Nine Fruits: Joy Series

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Introduction:

How many folks have a dog?

I’ve had several dogs in my life...

One thing about dogs

If they’re outside

When he starts barking

Guess what the neighbors dog starts to do?

Barks back of course

Neighbors dog barking, causes their neighbors dog to bark back

This exchange of barking starts happening

Where they’re all just barking at each other

Its this thing that God has put inside of dogs

This factory installed response

Thats how God made dogs

But God did not create us to be like dogs, did he?

However, we often act like dogs

When someone barks at us, we bark right back

Like we have no control over the situation

Maybe our spouse tosses a verbal hand grenade at us We throw one right back

Maybe a child / Family member / Co-Worker

Whatever the situation, it leaves you frustrated

Maybe leaves you embarrassed

Maybe you said something you shouldn’t have and you need to apologize

But no matter what, those type of exchanges will certainly leave you with a deficit of joy in your life

Life doesn’t have to be that way

In fact

Your ability to produce the fruit of joy in your life

Is dependent on How you think And What you believe

You ability to produce

God’s Spirit is in you, but you have to cultivate that

It’s Fruit of the Spirit

It comes from God’s Spirit in you

But in order to cultivate that

It begins with

How you think

And What you believe

How You Think

You can either set the tone by deciding to have joy in your life

Or you can be affected by something else setting the tone

Someone who lets something else affect them

Is like an offended driver

Unwilling to control your emotions

They allow traffic to dictate if they are joyful or angry

I have made a decision that life is too short

To get mad about traffic, too short for Road Rage

When I was younger I thought that getting mad at traffic

Would somehow make traffic move faster

But would you know it, this is not the case

Now, I am not perfect there are times that traffic still gets to me

But there are people on the road who will just blow up

At the drop of a hat

Someone accidentally changes lanes, or turns...

They are as angry as can be in the blink of an eye

But that is letting traffic set the tone for how you feel / react

Instead of choosing to set the tone yourself

Thats why you have to choose

And be intentional about how you handle yourself

You have to decide, that no matter what is going on around you

You are not going to let it change what is going on inside you

Romans 12:2

And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

Don’t be conformed to this world

Don’t be shaped

Don’t be controlled by what is happening around you

But be changed by renewing your mind

Change the way you think

This is about developing the Fruit of Joy in your life

When we allow situations or circumstances

Or other people around us

Dictate how we think

Or how we feel (= CONFORM, SHAPE, CONTROL US)

Then we are living outside of what God wants for us

There is always going to be things happening around us

That could cause us to be angry

That could cause us to be sad or hurt

Or could cause us to be jealous

Or could cause us to fear, Or worry

But you can’t be conformed

You can’t be controlled by this world

Or by what’s happening around you

Your Joy isn’t determined by what’s happening around you

But by Who is living inside you!

You must allow the Spirit of God dwelling in you

To develop and produce Joy in your life

Be transformed!

Change the way you think!

Allow faith to inform your fear

That God is control

And I can have joy in the midst of this traffic jam

I can have joy!

Strength

Nehemiah 8:10

...For the joy of the LORD is your strength

Everybody say “The joy of the Lord is my strength”

Somebody ought to say that to themselves first thing every morning this week... “The joy of the Lord is my strength”

I’m going to set the tone!

B’c the Joy of the Lord is my strength

What You Believe

So we know that...

Joy doesn’t come from what’s happening to you

Doesn’t come from the Traffic Report

Joy doesn’t come from how you feel