Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Fruits of The Spirit: Joy

It is my turn to write on a fruit of the spirit! Last month, Flibby reviewed love. You can read that posting here.

Galations 5:22-23 reads as follows: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

~Joy comes from the Lord, as we can see all through scripture. It tells us of how we are filled with joy because Christ has saved us, or how we are filled with joy with the thought of Him, or sharing with others His blessings- clearly, joy comes and is given from the Lord.

~He is freely ready to give it to us, if we only ask! One of the things that I have been working on lately is finding God's joy in the simplest of things, for I often find that by overlooking those little things, I miss the bigger picture.

Psalm 16:11- "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

~ One of the sources of joy comes from knowing what is right and rejoicing in it. Jesus has told us in John 14:6-

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

~ We should be joyful and rejoicing in the Lord and the path that He has given us.

~We should also be joyful in praising the Lord and telling others about Him and His works, because the Bible says:

Psalm 95:1- "Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation."

Psalm 98:4- "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;"

Psalm 107:22 -"Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy."

Psalm 126:3-"The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."

A fun way to dig through the scriptures is to get a notebook and write down every verse that has the word "joy" in it or references being joyful. You will memorize lots of verses, and find more insights through the scriptures, even in passages you have read over and over again!

Joy is one of the most precious gift that God has given us. I highly encourage you to find and show joy every day!

Many blessings!

~*~Courtney~*~

6 comments:

Lady Why said...

Thank you, Courtney! Your post was a blessing to me this morning!

Maiden Of Virtue said...

Thank you!

~*~Courtney~*~

Follow In His Steps said...

Very good post, Courtney! Thank you for sharing. :)

As I read your post, a passage in John came to mind:

“‘My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.'" (John 15:8-11)

As we abide in Christ and are obedient to His Word, His joy will be made full in us. Complete. And it is His joy that is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Thank you again!

Sarah

Maiden Of Virtue said...

What a great verse! Thanks so much for sharing it!

Ya'll have a great blog! Would you mind if I added it to my personal blogroll at: One Of The Bunch?

Talk to you soon!
~*~Courtney~*~

Follow In His Steps said...

Thank you for your encouraging words, Courtney! And yes, feel free to add our blog to your blogroll. :) Thank you for asking!

Sarah

Maiden Of Virtue said...

Thank you!

~*~Courtney~*~