But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  Galatians 5:22-23  NLT

This week, our fruit of the spirit is joy. Joy is defined as “a feeling of great pleasure or happiness”; however, as Christians, it is much more than that. Happiness implies that our feeling of “joy” is dependent on how well things are going in our lives. When work is going well, and your family is getting along, and stress is low, we are happy. But joy is not temporary. Joy comes from God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in us.

Joy is the result of our salvation, our relationship with God and the Spirit within us. Joy comes with our belief in Jesus and trust in God’s love and forgiveness. Our past is forgiven, and we are new creatures! God’s salvation gives us hope for the future and the delight in His direction for our lives. But realistically and sadly, our joy can be an easy thing to lose. David wrote Psalm 51 after the incident with Bathsheba. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” Psalms 51:12

David had lost his joy. He asked that it be “restored”. We can so easily lose our joy in the daily struggles of this world. We begin to doubt that God is with us. We put distance between God and ourselves and we lose our joy. We may have all experienced it at one time or another. My joy was full when I was saved and baptized as a teenager. My joy continued as I felt that I was moving in the direction that God had planned for me, a college degree, teaching special education students, marrying my high school love. I continued in regular Bible study, I had joy.

But then life happened. Difficulties and responsibilities and health issues all seemed insurmountable. I continued going to church but I had pulled back some from my relationship with God. I was not joyful. I delved into Philippians. Paul is in prison in Rome waiting for execution. We would assume that he was at the darkest time of his life, but he wasn’t. Paul was joyful! He starts off Chapter 4 by encouraging his beloved to “stand fast in the Lord”. Paul then tells them to “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 and “Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6

In order to restore our joy, we need to take our troubles and worries and shame to the Lord and pray with thanksgiving for all that God has already done for us. We can spend time in His Word and know that God is with us and for us. God can restore our joy. I admit that as I began this blogging path eight years ago, I was worried. But it has been a beautiful and joyful experience. I feel that I am where God wants me to be, and I feel closer to Him than ever before.

Every week as I write, I pray that my words are God’s words and that He will speak to someone through me. And so I thank God for each of you and for joining me this week as we shine the joy of the Lord for all to see!

Blessings and joy as we rejoice in the Lord our God!