[Music]
Hi everyone Welcome back to the series
where we talk about the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And in this video we are going to talk about Joy.
It's amazing to have joy as Christians. To have joy in Jesus Christ.
But you know, it is strange when there are people out there who say that they are Christians
but they never have joy.
They almost look like death itself. Well, they're supposed to be the light
of the world - a sweet smelling aroma - To believers - and also to non-believers.
[2 Corinthians 2:15]
Some Christians say, well, I believe in God but I just can't have joy.
I can't have it. Well, first of all,
if you are one of those people, you need to understand that you believe a lie.
That you're acting through the flesh. Because if you act through the Spirit,
then you will automatically produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
And one of them is joy.
[Galatians 5:22]
So you can have joy. It is a decision that you make.
A decision to go with your flesh or with the Spirit.
That means that you can have joy in Jesus Christ if you trust His promises,
because if you trust His promises, then you know you have nothing to worry about.
Nothing at all.
That means you can always have peace and joy even in hard times.
[Romans 14:17]
So how often should you have joy? Only when you do your
favorite hobby, like fishing? Or when someone is nice to you?
Or when you sit and watch a movie or a series? Or when you go to church?
No. The answer is always.
[Philippians 4:4]
You need to understand that God wants you to have joy.
I mean, Jesus said, I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
He wants you to be joyful. It is hard for me to understand
that there are these type of Christians. Some people call themselves Christians.
They're very legalistic. It's just about rules.
Very religious, but they have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
They don't live in His presence So they don't have joy.
So it all becomes just these rules and they - they are very legalistic.
And they never smile. They never have joy.
And they make it extremely hard for their family, especially their children,
who look at them and think this is what Christianity is.
And they hate Christianity. They don't see the joy.
They don't see the love. God is love.
What are you doing if you're not showing joy towards your children?
They need to see Jesus Christ in you. You are the example.
If there's someone here listening who's very legalistic,
If you obey God's word, His laws,
Then you need to obey the law of love.
You need to love. You need to have joy.
this is what His scripture - the Bible - says. And here's the thing - you obey God's word not
just because you have to, But because you want to.
Because you love Jesus Christ. And people need to see it in you.
[John 15:11]
Please listen to me today. Is your joy full at this moment?
If it's not, it might be because you think you're a Christian.
And you're not really a Christian.
You're just living through the flesh. And you're just doing - practicing - religion,
Or you might be a Christian but you focus too much on the things of this world.
You want things, You want this, you want that.
And you're looking at other people's lives and say,
Why do they have that and I don't have this instead of
looking to God and just trusting Him with everything in your life?
[Psalm 32:11]
Think about this. If you don't have joy in
your life that other people can see, Not only are you a bad ambassador,
A bad example for people. Not only that, but it influences
your spiritual life. You as a person
Not just your spiritual life, but your physical body as well.
[Proverbs 17:22]
When you start your day you should never say
Oh man, this is a good day. This and this and this happened, or,
Oh man, this is a terrible day. Just look what happened here.
You know, there are a lot of Christians who do that.
Children of God. How can you do that?
From your perspective, just because something bad happens that you think is bad
it doesn't mean that the whole day is bad. How can you say that, as a child of God,
If you know that every day is a gift of God? It's a decision that you make.
You decide how you act and react with everything that happens every day for the rest of your life.
[Psalm 118:24]
Do you get it? It is an act of your will.
You choose to let the Holy Spirit lead your will and your emotions in every single day you choose
and you say this is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and I will be the Lord in it.
It doesn't matter what happens. You don't look at what happens.
Why? Because you live by faith and not by sight.
[2 Corinthians 5:6-7]
Living by faith does not mean that you hope everything will work out.
It means you trust God, and you know that everything will work
out the way it should if you put Him first in your life.
Even if it doesn't look that way to you. If something looks bad or terrible - oh this
is not - this is not supposed to happen - Oh man, no, you don't look at it that way.
You trust God because you know all things will work together for good.
It doesn't mean that everything on its own will be perfect for you.
But it is needed to put you on the right track. On your road of sanctification.
This road is a race. No one can run it for you.
You have to do it by yourself. But on this road,
God is teaching you a lot of things. And there are things that He needs to teach
you through trials and tribulations. Through tests.
Through things that are not easy for you. And that is why you trust God.
Because at the end, He will use death for good. For you.
[Romans 8:28]
That's what true faith means. Not just that you believe Jesus Christ.
That you trust Him for your salvation And that you now serve him as Lord.
Not just that. But now you trust
Him on this road of sanctification while you are still here on Earth. You do that through faith.
Trusting in Him and his promises. Now I read to you Romans 8:28,
That is just one promise. Do you even know all the
other promises that's in the Bible? And if you do know a lot of them,
here's the important question. Do you trust them?
Do you trust the promises of God? If you don't, then the problem is not with God.
It is with you. Because God is
the same yesterday today and tomorrow. And if you don't fully trust God it means you're
basically saying God - you're a liar. I don't trust you.
[Numbers 23:19]
You need to change the way you think about God.
Think about it. You, an imperfect being,
living in an imperfect world. Not trusting God who is perfect,
who created everything, who sustains everything. Who was the same yesterday, today and tomorrow
of everything and everyone. that you can trust you can trust Him.
[Hebrews 13:8]
It is time that you live through the Spirit when it comes to joy.
You need to choose to have joy in Jesus Christ. It's a decision that you have to make.
Like a switch, you should switch it on whenever you realize that you're
starting to stress and about things and you want to handle everything yourself.
You start to realize - wait a minute - I'm acting in the flesh now.
I'm not trusting God. Okay, wait, let me take a step back
back in the rest of God. Back in His Joy.
Alright, Father, how do You want me to to do this? You need to go to God whenever you have burdens.
Whenever there's things going on. Go to Him first, not last.
You know, we sometimes - we try to figure everything out.
And then when we don't have any solutions - then we pray about it.
No. Go to God first.
[Matthew 11:28-30]
If you truly have a strong relationship with God, Where you have fully surrendered
every single aspect of your life to God And that means you abide in Him.
And if you abide in Him, you will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
Automatically. And that includes joy.
[John 15:5]
[John 15:11]
If you abide in God, then that means you talk to Him about everything.
He guides you and that is how He also guards your heart and your mind.
That's how you get peace that surpasses all understanding.
Normal people who do not know God - they have, like they cannot understand this.
And this is also part of the light that you shine because they're like,
wow, what is this? That this person is so strong, even in these hardships of life.
I want that. That's Jesus Christ.
[Philippians 4:4]
And here it comes.
A lot of Christians miss this.
You know, there are some Christians who just seem to struggle all the time.
They don't understand why other Christians seem to grow and why they become so mature.
And the reason for that is to fully surrender. If you have not yet fully surrendered every
aspect of your life to God, then you will struggle with spiritual growth.
And, even become stuck. This is extremely important to understand,
So if you want to fully surrender and understand how to do it, then please watch
this video here and I will see you there. And always remember, God loves you,
and I love you too. Bye
[Music]