Roots + Fruits - PART TWO

Love -> Joy

Galatians 5:22–23 (ESV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

When love Himself takes root in you, you will bear the fruit of joy.

In order to fully unpack this one word, we need to make the distinction between happiness and joy. There is a feeling of elation or ecstacy that the world might classify as joy, but that’s a circumstantial kind of feeling. I had a great day, so I’m smiling. My life is amazing. My wife is beautiful. My son is healthy. I have a good job. I have great friends. You could look at my life or yours and determine that happiness is actually our joy, but in order to make the distinction, we have to examine the source.

Happiness is produced by a circumstance or an event. True joy, on the other hand, can only come from the Holy Spirit.

Lexham Theological Wordbook (χαρά)

χαρά (chara). n. joy. The experience of gladness.

One interesting thing to note is that this word shares the same root as the Greek word used for “grace,” which is “charis.”

In order for joy to fully make sense, we need to look at what this root implies. We translate two different words in English from “charis.” One is “grace,” and the other is “gift.”

In that word, though, there is an understood meaning that we have to draw out so that the Greek word for “joy” takes on a deeper meaning.

Grace is a freedom to receive. It’s an empowerment. Grace is God’s free gift of His empowerment by His Spirit to have what He’s called you to have, be who He’s called you to be, and do what He’s called you to do.

Joy, then, is God’s empowerment by His Spirit to experience supernatural gladness in spite of any circumstance.

In fact, joy is often mentioned not as a result of things going well, but as a resolve in the midst of them not going well.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 (ESV)

6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit...

Notice again that this isn’t an emotional high experienced in a moment at the altar. It’s a condition that finds its source in the Holy Spirit. Affliction? Sickness? Heartbreak? Those things may come at you, but they can’t steel your joy if it’s rooted in the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit is your root, your fruit have staying power.

James 1:2 (ESV)

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...

James tells the Church that WHEN (not if) we meet trials of all kinds, we should count it to joy. We should look deep inside and choose to live by the Spirit of God and resolve that there is no trial that can determine our outlook. We choose the Spirit’s way and allow Him to lead us and guide us in wisdom.

There’s a connection between your joy and your faith.

James 1:5 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

There’s an answer for your trial. There’s wisdom for your situation. When we choose the joy that the Holy Spirit produces, we will be led to asking God for wisdom and we’ll ask in faith with joy that He’ll give it.

Philippians 1:25 (ESV)

25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith...

When we stay in a place of faith, our joy can’t be moved. How do we maintain joy when our lives are spiraling out of control? You have to do it by faith. You remind yourself that you have received the Holy Spirit and that joy is a promised byproduct of that. Tell your soul that sorrow may last for a night, but JOY comes in the morning. You may cry yourself to sleep in your feels tonight, but there’s no circumstance on earth that can steal your joy if you’ve connected it to your faith.

Psalm 30:5 (ESV)

5 For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

Joy isn’t about ignoring your feelings; it’s about taking authority over your feelings.

Colossians 1:11 (ESV)

11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy...

Waiting isn’t easy. When you’re in a season of transition and you know that there has to be more than what you’re doing and there must be a greater purpose for you than this silly hourly job, it’s easy to become frustrated. It’s easy to fall into a place of discontent. It’s tempting to let the circumstance dictate your outlook.

We have to shift our perspective here. If you live from outside in, you’ll allow what you see to determine your outlook.

When we choose instead to live from the inside out, we will live in step with the Spirit and the fruit of that will be an outlook that is informed by the joy of the Lord.

There is supernatural strength available to you in the form of the joy of the Lord.

Nehemiah 8:10 (ESV)

10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Joy is an empowering force. It makes you stronger than you could ever be of your own ability. Joy that comes from the Lord will put you in a position to push through any obstacle, overcome any barrier, and destroy anything and everything that would hinder you in your pursuit of God’s plan for your life.

Psalm 51:12 (ESV)

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Do you remember the first time you realized that your eternity was secure? Do you remember what you experienced when you first realized that you’d been taken from death to life? Where does joy originate? The joy of your salvation is the recognition that you may not be where you want to be, but you’re not where you could be.

By the mercy of God, He has empowered you to get out of the pit and not just narrowly escape hell, but to overcome with JOY. He’s saved you. He’s redeemed you. You were blind, but now you see. You were lost, but now you’re found. If you need to stir yourself up and get your joy back to a place of strength, start with the joy of your salvation.

Psalm 51 was written by David after he had been caught in his sin with Bathsheba. He knew he had messed up. He’d lost sight of the privilege of knowing God. He’d lost his way and found himself doing something he didn’t want to do and knew he shouldn’t have done. Isn’t it interesting that his prayer was for God to restore the joy of his salvation? If you can’t seem to kick the habit that’s had you by the throat for the last ten years, my suggestion to you tonight is to seek restoration for the joy of your salvation.

When you realize what He’s brought you through and where you’re standing now, you’ve got something to celebrate. You’ve got a reason to rejoice. Even if your life isn’t where you want it to be. Even if you’ve been disappointed by life or people or you’ve come here tonight with a broken heart, I want to remind you that you’ve been set free. You’ve been delivered. You’ve been saved for all of eternity and you have a reason for JOY.

Let’s talk about finding joy.

The empowering kind of joy.

The joy that endures through all circumstances.

The joy that sustains you and keeps you even when the whole world around you has gone crazy.

How do we keep joy in front of us?

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

11 You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Tonight, I want to suggest to you that finding fullness of joy will require a renewed commitment to the presence of God.

How are you we to be filled with the Spirit if we are never putting ourselves in His presence?

Presence is proximity. If you need the joy fruit of the Spirit working in your life, you need to prioritize His presence and being in places where He is. “Doesn’t He live inside me?” He does! What have you buried Him with?

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit...

The phrase there translates poorly because of verb tenses. It should say, “Be being filled,” or “Be in a continual state of filling.”

I fill my car up with gas weekly. I recognize that my vehicle won’t run without the right fuel being continually put in the tank. Consider your spirit a tank that needs continual filling. Don’t try to live a joyful life on the fumes of the Spirit. Be continually filled and watch as the fullness of joy that results from a life filled with the Spirit produces in you.

What does joy do?

Philippians 4:11–13 (ESV)

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The fruit of the Spirit in your life shows up as joy in the midst of every situation. It comes as the result of being continually filled with Him and manifests itself in renewed strength in your life through which you can do ALL things.

When you pull back on being filled by the Spirit continually by removing yourself from the presence of God, you short-circuit the strength that comes from the joy of the Lord. And without the strength that comes from the joy of the Lord, you diminish your effectiveness in doing all things He’s called you to do.

We have to activate the fruits of the Spirit in our lives by faith. Joy isn’t a feeling. It’s a fruit. It’s a fruit of a life lived by the Spirit of God. Not in striving. In faith. In rest. Jesus has finished the work and made the Spirit available to us so that we can see His fruit in our lives to aid us in living lives of grace. JOY. JOY. JOY. JOY. JOY.