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Can your joy really be stolen or lost?

  

The Born-Again Christian life is a joyful life.

 

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

 

Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

 

 

If we understand these 3 verses we will never, ever have a joy problem.  Starting with John 15:5 if we are abiding in Jesus than we are abiding in His presence thus we are abiding in the fullness of joy, Psalm 16:11. If Jesus is abiding in us than The Holy Spirit is abiding in us and if the The Holy Spirit is abiding in us His fruit is being produced in us, all of it, Galatians 5:22-23. This means that not only do we get to abide (live in, dwell in, stay in) joy but joy abides (lives in, dwells in, stays in) us.    

Also, I did a quick search of the Bible about joy to see if there was anything that can steal one’s joy or if you can lose your joy. I could not find one verse that said anywhere that anyone or anything could steal joy or that joy could be lost like one loses their keys.  (Like I said I did a quick search so it you know of verses that specifically say different please send them to me so that I can make corrections.) I see where David asked for the joy of the Lord’s salvation would be restored to him but that wasn’t because something or someone stole his joy or he lost it because he missed placed it.  No, David made a choice to commit adultery and murder.  If David no longer had joy, it was because he made a choice to walk away from it. 

Check out John 16:22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

Did you see that? “Your joy no one will take from you”.  

Here are a couple more verses to that may throw you for a loop. 

2 Corinthians 6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

We can be sorrowful but also rejoicing?!

 

2 Corinthians 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.

We can be exceedingly joyful in our tribulations?!

 

James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

We are actually to count our trials as joy?!

 

What we must understand about real joy is that it doesn’t start with us nor come from us. It is not something that we can produce or have apart from the Lord.  Real joy starts with, ends with and exists only in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Through what Jesus did on the cross we get to enter into joy and joy with in us.  If we lack joy, in any way it isn’t because someone or something stole it from us because that is impossible nor did we accidentally misplace/lose it.  To truly not have joy is to make a choice to walk away and separate ourself from it.  If we are in Jesus and Jesus in us, we than have joy in us and we are in joy.  

If you are living a life that is devoid of joy, I would suggest that you do what 2 Corinthians 13:5 says to do. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

The Born-Again Christian life is a joyful life. 

 

 

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