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I have really been wanting to participate in Robin's Fruit of the Spirit Friday.  I have not yet found time to focus on it. I suppose I need to write more spiritual posts, but I feel that would be such a great responsibility, and I do not want to just throw one out there just to participate in a meme... even a really good one like the Fruit of the Spirit Friday meme.

Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

I started writing a post about Joy about a month ago. A few friends had been going through extremely rough times, and as I spoke with each of them, the word Joy resonated both times. Their trials were in exact opposition to their Joy. And it got me to thinking about the Spirit of Joy.  The Fruit of Joy. It left a few questions in my mind, that, frankly, if I take time to write them out instead of clean up my house or tend to my Littles, I will know the answer to how I behave when don't have Joy!  It is a much deeper study than one post.

Joy is a state of being. It is easily lost and long-sought after. It takes time to allow the Spirit to work it in your life, and many Christians have never walked in it.  It is not a feeling or an attitude or a mindset. It is the Holy Spirit showing Himself through me. If He can't do that, it is because I have not given Him audience in that area of my Spirit, and I am losing some of the finest moments in my life to living a life void of Joy. I do not wish to do that.

Joy is not man-made. It is not woman-made. If given by the Holy Spirit, it should flow out of me like a song of worship to the Lord. Joy is an act of worship in my life. It is a surrendering of my own ideals and desires and even my hopes. I have a feeling joy has been squashed by myself and many Believers, because we have unreasonable expectations of how our lives should be, and when they are not that, not what we thought life was *supposed* to be, our man-made Joy goes right out the window with all the lost expectations. And we are no different than the old man we were, the sinful man underneath.

As a large homeschooling family, we either spread Joy or gloom and despair. There is no retreat in this house for individualists. We either lift each other up or pull each other down. When any of us, Mom included, try to push our own agendas or make people around us listen or do things our way, instead of reaching into each others' hearts, we will kill any Joy we have in this house. We will not always be Joyful, but when our Joy is determined by whether or not we get the correct amount of ketchup on our hot dogs, we do not truly have the Joy of the Holy Spirit.

And that is key: It has to be Joy from the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 32:11 says, "Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."

The heart has a lot to do with a Joyful Spirit. Let me say the *condition* of the heart. If we are frustrated, feeling sorry for ourselves, feeling entitled, battling sins we have been battling for years (and not submitting to God's Word in them) or just not reading our Bible, our heart is not in a position to even be joyful.

Deuteronomy tells us in verses 47 and 48 that, "Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

Deuteronomy 28 is the chapter of blessings and cursings. It gives a list of blessings for God's people if they obey His Word and commandments and the cursings their lives will bring if they do not.

A selfish heart has little room for real Joy. In that case, Joy only exists in our world when things go our way. Children and adults alike. I have a four-year-old who stomps his foot. Demanding. A sense of entitlement. Having allowed this bad habit to form, when he lacks Joy, so do many in our home. Which leads to another aspect of Joy: It is contagious. Just like a lack of Joy will spread, a Spirit of Joy will also.

I want to spread Joy. I want to be Joyful at all times. I know life will bring sorrows, for that is what the Word says: There is a time for everything.  But, we are to have the Joy of the Lord. I cannot fully understand that. I do not understand Jesus. Jesus. It is too incomprehensible for this human mind. I know He wanted to do what He did, to sacrifice His life for the world. I know He did this in great sorrow. But, He also did it with great Joy. Joy in the Holy Spirit; Joy in fulfilling the plan of salvation; Joy in following the Father's Will.

This tells me that I can also live my everyday life and be Joyful too. As long as I make my heart available. I too can experience Joy in the Holy Spirit; Joy in fulfilling the plan of my salvation; Joy in following the Father's Will. I pray for a better understanding of how to submit to and allow this Joy in my life.

Blessings! And JOY!

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Friday, December 28, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by blessedmomof10

Jacque ~

Good post...... got me thinking about what is JOY and what are the fruits of the spirit... I believe that they are not "feelings" but truly a state of mind... as you said something that the Holy Spirit has done in our hearts and minds..... it is not fleetings and just goes away...

Thank you for sharing......it gave me some ideas about some areas in my life that I am in sin and need to once again turn over to the Lord!

Blessings~
gloria

Saturday, December 29, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Charity

Thanks for sharing!!! This brings to mind the song I like so much. "The joy of the Lord is my strength"