ICS Daily Devotions
Keep the Joy
Galatians 5:23-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Fruit, or “karpos” in Greek, means fruit, produce or offspring—what is produced by the inherent energy of a living organism. Because Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, apart from Him, nobody can bear much fruit. Therefore, Joy is an outflow of God from the depth of our hearts because we are quietly confident that He is able. It is also a kind of contentment that can only be found in the Lord in all circumstances. It takes maturity for a believer to be content with just having Jesus in his life because the rest is temporal. This comes about when someone truly appreciates the value of being saved and being able to spend eternity with the Lord.
There is a huge difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is subject to circumstances whereas joy is independent of them. This joy is first experienced on the day of our conversion, when our life takes on a new meaning after we have experienced reconciliation with God and established that our identity is founded in Christ. It gives us great significance in life and all kinds of striving can now stop because we are secure in God’s love, and His opinion about us is what matters most.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
The Bible says that when we face trials in life, we should consider it pure joy and stand in God’s grace. How do we stay in the joy?
Believers or unbelievers alike will face trials and tribulations in life, but it is how we face them that differentiates us from the world. The devil will throw us all kinds of sufferings, challenges, sicknesses and pain, just so that we will get disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated with God, and there will be times when we question why God allows us to walk through such deep valleys in our lives. However, we have a choice of either going through a period of tribulation and become bitter with God or allow Him to walk us through with His grace and strength.
The consolation is we know there will be the fight of faith—a battle between what we are experiencing and what we proclaim to believe. It is in this molding process where character is built. When we refuse to give up on our conviction that God is good, faithful, merciful, gracious, loving— everything that Scripture says about Him, it gives us hope of a breakthrough and deliverance.
It is the joy that sustains us. There is a deep assurance given by the Holy Spirit about God’s love in our hearts, and we know that ultimately, God still wins and reigns in eternity.
Sermon Series: Joy – The Fruit of the Holy Spirit
