West Park Baptist Church

joy

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Abide: Joy

Joy. Sometimes I confess it is elusive. Whenever I seek to be joyful or to rejoice it isn’t easy to turn that faucet on. Can you identify with that?

Personally I see as a pastor a lot of pain in people’s lives. Sin and struggle. Hurt and loss. Disappointments from circumstances and people. If I’m not careful, that’s all I see, and rejoicing feels like a foggy land I can’t get to. You may be there too!

Joy is not as simple as pasting on a smile or merely acting happy.

So, what is joy anyway? And how can we rejoice in this challenging life?

Let’s turn to Psalm 33:1–5

[1] Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
[2] Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
[3] Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
[4] For the word of the LORD is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
[5] He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. (ESV)

This Psalm teaches us that “praise befits the upright.” In other words, it’s fitting for God’s people to be full of joy!

I love hanging out with genuinely joyful Christians. They aren’t easily offended, they approach hard issues with patience, they love people and laugh freely. In other words, they exhibit the other Fruit of the Spirit in their joy. Do you know people like this?

Recognize that God wills all His people to be like this. He commands us to rejoice:

  • Shout for joy (1)
  • Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre (2)
  • Make melody to him with the harp of ten strings (2)
  • Sing to him a new song (3)
  • Play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts (3)

The Lord knows our hearts need to be primed to rejoice, and those commands tell us the means to rejoice in joy. I find Jesus rejoicing in song like this in the New Testament. He knew this Psalm and obeyed it fully. He sang with His disciples after the Last Supper on the way to the Garden of Gethsemene. He sings even now as our Resurrected Lord and King in Heaven (see Heb. 2:12). Jesus was and is today and will forever be the most joyful Person we could ever be with. What does He delight and rejoice in? Psalm 33 gives us fuel for rejoicing like Jesus.

  • We have joy because God has given us His Word and forever settled it. He won’t change it. What He says is true and totally trustworthy. So, rejoice! (33:4,11)
  • We have joy because God has given us His steadfast love. He won’t remove it from us, no matter what happens to us or what we go through. So, rejoice! (33:5,18,22)
  • We have joy because God controls all the nations. Nothing happens outside of His power and control. The blessing is on the nation who fears God. So, rejoice! (33:10-12)
  • We have joy because the stability and strength of our lives doesn’t depend on our strength or the shaky foundation of human leaders. God Himself is our strength. So, rejoice! (33:13-19)
  • We have joy because we have the Lord. Christ is our gladness and joy. So, rejoice! (33:20-22).

Joy, then, is a settled gladness in God – who He is and what He does.

So, friends, when you feel down, even struggling with depression, don’t try to fake your way out of it. There are hard realities in life, and the joyful Christian doesn’t ignore them. He or she instead shifts the focus from the hard realities to the unchanging truth of God.

From time to time Pastor Sam Polson has reminded us of the prayer of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20:12 – “Lord, we don’t know what to do” (the acknowledgement that life is tough, trials are at the door, and we don’t have the resources to change things) “but our eyes are on you” (the God who speaks, loves, controls all things, gives strength to His people and delights us with His presence). Yes, instead of looking to get joy, God’s people look to the Lord. And joy comes.

How, then, can you experience joy?

  • Spend quality time in God’s Word, orienting your mind and heart on God’s truth.
  • Pray, worshipping God for who He is.
  • Focus on the Lord Jesus, praising Him for His sacrifice and life given for you. Praise Him for His joyful presence always.
  • Sing songs of praise to the Lord!
  • Gather (and thankfully we will soon!) with God’s people. Surround yourself with genuinely joyful Christians, those types I referred to above. Seek them out, for that kind of Spirit-driven joy really seems to be contagious!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4:4, ESV)

A song to remind you of our Joy in Christ – Forever Jesus

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

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Counsel for the Heart: Bearing Spiritual Fruit (Gal. 5:22-23)

Would you like to know a guaranteed way to glorify God?

The Lord told us in John 15:8 –

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

We glorify God by bearing much fruit. Today we go back into Galatians 5:22-23 to examine more closely the fruit of the Spirit. By knowing what type of fruit the Holy Spirit produces we will grow in opportunities to glorify our Father. This is also our memory passage, so remember to meditate and memorize as you read today.

Galatians 5:22–23

[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)

Getting to the Heart:

One of the most helpful things we can do with this list of spiritual fruit is to understand what each part of the fruit means, what it replaces, and even what tends to be a counterfeit version of each part. I’ve been helped so much by the Bible study resource Galatians for You by Tim Keller1, and I’ve created a chart below based on his helpful explanation of the fruit of the Spirit.

Fruit  Definition Opposite Counterfeit
Love Love and care for a person based on their good, not on what they bring to you Self-protection; self-promotion Attraction for someone based on what they add to you or how they make you feel
Joy Happiness and delight in God for Who He is and what He does in the world Hopelessness; depression Happiness based on changing circumstances
Peace Confidence and rest in the sovereign wisdom and control of God Anxiety and fear Not caring about something; feeling indifferent
Patience The ability to stand up under the pressures of life without lashing out in anger toward God and others Resentment toward God and others Cynical lack of care
Kindness Motivation that serves others for their good in a practical way, out of a sense of complete inner security in Christ Envy; refusal to rejoice in another’s prosperity Serving others to ultimately manipulate them or prove to God or others our worth.
Goodness Also means integrity; being one person or the same person wherever you are Hypocrisy Speaking your mind and not holding back truth to make yourself feel better or look good
Faithfulness To be absolutely trustworthy and always true to your word Being a friend only in good times Being loving but never willing to confront when needed
Gentleness Humility, specifically self-forgetfulness, prioritizing others and responding calmly even when they are aggressive Attitude of superiority or self-absorption Spirit of inferiority, speaking ill about yourself
Self-control Ability to endure in hard times by focusing on the important not the urgent Impulsiveness or recklessness Willpower to endure difficulties to prove your worth or strength

Sometimes it’s necessary to slow down in our Bible reading and really dig in to specific words to better know the Lord’s message. This passage with this list is a case in point: we need to really understand these aspects of the Spirit’s fruit. It’s all so we can bear the fruit that brings joy and glory to our Father.

Today a group of men came to our home to cut down some trees that we had let grow over the years but that had become a nuisance. It is amazing how much more light, area to grow other things and even just to play in that the removal of those trees provided.

Walking in the Spirit is like that, I think. All of us have some motivating attitudes that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus came to deliver us from that ruling flesh that loves to assert self and sow destructive works. The Holy Spirit is the power to come in and chop those works down at their root level and open up your life to the light and freedom of God (Gal. 5:1).

Let’s talk it over:

  • Where are you seeing growth this week in the Spirit?
  • Do you see any opposites in your attitudes and actions?
  • Do you spot any counterfeits to the Spirit’s fruit?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we believe that it is for freedom that You came to set us free. That freedom is the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that the Spirit produces. This is the fruit we see in You, Lord. We love You because of who You are and how You shared that fruit with people all the time. There was never a time when You were not bearing fruit, and You are worthy of the greatest freedom and joy. Yet You took on our record of fleshly works and received the punishment for reckless, self-absorbed living that defied God and defiled our fellow man. Oh, we love and thank You for paying for those many many sins. But we love and thank You all the more that now You share Your Spirit with us so that we might walk with You and experience what You alone deserve. Help us to glorify our Father by bearing much fruit today. Amen.

Worship in Song:

His Mercy is More

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  1. Galatians for You resource by Tim Keller. Pages 141-142 used for the chart above.