A Sure Pathway To Living An Overcoming Christian Life.
Bible Passages – Matthew 7:15-23 | Luke 3:1-9 | Galatians 5:16-23 | Revelations 1:7b, 11b, 17b | Revelations 21:8
Introduction
The Fruit of the Spirit – Joy | Gal 5:22-23
The fruit is a product of the tree. There can be no fruit without its source. The fruit of the spirit is however somehow different from the physical fruit of a physical tree or a planting, in that it can abide forever so long the person bearing it is ever linked to the Holy Spirit.
Here is the picture of Fruit of the Spirit – Called Joy:
1. Joy is not a feeling
2. Joy is a being
3. Joy is a becoming
4. Joy is a remaining
5. The child of God without joy is barren
6. You can do nothing for God outside of this joy
7. All you are in God and become in God and do for God must come out of joy
Christian Living Rests On Joy, The Fruit of The Spirit: Psalms 21:1 | Psalms 51:12 | Isaiah 12:3 | Habakkuk 3:18 | Habakkuk 3:19
1. Many things are only received from God in joy and through joy
2. Many things are only possible and attenable in and through joy
3. Remember the greetings between Mary and Elizabeth – Lk 1:44
4. Remember The Greetings of the Angel to the shepherds in the field – Lk 2:10
5. Many things answer to the joy of the Lord.
6. To maintain the presence of the Lord with you all the time His joy in you and that you carry is crucial
7. The joy of the Lord is a spiritual weapon of offense and defense.
8. Christian life challenges must be seen and confronted in the joy of the Lord – not in defeat and discouragement
Joy Is Not A Feeling – It Is Much More: The Fruit of the Spirit – Joy – Is Not An Emotion nor A Feeling Ps 16:11 | Neh 8:10
1. This joy, the fruit of the Spirit can therefore be referred to as The Spirit of Joy.
2. It is a spirit not a feeling and not an emotion.
3. It is much more than emotion, feeling, something that is fleeting or transient in nature.
4. Joy comes from who you are, what you eat, what you drink and where you abide spiritually.
5. Joy is determining and defining of what becomes of your purpose and destiny
The Fruit of The Spirit – Joy – Is Not Happiness: Ps 51:12 | Eccl 2:26a | Isa 61:3
1. Joy is bigger than happiness, they are not the same and not of the same class
2. Joy is always associated with deliverance
3. Joy is always associated with something
4. Joy has to do with God and/or necessarily a man
5. Here is the distinction – between joy and happiness.
6. The testimonies of both are very different
7. What you can achieve with both are different
Never again confuse joy and happiness.
Note that:
• What God does bring joy
• What a man does for another brings happiness
• The longevity of both are different
• Circumstances of both are different
• The results of both are also very much different.
This Joy Has A Location, An Abode: Ps 16:11 | Neh 8:10 | Isaiah 12:3 | Acts 6:1-8 | John 15:5-7
1. It must therefore be located in you
2. And you must never allow it to leave
3. You need to cultivate it to keep increasing
4. Joy makes way for you
5. Joy makes you preferred
6. Joy makes you to excel
7. Through joy you expand and increase the kingdom of God
8. In your career, job and business you need joy – David – liking of bear, lion and Goliath – joy played a great role
Five Questions Answered In The Fruit of the Spirit – Joy
1. How do I live a life that is ever producing joy?
2. How do I distribute or give joy to others?
3. How do I defend myself against things that kill, steal and destroy joy?
4. How do I stay away from joy barrenness?
5. How will joy become a spiritual and physical weapon of warfare for me?
CONCLUSION
• Joy, you need it so much or else your life will be greatly limited.
• God may not be able to have His way in your life
• Without the joy of the Lord you cannot achieve purpose as a child of destiny
• Without joy our lives may be a photocopy of what God has destined us to be.
