November 12, 2015
Have you ever heard someone say something like , " That person is stealing my joy ! " ? A lot of people say and believe that is possible. However, we will see that they mean happiness not joy. Happiness is from outside the body, joy is from the Holy Spirit on the inside of the body. No one can steal your joy..... you may choose to give it away..... but no one can steal it from you . As we start this weeks study on joy we will take a look at 5 versus from the Bible that will show that this great gift from the Spirit is for you from God and no one can steal it !!!
" ... for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit " Romans 14 : 17 We start with this verse because it tells us so much ! Eating and drinking mean that the Kingdom of God is not of earthly pleasures...put another way it is not made up of things outside the body which gives pleasure to the flesh. Also, it tells us that righteousness, peace, and joy all come from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside the body of all born again believers, and what God gives no man can take away! It does NOT say happiness !
" Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. " Romans 15 : 13 God is the eternal hope that all believers have in salvation ! That hope is in God's word and is used by the power of the Holy Spirit that we may have all joy knowing that our salvation is assured because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us ! It is because of this hope and joy that ALL believers in Jesus are sure they are going to heaven !!
" Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart ;For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts." Jeremiah 15 : 16 This verse again shows that the Word of God brings joy and rejoicing to the believer. Notice it says for believers ! Therefore, if joy comes from God to believers, who does NOT have joy ? It is not possible for non - believers to have joy !!! That is why the world makes no difference between joy and happiness... because they will never know the joy that is in Jesus !!! Praise God !!
" You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy ; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. " Psalm 16 : 11 What is the path of life ? Jesus . Who is the fullness of joy to God ? Jesus. Who is at the right hand of God ? Jesus. In this psalm we can easily see that the reason we have the fruit of joy is because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us ! Without Jesus would be no life and no joy. When we talk about life in this context we are talking about eternal life with Jesus, not life in the body here on earth.
" Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. " Proverbs 12 : 20 By showing contrasting views on a subject the writer is hoping to emphasize the point he is making. Here the writer is saying that non - believers (those who devise evil) can not have joy. In contrast with believers (counselors of peace) do have joy. Also it is interesting to note that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is called the counselor by Jesus !!!
Next week we will continue with our study of joy.
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