Luke 10:1-24

The second aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit is joy. Did Jesus express this characteristic? I guess I haven’t spent a lot of time considering whether or not Jesus was a joyful person… until today.

Jesus was serious. He was stern. He was loving. But was He happy?

Head slap! Of course He was!

I never got into watching “The Chosen” but from what I see they portray Jesus as someone who laughed, who enjoyed life, who joked with His friends. A joyful man. I’m thinking that’s probably accurate. People were drawn to Jesus. I don’t think that would have been the case if He was an old stick-in-the-mud.

Jesus used parables to teach important truth, and one of those truths was the fact that God is joyful. Think of the parables of the lost treasure, the parable of the talents, the prodigal son. God is filled with joy when a lost soul is found.

Think of the Beattitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Joy is the blessing God gives to the mournful, the humble, the merciful, etc. A Christian has reason to be the most joyful person in the room!

If I want to express the character of God in my life, there is no room for a gloom and doom attitude. There is no excuse for seeing a glass half empty, or looking for the other shoe to drop. My sins are forgiven. I am loved by the Creator God, I am blessed beyond imagination, and I will live in paradise forever. I have the power of Holy God in me, and I am given the joy of the Lord to fill me and flow through me, no matter the circumstances.

I recently bought a new journal. I go through them quickly as I write my thoughts every day about what God is teaching me in His word. This particular journal has a Bible verse at the bottom of each page, and I’m going to leave you with the verse at the bottom of the page on which I wrote my thoughts for this blog post.

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. (Jeremiah 17:7)

Be blessed. Be joyful!