June 27 - Acts 13:52 - FILLS WITH JOY

The fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23 

 

the disciples were filled with joy

and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 13:52

 

Today we begin a focus on the fruits of the Spirit.

 

And today's message is simple, when Jesus' disciples proclaimed the good news, they "were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

 

"Persecution" is in the sentence before this! Their lives were in danger. And yet, when they proclaimed the good news, they "were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

 

Joy is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit -- Galatians 5:22-23. Normally, we associate joy with joyful circumstances, and that's how worldly expressions of joy work. If the circumstances are joyful, we have joy.

 

The spiritual fruits are very different. They are not circumstantial. Indeed, the spiritual fruits often defy our circumstances. The world says, if the circumstances are joyful, I can have joy. Faith says ...

• If I have the Spirit, I can have joy ... even when events are sad
• If I have the Spirit, I can have peace ... even when conflict is raging around me.
• If I have the Spirit, I can have love ... even when I've been betrayed and forgiveness comes hard.
• If I have the Spirit, I can have hope ... even when I stand beside a grave.
• If I have the Spirit, I can be free ... even when the world tries to enslave me.

Are you experiencing joy right now? Maybe you don't need to change your circumstances, maybe you just need to draw closer to the Spirit.

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who's learned to be joyful