~Fresh Fruit: Joy~

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."~Galatians 5:22-23


Joy: Happiness, an emotion.

Today we are exploring the fruit of the spirit, Joy.  We should  not only love others and God deeply, but have joy. What does this mean? This one is a tough one for me. Don't get me wrong, I am a happy /joyful person most times! But, it's the finding joy in trials that is perplexing. Will it be just a natural side effect of walking hand in hand through this life with Jesus? Is joy just something that will come forth from us easily, or do we at times have to choose joy even when we don't feel like it?

I think it's a mix of both. I do think that as we have Christ living in us and we follow the Holy Spirit's leading through our life, there will be times when we are even amazed that we "feel" joy in a situation that otherwise we would not feel joyful about. As we grow in our relationship and maturity of faith, we will have joy in tough times. Or be joyful more often then we used to be. Joy means, happy. It is an emotion. So, it's not always a negative thing to be emotional and have feelings! Faith and feelings do go together because Joy is a feeling. It's happiness.

However, there may also be times when we don't "feel" joyful but, we choose to deal with the situation in Joy, happiness. We choose to be happy despite whats going on. Now, some issues in life, this would take time and not be instant. But in time, God will help us have His joy even in the darkest of circumstances. James talks about choosing joy or considering it to be joy....

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."~ James 1:2-4


Consider trials JOY?? This has always been an amazing concept to me. Sure, it's easy to be joyful when life is going well. But, James is challenging us to consider it PURE JOY/Happiness when we face job loss, a loved one dies, we face losing a home, face hunger, have issues with family and friends, face an illness.....we are to consider it pure joy. How? Why?


I don't think James is saying we should be happy WHEN these things strike us, we are going to feel normal human emotions of sadness, despair, fear, worry...but I do think he encourages  us to think differently of our situation. Maybe not just see what happened or is in front of us.He tells us to rethink the situation because the testing of our faith produces perseverance. And if we let that complete then we will mature and not lack anything. So, though at the time something is really hard ....and we may not FEEL joy....we can choose joy or at least consider it a good thing because as we persevere through it...in the end we are going to come out more mature and complete in our faith, we will be better off in the end. WoW!


So, choose joy as you go through life. And be amazed at the change in you as you walk closer in love and obedience to the Lord. Thank Him each time you realize "Wow, I am much  more joyful then I used to be" or" I can't believe I'm handling this situation so well" Thank Jesus for that gift. It's his likeness developing in you!!


Have a JOY FILLED day friends!


~In Christ~


M & M

~Fresh Fruit: Love~

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. - Galatians  5 :22-26

As the writer of Galatians prepares to explain what the fruit of the spirit is , he begins by urging us to live by the spirit and we "will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit , you are not under law" ~Galatians 5: 16-18

It seems that when we are walking closely with God, we are keeping in touch with His Spirit, Holy Spirit, and so we are living by the Spirit. Holy Spirit lives in us once we accept Jesus into our lives...God sends the "Helper" which is Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what we should see most times in someone who is walking in a close relationship with God/Jesus simply because Holy Spirit lives in us.  The opposite behaviors and actions of the Spirit are those of the sinful nature. Are we always going to perfectly show fruit of the spirit...even the most holy person alive probably does not 100% of the time. For only Jesus is perfect. However, if we are truly walking with God, obeying and following Him, desiring to love and honor Him first in our lives, then these fruits will as a result show themselves at some point. It is  sort of a natural thing that happens as a result of this close walk with the Lord. I like what this  note in my bible says about this topic " Christian Character is produced by the Holy Spirit, not by the mere moral discipline of trying to live by the law. The indwelling Holy Spirit produces Christian virtues in the believers life".



The first fruit we will explore today is Love. Really, I believe that LOVE doesn't need much of an exploration. We can simply observe the life of Jesus to see how we should live in love.. God is love. He loves all at all times without conditions. He is unconditional love and He even loves the wicked, those that reject Him. Even the most evil person to us is loved deeply by God. Jesus walked , talked and ate with "sinners". Those scorned and mocked by society. Those thought to be unloved by God. Not worthy. Jesus loved these people very much. If we are serious about our faith in Jesus , then we should strive to love in this same way. Will we "like" or agree with their actions , choices, behaviors. Not we do not have to agree with those things, but we must love the person. "Hate the sin, love the sinner" type of mindset. Have compassion and mercy on them, realize they need Jesus just as much as you do. But, we cannot love like this on our own, Holy Spirit will help us to love in this way as we continue to deepen our walk with the Lord, God will change our character to be like Him. He will give us the mind and heart of Jesus Christ.

God, thank you so much for sending Holy Spirit to help us in this life. Thank you for your amazing gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.Thank you that you do not just leave us to figure out this life on our own but that you give us Holy Spirit to guide us through. Thank you for your love for us that never fades and is unconditional. Help us Lord, through Holy Spirit, to love others, love ourselves, and love you the way you want us too.

In Jesus Holy Name,

Amen


Be blessed and changed as you choose love!!

In Christ,

~M~

~Fresh Fruit (Of The Spirit!)~

Hello friends and fellow readers...

The next few weeks, hopefully each day , I want to explore a little deeper through studying God's word, reflection and prayer ....the fruits of the spirit. I hope you enjoy this exploration with me and please feel free to comment any additional thoughts and ideas.  I LOVE discussion!

I am calling this blog series "Fresh Fruit" and I will title each one like this "Fresh Fruit: Joy" etc. Fresh Fruit seems fitting since Fruit of the Spirit is indeed "fresh" fruit from God. It is the freshest of fruits and all of us know how tasty and amazing FRESH fruit is. Same goes for the fruit developed in us by the spirit as followers of Christ. It's fresh, pure, and amazing. 

So join with me as I dive into these fresh fruits of the spirit : Love, Joy, Peace, Patience(Forbearance) , Kindness , Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control.

 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."-Galatians 5:22-23

God Bless You!

~M~