Are You Walking In Joy?
Are you choosing to walk the path of Joy?
Of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, joy is the second fruit produced by a life lived walking by the Spirit of God.
Love comes first I believe, because without love nothing we do will amount to anything as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13.
Here we are encouraged to love and then walk in the Spirit by not doing what the flesh wants us to do. This is key to displaying a life that is walking along-side Jesus.
Joy is evident to those around us. Strong's concordance describes this joy in Galatians as: cheerfulness, calm delight, gladness and greatly joyous!
This is the same joy used to describe the wise men's excitement when they saw the star that would direct their path's to Jesus.
We too have been led to the King of kings and so too our joy should be evident to those around us!
Romans 14:17 defines the kingdom of God;
We are blessed to be a part of this everlasting kingdom but how often do we allow the circumstances of life to weigh us down and cause us to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit?
It is not that God does not understand or expect us to ever have times of joylessness and even despair but it is our response to this state of heart that matters.
The psalmist shows us how to deal with our hearts during these times. We must preach the gospel to ourselves in order to maintain a right state of mind and heart toward God that we would be able to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of our flesh.
Psalm 43:3-5
Our only hope is in the salvation of the God and so many times other hopes take precedence over the one true hope and this clouds our view of what our lives are really to depict to the world.
If we are disheartened and overburdened we become downcast and that is the opposite of joy. When we allow the distractions of our lives to crowd out the truth and the light of the hope of the gospel, we are unable to walk in the Spirit for our sakes and the sake of those that we will encounter throughout our lives.
We are empowered by the Spirit of God to take charge of our hearts in order to walk in the Spirit and not follow blindly along with our emotions, allowing them to dictate our attitude during the trials of our lives.
Father, I thank you for the hope of salvation that has come by way of Your son Jesus, condescending as a babe and bringing your light and truth to a dark world. Thank you for illuminating our hearts to Your face through Jesus' death and resurrection.
We ask that you would drive back the darkness in our hearts today and make way for the King of kings. We need a revelation of Your glory.
Lead us to Your holy hill so that we can stand before Your joyful countenance because of Christ's sacrifice for us and find truth and hope so that we will again praise You for You are our salvation and in this we have great exceeding joy!
We want to be co-laborer's with Christ who is our joyful King! We want our countenance to reflect the joyful God that we serve so that the world would see Jesus in our smiles and our laughter for Your glory!
Of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, joy is the second fruit produced by a life lived walking by the Spirit of God.
Love comes first I believe, because without love nothing we do will amount to anything as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13.
So walking in the Spirit at times in an intentional endeavor that scripture confirms;
Galatians 5:13-16 ESV
For you were called to freedom, brothers.
Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love serve one another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you bite and devour one another,
watch out that you are not consumed by one another.
But I say, walk in the Spirit,
and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Here we are encouraged to love and then walk in the Spirit by not doing what the flesh wants us to do. This is key to displaying a life that is walking along-side Jesus.
Joy is evident to those around us. Strong's concordance describes this joy in Galatians as: cheerfulness, calm delight, gladness and greatly joyous!
This is the same joy used to describe the wise men's excitement when they saw the star that would direct their path's to Jesus.
We too have been led to the King of kings and so too our joy should be evident to those around us!
Romans 14:17 defines the kingdom of God;
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
We are blessed to be a part of this everlasting kingdom but how often do we allow the circumstances of life to weigh us down and cause us to walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit?
It is not that God does not understand or expect us to ever have times of joylessness and even despair but it is our response to this state of heart that matters.
The psalmist shows us how to deal with our hearts during these times. We must preach the gospel to ourselves in order to maintain a right state of mind and heart toward God that we would be able to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of our flesh.
Psalm 43:3-5
Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the alter of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Our only hope is in the salvation of the God and so many times other hopes take precedence over the one true hope and this clouds our view of what our lives are really to depict to the world.
God wants to us to reflect His glory and truth
to the world around us.
If we are disheartened and overburdened we become downcast and that is the opposite of joy. When we allow the distractions of our lives to crowd out the truth and the light of the hope of the gospel, we are unable to walk in the Spirit for our sakes and the sake of those that we will encounter throughout our lives.
We are empowered by the Spirit of God to take charge of our hearts in order to walk in the Spirit and not follow blindly along with our emotions, allowing them to dictate our attitude during the trials of our lives.
Father, I thank you for the hope of salvation that has come by way of Your son Jesus, condescending as a babe and bringing your light and truth to a dark world. Thank you for illuminating our hearts to Your face through Jesus' death and resurrection.
We ask that you would drive back the darkness in our hearts today and make way for the King of kings. We need a revelation of Your glory.
Lead us to Your holy hill so that we can stand before Your joyful countenance because of Christ's sacrifice for us and find truth and hope so that we will again praise You for You are our salvation and in this we have great exceeding joy!
We want to be co-laborer's with Christ who is our joyful King! We want our countenance to reflect the joyful God that we serve so that the world would see Jesus in our smiles and our laughter for Your glory!
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