Keys to True Joy

What is joy?

A cat died and went to Heaven. God met her at the gates and said, “You have been a good cat all these years. Anything you want is yours for the asking.”

The cat thought for a minute and then said, “All my life I lived on a farm and slept on hard wooden floors. I would like a real fluffy pillow to sleep on.”

God said, “Say no more.” Instantly the cat had a huge fluffy pillow.

A few days later, six mice were killed in an accident and they all went to Heaven together. God met the mice at the gates with the same offer that He made to the cat.

The mice said, “Well, we have had to run all of our lives: from cats, dogs, and even people with brooms! If we could just have some little roller skates, we would not have to run again.”

God answered, “It is done.” All the mice had beautiful little roller skates.

About a week later, God decided to check on the cat. He found her sound asleep on her fluffy pillow. God gently awakened the cat and asked, “Is everything okay? How have you been doing? Are you happy?”

The cat replied, “Oh, it is WONDERFUL. I have never been so happy in my life. The pillow is so fluffy, and those little ‘Meals on Wheels’ you have been sending over are delicious!”

Is that true joy?

The greek work for joy here means: (chara). n. joy. The experience of gladness.

The term chara often comes as a result of people experiencing God’s presence by the Holy Spirit. Joy is part of the fruit of the Spirit’s presence and work in the lives of believers (Gal 5:22). Joy enables believers to endure trials and suffering of the Christian life.

Christian Standard Bible - Galatians (Chapter 5)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

John 15:11 (CSB)

“I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

Jesus talks about this in terms of a vineyard as He is reflecting in a couple of directions. One direction is towards the Garden of Eden and the other is the Prophet, Isaiah. Let us start with the Book of Isaiah. The people He is in front of know He is referring to this passage:

Christian Standard Bible - Isaiah (Chapter 5)

1 I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.

Jesus is trying to help the people understand the true relationship His Father longs for with His people and that the Lord once expected them to be the vineyard but failed.

Let’s look at how Jesus addresses this even further in John Chapter 15. Digging into the first verse a little bit to lay a great foundation of what Jesus is about to lay out to those listening we read...

Christian Standard Bible - John (Chapter 15)

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

First thing to point out is Jesus telling us who He truly is by saying “I am.” This goes back to the old testament when Moses asks the Lord (YHWH) His name and His reply was “I am WHO I am.”

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM., This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

“The True Vine”

Christian Standard Bible - John (Chapter 1)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life,, and that life was the light of men.

Jesus is our source of life!

He is our Tree of Life!

He is our vine!

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 15

my Father is the gardener

Notice the direct reflection or imagery of the Garden of Eden and Jesus is purposefully of bringing us back to the point of being with our Creator in that Garden. This is what the Lord has longed for, relationship with His people.

The Garden of Eden)

Gen 2:8–17 God’s garden for mankind. God’s concern for human need is underlined here. A delightful park full of fruit trees, rivers, gold and gemstones is prepared for human habitation in an area called Eden (i.e. ‘delight’). Trees, water, gold and gems and cherubim also adorned the later tabernacle (Ex. 25:27) and temple (1 Ki. 7; Ezk. 41–47), and these symbols suggest what was most important about the garden: the presence of God. He used to walk there in the cool of the day having intimate conversation with Adam and Eve (3:8).

Christian Standard Bible - Genesis (Chapter 2)

8 The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A verse from Song of Songs again shows us the how closely the Gardener (the Lord) tends to His own fields.

[Sng 7:12 NLT] 12 Let us get up early and go to the vineyards to see if the grapevines have budded, if the blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates have bloomed. There I will give you my love.

Now, we will move through the rest of the passage from John 15:1-11

Christian Standard Bible - John (Chapter 15)

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

God’s goal is for every Christian is to increase in fruit bearing. We are to progress from no fruit to some fruit to more fruit.

“Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes”… removes also means to lift up close to the vine to keep from dragging and being trampled upon.

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.

We cannot be disconnected from Jesus all week and show up on Sunday and expect to experience growth. That would be like taking a plant out of its pot and leaving it out 6 days a week and only potting it one day a week. It cannot grow nor produce fruit in that manner. They were not intended to function in that capacity.

6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

The Son wants us to enjoy the intimate kind of loving relationship that He enjoys with the Father.

11 “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

Joy is internal stability in spite of external circumstances because of the knowledge that God is in control.

Without Jesus, our joy will always be incomplete.

We can be confident in this because Jesus is offering us His joy in order that our joy (or experience of gladness) might be complete.

John 15:1–11 CSB

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.