I got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart
And it basically does that for a good long while until kids are screaming and adults want duct tape and super glue to get the kids to shut it for 30 seconds.
But today I want to talk about joy; what it is and where to find it. I realized after yesterdays post that I talked about quit constantly complaining about stuff and find joy in your life without actually telling how to find joy in your life. My bad.
What is joy though? In the easiest terms, it's happiness, it's being glad, it's not allowing crap in your life to get you down. You know that feeling you get when you unwrap the mystery gift at Christmas? The one you're handed after all the other ones have been handed out and you thought you didn't get the one thing you'd give all your other presents for? Then when you open it you see that it's exactly what you wanted? That game system, the newest cell phone, the best lap top, tickets to see your favorite band. You remember that feeling?
That, ladies and gentlemen, would be joy.
I want you to think about all those times you've felt joy.
For me? There's been a few when I got what I wanted for Christmas, but over all I'm an unexcitable person. I'm not married, I have no kids, so I haven't felt joy from those things. There have been a few spiritual times where I have felt joy though (and I know what you're thinking, typical preacher guy only finds joy in "spiritual things"). When I was in high school I won a preaching contest and got to preach for 1500 high school students. I was pumped for that one and felt that joy. To stand on a stage and be able to present the Word, that was great. But get stared at by 1500 people, that felt better (I'm sad to say). I've done a few baptisms here and there, some of them I felt nothing about and haven't seen the person since. But a few I felt great pride and joy in ritually killing them for my God.
There was this one guy who, I found out later, was a self-described atheist. He went to a week of camp refusing to believe, but forced to go by his parents. The entire week the teen had fun, but refused to open up to Christ. At the end of the week, he goes up to a councilor and tells them he wants to be baptized. When I was told this I was happy, but not really full of joy because I didn't know anything about this kid. He comes up to me later, asking if I'd baptize him to which I give my usual response of, "sure." It was then that we sat down and he told me his story, and his spiritual past. Later that day I got to bring that kid into my family, both of us with tears running down our face at the way God changed this kids life in just a week. That day I felt joy, and still do when I think about it.
In Galatians we see that there is something called the fruit of the Spirit. Let it be noted that a lot of people like to say "fruits" of the Spirit. This is wrong. Look at scripture, Galatians 5.22. And it's not a typo because the sentence says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is..." See how that works? One thing, singular, fruit. Not fruits. But anyway, we see here that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. All of these things are produced by the Spirit together. When we receive the Spirit, these nine things are to start growing in us. Some of us have a harder time with them, some easier. But we are to have these things to some extent, including joy.
I see all the time on social media how bad you think things are. Yeah, maybe the guy you like doesn't like you back. Yeah, maybe your girlfriend broke up with you. Sure, maybe your parents grounded you. We live in a broken world where things go wrong. But compare your life to someone else's.
Do you have a house to live in?
What about those that don't.
Do you have a fridge full of food?
How about those kids that are starving.
Do you have a family around you? Maybe you don't think they appreciate you but do they abuse you or sell you to fuel their addictions?
What about those people who are beaten or sold into sex slavery by their families?
How bad do you really have it? Sure we can go on and on about the problems in your life, and they very well can be problems, I am in no way trying to diminish the problems you're having. But I'm trying to shift your perspective so you can see that honestly, you don't got it that bad.
And not only that, if you're reading this and call yourself a Christian, say you've been baptized and received the Holy Spirit, then you really don't have much to complain about.
Yes, things go wrong. Paul had a heck of a hard time as a Christian, yet no where in scripture do I see him complaining about those hard times. Why?
He had joy in the knowledge that he had Christ in his life. When you receive the Spirit, the fruit of it begins to grow in you. When you receive the Spirit you are saved. When you receive the Spirit you have God living inside of you.
Isn't that something to be constantly joyful about?
Find that joy, remember it, and live in it.
For your viewing and listening pleasure:
http://youtu.be/MxFx8V3DSwc
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