Fruit of The Spirit Joy

JOY

Usually, we employ this word to communicate our intense satisfaction, our sense of well-being and our underlying contentment at having experienced something for which we have earnestly longed, something that we have deeply desired.

One of the most powerful of these practices and the one that may be most responsible for inhibiting the cultivation of Christian joy is the practice of advertising.

the significance of the etymological connection between the Greek word for "grace" (charis) and the New Testament word most commonly translated as "joy" (chara). Both words developed from the same root, and both imply the activity of freely taking delight in something or someone beyond one's self.

As Evelyn Underhill writes: "Real love always heals fear and neutralizes egotism, and so, as love grows up in us, we shall worry about ourselves less and less, and admire and delight in God and his other children more and more, and this is the secret of joy."2

This emphasis on the outward movement of joy is carried over into the New Testament, where healing and restoration of wholeness are an occasion sion for joy and praise.

For me, I define JOY in two ways…

1) Internal Joy: living with a high level of self-worth that is not based off circumstances. I’m not talking about being arrogant. Rather, having internal “confidence” in who I am, no matter what others say or do.

2) External Joy: offering help and hope to others.

But perhaps most significantly, joy is a defining characteristic of the life of God. The parables of Luke 15 remind us that God also rejoices when those who were lost are found. God has always longed for the reconciliation of all creation.

O Lord, far be it from me to think that whatever joy I feel makes me truly happy. For there is a joy that is not given to those who do not love you, but only to those who love you for your own sake. You yourself are their joy. Happiness is to rejoice in you and for you and because of you. This is true happiness and there is no other. Those who think that there is another kind of happiness look for joy elsewhere, but theirs is not true joy.3  St. Augustine

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. (Lk 6:22-23)

"My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you maybe mature and complete, lacking in nothing" (Jas 1:2-4).

advertising both plays on and helps create our contemporary confusions and anxieties about who we are and whether we have worth.

Furthermore, because we believe we are entitled to pursue happiness and because our culture defines happiness in terms ofwhatwe possess,we believe we are entitled to acquire and accumulate whatever possessions we believe will make us happy. The result, as many of us can well attest, is that our lives (not to mention our closets, garages and attics) are often cluttered with stuff that promised to bring us happiness but didnt and doesn't.

When we gather for worship, therefore,we are focusing our attention on that which is our chief end. Such gatherings should be marked by the joy that comes from doing what we were created to do.

The source of our joy as Christians is God and God's reconciling work. Even the Old Testament rings out with psalms of joy to the God who saves.

Rather, what is being aroused in many cases is a desire for desiring, a desire that makes contentment with who one is and what one has all but impossible.

Fruit of the Spirit Peace

PEACE

shalom/peace refers to the state of well-being, wholeness and harmony that infuses all of one's relationships. Such a view of peace is inherently social; to be at peace only with oneself is not to experience shalom in all its fullness.

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Establishing and sustaining wholeness in all one's relationships is no easy thing. To be in right relationship with God and one's fellow creatures one must consistently do what is right, what God desires, what God requires.

Peace for overcoming storms

Moving toward a new understanding of Shalom or Wholeness

Willing to be invested in increasing peace

Into the midst of this divisive culture, the gospel of Jesus brings an alternate perspective. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” or from the apostle Paul, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

A prayer attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.” 43

The root meaning of the word “peace” comes from the Hebrew concept of “shalom.” Shalom refers to a state of well-being, wholeness and harmony; a connectedness that infuses all of one’s relationships, with God, each other and the world.

I hope these random thoughts will help you think about making peace a more important part of your life and your spiritual journey.

blessings on you as you travel

Pastor Jeff

Wait for it.... Wait for it... my notes on Patience for sermon

PATIENCE

Reflect on your own life during the past few days, considering those times when you have found yourself growing impatient. How do you think your understanding of time contributed to your impatience? Can you, for example, think of times when your impatience and frustration was rooted in your conviction that your time was your own? More specifically, can you recall times when you have grown impatient because people were not meeting your expectations or were not conforming to your timetable?

When we gather together each week, we need to remember that at the heart of the Christian story is a God who is patient, a God who works slowly and diligently over many generations to create a people who will, by their very life together, bear witness to that God.

This way of thinking has become so ingrained in us that it shapes the ways we think about the Christian life. As a result, many of'us find ourselves exceedingly impatient about Christian growth. Yet maturity takes time; fruit does not grow overnight. Cultivating a life in the Spirit is slow, painstaking work. But most of us (myself included) secretly long for the day when we will wake up and find that we have been instantly transformed.

In a similar way, those among us whose lives are increasingly dictated by their appointment books would do well to find creative ways of building in "slack" time.

A related issue that affects our life together concerns the "time consciousness" ness" that often places severe restrictions on our gatherings. Is it really conceivable that we will ever learn to be patient with each other when many of us gather to worship with one eye on the hymnal and the other on our watches?

God being "slow to anger." Indeed, a refrain echoes throughout the Old Testament: "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" (Ps 103:8; cf. Ex 34:6; Num 14:18; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 145:8;Joel 2:13; Jon 4:2; Nahum 1:3).

So this week, God decided to teach me some patience. We lost electricity and then the connection for phone TV and Internet. And the earliest the service provided could come was two days later.

 

See Believe, the chapter on patience for the wisdom of Solomon and Proverbs about patience, good stuff.

Is it possible to imagine a more stunning example of long-suffering than this: the Creator hanging on a tree on behalf of creation?

But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance .... Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. (2 Pet 3:8-9, 14)

the New Testament connects the virtue of patience with the practice of "bearing with" others in two powerful passages. Paul begs the Ephesians to "lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1-3).

This more fluid and flexible way of conceiving time was changed dramatically with the invention of the mechanical clock, a device developed in the West by Benedictine monks as an aid to their rigorous schedule of prayer and work. Ironically, this invention paved the way for viewing time as something other than a seamless, endless flow. Now time was a resource, something to be segmented, scheduled and managed.

Don't these devices merely enable us to cram those few extra moments with further attempts to justify our existence by being even more productive? In strange and subtle ways, therefore, many of these devices that were supposed to liberate us have instead contributed to our further enslavement. Rather than having more time, we feel as if we actually have less.

Patience is a willingness to surrender your private agenda and proceed on God’s timetable at the exact pace he ordained for you.

Patience isn’t something we develop, it is something God develops in us as he takes over.

Patience is informed waiting.

Those who will not hurry, seem to us to be lazy.

Patience is the art of innocent suffering, Patience means loving God even when he is silent. Patience means crediting God with knowing what’s best.

Isa 40:31  Those who wait upon the Lord.

  1.Will renew their strength.

2. Will mount up with wings as eagles, spiritual elation is a result of waiting
3. Will run and not be weary, waiting supplies the energy for life we may have never known before.
4. We will walk and not faint.

Verses for further reflection

“A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly”  Prov. 14:29

“A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.” Prov. 15:18

“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”   Prov. 16:32

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to over look an offense.”   Prov. 19:11

“Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.”   Prov. 25:15

Rom 12:12  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction”

Colossians 1:11  “Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience.”

1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

Learning to wait patiently on God is worth it. The benefits include the ability to influence others in godliness, the certainty of God’s blessings, a deeper knowledge of Scripture, a growing patience and forgiveness of others, and a certain hope to sustain us even in the darkest times.

Holly Whitcomb names seven “gifts” that can come through waiting: patience, loss of control, living in the present, compassion, gratitude, humility, and trust in God. 65