The Fruit of Joy

Me:

The Root of Joy

A deep well to draw from

I found much encouragement knowing that joy comes from a love relationship with Jesus

Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs.

We said it’s an inner gladness

Did you draw from that well?

We:

We touched on the fact that this joy comes from the Holy Spirit

It is the joy of the Holy Spirit, a joy based in the Lord.

To me this is a huge relief

No need for the happy face

God:

Joy of the Holy Spirit

What interesting truth!

Our joy in Lord comes from the Holy Spirit

This is a deep theological truth

But it has a great practical application

We are looking at this theme because of one main reason

Life sucks

It wasn’t fun in biblical times either

I’ll give you two verses as an example

1 Thessalonians 1:6 NET

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction.

Despite great affliction

Another translation uses the word “severe”

The greek of this word is “a relatively large quantity”

Despite the affliction

They “received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit”

They drew from that deep well

But there was something else

Listen to another verse

2 Corinthians 6:10 The Living Bible

10 Our hearts ache, but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord. We are poor, but we give rich spiritual gifts to others. We own nothing, and yet we enjoy everything.

“Our hearts ache”

“but at the same time we have the joy of the Lord.”

The bible, God’s holy word, asserting once again that joy is possible despite the heart aches of life.

They drew from that deep well

But there was something else

What is it?

Fruit

Not just any fruit

But the Fruit of the Spirit

Fruit of the Spirit

There is a list.

Galatians 5:22–23 NLT

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

2. Defining fruit

Think of it like a benefit

Let me show you

There is a contrast

Walking in the Spirit vs The desires of the flesh

Galatians 5:16 NET

16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

If we “live or walk” by you will not carry out the desires of the flesh

Verse 19 calls these desires “works”

Verse 22 calls this walk “fruit”

A benefit of the fruit is Love Joy Peace

Depends on who you feed the most

If you feed your desires?

You will not inherit the kingdom of God

An unhappy life - a loveless life - a life of misery

If you feed the Spirit

The benefit is Love Joy Peace

Feeding the Spirit

It’s living God’s plan and purpose for your life.

The six pillars

Those pillars are found through the church

Worship, Prayer, Learning, Fellowship, Ministry, Sharing

The Holy Spirit that lives within you feeds off of these things.

When an ingredient is missing

What’s your missing ingredient?

You want all the benefits available to you

The stimulus check

When you feed the Spirit you get the benefit

A verse you can sing

2 Corinthians 6:10 NLT

10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

What are you feeding?