The barista handed me my Venti Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. Yum! If you know, you know. However, my excited smile faded when I noticed that this liquid gold was not filled to the top of the cup. Completely unacceptable, of course. (I really want to use a winky-eye emoji right now). I smiled at the barista and very nicely asked if they could top it off with some oat milk. They kindly obliged. Crisis averted. I absolutely wanted every last drop that I paid for that day, because first of all, I knowingly and willingly bought an overpriced drink, and secondly, because it never seems to last long enough when I do. First-world problems, for sure. I will surely “fight” for something so silly as a filled-to-the-brim shaken espresso, but why am I content with joy that is not full in my life?
Jesus had some very important reminders for His disciples as His time of departure on this earth drew near. He said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
How often do we live day in and day out as a cheapened version of the Christian we SHOULD be? We have become very content with “ho-hum Christianity”. I am fully convinced that when Jesus talked of “fulness of joy”, He was reminding us that as Christians, we possess joy, but that we must make a conscientious choice to experience and display the fulness of it.
How many days have been wasted with the fruit of the Spirit, specifically joy, lying dormant inside of us? Sure, we display little glimpses of God-given joy here and there. But we are content with just that. Jesus speaks of a greater joy that we can display; a joy that is FULL. He tells us that to experience this type of joy, we must choose to obey Him/walk in the Spirit and abide in His love. That is an absolute choice that we, as Christians, make moment by moment.
We often toss phrases like this around, but what does it really mean to “walk in the Spirit” and “abide in His love”? Let’s see what the Bible has to say about it.
“WALK IN THE SPIRIT”
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” – Galatians 5:16
This verse seems to imply that the opposite of walking in the Spirit is giving in to the “old man”, our flesh. Our former selves that ran to sin and enjoyed its pleasures for a season should not be controlling us any longer. We are to walk in line with the Spirit. This will change our lives and our desires.
“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” – Galatians 5:18
Being “led by the Spirit” produces a desire in us to do what is right. Not because we HAVE to, but because we are in close communion with the Lord and we want to love Him. As Jesus said while on earth, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 15:1)
If you’re a parent, I’m sure you can understand that a child that obeys with a terrible attitude has fallen so short of what we want them to be. They’ve held themselves back from so many parental blessings because they obeyed with the right motions, but with the wrong heart. We, as parents, want their hearts to be in line with ours. We want that to produce the correct actions because of their love for us and their aligning of their wills with ours. It’s the same for the Lord. He’s not looking for Pharisaical robots who outwardly follow the Law to a tee. He’s looking for humble servants who are led, not by a list of rules, but by His Spirit and a love for Him. Being led by the Spirit produces a beautiful thing, as seen in the next couple of verses.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
Paul first gives examples of what the actions of the “old man” and the “flesh” can look like (for the list, see Galatians 5:19-21). But then He follows this up with evidence that a Christian is truly being Spirit-led. To be Spirit-led is producing works that are a direct result of the Spirit that resides in us. It’s as if we can’t help but display this evidence, because as they say, “what goes in, comes out”. For us, what “goes in” us at the time of salvation is the Holy Spirit. If we are walking in line with the Spirit, then evidence of the Spirit will “come out”.
Galatians 5 closes out with a great reminder: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (vv. 24-25).
Do we claim to have the Holy Spirit residing in us? Then our lives must be a demonstration that we’ve put our old lifestyles to death and are choosing instead to live a fruit-bearing life with the Holy Spirit as our Guide.
Walking in the Spirit will naturally produce an abundance of fruit, such as “joy to the brim” in our lives. It just can’t help but be full – and even spill over – because of the Spirit that is leading and guiding us.
“ABIDE IN HIS LOVE”
Next, we discussed “abiding in His love”. What does that mean, exactly? I liked what one commentator said: “When our Lord says: Abide in me he is talking about the will, about the choices, the decisions we make. We must decide to do things which expose ourselves to him and keep ourselves in contact with him. This is what it means to abide in him.”
Have you ever felt distanced from your spouse? How is that possible when you literally live with one another? Feels like a mystery sometimes, until we realize that we are living with them, but we are not “abiding with them.” This implies a closeness that comes by the choices we make to intentionally draw close to our spouse. It’s the same with our relationship with the Lord. By being led by His Spirit, and aligning our will to His, and intentionally staying close to the Lord, our lives can’t help but produce a “joy unspeakable…” (I Peter 1:8) Joy to the brim and even overflowing; that’s what I want! Don’t you?
Will I obey Jesus with my whole heart? Will I abide in close communion and love with Him? Or will I sort of obey Him? Will I sort of commune with Him?
Well, if I sort of obey Him, and sort of abide in His love, then I will sort of have joy.
It’s a no-brainer. He’s given us the formula and it’s truly all based in HIM alone.
JESUS – ONLY – YOU.
Jesus, it’s only obeying You. Jesus, it’s only abiding in You and Your love. Jesus, it’s ONLY YOU. Will we allow this untapped joy, which many times is just lying dormant inside of us, to explode to its fullest potential? Or will we live a life full of regrets for caring more about the unfilled coffee cup in the drive-thru than the unfilled life of joy we are currently leading?
STUDY QUESTIONS:
- What 2 things does the Bible say are necessary to give us fullness of joy?
- What decisions have you made that have kept you from experiencing the fullness of joy and how can you change that?
TO READ THE FULL BIBLE STUDY ON THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: https://amzn.to/3Y4jOpC
#AMAZONAFFILIATE #EFW #ENCOURAGEMENTFROMWOMEN #JESUS #JOY
Just a Mom’s View 