Out of Sync

I recently took on some new responsibilities that were more than I thought they would be to handle, but with God’s help I am managing.  It does have me a little out of sync and out of touch with my online world and I have not posted for about 2 months.  If anyone wrote me any comments during my little short hiatus, I am so sorry if it seems like I did not respond.  I am slowly but surely getting back on track now.  Please keep me and my family in prayer.

Tagged by Got-Fruit.Net

Okay I am so new at this, but I’m gamed. So here goes…

Rules of the game:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!

2. Find Page 123

3. Find the first 5 sentences

4. Post the next 3 sentences

5. Tag 5 people

Chris at Got-Fruit.Net said…

Notice that Paul calls us “more than conquerors.” The phrase “more than conquerors” is taken from the Greek word hupernikos, which is a compound of two words: huper & nikos. It appears that this is the first time the word hupernikos was ever used in Greek literature; it was coined by Paul himself.

Dressed to Kill: A Biblical Approach to Spiritual Warfare & Armor by Rick Renner

So here goes mine:

Almighty God whose power no foe can withstand – this secret place hides me from the strife of tongues. I believe the wisdom of God’s Word dwells in me, and because it does, I realize that I am without fear or dread of evil. In all my ways I know and acknowledge God and His Word; thus, He directs and makes straight and plain my pathway.

Prayers That Avail Much by Word Ministries, Inc.

I tag:

GalatiansC4v16
Mark Carlton at An Honest Debate
Hope at Hope Lounge

Okay, I’m resorting to cheating now. (sorry)

Cathy at TMI
Pistol Pete at Necessary Therapy

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy – Interpretation of Scriptures

I want to try something different for this particular study. Let’s swap different definitions of “joy” in place of the word “joy” itself and see if we can get a deeper understanding of that particular scripture.

Psalm 30:5

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

For his anger endureth but a moment…but [gladness], [exhilaration], [joy] cometh in the morning.

Wow! Those changes in those few words practically breathe life into the scripture! “Weeping may endure for the night…” may signify a troublesome season or a time filled with trials, but, guess what? There is hope! Gladness, exhilaration and jubilation will come shortly (in the morning).

Psalm 51:12

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

According to my research (2 Samuel 11, 12:1-25), David wrote this psalm after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite. He saw this beautiful woman bathing herself and he coveted (desired) her so badly that he called for her and committed adultery with her while her husband Uriah, was fighting in the battlefield for his country.

She became pregnant and sent word to David about her pregnancy. David first tried to manipulate Uriah into going home to his wife for a couple of days, (David thinking surely Uriah and his wife would have sex) so that it would appear that the baby would be his (Uriah’s) After those attempts did not work due to Uriah’s loyalty to the army, David had Uriah placed in the forefront of the battle where he knew the man would be killed. Of course, his plan worked and Uriah was killed in battle. After the “mourning” period passed, David took Bathsheba to be his wife and the baby conceived in adultery died in childbirth.

Tragic story, right? Well later there was a happy ending, but for that you will have to wait until another Bible Study topic. Anyway, so we see here that David was attempting to cover his original sin (adultery) twice with another sin (manipulation and eventually manipulation with second-degree murder). God reproved him through the prophet Nathan. Thus, the entire Psalm 51 chapter was his prayer for cleanliness.

Getting back to Psalm 51:12, “Restore unto me, the joy of thy salvation.” David did not just want to have his salvation returned; he wanted the very [gladness], and [contentment] of just being saved. In other words, just the very thought of being saved ought to be enough to make us glad. Just think God chose (predestined) us to be saved and to do His will and His work.

If God never did anything else for us again in our entire lives, we ought to be content in our salvation alone. Is that level of contentment in salvation alone easy? By no means, because our flesh wants more and is in fact insatiable. However, that level of contentment is necessary if we are to continue to grow.

More to follow…

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy (Scriptures)

There were many more scriptures for the subject Joy, however I was led to expound on these few scriptures. What will follow later is my interpretation of these chosen scriptures and the reason why I chose them.

Psalms 30:5
Psalms 51:12
James 1:2-3
Phillipians 2:2

Psalms 30:5

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Psalms 51:12

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Philippians 2:2

Fulfill y my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love.

James 1: 2-3

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Fruit of the Spirit – Joy

Joy – Gladness of heart; exuberance

When I look in a thesaurus for the word “joy“, the words that flowed were almost non-stop. If you cross-reference each of the words that you find for “joy”, you find yourself coming up with more and more definitions. Now these were just a few of the words that I found when I cross-referenced joy:

Jubilation
Beatitude
Gladness
Delight
Exultation
Rapture
Satisfaction
Bliss
Elation
Contentment

A good friend of mine likes to cross-reference words in Greek and define the meanings of these Greek words to gain a better understanding. I tried this and found out there was a “method to his madness”. The Greek word for joy is “Euphrainio”. This is where the word “euphoria” must be derived from. Euphoria is defined as “be gladdened, enjoy oneself, take delight in, be merry”

Just as there seemed to never be an end to all of the synonyms of joy, there should never be an end to our actual feeling of joy. We should have joy everlasting because the “joy” of the Lord is our strength.

After all of these definitions, is there any wonder why “Joy” is the second most important Fruit of the Spirit?

This post can be cross-referenced with an earlier BS post about Fruits of the Spirit-Love

More to follow…