binding simply broke one day. That was fine, until she lost the second half. Now all that she had was the first half of the book, which still was precious to her, but saddened her even more. One day, a young man, accidentally tripped on the steps in front of her house. This man was a university student, and was studying English literature. He hardly spoke a word, but enough to say hi. The old lady had seen him fall, and went out to help him She invited him in to rest his ankle, which had twisted a bit. She was very kind toward him, and liked him very much. They talked as much as they could, which wasn’t very much, but enough to give her company. He eventually excused himself and left, because he still had a class to get to. This same young man began coming by regularly, at first out of pity for the old woman’s loneliness, but then out of a real friendship. He got to know her story, where she had come from, why she was alone in Russia, and how her favorite thing in all the world, lay in half, missing the better part of itself. When he found out which book it was, he had one task he knew he must do. He went out and found the book at the university, bought it, and wrapped in fancy paper. He gave it to her as a present. When she opened it, her eyes filled with water, tears of happiness, for the one the thing she had missed for so many years, was with her again. Her joy had been made complete.
Now these stories are examples of what joy is. Joy is an attitude before God, and an actual something that he gives to us. Joy means gratitude for everything, both fun and not so fun; joy means contentment at all times, when you have things you want, and when you don’t have things you want; joy means peace when people are happy with you or are unjustly mad at you; joy means rest when things are quiet, and when things are crazy; joy means trusting in a God who is in control when you can see what will happen, and when you cant see what will happen.
Our Joy is based in this. God is God and we are not. He has accomplished salvation for us, and has placed us in a world full of joy and enjoyment. The fact that the sun is bright, water is blue, and grass is green, food tastes good, ice cream is sweet, running is fun. All these things are things we enjoy, and find joy in. This is because of the gift of God. He enables us to enjoy things (through salvation), and gives us things to enjoy (through creation).
Joy, both attitude and substance, is a gift from God. It is a fruit of the Spirit, which he is working to hang on your wall. It is not something that we have naturally. It is something we are commanded to have however, and so we pray for it. Rejoice always, Paul tells us. James tells us to count everything as joy, when we encounter various trials, for steadfastness is being produced in us. And so when your brother or sister annoys you, take a deep breath, and count it as joy, knowing that your faith is being proven.
What does it mean to count it all joy? It means in the moment that you take a deep breath, give thanks to God, literally say “Thank you God for this “whatever is going on” and for teaching me to trust in you for everything.” Then you refrain from returning annoying for annoying, or evil for evil as the Bible puts it. Love your brother instead of ignoring him, beating him or anything that is not helping him or giving him opportunity to grow. Joy means giving thanks and trusting God to work everything together for good, which HE promises HE will do.
What does Joy not mean. It does not mean being happy all the time. Joy is something much deeper than superficial happiness. Joy is real, and sometimes cries. Joy is honest with God and keeps dialogue with Him open. Joy does not always have a smile on, but it does mean gratitude.
So again, we finish with this, Honor God as God, and give Him thanks. This is the core of what it means to be Joyful.
What is Joy:
True Joy (focus is outward) – Peace, Contentment, Gratitude, Fulfillment, Faith-based
False Joy (focus is inward) – Unrest, Discontent, Ingratitude, Unfulfillment, Self-based
Jdg 19:3 Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father's house. And when the girl's father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
1Sa 18:6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
1Ki 1:38 - 40 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live King Solomon!" And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
1Ch 12:38 -40 All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with full intent to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king. And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them. And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.
1Ch 16:33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Isa 12:1 You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. "Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
Rom 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Jam 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Heb 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
What is joy? Joy is something that fills us up, that comes out of us in song, that dwells with a group of people, that accompanies us on the road. It is an attitude, but also a substance. By attitude I mean it is an inner quality: calm, trusting, resting. By substance I mean that it is something that can be transferred: I give you joy, make my joy complete, you fill me with joy. Joy hopes and fulfills hope.
