The Joy of our Salvation

[Joy]

The fruits of the Holy Spirit are the character traits of the Spirit of God that is in us. They are called fruits mainly because they are a byproduct of our relationship with the Holy Spirit. The fruits consist of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:16 & 22-23)

Fruit of Joy​

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17)

We are commanded by scripture to rejoice always. This means to rejoice under every circumstance that we may find ourselves in. In the natural, this is absolutely impossible but when we walk in the Spirit it becomes a reality.

When the scripture tells us to rejoice always it doesn’t mean that we rejoice in the fact that we are facing struggles. It means that we “rejoice in the truth” in the midst of the struggles (1 Corinthians 13:6). It means we become focused on what we do not see instead of what we do see (2 Corinthians 5:7). It means that we rejoice over the struggles because we know that it is producing something of value in us (Romans 5:3-4).

But as Galatians 5 suggests, this kind of joy is only possible when we walk with the Spirit and not according to the flesh because the joy is not ours but His.



David Jeremiah, Turning toward Joy

 

[civic]

AMEN !!!

 

[Blessed]

Gratitude leads to joy. Where does gratitude rank on your list of Christian virtues?

In an arsenal that’s supposed to include things like mountain-moving faith, radical obedience, patient long-suffering, and second-mile self-denial, for many, gratitude feels like an optional add-on. Nice if you can get it, but not all that critical to making life run the way it should.

But gratitude I think is critical to making our lives Joyful.

If in our mind there’s an A, B, and C tier of Christian character traits, gratitude likely rattles down to one of those lower rungs–down there with hospitality and cheerfulness and going to church on Sunday night. Gratitude may appear on the deluxe models, but it’s definitely not in the basic package–and not even in the same category as those other, more important pieces of heavy Christian machinery. Or so we think.

And yet …

This issue of gratitude is far more significant than its lightweight reputation would suggest. What appears at first to be a cute little finger ring to go with our finer things is in reality a much weightier, much more powerful, much more necessary component to our Christian life.

Try, for example, to sustain persevering faith–without gratitude–and your faith will eventually forget the whole point of its faithfulness, hardening into a practice of religion that’s hollow and ineffective.

Try being a person who exudes and exhibits Christian love–without gratitude–and over time your love will crash hard on the sharp rocks of disappointment and disillusionment.

Try being a person who sacrificially gives of yourself–without the offering being accompanied by gratitude–and you’ll find every ounce of joy drained dry by a martyr complex.


I'm so grateful for my salvation that it fill me with Joy, Joy, overflowing because I have put my Faith in Jesus. He will never let us down.