So over the next several posts, while I contemplate the lessons the Lord is teaching me, I'd like to share with you a few thoughts from William MacDonald's One Day at a Time devotional that have both encouraged and challenged my heart. There are several days where he addresses the fruit of the Spirit and so as this dreary winter is winding down and we look forward to the hope and sunshine of spring, and all the blossoms that it entails, I pray that we will reflect and also see the fruit of the Spirit blossoming in our lives this spring!
"The fruit of the spirit is...joy..." (Galatians 5:22)
Man never finds real joy till he finds the Lord. Then he enters in to what Peter calls "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (I Peter 1:8).
Anyone can rejoice when circumstances are favorable, but the joy which is the fruit of the Spirit is not the result of earthly circumstances. It springs from our relationship to the Lord and from the precious promises He has given to us. Christ would have to be dethroned before the Church could be finally robbed of its joy.
Christian joy can coexist with suffering. Paul weds the two when he speaks of "all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11). The Thessalonian saints had received the word "in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost" (I Thessalonians 1:6). Suffering saints down through the centuries have testified how the Lord has given them songs in the night.
Joy can coexist with sorrow. The believer can stand by the grave of a loved one, shed tears of sorrow at the loss, yet rejoice at the knowledge that the loved one is in the presence of the Lord.
But joy can not coexist with sin. Whenever a Christian sins, he loses his song. Not until he confesses and forsakes that sin is the joy of his salvation restored.
The Lord Jesus told His disciples to rejoice when they were reviled, persecuted, and falsely accused (Matthew 5:11, 12). And they did! Not many years later we read of them leaving the courtroom, "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41).
Our joy increases as we grow in the knowledge of the Lord. At first, perhaps, we can rejoice in minor irritations, chronic ailments, and trivial inconveniences. But the Spirit of God wishes to bring us to the point where we can see God when circumstances are at their worst and rejoice in the knowledge that His way is perfect. We are spiritually mature when we can say with Habakkuk, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Habakkuk 3: 17,18).
*One Day at a Time, William MacDonald, p 67
3 comments:
Oh Kelly, this is His goal for us, isn't it? To teach us more and more what it means to find joy just in Him, completely apart from circumstances. I know what you mean about being slow to learn it - but of course we are slow...we think that we'll never be happy apart from earthly things going well. Sometimes He has to strip us of those things to teach us (the hard way) to seek Him instead.
I love you, dearie! Thanks for sharing.
i just discoverd your last two posts...thank you for investing your experience with Christ into my life by sharing these thoughts. the whole joy thing is amazing...the fact that it can "coexist" with pain but cannot "coexist" with sin has been tried and true in my little life. just a few days ago i felt the song up and leave as i was stupid enough to open my mouth and speak without thinking, sinning of course, and regretting every single word. and then loosing that precious fruit--gladness of heart. how gracious our GOD is--to pour out forgiveness and promise that His mercies are new every single morning. but how sad it was--the reality of my sin and the effect it had on my spiritual life is something that i could not control. it was in confessing and waiting on God alone that brought relief. the song is back, praise God. both your postings were grand encouragement. and reminders to continue to0 walk in the spirit not in the flesh! there really is a difference!
I'm so glad that you both were able to be encouraged by these posts. These are thoughts that have been on my lately but Mr. MacDonald does a much better job expressing it than I do! Ha!
Thanks for sharing the reality of the struggle, Deana. How wonderful that your heart is sensitive to the effects of sin in your life!
Praying that we continue to seek the ways of the Lord rather than our own ways and in the process see the fruit of the Spirit cultivated in our lives!
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