08/31/2025
Has Jesus given you a joy like His, or do you anticipate that one day you will have a joy like that of Jesus? Well, I am going to burst your bubble and then give you a new hope regarding joy. Our anticipation should never be to have a joy like Jesus because we won't have one like His! I apologize for having done this, but I have toyed with you a bit. You are truly not going to have a joy "like" Jesus... no you are going to have “the joy” of Jesus. Not similar, not an imitation, not even an exact replica, but the actual joy that fills Jesus Christ; "my joy may be in you."
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:10-11 ESV
How could we not have His joy when we abide within Him and He in us?
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
John 15:4 ESV
I read a wonderful observation that Billy Graham made, and I will share it with you now...
"It is Jesus, the vine, that produces fruit; and we, the branches, bear the fruit, including the fruit of joy." - Billy Graham
How incredibly revealing is that? The root and the vine nourish and grow the fruit; the branches merely support it. We provide space so that a great deal of fruit can be produced. We allow for the multiplication of the fruit of God... including Joy! So, who's Joy did Jesus contain? Why of course He was filled with the joy of God.
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”
John 14:20 ESV
So, the root of the vine is the source of all joy. This explains how God's joy is imparted to Jesus where it becomes the joy of Christ, and that selfsame joy is then instilled in us and becomes our joy. It is the same joy, just as all our gifts are the gifts of God manifest in us. No copies, not almost the same, but the selfsame gifts… the selfsame joy
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 ESV
Let’s pause and consider this for a moment. How many times have we thought... "If I had the power of God I could overcome this_______." We can fill in the blank with any of the wishes we have had. This is true of gifts as well. So, once we receive a gift, and realize that it is the same as God embodies, then what holds us back? Our lack of faith in the gift itself? our self-doubt? Or our lack of confidence in God himself? I would say "Pick one." at one time or the other we are guilty of them all, and I am certain there are others!
But we are not given every gift. We only receive those we need to do His will, and to provide for the common good. We are meant to do God's will and we are also meant to be of service to one another. Listen as the apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians…
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,”
1 Corinthians 12:7-8 ESV
Yet some gifts are available to us all; gifts such as joy, and peace... among others.
Yes, our joy is His joy, and our peace is His peace; all we must do is obey the commandments of God and Jesus, as we abide in His love.
Prayer:
Father I thank you for your joy that flows from you through Jesus and into me. Jesus, I thank you for being the conduit for our Father’s gifts of joy, peace, grace, and many others which we share. Knowing that the gifts I receive from you are truly of God, I realize that the happiness I experience on my own can't compare with the joy He gives, and I praise Him for this magnificent gift, and for completing the joy that has been budding within me. Holy Father, nurture the fruit that hangs from me and never let me cease to bear it as it matures for your pleasure and glory. Prune me Lord that I might be bountiful. I pray that you will never find me lacking or find a reason to remove me from your vine. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who shares your love, mercy, grace, and every good gift with me. Holy are you who has drawn me to your Son Jesus Christ and then joined me with Him, just as He is joined with you. Hallelujah Lord, and may I spend all my days, and all eternity, immersed in you and reveling in your precious gifts!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:44 ESV
Definition:
Joy… is a feeling of deep and lasting happiness, pleasure, delight, contentment, satisfaction, and grace.
Rich Forbes