That’s our doormat. It’s a reminder to those of us who live there, and a message for those who visit of what the expectation is for all who gather inside. I love it. I need reminders. Reminders of the marks I’m making, those fruits that are produced inside me by Him.
So, next on our path of the fruits of the Spirit, feathers of the Spirit, markers in our lives, you’ve guessed it, is Joy. When our lives are controlled by the Holy Spirit, He will produce Joy. Do you have the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down in your heart-where? You know, Spirit producing-life changing-situation defying-down in your heart to stay kind of Joy. We’re talking Joy, pure Joy. The kind of Joy that can only come when our lives are controlled by the Holy Spirit. So, who’s controlling me(you)? I know, ouch, sorry!
You might be athinkin’, what, I’m happy, so very happy. Well, most of the time. Well, when things go the way I think they should. Well, I will be when I get that promotion. Well, when my kids visit I’m happy. Well, when people aren’t arguing I’m happy. Well, I will be happy when I go on vacation. Well… You might be happy, for a while. But do you have Joy?
Ooooh-oh-ooooh
I’m so happy, mmm-hmmm
I’m just as happy as I can be-ee-ee
Hay, hay, I stay so happy, mmm-hmmm
Since you gave your sweet
Sweet love to me-ee-ee
Hank Ballard (The Twist guy) sang about being happy. Sounds a little like a praise song, and it is. A praise song to his gal. The ecstatic happiness in this song is all because his woman loved him. He might be singing a different song if she took her sweet love from him, right? This happiness is circumstantial. It depends on circumstances, what’s happening in our lives. You know – good day, I’m happy. Bad day, I’m unhappy. Happiness depends on the external, the world. Joy depends on the internal, Who lives within us. Our Joy can be expressed in happiness, but our Joy is not dependent on happiness. You can have Joy without happiness, but you can’t have true, real, lasting happiness without Joy.
You love justice and hate evil.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you,
pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.
Psalm 45:7
I stumbled across this verse a while back and have been chewing on it. The imagery is beautiful, isn’t it? The anointing by the pouring out of the oil of joy. What is the oil of joy? If we have accepted Christ, if the Holy Spirit lives within us, we have been anointed with the Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit of joy. I love the thought of that. Anointing with oil was common on joyous occasions in the Bible. In the Old Testament twice, Jacob poured oil over a stone as an honor to God. My mind compares the hardness of a stone to the hardness of my heart. Without the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of joy poured over my heart of stone, I am completely joyless, not just unhappy, joyless.
So, how’s your Joy? Do you need a Joy check? Does your life reflect the indwelling Spirit of Joy? You know, Joyful, Joyful we Adore Thee kind of Joy?
Wednesday
Read Exodus 30:22-33. Whatever the anointing oil touched would be most holy. Read 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – Believers have been anointed with the blood of Christ. This cleansing blood has been poured over us, consecrated us, and replaced the hardness in our hearts with the Holy Spirit. Close your eyes and visualize those two scenes. The preparation of the holy anointing oils, the smell of the oils, the touching of the oils. Now close your eyes and visualize the Cross and Christ’s blood being poured over our hearts, the holy anointing oil. The seal of ownership. The deposit of the Spirit in our hearts. The result of the Spirit in our lives.
Thursday
Read Isaiah 61:10. Do we delight in the Lord? Why should we be overwhelmed with Joy? Spend time in prayer thanking Him.
Friday
Read John 15:1-17. Make a list of all the words that describe the kind of relationship we are to have with Jesus. What will this relationship produce? Are we producing much or little? Why? What must we do to be filled with the Joy of the Lord? Do we drop feathers of Joy on the path of our lives?
Saturday
Read John 17:6-19. This beautiful prayer of Jesus for His disciples (then and now). What is the key to the immeasurable Joy Jesus talks about in verse 13?
Sunday
Read Nehemiah 8:1-12. Where does our strength come from? What does that mean? Write it out. In verse 12 how did they celebrate and why did they celebrate? Are we joyful because we hear God’s word and we understand it? Do God’s words give us life? Do God’s words give us Joy?
Monday
Read Romans 15:13. Look inside today. Spend time in prayer and reflection regarding the fruit of Joy. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what kind of mark your life is making with regard to the fruit of Joy. Ask the Lord to open your mind to the true understanding of the fruit of the Spirit. Pray the power of the Holy Spirit will produce in you the fruit of Joy.
Tuesday
Read Galatians 5:22-23. Work on memorizing this verse today. Not just the fruits, but both verses. You cannot produce these fruits without the Holy Spirit controlling your life.