How’s Your Joy?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy….” Galatians 5:22

In my last post, we talked about the Fruit of the Spirit and focused on love. Today, we will take a quick look at joy.

We all know people who we would describe as joyful. They are happy, funny and always excited about something. These types of people are fun to have around and be around. The joy that this verse is talking about is a bit different.

When we have Christ in our lives and have realized what He did for us on that cross many years ago, we can’t help but have joy. Joy in knowing we are sinners saved by grace! Joy in knowing that He loved us so much, He sought us and called us to Him. This is a joy that is deep within us. When life has its bumps, we can still have that joy. We know who we are in Christ and nothing can take that away. We may be sad or discouraged, but we still have joy.

Don’t let life get you so far down, that you can’t find the joy. If you are struggling with having joy in your life:

*The first place to go is to God. Ask Him to put that joy back in your life.

*Get into the Word of God and be reminded of who God is and how much He loves you.

*Listen to music that is uplifting.

*Read a book that encourages you to live a life devoted to God.

*Be careful what you watch and put before your eyes.

*Surround yourself with people that are living a life for God. Encourage one another.

Have you heard the saying, “We are excited that you have joy in your heart, but you might want to tell your face.” In other words, let the joy be shown in your countenance. You have something in you that you need to share, but, if your face doesn’t know about it, you might have trouble convincing others about this amazing love.

Next time, we will talk about…..Peace.

In the mean time:

Memorize Galatians 5:22-23

Read James 1:2

Thank God for your joy!

If you are struggling, ask God to give you a true joy!

Challenge:

Think on good things today.  Do you have a tendency to look at just the bad things and wonder why you don’t have any joy?  Many years ago when we were serving at a church in a very small town and had two small children, I struggled a bit with getting down.  I had to search for my joy many times throughout that time.  The church we were serving in had been through some hard times and just a handful of people were left.  Many…okay not many, maybe most, didn’t have any fruit of joy…..at all.  I would find myself becoming almost depressed due to the circumstances we were living in and the people that were around us.  I determined I was going to make the best of it and I had to realize where my real joy came from….not my home, not the people, not the church, not from the neighbors, not from the grocery store clerk, not from those that I hoped would reach out to me, but from my Heavenly Father.  That is how I made it without becoming depressed.  Is there something in your life circumstances that you are having a hard time finding that joy?  It’s there…..if you have put your faith and trust in Christ…that joy is there.  Begin a list of all the things Christ is and has done for you and I have a feeling, your joy will show up.

Until next time,