Fruit of Joy_ 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit (3)
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May 19, 2019 |
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 Senior Pastor Rev. Jaerock Lee
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Gal. 5:22-23 -
When we believe in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. However, not everyone who has received the Holy Spirit can bear the fruits of the Spirit. They can bear the fruit and change into the true children of God to the extent that they obey the guidance of the Spirit.
Those who bear the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit completely will give out the aroma of Christ in all respects. They gain the image of God and the qualifications to enter the city of New Jerusalem where the throne of God is located. Let's now look into the fruit of joy among the fruits of the Spirit.
1. Fruit of Joy
Joy is exultant happiness. Spiritual joy is not simply being happy. Even the unbelievers become joyful when things are good. This is only momentary emotion. When there are difficult things in life, their joy disappears. However, with the joy as in the fruit of the Spirit, one can rejoice all the time and in any situation or circumstance.
Therefore, spiritual joy is to be joyful always and give thanks in all things (1 Thess. 5:16-18). God's children can rejoice always just with the grace of salvation. But they lose the joy of first love and do not feel the same about the grace of salvation. Why? It's because they have flesh in their heart.
Flesh is the attributes that cause a severing from God who is spirit. Flesh includes lawlessness, unrighteousness, untruth, and all sins. Those who have fleshly attributes might lose their joy at any moment. Because they have the nature of changing, the devil might give them a situation in which they will lose joy.
The apostle Paul did not lose his joy in any hardships. He was put in jail while spreading the gospel, but he advised the believers in Phil. 4:4 and 6, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
After he was anointed by Samuel, David had to run away from King Saul who was trying to kill him. However, he rejoiced and professed his faith with his beautiful psalms (Psa. 23). He had absolutely unchanging love and trust in God, so no hard situation could stop the joy stemming from his heart. He had the fruit of joy.
2. To Bear the Fruit of Joy
1) Cast away flesh
If we do not have the attributes of jealousy we can rejoice when others are celebrated or commended. However, we will suffer by others' well-being to the extent that we have jealousy. We might harbor hard-feelings toward them, or we feel we are put down as much as they are lifted, so we get disheartened.
Also, those who don't have anger or resentment always have peace of mind even when they suffer rudeness or damage. We resent and get disappointed because we have fleshly attributes. To the extent that we have flesh in us we cannot have spiritual faith, so we can't rely on God completely thereby adding to our worries.
Those who have true faith can rejoice even if they don't have anything to eat right now. God promised us in Matt. 6:31-33 He will fill all our needs, so they commit everything to God even in difficult situations. They ask for God's kingdom and righteousness with a peaceful mind and then ask for what they need. To the extent that we cast away flesh from our heart, we will have spiritual joy and thanksgiving. This way, all things will go well with us.
2) Follow the desires of the Spirit always
We can be happy only when the Holy Spirit in us is happy. We have joy when we wholeheartedly worship God, sing praises, pray, and keep God's word. If we follow the desires of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the Holy Spirit rejoices and fills our heart with joy (3 John 1:4).
Suppose you choose to serve your own interests after your self-seeking mind and selflessness struggle against each other. You might feel good for the moment, but you'll soon have pangs of conscience. On the contrary, if you serve others' interests, it may look like you suffer a loss, but you have joy because the Spirit rejoices in you.
Suppose you judged others with your own standards. But if you change your mind and understand them in goodness, you will have peace. If you smile to people who have different personalities or opinions and let yourself die (1 Cor. 15:31) to give them peace, you will have joy.
If you feel you are not in discord with anyone to begin with, then you can enjoy peace and joy all the time. If you follow the desire of the Holy Spirit always, you will not only have spiritual joy but you will also bear the fruit of joy.
3) Sow the seeds of joy and thanksgiving before God
For farmers to reap the fruit, they need to sow the seeds and care for them. In the same way, to bear the fruit of joy, you have to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
God's children have the joy of salvation that couldn't be exchanged for anything. God is their Father and He protects them and supplies them with anything they need when they walk in the truth. Just by keeping the Lord's Day holy and tithing they won't face disasters or accidents. If they keep the commandments and work for God's kingdom, they will be blessed.
Even if we're in hardship, the solutions and resolutions are in the Bible. If you caused trials to come upon yourself by your fault, you can just repent and turn away. God can then give you the answer. If you have nothing to bring accusation upon you, you can just rejoice more. Then, God will cause all things to work for good and give you greater blessing.
When we rejoice all the time, God will give us more things to give thanks for. Then, we will have more joy and thanksgiving. Eventually, we'll bear the fruit of joy completely. However, we sometimes have sorrow although we have fruit of joy. It is the spiritual mourning in the truth. We should rejoice always and at the same time be able to mourn for God's kingdom and the souls.
Dear brothers and sisters, God made Adam as a living spirit and planted joy in his heart. However, because Adam had never experienced any pain, he didn't realize how happy the life was that he was leading. After he committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit, flesh came into his heart, and he lost the joy given by God.
In order to recover the joy that Adam lost, we need to accept Jesus Christ, receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and follow His desires, and sow the seeds of joy with a joyful and thankful heart.
If you add to the positive of the mind and pursue goodness all the time, you will bear the fruit of joy completely. May you quickly bear the fruit of joy to taste heaven on this earth and lead a life full of happiness, I pray this in the name of the Lord!
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