Joy Is...

Joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that reflects reliance on God. Jubilantly, a soul connected to Jesus gives tribute to God’s redemptive work. When the conflicts of the heart have been resolved, joy is the result. Such a condition is simply the outward testimony that all is well within.

Joy is the expression of the trusting heart experiencing God—His power to live, His freedom from bondage, His promise of eternal fellowship. The transforming hand of God liberates a life from the prison of oppression when we yield to His design, resulting in joy.

BIBLE TRUTH

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever” (1 John 2:15–17 NLT).

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO ME?
People seem content to counterfeit joy with pleasure. The shackles of the sensual amusements of the world, the flesh, and the devil draw us through the lust of our hearts and the vanity of our lives and bind us in strongholds.

Pleasure does not have to be blatantly sinful. Yet all pleasure becomes sinful when we seek to be complete in it. When Jesus is left out of our lives, the pain of insatiable desires results in depriving us of the hope of fulfillment—futility. We will evidence the fruit of joy when we give up our futile pursuit of pleasure and choose reliance on God.

PRAYER
Father, I pray that You, the source of hope, will fill me completely with joy and peace because I trust in You. I want to overflow with confident hope through the power of Your Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)


(excerpts from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)

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