"Joy" A Fruit Of The Spirit

"JOY" A FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

10And Nehemiah£ continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be grieved or depressed (sad), for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” (Nehemiah 8:10

A. That is one of the reasons that Satan tries so hard to steal our joy as Christians.

B. It is why so many of us struggle with Christian depression and anxiety disorders.

God has given us His joy to be our strength.

A. In the Greek, the original word they used for strength in that verse meant defense, force,

fortress, strength, stronghold, and rock!

1. Christian joy is supposed to be all of those things for me on a daily basis.

B. If Satan can get me to live a life without joy, it will inevitably be a life without the power to fight

the good fight of faith.

C. The other key part that I’m seeing here is that true joy comes from the Lord. It says that the

joy of the Lord is my strength.

D. Any joy that I try to create within myself is always going to be fleeting.

E. I need to depend on my Heavenly Father to be my source of joy.

1. This means I don’t have to beat myself up for not having joy.

2. I need to stop and turn my eyes to God, seek His face, and receive a fresh infilling of His

Holy Spirit and His joy.

F. This also emphasizes the importance of joy.

1. Of all things, Christian joy is what God says is my strength.

2. When I am denying myself the opportunity to enjoy my life, I am actually disarming myself

against the enemy’s attacks.

3. I am robbing myself of my ability to fight back by draining my “strength reserves.”

Of course, life can not be all fun and games, but there is definitely a such thing as balance!

Questions it brought to my mind…

1. Why, of all things, does the Bible say joy is our strength?

2. How exactly does “JOY” strengthen us?

3. How can I safeguard myself to make sure I do not fall back into the trap of denying myself

any joy and being totally out of balance?

Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

INTRODUCTION:

What does "Fruit of the Spirit mean?"

Do you ever wonder about the "Fruits of the Spirit" and their meaning?

There is a lot of wonderful teachings in these various blessings of the Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the "Holy Spirit" begins the work of changing our sin led lives into "God led" lives. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Salvation is for anyone who shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus (John 3:16).

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Be born again!"

A. It doesn't matter what special church you go to or what rituals you perform, Jesus said this

and it is from the Holy Bible.

B. If you are born again, you will see Heaven because you believe. The Holy Spirit comes to you

and starts leading you down the path of righteousness.

C. The Holy Spirit brings about a change in people with their Ambitions, Attitudes, Actions,

Affections and Emotions.

D. Every area of our lives begin to change when we "sincerely" follow the Lord.

Let's Consider one of the Fruits of the Spirit, "Joy" as we pray for Godly wisdom and knowledge. Richly leading of our lives into a deeper spiritual growth.

I. "GAL. 5:22 BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS..."JOY." GOD DESIRES US TO WALK IN JOY NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!

A. God desires us to have JOY in our lives even when circumstances become like "Job" in the

Bible full of Sorrow.

1. Job was a prosperous farmer living in Uz

a. He raised camels, sheep and other livestock

b. He had many servants in the home as well as herdsmen

c. His family consisted of a number of child

2. Satan was allowed by God to come in and destroy Job as

a testing of his faithfulness.

a. Job lost his possessions that made him

rich.

b. Job lost his servants because the work was

gone.

c. Job lost his children

1. Children were inheritance to the

future.

2. Among the Jewish people, children

were an asset that made you rich.

d. Job lost his health which removed him from his ability to work.