Finding Joy
Before you can exhibit ANY Evidence, you must accept “The Bitter Truth.” You can choose bitterness or the Holy Spirit, but both cannot reside in your heart. The choice is yours!
If you were on trial for being a Christian, would you be convicted? Is there enough evidence in your life that exhibits the Fruits of the Holy Spirit? Galatians 5:22-23
We covered Exhibit 1 “LOVE” last week, but this week we will focus on Exhibit 2 “JOY.”
How would you define joy? The dictionary defines joy as an emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires [delight]: the expression or exhibition of such emotion [gaiety]: a state of happiness or felicity: [bliss (great happiness)]: a source or cause of delight.
Now let’s look at a Biblical definition of joy. Joy is defined as the happy state that results from knowing and serving God. There is a great emphasis on joy in the Bible. In fact, the words joy, joyous, and rejoicing are found more than 200 times.
Joy is more than happiness, happiness is a momentary feeling. You can be happy when something good happens. However, joy is beyond just a human emotion. It’s something that is deep rooted within your soul. You can have joy, even during the darkness moments of you life.
Joy comes because of who God is, not because of something that is going on in your life. Philippians 4:4 tells us to Rejoice all the time, not just when we feel like it. The bible tells us that if we take delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.
You are probably asking, how can I find joy in darkness. How can I rejoice when everything is going wrong and I am being attacked all the time? When a woman gives birth, it’s a difficult and painful time in her life. However, she never stops rejoicing. Why? Because she knows that through every labor pain, all the tears, she will soon hold her baby.
Just like that woman knows her promise is at the end of her pain, your key is in trusting God! You must know in your heart that during the most difficult times, He is there with you and will guide you through. [Psalm 28:7, Psalm 86:4]
As you end this article, I pray Romans 15:13 over you: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
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