The fruit of the Spirit is the kind of Christian character that glorifies
God and makes Christ real to others. Certainly the flesh can counterfeit
them, but eventually the deception would be detected... You see ladies,
real spiritual fruit carries seeds for more spiritual fruit which you
will discover as we continue this particular study in the days ahead.
Today we are going to take a look at joy, the next fruit listed in Galatians
5:22. When a believer first lives in the sphere of love, then it is he
experiences joy, that inward happiness that is not determined by the condition
of one's outward circumstances. For those who abide in Christ, joy is
a continual feast! In fact, God's Word makes it possible for fullness
of joy to reside within all believers...
John 15:11 (KJV)
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full.
Jeremiah 15:16 (KJV)
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God
of hosts.
As you look back over the past few weeks, even years, how full of joy
would you say you have you been? Is joy gone from your life completely?
Jesus says His joy is meant to remain! How is that possible? The answer
lies in the verse above. Spiritual fruit grows in a climate blessed with
an abundance of the Spirit - and the Word! This involves reading the Bible,
prayer, repentance, worship, praise, and fellowship with God's people.
Psalm 16:11B (KJV)
...in thy presence is fulness of joy....
Spiritual fruit can never grow in a climate other than God's presence!
And ladies, joy grows out of close fellowship with the Lord, first founded
upon a relationship of actively loving Him. We must place ourselves in
a position of listening to the Lord speak… Listen to Him share His promises
with you, trust them and believe God's Word. Let Him speak plainly to
you of your sin and need to repent. Let the Lord tell you what should
be added to your life. Be willing to take no for an answer if necessary.
Humbly accept His every commandment and live by them. Have you been placing
yourself under such submissive conditions, dear lady? How can you expect
joy in your life apart from the proper climate for growth of this fruit?
Isaiah 29:19 (KJV)
The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among
men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Ladies, it's ridiculous of us to think we could experience joy any other
way than God's way, amen? Joy is an attitude of the Spirit, not a human
feeling. It's a posture of our hearts resting in the Lord, a place we
are secure based on a promise in the Bible, a position of complete yieldedness
to the Lord! Joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows in the night
as well as in the day; joy flows through persecution as well as opposition.
It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring
the world can see upon our faces, yet doesn't know anything about! The
Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in willful obedience
to Him…
Psalm 40:8 (KJV)
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
Psalm 119:92 (KJV)
Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine
affliction.
Why do you buy fruit from the store? Do you buy it just to set it out
on your countertop for display? I personally buy fruit to eat it! Fruit
is produced to be eaten and there are thousands of people starving for
the fruit of joy in their lives, and all the other fruits of the Spirit
as well. Ladies, we should not be bearing fruit simply for our own spiritual
sustenance, to put on display so to speak, but so that others might be
fed and helped by our lives and that Christ might be glorified through
it all! Joy is magnified when it is shared... Joy is a fruit that others
take note of when they see it in our lives! It's as appealing as a great
big, shiny, red apple for which a starving soul would reach... Sometimes
though, there are thieves that would like to steal that shiny, red apple
away from you. Will you allow yourself to be robbed of your joy? Perhaps
your joy has already been stolen away by "thieves" in the form of people,
circumstances, worry, or things. Even though each of these "thieves" is
different, they all have something in common... They all stem from life
on the OUTSIDE of us! Joy is a result of life on the INSIDE of us, the
life of the indwelling Spirit of Christ present in every believer! Ladies,
no matter what storms may be raging outside of you, it is still possible
to be joyful because of WHO dwells on the inside. What steals our joy
is an improper focus. When our minds are focused on:
1) self - it leads to selfishness
2) people/others - it leads to disappointment
3) things- it leads to covetousness, greed
4) circumstances - it leads to fear and anxiety
5) cares - it leads to gloominess
Acts 20:24 (KJV)
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have
received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Ladies, as we place ourselves in the proper climate for growth, joy will
hang about us, it will grow and spread and feed many nearby. The best
environment is the mind of Christ! As believers we have access to the
mind of Christ due to the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives. Hence,
we must surrender our will to the Lord at the beginning of each new day.
We must let the Spirit of God renew our minds through the reading of the
Word. And we must pray daily, freeing up our minds of care by committing
and trusting God with those outward circumstances so that our joy, the
fruit of the Spirit might be seen! It is all very simple - our God is
not a complicated God. It is we who complicate things by our unwillingness
to trust and obey. Jesus was joyful simply because He trusted His heavenly
Father...
Luke 10:21 (KJV)
In that hour JESUS REJOICED in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so
it seemed good in thy sight.
Jesus Christ found joy in the way that His Heavenly Father chose to do
things. Let's be honest ladies, we don't always find joy in God's methods
or His timing, do we? Nevertheless, you and I must come to that place
in our hearts where we can say, "Even so, Father", just as Jesus did.
The only thing that should matter to us is what God thinks is best! "For
so it seemed good in THY sight". This is the inward attitude of joy; is
it your perspective also? We must not strive for our own way, but commit
ourselves, easily and simply, to God's way. Often times though, we have
an incorrect focus, we prefer things that seem good in OUR sight, a focus
that can never lead to joy! Therefore, the heart that would be filled
with divine delight must be yielded and still before God.
Psalm 5:11 (KJV)
But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever
shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy
name be joyful in thee.
So dear lady, is the big, shiny, red apple of joy evident in your life
as a believer, or has it fallen off the tree in despair and turned brown
with decay, eaten up with the worms of worry, things, people and circumstances?
Remember - joy is promised to God's children. Moreover, it can be restored
and remain forever a fruit in your Christian life because joy is a mark
of resting in the presence of God!
But the fruit... Is there any in your life?
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2003
