Cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit
Joy/Peace
Psalm 16:8-9
cul·ti·vate vt
1. to work land or prepare soil for growing crops
4. to improve or develop something, usually by study or education
5. to develop an acquaintance or intimacy with somebody, often for personal advantage
Galatians 5:22-25
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Love – Agape – GOD IS LOVE
We must love God’s Son, for then we know what love is, and how to show that same love.
Love must be a verb!
Today’s Focus: Joy and Peace
1. What is True Joy?
A. Definition
joy n
1. feelings of great happiness or pleasure, especially of an elevated or spiritual kind
2. a pleasurable aspect of something, or something that is seen as a source of happiness
v
1. to derive joy from something, or to give somebody joy (archaic or literary)
2. to delight in or enjoy something (archaic literary)
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Christian definition is similar, but lacks one thing from the definition we just read:
Psalm 16:8-9 (NLT)
I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 9 No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises! My body rests in safety.
So you can see, True Joy is not derivative of anything other, than the Lord!
B. Joy does not mean happiness!
(Contrast to Definition)
Do you notice something when you looked at Galatians 5:22-23, or did you see something missing?
There is no mention of happiness.
Many people think that God just wants them to be happy so they will avoid difficult situations or they will run from a problem in life because the problem does not make them happy.
Happiness is not Joy. Happiness is a circumstance related emotion. When things are going well, we are happy.
How many of us are happy when difficult times hit us? How many times are you happy when things are not pleasant? You generally cannot be happy unless the circumstances are right.
Think of it in the practical terms:
- When my team loses, like they did in the playoffs, I was not happy! But I had joy that they made it that far!
- Most people go into marriage and expect happiness every morning, but then reality sets in! Marriage is a wonderful thing, but it’s not something that comes easy!
- How about work? Are you always going to be happy there? I think of one of my passions and hobbies, making film. It’s still work! It’s not always a happy time!
Too many of us put happiness over what God really wants from us. There is nothing wrong with being happy, but that should not drive our life because it is a temporary emotion, and not capable of supporting anything permanent.
God wants us to seek joy. We can have joy no matter what is going on in our lives because it is an inward peace that is not affected by circumstances.
I’m sure you’ve seen people who live life with no joy, they have marriages with no joy, and they allow life to defeat them, they have no joy in their salvation.
So instead, they chase this temporary emotion and try and fill their lives with things just as fleeting. But Our Joy must come from God.
Nehemiah 8:10 (NASB)
10Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Nehemiah was trying to encourage the people reminding them that the joy of the Lord was their strength. Paul echoes the same sentiment in Philippians.
Philippians 3:1 (NASB)
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
So where are we to find Joy? In God’s Love for you. And that’s where we can go off track in seeking Joy; when it become something motivated of the flesh.
There is a little word picture we can paint with the word JOY.
J-esus O-thers Y-ourself
When we decide to get our priorities right, we will start to experience joy, joy is not centered on ourselves, it is centered on serving Jesus and then serving others.
Lindsay’s Joy Ornament Story
Romans 5:2
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where were we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory
2. Joy and Peace are battle born brothers
peace: the state of mental calm and serenity, free of anxiety
John 14:27 (NLT)
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Peace is resting in God’s sovereignty.
The end result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our life is deep and lasting peace.
Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance.
With Christ’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future.
Joy comes from the inward Peace that is not affected by circumstances. When you posses the fruit of joy in your life, you are not dependent on circumstances in order to keep it.
James 1:2 (NASB)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
James tells us we are to consider it all joy when we face various trials. Since joy is not dependent on circumstances, we can possess it in the midst of trials. How can we possess joy in the midst of trials?
James 1:3-4 (NASB)
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We can have joy when we face difficulties because we know the difficulties will produce some good things in our lives.
We know that God will work things out for us, and in turn we can at peace with the things we are facing.
Hebrews 10:34 (NLT)
You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail. When all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew you had better things waiting for you in eternity.
Paul is writing as reminder that they have already endured beating, and ridicule, but to have joy and peace in knowing that there are far greater things waiting for them, than the things they lost.
3. Joy and Peace for the Road
The one thing I’m learning as I go through life, especially lately it seems, is that I can’t have one of these fruit evident in my life without the other.
It’s just like we mentioned earlier, we must be balanced in all parts of the fruit of the spirit, or we are not truly “walking by the spirit”, and our lives will seem unbalanced.
And it seems especially evident here in joy and peace.
A. Joy and Peace are not dependent on circumstances.
Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Linda Fox funeral: Unexpected and sad, but a time of Joy and Peace!
We have the hope of knowing that whatever we endure of this world, it’s temporary, and when we graduate this life, we will experience the “joy set before us!”
B. Cultivating Joy and Peace
Joy grows out of real worship.
Psalm 81 (NLT)
Sing praises to God, our strength. Sing to the God of Jacob.
Worship involves both celebration and confession. The God of the Bible encourages joy! God does not intend for religion to be only meditation and introspection. He also wants us to celebrate. Serious reflection and immediate confession of sin are essential, of course. But these should be balanced by celebrating who God is and what he has done for his people.
Joy comes from being in God’s presence.
John 15:4-5 (NLT)
4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. 5“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing
Just like anything else, when we seek God first, we will begin to live as God says (by the spirit).
Matthew 6:19-21 (NASB)
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Peace comes from prayer and petition
Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Peace is a by-product of our complete reliance and trust in God. The way to bring peace to a troubled heart is to focus on God’s promises. Trust him to do what he says.
Joy and Peace must be shared
1 Peter 1:8 (NASB)
8and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
Just like Love must be an action, so to must these. Encouragement! Be an encourager. Share your testimony! And experience Joy together!
Phil. 4:4
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
- Prayer
