Day Three: JOY

Day Three - JOY

Key Bible Verse- 

Hebrews 12:2  "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." NASB

Thoughts to ponder- 

In scripture, joy is an inner result of our outward expression of our relationship with God in service to those around us.  Jesus went to the cross for "the joy set before Him".  It was His outward expression of the Father's love for us.  Our reconciliation to a personal relationship with God was the joy Christ was willing to die for in service to us while we were still undeserving.

In like manner, we are to be in such a close relationship with the Father and Christ that we experience joy in serving others and revealing God's glory to them.  Joy is all about what God has done and is continuing to do in our lives and the lives of those we love.  (Which if you remember from yesterday, loving others is a choice.) Joy differs from happiness in the sense that happiness is often rooted in our circumstances, our personal desires and hopes. To truly experience the calm delight of  joy, we must look beyond our selves and our hardships and walk closely with God for the sake of His purposes.  

Challenge/Action Step- 

Since God puts people in our live for a reason take a minute to think about the people you know that are the most joyful, how are they different from other people you know and what can you learn from them?  Ask God to reveal to you way you can practice joy and make a list of the things He shows you.  Please share one of those things with us in the comments below.

Prayer for today-

Jesus, Lord of all,  thank you for dying on the cross for us.  I pray today that you would give us a deep understanding of your great love for us .  Help us to know the joy of making a difference in the lives of others for your glory. ~ Amen

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey to understand and further develop the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Please take a minute to leave a 

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