JOY!

The fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,

faith, meekness, temperance.

Galatians 5:22,23

The circumstances you are facing today come as no surprise to God. God is still in control!

He loves you. He gave His only begotten Son to save you.

He has a purpose and plan for your life.

He desires that you would desire Him, so that you could experience His love, His joy, and His peace. All who have made Him the center of their existence discover life with meaning, victory over vice, the knowledge of God’s favor, and an unshakable hope and confidence.

Wow I am so glad I’ve decided to follow the Lord!

I’ve made my share of messes, but our wonderful Savior has never failed!

He revealed himself to me!
He redeemed me!
He restored me!
He reconciled me!
He renewed my strength!
He remodeled me!
He revolutionized me!
He is my reason for living! (Now if that’s too many exclamation points I’m sorry!)

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS JOY!
The Scriptures tell us that the fruit of the Spirit is Joy! The tragedy of our day is that so few experience this Joy in their lives.

Unbelief does not bring joy. Voltaire, one of the most ardent opponents of Christ wrote, “I wish I had never been born. Pleasure does not bring joy. The poet Lord Byron lived a life of unbridled pleasure, and concluded, “the worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone.” Money cannot buy joy. Jay Gould, one of the richest Americans said on his death-bed, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”

JOY CAN BE FOUND ONLY WHEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD INDWELLS THE HEART.
By nature we are not just physical beings we are spiritual. When sin and rebellion are in our hearts the Holy Spirit of God is driven out. People try to fill the void that remains in their hearts with physical pleasure or positive thinking, but only God's Spirit will suffice.

While God’s Spirit brings us joy, it first brings us deep conviction and sorrow for our sins. If you feel guilty for running from God, that’s God’s Spirit speaking to you. If you feel sorry for living life outside God’s will, that’s God’s Spirit convicting you. If you’re beginning to think you need to get right with God, that’s God’s Spirit drawing you. Thank God He loves you enough to come after you!

When you repent (change your mind about sin), and believe in Christ (a change of heart), then you will be “born of the Spirit!” You will experience what Jesus called “the new birth.” (See John 3:1-16). And with the Spirit of God comes Joy!

THE JOY OF SINS FORGIVEN!
Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my JOY might remain in you, and that your JOY might be full.” (John 15:11). Preachers, poets, and songwriters, have not yet found words to express the wonderful joy that comes to those who are saved. But that has not kept them from trying! We sing:

“Life now is sweet, and my JOY is complete for I’m Saved! Saved! Saved!”

“It is JOY unspeakable and full of glory…and the half has never yet been told!”

“Joyful, joyful we adore thee, God of Glory, Lord of Love!”

“I’ve got the Joy! Joy! Joy! Joy! Down in my heart!”

THE JOY OF KNOWING GOD!
When the Gospel came to Samaria the Bible tells us, "There was great joy in that city!" (Acts 8:8). In Acts 13 we read that even when the disciples met opposition they were "filled with Joy and the Holy Ghost." (Acts 13:51,52). Indeed, living life as God intended for us to live is "joy unspeakable and full of glory!" (1st Peter 1:8,9).

THE JOY OF KNOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT TOMORROW HOLDS,
WE KNOW WHO HOLDS TOMORROW!
The Apostle Paul was warned that the Jews were out to silence him. Even so, the Apostle testified to the Christians at Ephesus, "None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy." (Acts 20:24).

Because the world is not the source of our joy, the world can never take away our joy. Our confidence rests in God, the Maker of heaven and earth.

THE JOY OF ANSWERED PRAYER!
If we "regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord will not hear us." (Psalm 66:18), but Jesus urged His disciples, "You have asked nothing in my name, ask, and ye shall receive, that your JOY may be full!" (John 14:24). "What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!"

THE JOY THAT SUSTAINS US EVEN WHEN WE ARE PERSECUTED!
Dictators and tyrants--those who persecute, know nothing of this joy! It's hard to imagine that Nero and Caligula were men with a song in their hearts. But Paul and Silas, after they were brutally beaten, roughly thrown into a Macedonian prison, placed in an unspeakably rancid cell, prayed and sang praises to God while their feet were bound in stocks and their wrists were wrapped in chains!

I can hear them singing now,

"Glorious freedom! Wonderful Freedom!
No more in chains of sin I repine!
Jesus the glorious emancipator!
Now and forever He shall be mine!"

Then after a shout of praise, God's men sang,

"Through many dangers, toils and snares,
We have already come,
'tis grace that brought us safe thus far
And grace will lead us home!"

Ah, "anyone can sing when the sun is shining bright, but you need a song in your heart at night!"

Though persecuted God's people rejoice in the God of their salvation. Our worship has always been punctuated with joy. The great British preacher Spurgeon said it this way:

"High joys were common when the Bridegroom comforted His bride in the dens and caves of the earth. Those pioneers of our holy faith were destitute, afflicted, tormented--yet were they men of whom the world was not worthy--and men who counted it all joy to suffer for Christ's sake!"

THE JOY OF SEEING JESUS!
One of these days we will be face to face with Christ our Savior. One day the faith shall be sight. And friends, "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus! One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase!"

The anticipation of that grand reunion draws us forward, for "we look not at the things which are seen, for the things that are seen are temporary, but the thing that are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18).

As a third century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend:

"It's a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians--and I am one of them."

May God so fill us with His Spirit that His Joy would be our possession, now and forever! Amen!