The Fruit of The Spirit - Joy.

Welcome back to my blog. Today, we are looking at joy!

The Holy Spirit produces various fruit in our lives. The bible tells us in Matthew 7:16-20:

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

We are taught to know people by their fruits. If someone is a good person it will be evident in their character and their behaviour. On the contrary if someone brings forth bad fruit it will also be evident. As children of God if we say we love God and we follow Him, then our fruit should introduce us before we even speak. When people see us they should see a reflection of Christ within us. We should be producing fruit and if we are not then there is work to do!

“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. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” - Galatians 5:22-26.

- We learn more about the fruit of the Spirit in this scripture. We learn that there is not just one characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit, but we learn there are quite a few. It may seem overbearing, but once you are able to master one fruit of the Spirit, the other characteristics will fall into place naturally as The Holy Spirit leads us and works through us. I believe this is why the word ‘fruit’ was used and not ‘fruits’ because once you have one of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit, you will be able to access and exhibit the other characteristics also because they work together.

- It becomes up to you to continuously nurture the fruit of the Spirit and to try not to do anything opposing God’s word that may cause you to not exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. Dying to self daily, seeking God’s face and genuinely striving to have a closer walk with God will help you along the way. With that said we are all human beings and we all have the tendency to slip up at times, but because of God’s grace and mercy we can come to Him with a repentant heart. However, we must be sincere and know that we have the assurance that our Father in heaven will forgive us our trespasses, so long as we forgive those who trespass against us.

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” - Ephesians 5:8-10.

We no longer walk in darkness, we walk in the light because we know that we are children of the most High. There is a high calling on our lives where we can walk with our head held high knowing that we are loved and have been redeemed by our Saviour. Walking in the light means that we no longer cling to who we once were, words we once said or things we once did. We walk differently because we strive to make our Father proud. We care little of what the world says and more about what God says. The love He has for us is one we can search the world for, but we will not be able to find such because God loves us differently!

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Did you know that the word joy is mentioned in the bible nearly 200 times?! I certainly did not! Studying the bible and looking in depth at scripture helps to reveal more and more to you.

I have noticed (and I was once guilty of this too) many people confuse joy with happiness. Joy is what we experience from within whereas happiness is an emotion that can easily change depending on the situation. For example, Shirley receives a new car for her birthday, this makes her happy. Shortly after she loses her car keys and becomes very sad.

How do you think you can experience true joy?

The Holy Spirit is supposed to produce joy in every believers life. He fills our hearts with joy in the form of gratutude; we are grateful for all that God has done for us and just for God being God! The Holy Spirit can also fill our hearts with praise and this is something we should do despite our circumstances. Praise Him for everything because we must understand that God is our source. He is the reason we are still here! He is the reason we have clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet, food in our fridge, a roof over our heads. We must never take these blessings for granted. You may not have everything you desire at this precise moment, but Mama I guarantee that you have a lot more than most. Let’s be grateful. Let’s lift up our hands and hearts to Him in praise thanking Him for His good work in our lives!

When you look back over the past few weeks, can you recall any moment where you have been filled with immeasurable joy? What caused those feelings?

James 1:2-4 states, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

- What do you learn from James 1:2-4?

As believers and children of the Most High we will encounter hardship, we will face challenges and we will stumble across mountains, but God! God will never leave us or forsake us and we have that assurance from Him and His word.

1. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” - Psalm‬ ‭55:22‬.

2. “And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.” - Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:8‬.

3. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” - Joshua‬ ‭1:9.

Despite what we may encounter in life and what we may or may not have done cling to this scripture also:

“For His anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5.

There is again this recurring theme and message about joy. We may be sad for a season, but when it is all said and done we will experience joy. We will experience a season where joy will be all that we will know. Your situation will never take you out, God will never allow it. Cling to God’s promises Queen and know that God has got you.

The difference between the joy someone in the world experiences and the joy that believers experience Is that our joy is not temporary. Our joy is permanent and is embedded in our hearts. There is a hymn that says, “don’t let the devil steal your joy!” If you allow the enemy to steal your joy you will be sad, you will feel low and it will be an unpleasant experience. We are to guard our joy as we would our hearts. Many in the world gain their joy from experiences, from material possessions, from their wealth, their careers, fame and temporary things that will one day fade away just like the earth. We can avoid that by understanding that there can be no true joy unless we experience it in God.

Now, I will leave you with 3 John 1:4, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”

I encourage you all to walk with joy in your hearts, know the truth and share the gospel with others.

Did you find any scriptures on joy that they want to share?

What are your thoughts on the following? Comment down below and let’s talk!

1. Which verses stuck out to you?

2. Why do you think joy is so important?

3. Do you think we can live in a world without joy?

4. What can increase our joy?

5. Why should we have joy as believers?

With Love,

Roxanne-Sasha x