The Attitude:
There once were two friends who had everything, Frank and Bill. Both were very rich. Cows and cars, sheep and stables, you name it, they owned it. They were very happy. Joy was abundant. They loved telling stories and they loved laughing. The men had no earthly need, and were very content with what they had. One day a wildfire came through the town where the two men lived and destroyed everything they owned. All the cows and sheep died, all the cars and stables were destroyed. The men alone were left. Both Frank and Bill were devastated. They had lost everything they held dear. They were very sad. Frank was bitter against God. He blamed God for everything, and was convinced that God was intent on ruining his life. He stopped going to church, and reading his bible, and telling stories, and laughing. His only thought was how to get back all his stuff. Bill however took things very differently. He was still sad, but it had not turned into bitterness. He told Frank one day, “Shouldn’t we receive both the hard and easy from God? Isn’t He the one in charge and sovereign over everything? Didn’t He give us all the stuff in the first place? Why not give thanks for the good and bad? The lord gives and the lord takes away, blessed be His name. This whole world is his anyway. The whole world belongs to Him, he can give of his own what he wants to, to whom he wants to, and he can take away what he wants to from whom he wants to, when he wants to. Why not just give glory to the God who still allows you to breath, and still allows the blood in your veins to move around letting you live? Especially when that is what we are commanded to do. What is more important: All this earthly material stuff that’s going to burn anyway, or salvation and eternal life with Christ? We can be bummed at what we lost, but God is still God, and we are still His children, and need to honor Him as God and give Him thanks.”
The Substance
There once was a poor lady who was left all alone in the world. She had never married, and so never had had any children. She was born in England, but through a sad and lonely lifetime ended up in Russia, without a single friend, or a word of Russian to her name. How she got there is a sad story, and is better left untold here. She lived in a room adjacent to a house owned by a young couple who simply had pity on her and refused to allow her to continue living on the street. She had lived there perhaps close to three years. She had one joy in life, and that was a book. It was an old book and it was very delicate. It had been old and very delicate for so long that it was no surprise that the binding simply broke one day. That was fine, until she lost the second half. Now all that she had was the first half of the book, which still was precious to her, but saddened her even more. One day, a young man, accidentally tripped on the steps in front of her house. This man was a university student, and was studying English literature. He hardly spoke a word, but enough to say hi. The old lady had seen him fall, and went out to help him She invited him in to rest his ankle, which had twisted a bit. She was very kind toward him, and liked him very much. They talked as much as they could, which wasn’t very much, but enough to give her company. He eventually excused himself and left, because he still had a class to get to. This same young man began coming by regularly, at first out of pity for the old woman’s loneliness, but then out of a real friendship. He got to know her story, where she had come from, why she was alone in Russia, and how her favorite thing in all the world, lay in half, missing the better part of itself. When he found out which book it was, he had one task he knew he must do. He went out and found the book at the university, bought it, and wrapped in fancy paper. He gave it to her as a present. When she opened it, her eyes filled with water, tears of happiness, for the one the thing she had missed for so many years, was with her again. Her joy had been made complete.
Now these stories are examples of what joy is. Joy is an attitude before God, and an actual something that he gives to us. Joy means gratitude for everything, both fun and not so fun; joy means contentment at all times, when you have things you want, and when you don’t have things you want; joy means peace when people are happy with you or are unjustly mad at you; joy means rest when things are quiet, and when things are crazy; joy means trusting in a God who is in control when you can see what will happen, and when you cant see what will happen.
Our Joy is based in this. God is God and we are not. He has accomplished salvation for us, and has placed us in a world full of joy and enjoyment. The fact that the sun is bright, water is blue, and grass is green, food tastes good, ice cream is sweet, running is fun. All these things are things we enjoy, and find joy in. This is because of the gift of God. He enables us to enjoy things (through salvation), and gives us things to enjoy (through creation).
Joy, both attitude and substance, is a gift from God. It is a fruit of the Spirit, which he is working to hang on your wall. It is not something that we have naturally. It is something we are commanded to have however, and so we pray for it. Rejoice always, Paul tells us. James tells us to count everything as joy, when we encounter various trials, for steadfastness is being produced in us. And so when your brother or sister annoys you, take a deep breath, and count it as joy, knowing that your faith is being proven.
What does it mean to count it all joy? It means in the moment that you take a deep breath, give thanks to God, literally say “Thank you God for this “whatever is going on” and for teaching me to trust in you for everything.” Then you refrain from returning annoying for annoying, or evil for evil as the Bible puts it. Love your brother instead of ignoring him, beating him or anything that is not helping him or giving him opportunity to grow. Joy means giving thanks and trusting God to work everything together for good, which HE promises HE will do.
What does Joy not mean. It does not mean being happy all the time. Joy is something much deeper than superficial happiness. Joy is real, and sometimes cries. Joy is honest with God and keeps dialogue with Him open. Joy does not always have a smile on, but it does mean gratitude.
So again, we finish with this, Honor God as God, and give Him thanks. This is the core of what it means to be Joyful.
posted by joe at
8:41 PM
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