The Second Part of the Fruit of the Spirit JOY

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law [we don’t do works to gain them; we study and the Holy Spirit changes us]

God has perfect happiness, or JOY. He will give it to us! To get it we need the filling of the Holy Spirit and a lot of Bible doctrine, the thinking of Jesus, circulating in our souls. So, we need to make sure that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, rebounding when necessary, and that we learn Bible doctrine. Once we have JOY, we can take it wherever we go! Oh JOY!

Psalm 128:1 How happy is everyone who respects the Lord, who walks in His ways.

JOY, or God’s happiness, is a problem solving tool. We call it +H. When we have +H, we can focus on God’s happiness in us, His thinking. We are helped through our problems. When we have +H, we don’t focus on ourselves. We focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and others. We have a relaxed mental attitude. We have JOY!

Psalm 112:1 How happy is the man who respects the Lord, who greatly delights in His doctrines [God’s viewpoint].

We can express God’s joy, or happiness, with our friends. Having relaxed minds because of divine viewpoint*, we can have meaningful conversations with them. We sometimes need to encourage them or they need to encourage us. This can be done with a joyful heart! *Divine viewpoint is God’s way of thinking.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.

However, we are not to be too occupied with our friends. We are not to think more of them than we do of the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ and His thinking! Then we will be joyful!!

Hebrews 12:2 Be concentrating on Jesus [occupation with Christ], the author and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness He endured the cross, having disregarded the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

True joy, or happiness, comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth. Satan wants us to think that being popular, name brand clothes, the newest toys, and other things will make us happy. WRONG! Remember, Satan is the father of lies. True joy comes from thinking the way the Lord Jesus Christ thinks.

1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant [think too highly of themselves] nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Proverbs 22:4 Humility and the fear [respect] of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.

Anything that is of true value is valuable in troubled times as well as in good times. Learning, believing, and using Bible doctrine can get us through troubled times and good times. We can have a relaxed mental attitude through both. When we rely on the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ we will have something of true value, JOY, the happiness of God!

Psalm 112:1 How happy is the man who respects the Lord, who greatly delights in His doctrines.

JOY, the happiness of God, gives us the ability to enjoy life! When we focus on the Lord Jesus Christ we can relax! We are branches that are abiding in the Vine, which means that we have the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. We all want to be happy but only God’s happiness, or JOY, will do the job. Let’s follow God’s plan, be filled with the Holy Spirit, learn Bible doctrine, and enjoy life!

John 15:5 “I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

The Second Part of the Fruit of the Spirit       Joy References used:           Robert R.McLaughlin Bible Ministries   www.gbible.org           Lessons: Lessons: 7-15-05

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