JOY 4

Hello Everyone,

The third thing that we want to look at that contributes to this fruit of joy is:

CHRISTIANS HAVE JOY BECAUSE OF THEIR PERSPECTIVE ON ETERNITY.

This life is not all there is. We are called to look ahead.

Joy is tied to hope, and hope always relates to the future.

Paul CHALLENGES Christians in Rome to be "rejoicing in hope" (Romans 12:12). The believer should look forward.

Jesus did this. The writer to the Hebrews encourages Christians to run the race, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of 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" (Hebrews 12:2).

This calculated, Christ-like perspective is critical.

It brings into focus and into feeling what is to be experienced in eternity.

This perspective brings with it the joy you will need to get you through the dark tunnels and death valleys of life.

One Writer said it this way:

“In a sense, we borrow from the beyond, the life to come in heaven, and radiate in earthly life the joy of Jesus who is physically with God the Father but spiritually present within us”.

Jesus said to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20).

Stephen demonstrated such joy when he was stoned to death, we read about it in Acts 7:54–60. Stephen had an eternal perspective.

He felt the gnashing teeth and the pain caused by the stones, but he also experienced something else:

"Being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God" (verse 55).

The New Testament church had plenty of problems, yet the people were joyous believers.

When everything around us in this world today seems to be falling apart, Christians can grow in joy.

We know God is in control.

He knows the number of hairs on our heads.

He cares for each sparrow and for every human soul.

He is guiding our future.

What a joyous assurance we have. The words of the song say it best, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. O what a foretaste of glory divine." The best is yet to come for the believer.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17,18, Paul says, "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Three things make the JOY of a Believer’s life unique:

(1) Our place in Christ;

(2) Our purpose in life; and

(3) Our perspective of eternity.

You can grow in what you know and how you feel in these three areas.

Joy is "feeling what you know."

The words of the chorus are true, "The joy of the Lord is my strength."

Thank God for this joy!

Let us go, glow, and grow in this fruit of the Spirit!

Greater Things Are Still To Come!