The strength we need to live a godly life does not come from excessive sorrow or despair, but from our joy in the Lord. Anyone can be unhappy and miserable. In fact, here is an oxymoron. It seems many believers are at their happiest point when they are sharing death and destruction and pain that has happened to someone. If this was not true the TV News channels would not report all the death and destruction, they would report all the good things that are happening in the world. Instead, they report 59 minutes of despair and leave the closing one minute for a feel good story. We need to walk in joy. We need good news. We need to be happy.
Despair does not promote growth. Despair does not promote transformation. Despair does not promote thanksgiving, praise, and worship. Despair knows no victory over temptation and trial. Joy is the fruit and power of the Holy Spirit that produces a successful, victorious, fruit-bearing Christian. It has been my conviction that the reason why many of our brethren do not grow spiritually and do great works for the Lord is because they lack the spiritual fruit of the joy in their lives. Paul says this about the Kingdom of God. Romans 14:17 ESV For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Why then are so many members of the Lord’s Church lacking in peace and joy? Well, part of the problem may be that we lack pulpit preaching that focuses on generating peace and joy within our brethren. There is a lot of preaching about the end times in these days. Some from the "pre-tribulation" camp and some from the "post-tribulation" camp. In both I have seen and heard a lot of "FEAR" messages in bringing forth their point-of-view. Whatever your "end-time" position we are not to be driven by the fear of these last days. We are not called by God to be survivors, but overcomers. We are not to fear the future, but we are to fear God. Life in our Lord Jesus Christ is not a life that is miserable, dry, negative, and defeated. Our life in Christ is filled with joy. 1 Peter 1:8 ESV Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, One of the fruit of the Holy Spirit is JOY which is also the character of God. I think that we need to examine our ministries and see how we might foster joy and peace in our membership. We have got to understand that "the joy of the Lord is the our strength" and "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me". If I really want to do the "all things" I need my Lord's strength. If I want His strength then I need to walk in His joy.
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The Christian's life should be characterized by the fruit of the Holy Spirit. One of the fruit listed in Gal.5:22 is the fruit of JOY.
Galatians 5:22-23 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. I have seen many unhappy believers not having the JOY of the Holy Spirit being manifested. The opposite of walking in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is to walk in the fresh. Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the desires of the flesh. One of the desires of the flesh is sorrow. Sorrow is an ungodly grief birthed mainly out of selfishness. However, there is a Godly sorrow. The ungodly, fleshly sorrow of the flesh leads to self-piety and can lead to depression. The Godly sorrow leads us to the Joy of the Lord as an end result. In our spiritual lives, a godly sorrow for our sins can be a wonderful thing. Paul speaks of its benefits in 2 Corinthians 7:10. 2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. When we realize how we have fallen short of the righteousness and holiness of God, how we have offended Him, how we have rejected His will and rebelled against the One who is so loving and kind, it should generate remorse within our hearts. It should cause us grief, shame, and sorrow to sin against the Holy One of Israel. Such sorrow is good if it brings us to repentance. It is beneficial if it causes us to humble ourselves, confess our sins, seek His gracious forgiveness, and motivate us to make the decision to change our ways. These steps lead us to the obtaining of salvation of the full man. God desires that we have this kind of sorrow and remorse. This kind of sorrow is essential in getting us to where we should be in a holy walk and lifestyle. We should feel about sin the way the Father feels about sin. When this happens and we repent, we experience the Joy of the Lord. However, this is opposite of the ungodly fleshly sorrow, which is not from God nor is it the will of God. This sorrow is counter-productive. This is excessive sorrow or despair. Brothers and sisters, it is destructive when we continue to feel grief, guilt, shame and sorrow AFTER we have been convicted of our sins, AFTER we have confessed them to God, AFTER we have sought forgiveness and made the commitment to change. This means we are not trusting God and His Word about what He says about our lives in Christ. After confession and forgiveness, God wants to replace the grief and sorrow with holy gladness and joy. We are continuing with the introduction to the Book of Philippians as we see Paul's theme of joy and rejoicing established throughout the book. In the example Paul set for us, his first and foremost reminder is for us to be followers of Christ. When we read about the fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22-23, sometimes we might miss what Paul was saying as He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to pen those words. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is actually the character of God. It is not just what God does, it is who God is. Galatians 5:22-23 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. God loves us as an action, (not the feeling thing which we seem to dwell on so much). True Biblical agape love is more than what God has done or what He will do. True Biblical agape love is who God is. God is love. The same can be true with each one of the fruit of the Spirit. 1 John 4:8 ESV Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God exercises, releases and gives joy as an action, (not as a feeling). God is joy, it is His character. God exercises, releases and gives peace as an action, (not as a feeling). God is peace, it is His character. This is the example that Paul followed and walked in, and admonishes us to do the same as believers. Imagine, having joy that is not controlled through emotional zeal. Imagine, being able to express joy out of obedience to the character of God (the fruit of the Spirit), no matter what our emotions are doing. No matter if our emotions are that of being happy or sad, hurt or accepted, loved or hated, we can bring the emotions under subjection to the Spirit, the Word, and the Character of God within us and have joy unspeakable and full of glory as an act of obedience. |
AuthorCharles Morris. Founder and Senior Pastor of RSI Ministry, RSI School of Ministry, and RSI Publishing L.L.C.. Archives
March 2021
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