Welcome to embolden. We're through Bible scripture and commentary. We seek a bold faith, and in doing so we share the amazing love and message of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hello, I'm Chris Shatter.
I'm an ordinary Christian seeking a deeper relationship with our extraordinary God. Won't you join me? Hi friends, are you looking for a life full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and that ever-elusive self-control? Please join me over the next few weeks as we take a look at the Bibles verse in Galatians 5, 22 to 23, so we can experience the Christian life in full bloom.
Hello, my friends. This week we dive into the fruit of the Spirit, the Search for Joy. You know, that search for joy and happiness has been called one of the great universal mankind desires by pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards. It's this craving for joy that leads some to dangerous adrenaline junkie-like activities, and for others it can set up our so high in our relationships that we burn through marriages to find the quote, perfect one.
Some seek the seemingly elusive state of being through drugs, alcohol, or the accumulation of stuff. Quote, If I only had that car or house, I'd be happy, the poor man says. Or if I had a husband or children that I'd be happy, end quote, says the single woman. But as God so often does, he turns the world's understanding of this simple three-letter word, joy inside out.
James 1, 2 through 4 is the famous statement. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance finish its work so that you may be found mature and complete, not lacking in anything. When I first read those verses a few years ago, I had to laugh.
It reminded me of a scene from an old movie, The National Lampoon's Animal House. In it, young men are pledging to be members of a college fraternity. And in a scene, they are being given the paddle on their bottoms and required to yell out, Thank you, sir. May I have another?
In other words, they are supposed to act like they are enjoying the painful beating. The disciple James admonishes the scattered Jewish Christians in his book to rejoice in the persecution and difficulties they face. And I don't know about you, but when I read that, I scrunched up my face and said, What? Prior to studying the Bible and taking my faith seriously, I thought that joy and happiness meant smooth sailing.
When I wasn't in that state of joy, I surmised I just wasn't trying hard enough. And when trials came, as of course they always do, I disfared over my lack of joy. I once spent an entire year announcing to anyone that I was seeking sparkliness. You know what I mean, I wanted to exude joy whenever I walked into the room, to be shiny and happy and light in my demeanor.
I said like a unicorn, I'd be pooping out sparkles and rainbows, to be free of sadness and negativity. Sounds beautiful. So I put on a happy face wherever I went. I worked hard at not saying anything negative.
I told myself to shake off being mad or sad. And I gotta tell you, I failed miserably. Because if we are faking it, it will show up in our fruit. Jonathan Edwards once said, It's evident both by scripture and reason that God is infinitely eternally, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy.
And I read that I thought, Well, why couldn't I be gloriously happy as well? Which brought me head first into the book of James. My worldly version of joy was completely upended. I learned what makes God truly gloriously happy.
You know the secret? When we trust our place our trust, our love, our worship in Him and Him alone. You see, while I was striving so hard to find joy, I hadn't realized what can truly give me a life of joy. A life where I allowed the Holy Spirit to burn away my joy killers.
Discord, gossip, neediness, conceit, and envy. A life that worships and gives glory to the giver of all beautiful gifts, Jesus. The difference between those young men in that movie trying to get into a fraternity and receive their dues is as a Christian, we can find joy in knowing that any persecution or affliction we face can be experienced in Jesus's name. It can be turned over to our loving God for help and comfort.
When I embarked on that journey, the Holy Spirit and I, we started off with little tests along the way, helping me to see the bits of goodness when things didn't go as planned. This process of rebirth led me to one of the most difficult experiences I've had to date. And through terrible sadness and mountains of tears, I found joy. I found it by leaning heavily on the Lord.
You know, John Calvin was right when he said, we can experience joy and adverse circumstances by holding God's benefits in such esteem that the recognition of them and the meditation upon them shall overcome all sorrow. This week, our look at the fruit of the Spirit, joy, may feel like one of the hardest to understand to some. If, however, we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must also look to Him for the truth of what lies beyond this world, an eternity with our gloriously happy God who loves us so much he longs to be with us in the new Eden. Have a great day.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Enfolden Podcast. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode. And check out my blog at Enfolden.net.