Joy

"But the fruit of the Spirit is... JOY..."  Galatians 5:22

Life is much more enjoyable when you are living a life full of joy!  It is harder for the devil to dampen your spirits or discourage you when you are filled with the joy of the Lord.  After all, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b)

Scriptures for this week:

Luke 1:14, "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth," 

This scripture is speaking of John the Baptist.  He was not only a great joy to his father, Zachariah, but he was a great joy to many people and was blessed in being the "Elijah" who prepared the way for Jesus!

Luke 2:10-11, "But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." (NIV)

This is speaking of Jesus's birth!  Some of the most joyous news one could hear is the new found knowledge of his Savior being born!!

John 15:11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (NIV)

Remember last week's fruit, love?  The passage above is saying your joy will be made full if you love others! (read the entire passage: verses 9-17)

Psalm 33:1, "Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him." (NIV)

Pleasing the Lord should be one of our main priorities...  Don't you think?  So I'm going to sing joyfully to Him!

Psalm 35:9, "And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation." (KJV)

What Jesus did when dieing on the cross for our sins and rising again is the thing we should be the most excited and joyful about!  Nothing can top what Jesus did for us.  Nothing...

Isaiah 61:10, "I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels." (NLT)

Yeah... That would definitely be a reason to be JOYFUL!!!

Extra Scriptures:

Psalm 95:1

Psalm 98:4

Psalm 100:1

Isaiah 41:15-16

Isaiah 58:13-14

Joel 2:23

Let's try to live our lives full of the joy of the Lord.  I want to take joy and pleasure in being a follower of Jesus.  Even if I'm not always in the most joyous situation, I want to be glad in my relationship with my Savior!  What things can you do to change your down or depressed attitude into a joyful one?  How many times have you let the guy who cut you off on the freeway or the slow old lady in front of you steal your joy?  We need to make an attitude change.  This can/will totally effect our joy.  If we choose to be happy and rejoice no matter what, then God is going to reward us for that effort.  Not only will we be a better witness for His Kingdom, but it will make our lives better as well.  When we choose to have a good attitude, we will end up having a better attitude all day long because of our choice!  Choose to have a good attitude and be joyful.  Rejoice in what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done for us!  He is an Awesome God who loves us and takes pleasure in us when we rejoice in Him!

Blessings!

~ S*