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Summary:
There is no working up a joy in the human nature
So, how do we get joy, or the joy of the Lord?
When you have His joy, share it with everyone you meet
Show Notes:
• Why did the angel say: “good news of great joy”?
• Can we suffer and still have joy?
• If we are not joyful, what should we do?
References:
Then the angel said unto to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
The story of Paul and Silas in prison
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Rejoice always,
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
A father who loves his children will discipline them
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
You as and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
The Lord cased them to rejoice.
Quotes:
• The whole of the New Testament is about joy
• The word joy is used almost two hundred times in the New Testament
• Ask the Lord to give it to you
Take Away:
In His presence is fulness of joy so let us strive to be in His presence continually and let His joy exude from our being to others.
Transcript
Ed:
The Whole New Testament is about Joy. When Christ was born and the angel said, I bring you good news of great joy. Even when Christ was crucified it was for the joy set before Him.
Deborah:
What is joy? Is it a joy that just comes because we want to be happy? Joy is the fruit of the Spirit. Unless you have a relationship with the Lord, you don’t know real true joy. Thinking about the Apostles; Paul and Silas were imprisoned, they were beaten badly because of talking about Christ, and yet they sang with joy. They worshiped the Lord. That’s joy. If you have the joy of the Lord, that’s when you have the strength.
Laurie:
The word joy is used almost two hundred times in the New Testament. That we are told repeatedly to be joyful, to be full of joy, and to display our joy.
Ron:
I would have a question about this; whether the divine joy is initiated by your will; not by your emotions, circumstances, or feelings? Because if you look at what you just talked about; the two disciples being in prison; they sure didn’t have joy by their feelings or their circumstances; so there was something else that came from. That joy didn’t come or initiate because of where they were at, or what they were going through. But it initiated I think, through their will.
Dale:
What you’re saying Ron is very important. Joy is generated by a relationship. Because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it’s initiated by where you are in relationship to your Father, to your Savior. The time that you spend waiting on the Lord. The time that you spend in prayer; my favorite is the prayer of listening. That relationship develops and grows. The outcome is His gifts. Joy I think is one of the primary gifts of the Holy Spirit. As we do the will of God, and there is that word will, Ron. Just setting your will to do the will of God brings joy. Doesn’t kindness become easier if you have joy in your heart?
Ron:
By God’s grace and by God's dealings He can deal out of you the things that would keep you from walking in that scripture, rejoice always. This isn’t a human thing that you’re going to work up to. It’s God the author and the finisher of our faith.
Deborah:
If you want the joy of the Lord, ask the Lord to give it to you, and He will. Don’t be surprised if you start going through things, and have your joy tested. Are you still going to rejoice in the presence of the Lord? Or are you going to give in to the circumstances? The Lord will give you the strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
Laurie:
This is out of Ezra, and this is an interesting story here. And the sons of Israel who returned from exile and all those who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nation of the land, to join them to seek the Lord God of Israel ate the Passover. And they observed the feast of unleavened bread for seven days with joy. For the Lord had caused them to rejoice. And this is Ezra 6:21-23. Notice here that it says that the Lord had caused them to rejoice. We go through so many chasings and so many different things, that I think that as we go through these things the Lord imparts that ability to rejoice to us. He gives it to us as we grow in our walk with the Lord.
Dale:
Without love, there is no joy. There are really no Holy Spirit gifts without that love that precedes it all. And, because the drive of our hearts boils down to, it’s all about Him. Because He is the author and perfecter of what we believe. There is a joy that He loves me enough to turn His attention to help me. In His love, He helps us.
Ron:
I hear in Christianity, what would Christ do? Ok so here’s Paul and Silas their in-prison Paul turns to Silas and goes what would Christ do? No. I don’t think so. If it wasn’t already imparted to their spirit if they didn’t come out of their hearts because of a relationship they have with the Father. No way are they rejoicing in that.
Dale:
God gives you joy. He commands you. Ok now, what are you going to do with it? Are you going to invest it? Are you going to spread the joy? Are you going to give it to somebody else? Are you going to be a cause going into a situation; are you going to be a cause in that situation, turning to joy? There are so many ways that joy can be conveyed. I don’t go into a group and say, OK you guys you got to be joyful because I say so. You got a gift and your led of the Holy Spirit, He’ll open the door for you. I go to Walmart we look for little kids because you can get their attention, you can smile, and you can get so much joy out of that. You give it, they give it back. And then that opens the door to you talk to mom and dad, and pretty soon their family; you know they are walking away everybody smiling, dad is rubbing the head of the kid. You’ve change the whole atmosphere.
Ed:
Yeah like then John: