|
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, PEACE, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
Rivers, oceans, and rainbows are all scenes that bring about a feeling of peace when I see them or even think of them. There are people who can bring me peace in the moment when I am in their presence. Sometimes feelings of temporary satisfaction can come when making a purchase of something that is “needed” or “wanted” in life. All of these feelings can be fleeting. Places with water that are beautiful and serene can also bring destruction, people will let us down, and things don’t last. There is a peace that does last which can only come from one source!
0 Comments
 The end of 2016 and ALL OF 2017 seem like a blur because my focus was on getting through each day while my Mom fought for her life. Early 2018 was filled with the hardest fight yet until her passing on February 13th. The rest of 2018 was occupied with trying to find a new normal again because a fight with cancer leaves you forever changed. If I had any major focus areas for those years I couldn’t tell you what they were. Whatever they were the focus turned towards surviving while attempting an almost impossible BALANCE of caring for my mom, my own household, and working full-time (with A LOT of support from some fabulous coworkers).
I started 2019 out not with some lofty new years resolution that I probably would not hit and would drop after the first 2 weeks, but simply a couple of focused words for my day to day life. One of those words was Joy. I wanted to be joyful as much as humanly possible and have joy that comes from deep within and not the fleeting kind. My joy truly comes from being able to look forward to a future that not only God has planned for me on this earth, but most of all to a future in heaven. We are afforded the opportunity to show joy to others, let our lights shine so to speak, and share our story with others to show them Christ’s love. I think back to how joyful I felt when God blessed me with each new baby, especially the first time I saw each beautiful face. In the early New Testament, joy is referenced several times. Jesus was born so that abundant joy is available to us. God used a baby who would walk as a human before offering the ultimate sacrifice of dying on the cross to save us from our sins. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also JOY IN GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ, but whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 5:8-11 When the source of our joy is in our salvation and in the Holy Spirit, it is consistent and available during the toughest times. Heather Lynch  “I just need some JOY!” This phrase is often heard in moments of sadness. How many times in desperation has joy been desired as a solution to that feeling? Let’s look at what scripture says and how there are actually varying degrees of joy.
Joy is often something thought of as either having or not having, something that is present or not present, found or lost. If you look at how joy is experienced and referenced in scripture, there are actually varying degrees from having a little bit of joy to being filled up and running over! Also, joy can be experienced in different amounts throughout the day. This study looks at joy from two perspectives. Joy can be a choice. Joy can be given by God.  In Galatians 5:22-23 the first fruit of the spirit listed is love. There seems to be infinite ways to study and discuss the word “love” as it appears throughout scripture in many forms. This study focuses on Jesus’ response which so clearly tells to focus our love into three things: God, others, and ourselves.
In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus is asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” |
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed