All About GOD - Growing Relationships with Jesus and Others
Joy to the World! Are you joyful?
One of the most used words in the bible is the word Joy. Joy is listed as part of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We are to be the most joyous people in the world, so why are so many of us not joyful?
In the bible we are commanded to be joyful. Count it all joy the word of God tells us, but what is the problem with that imperative? You are hurting, how can you possibly be joyful, you ask, is there a button I am to push and make myself joyful? We often even get angry when people give us the biblical command to count it all joy and we think they are not sensitive, but are they being insensitive or are we being blinded by pain etc…?
We tend to think happiness and joy is something that happens to us, that is passive, but not something that we have control over. But can we create joy and happiness by an act of the will or by abiding in Christ? Is joy an automatic reaction to abiding in Him, to being filled with the Spirit?
Scripture gives us a command to count it all joy; it’s an imperative, it’s an obligation. It is our duty to be joyful and the failure to be a joyful Christians is a manifestation of the flesh. Don’t misunderstand me, we all experience sorrow and grief. Jesus was called a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. It is better to go to the house of morning than to spend our time with fools and blessed/happy are those who mourn scripture tells us, but how can a person be in mourning and still be joyful?
How can Jesus be a man of sorrow and be the most joyful human to have ever walked the earth?
How can we experience feelings of mourning (which are not sinful) and have the biblical dimension of joy, even when we are experiencing mourning and grief and in the midst of our sorrow?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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For me the key to joy is found in my relationship with Jesus Christ. All things pale in comparison. All trials are but for a seaon, yet life in Christ is eternal. He is the source and sustainer of my joy and my life.
Lord Bless,
LT
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Amen LT, amen!
Our mourning is directed one way, in one concerned or a couple of concerns and painful issues, while considering "other things," we still can posses a measure of joy, even in the midst of affliction and suffering.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4
Being joyful people as a life-style, from a conscious decision to BE joyful it’s attainable to every believer, by doing exactly what you point to LT, by our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Our joy is located in the LORD and since we are always in the Lord, for we are in Christ and He is in us, we always have rejoicing in Him. We can get to a point in our maturity in Christ where we can even rejoice in our “circumstances, “because we understand what they are accomplishing in us, but if we cannot rejoice in our circumstances, we can always rejoice in our relationship in Christ.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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But can we create joy and happiness by an act of the will or by abiding in Christ?
Joy is an attribute of the fruit of the Spirit. We can't create it. The Spirit produces it in us. It is debatable whether or not the fruit of the Spirit is always in season. I think the believer will always show attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, but I don't think it is possible that any believer will always demonstrate all the attributes of this fruit all the time. We do long for the Spirit to produce more and more of His fruit in our lives. Should we rejoice always? We should do a lot of things. Can we rejoice always? You say you have mastered it. That's marvelous. The promise of Galatians 5:22 is that joy would be a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We can have many negative feelings. Situations can seem quite hopeless. I still cling to Christ even though it feels that way. My joy is not like your joy. My experience differs. On the cross Jesus felt forsaken by God. Then He committed His spirit to Him. Both things were OK to do. It is not always easy to keep our focus on Christ. It doesn't mean I am any less tied to Him.
I get distracted by the realities of life. I may not be able to express my joy, be all bubbly and laughing, which to me are just expressions of the human personality anyway and not really always expressions of the Holy Spirit in some one. The evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in me is not in how I feel about things. The evidence is in the fact that I want Him to be in me. The joy may be there always but I may not always be able to express it. The fact that I struggle at all proves to me that I am remaining in Christ. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Not my joy is my strength. If I can't express joy, Jesus has it and He is in me. When I can express joy, His joy and my joy together are then complete.
21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16)
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)
We may not always know but we can always learn.
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Amanda-
The many facets of joy. A fruit of the Spirit and a conscious choice.
These are but a few verses dealing with the believers joy.
Habakkuk 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (NIV)Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.Proverbs 15:13 - "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." (NIV)
Proverbs 15:23 - "A man finds joy in giving an apt reply - and how good is a timely word!" (NIV)
John 16:22 - "So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.". (NIV)
Nehemiah 8:12
Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.
Job 6:10
Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy OneJob 9:25
“My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.Psalm 92:4
For you make me glad by your deeds, LORD; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.Proverbs 10:28
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.Isaiah 52:9
Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.Isaiah 61:7
Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
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A conscious choice
David, you're beginning to sound like a psychologist. Power of thought and conscious choice. Also new age teachings. But I get where you are coming from.
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Amanda,
I hoped I sounded like a disciple (follower) of my Lord and savior. I am glad you get what the word teaches us.
Life in Christ is very much what we make of it.
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Oh, I was thinking our lives in Christ are what He is making of them. My bad. It takes me awhile but I do get what the Word teaches me as God sees fit to reveal it to me, but I don't always get what other people try to teach me.
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haha cool. Are we playing ping pong :)
Our salvation is not passive. It is both: we are the workmanship of Christ and we have a choice to abide in Him or not. We belong to Him, that is settle for eternity, but the benefits of the cross are very much dependent in how God deals with us personally and specifically according to his good pleasure and our abiding in Him.
Blessings
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:)
Y con tigo hermanita. Mucho amor y respeto a usted sierva.
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Gracias por decir esto. Perdón por mi español. Perdóname David porque mi corazón duro.
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Nancy -
One of the manifestations of the Spirit of God working in our lives is JOY. The closer we walk with Christ the more joyful we should become. We all have our bad days, but we should be characterizing by joy.
I have seen such a joy "through it all" in your live beloved and I thank God for that testimony.
Hallelujah - with God all things are possible. We can rejoice in Him.
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