“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
Being in my Father’s presence…there is unspeakable joy! The Holy Spirit’s joy is always present.
“I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
We’re happy when things seem to go well for us, but when hardships come we tend to complain or sink into a depression. Life is a roller coaster ride. The Holy Spirit gives us true joy that transcends the up and down circumstances we find ourselves in. Yes, true joy comes from Jesus. Anyone who believes and trusts in Him is able to manage prosperity as well as difficulty. The joy of Christ keeps us levelheaded, and no matter what life throws our way…we can say, “It is well with our soul.”
The life of the Apostle Paul is an amazing example of times of light and darkness we experience throughout our journey of faith. I just read about him earlier today in my “Streams in the Desert” devotional; Paul is an example of how much a child of God can suffer… and still have joy! Do you remember reading about how he was singing while he was in prison?
“Yes, everything else is worthless compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him.” Philippians 3: 8
There is nothing better than the joy of knowing you are smack dab in the middle of God’s will. I know that I am living the life God has planned for me. How do I know this? Well, Romans 12:1, 2 tells me:
“And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice-the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (New Living Translation)
God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices; this means laying our own desires aside in order to follow him, joyfully putting everything at His disposal, and joyfully trusting him to guide us.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
Paul found reason to rejoice even in the midst of adversity and he urges us to do the same. The only way we can do this is with help from the Holy Spirit. So my question to you is… Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Do you really know Him? Do you intimately know Him?