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…

Out of the Mouth of Babes…

Sometimes kids say the darndest things…but this kid is wise beyond his years. We can learn a lesson from this child. Listen to this video produced by a Christian radio station in Texas…

Opportunity Gone By

This post is a little lengthy, but very important to read.

Recently, I lost a good friend and former co-worker named T. Evans. He was 22 years old when he died. I had worked with this young man for about 4 years. He was involved in an automobile accident while driving intoxicated, lost control over the vehicle, flipped the car a couple of times and was pinned in the car for 90 minutes before he died. The manner of his death is not as important as I realized that his death was an opportunity that will be forever missed by me.

I’ve worked with this young man since he was 18 years old. Although it is known at my workplace that I am a Christian, I don’t ever recall sharing with him the Good News about Jesus and salvation. I left that job for about a year and came back. When I came back, he was no longer working there, but I would occasionally see him at the bar. (I work in a family restaurant that has a liquor serving bar). The first time I saw him, I gave him a hug and caught up with what he was currently doing and found out that he was not the same young man that I knew. He was no longer in college and he seemed to have lost weight. I wanted to talk with him more then, but I had tables to wait on. The last time I saw him was about 4 days before he died. Again, he was at the bar and I was picking up a beverage for one of my customers. While I waited for my customer’s drink, I gave him another hug like I wanted to say more, but again, left to go wait on my tables. Four days later when I went back to work there, (I have a couple of jobs) co-workers informed me that he was dead. I could not believe my ears! Everything I wanted to say the last two times that I saw him, I will never be able to say to him. Opportunity missed.

If it seems like I am beating myself up, I’m not. I was a little angry at myself that God placed this person in my path at least twice before his death and I did not seize the opportunity. It was not enough that this young man knew that I was a Christian. I needed to open my mouth and if nothing else just say “God loves you,
T—-”

In spite of the fact that I keep telling myself that I am going to leave this particular workplace because sometimes it can get on my last nerves, I have not left. Don’t get me wrong, I have other options as far as skills; I have two college degrees. I am not there because I have no choice, I am there because it is my choice because of the flexibility in scheduling and that flexibility is what my life needs at present. Please don’t think I am bragging about my credentials, because to God be the glory. I just say that to say for whatever reason, God has me in that place for his purposes. My agenda of wanting to leave has nothing to do with His purposes and until I understand that concept, I don’t think I will be leaving that place until God is done with me there.

After T. Evans’ death, I determined that I was going to stop allowing opportunities to go by like that because you never know if you will get another chance. It used to be said, “Here today, gone tomorrow”. The saying is now “Here today, gone today”

James 4:14 (Kings James Version)

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Don’t let those opportunities to say a word or two for Christ slip by. It may be your last chance.