Friday, October 21, 2011

FRUITFUL LIVING - JOY!!!

Listen to Audio for complete teaching.
Review fruit of the Spirit – SONG
Lesson 3 – we are going to investigate the fruit of JOY!  The joy of the Lord is our strength…

Joy is the second characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit.  We skipped over love but will get back to it and spend a couple of weeks on it.  Love melts the heart of stone and Joy touches the deepest part of the heart.  We NEED joy!  And.. our world needs believers who evidence the fruit of joy!  Would you agree?
The Greek word for joy means ‘rejoicing, gladness, enjoyment, bliss’ – in many ways, it simply means ‘to celebrate’.

There are six key sources of joy:
1.       In Ps 43: 3-4  we find the primary reason for joy: Send me your light and your faithful care,
   let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
   to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
   to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the lyre,
   O God, my God.
God Himself He is our joy and our delight! What do you enjoy most about God?
2.       Luke 10:20 shows us the second: do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Why be joyful? Our names are written in heaven/ in the Lambs book of life (Rev 13:8).  Rejoice in our salvation Ps 51:12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation
   and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. .  As we consider the Greek interpretation of JOY – we find that Joy is an absolute assumption in grace. Joy is literally written into grace. In other words, “if we fully understood what grace means and what we have because of it, we would never cease to rejoice” – have JOY! In order to have the fullness of JOY – we must stay aware of what and from what we have been saved. We need to consistently focus on our great salvation so that our joy might be full. Remember where you came from.. share it.. talk about it as often as you can. From what have we been saved in the future? Rev 20:11-15 tells us we are saved from:
Being cast into the lake of fire, the second death, judgment according to our works… we have been saved from these penalties. Also.. ‘what’ are we saved of: our sins, transgressions, iniquities…”a life without Christ & His salvation is a wasted life”. God never wastes a hurt. 

 3. The third reason for joy is very interesting… It is all about hidden treasure/ the joy we find in the hidden things of God/ the surprises.  Matt 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field., Luke 10:21. At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do..so the joy comes in the discovery/ the excitement of the revelation.  The women discovered an empty tomb, John the Baptist discovered the Messiah, the shepherds discovered the good news, etc… These are not random discoveries – they are supernatural discoveries of our Lord & Savior in circumstances of life.  Have you ever found Him in the difficulties of your life?   SONG Blessings
by Laura Story



We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise
Oftentimes the hidden treasure/ blessing comes disguised. it comes in our pain and hardships.

4. Joy is not only what we have discussed but is also a response to restoration!  There are three different circumstances through which God seeks to bring restoration that brings wonderful joy!   Let’s read Ps 71:20,23
20 Though you have made me see troubles,
   many and bitter,
   you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
   you will again bring me up. 23 My lips will shout for joy
   when I sing praise to you—
   I whom you have delivered.  

YOU have made me see troubles.. OUCH!  Well… I am convinced and learned from experience that we cannot fully know Christ until we learn to fellowship with Him in His sufferings.  The closest friends I have are those whom I have ‘suffered’ with.  How about you?  Let’s read Phil 3:10… “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

The second circumstance through which God seeks to bring restoration is found in 2 Cor 1:3-7..comforting those with the comfort we have received.   Bottom line question: are we making ministry out of our miseries?  We must always remember… If God has ordained difficulty for us, He has also ordained restoration for us – we can count on it!  1 Peter 5:10 confirms it:  10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Thirdly, God always desires to bring restoration through discipline. God does not like separation from us.  He wants us in true close intimacy with Him. Discipline basically means ‘teach’.. we teach our children and we use various means to teach. God does the same…The Lord will discipline those He loves.. He must in order to restore the relationship.  If we are separated from God, if we are in sin, our relationship/ our joy will not be restored until there is repentance and sometimes that does not come about apart from discipline.

5. Let’s talk now about Abiding JOY!  John 15:1-17 shows us how we can abide in Him.. which is abiding in Joy!  The fruit of the Spirit originates in the heart and personality of God.  John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
God is the possessor and giver of true joy.  Fleeting moments of happiness come our way all the time – happiness is based upon circumstance.  Inner joy flows only from Christ.  How do we tap into that joy? – these verses in John 15 teach us:  remain in ME Jesus says.  The Greek word for remain means to ‘abide, dwell, live’. To remain with Christ means to cling to Him, refuse to budge under pressure, and to never allow loss or any other painful experience to cause us to leave.

Finally…6.  our joy is the result of relating God’s way to God’s people. We are joy for one another!  God wants us to bring joy to each other! If you cannot honestly say you are enjoying fellow believers – those in the Body of Christ, there is a reason and you must deal with that reason.  Whether it is fear – you’ve had some painful, hurtful experiences with others in the past, you are an introvert and don’t allow yourself opportunities to connect, you are isolating because you don’t like yourself, whatever the reason.. your joy will never be complete apart of the enjoyment you find in the community of God.
If we are those enjoying community.. it is our responsibility to draw others in.  Look around you.. pay attention.. do you see the loneliness in someone’s eyes? Perhaps you are the one that can make a difference for them… let’s reach out.. bring joy to others!

How do we lose our joy?  Here are some possible reasons:
1.    our out-pour is exceeding our intake
2.    our talk exceeds our walk
3.    we become ‘wonders junkies’
4.    we are exhausted
5.    when we feel all alone

If you’ve lost your joy, it’s right where you left it… in His presence!
Let’s review….
-        Joy is GOD Himself!
-        Joy comes in realizing and remembering our salvation
-    Joy comes as a result of discovering God in all our circumstances – the hidden things of God/ His treasure
-        …is the result of restoration
-        …is the result of remaining/ abiding in Christ
-        …is the result of relating God’s way to God’s people

GROUP WORK
FRUITFUL LIVING – LESSON 3 – FRUIT: JOY

1.       IF SOMEONE IS HAVING DIFFICULTY IN HAVING JOY IN GOD HIMSELF, WHY WOULD THAT BE?
2.       WHAT ARE SOME THINGS WE CAN DO TO KEEP THE ‘JOY OF OUR SALVATION’ AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR MIND?
3.       SHARE A TIME WHEN YOU FOUND THE HIDDEN TREASURE OF GOD IN A LIFE CIRCUMSTANCE.
4.       CELEBRATE A TIME OF RESTORATION IN YOUR LIFE BY SHARING IT WITH THE GROUP. WAS THE RESTORATION A TIME OF SUFFERING INTENDED BY GOD, CIRCUMSTANCES OR SIN? WHAT HAS GOD’S DISCIPLINE BEEN IN YOUR LIFE?
5.       WHAT WORKS FOR YOU IN STAYING DEEPLY CONNECTED TO CHRIST?
6.       SHARE HOW BEING A PART OF PEOPLE’S LIVES HAS HELPED YOU FIND JOY.

No comments: