This podcast covers Lesson 1 of Knowing Jesus…Knowing Joy! Bible Study by Melanie Newton.
A Joyful Walk
Picture in your mind one of the most enjoyable walks you have ever taken. What made it so enjoyable? Was it the location? Was it the weather or the time of day? Or, was it the one who was walking beside you?
Throughout the Bible, our lives are referred to as a “walk” although some days you may feel like yours is a sprint. Am I right? Though you may feel like you are sprinting, your whole life experience is considered a walk.
And, those who place their faith in Christ are living a “faith walk.” But, here’s the catch: a lifetime faith walk must be walked daily. Choices are made daily, weekly, and yearly to follow pathways that lead you to a joyful walk (the kind you pictured in your mind) or to one that is frustrating and disappointing. Along life’s journey, you have to know how to choose the walk that will be joyful.
What is joy?
When you hear the word “joy,” what comes to mind?
- Most people define joy as a feeling of happiness when you’re smiling and laughing a lot. And, they think that happiness comes from “good happenings.” Good happenings mean everything is going your way, turning out right. You have lots of money. You’re healthy. You’re very successful in work or school. Right?
But, what happens if things are not so good? Your family is stressed financially. You may be struggling in work or school. Your relationships are fraying. You or someone close to you is very sick. Happiness kinda disappears then.
- It’s very hard to have a joyful walk if that’s your definition of joy. But, for believers in Jesus Christ, we have access to a different kind of joy that is internal. We call it biblical joy.
- Biblical joy refers to having a deep inner gladness, regardless of the circumstances going on around you. That means whether you are rich or poor, sick or healthy, successful or struggling, you can still have a feeling of gladness or pleasure deep down inside.
- Biblical joy is supernatural. It is inseparable from the character of God and comes only from a relationship with Him.
- Biblical joy is a fruit of the Spirit of Jesus living in us. That means joy is available to every Christian. Someone described it as “Juice of the Spirit” because it flows out of us even when we are squeezed.
- Biblical joy is a deep abiding peace and sense of contentment and strength. Now, you may not feel like smiling on the outside, but you can still smile on the inside. Have you ever felt that way? Although, you can do both at the same time.
Joy is in God’s character.
As I said before, this kind of joy that I am describing is supernatural.
- Nehemiah chapter 8 verse 10 says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” You see, joy is part of the character of God. Have you ever thought about joy being part of God’s character?
- God has joy whenever anyone comes to Him to have his or her sins forgiven by faith in His Son Jesus. The Bible describes lots of rejoicing in heaven at that time.
- God has pleasure in His creation. We see that in Job and in Psalms a lot. After the 6 days of creation, God declared His creation was very good. He wasn’t only giving His approval but was also revealing His pleasure. The Father God has joy in what His hands have made, especially His creatures. That includes you. You are one of His creatures. Does that make you smile inside to think that God finds pleasure in you?
- God expresses His joy. In the small Old Testament book of Zephaniah, the writer declared to anyone who would return to God and trust in Him these words,
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
- There’s that truth about God taking delight in you again. Great delight. But, have you ever thought about God rejoicing over you through singing? In His love for you, God rejoices over you with singing. He takes delight in you because you trust in Him.
Joy is something that God has. And, God chooses to give us His joy.
God gives us His joy.
- A sense of joy pervades the Bible. Have you noticed that? In the Old Testament, joy is seen in worshiping and praising God. It’s seen as the enthusiastic response of the worshiping community. It’s seen as the people celebrate who God is and what He has done for them in the past. It’s rooted in hope and confidence of what He will do in the future. And, a relationship with God is the key.
- God’s joy comes to us from a relationship with Him through knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus, who was God, had God’s joy in In John chapter 15 verse 11, Jesus promised to give His joy to His disciples so that it would be in them, also. Not just a little bit but fullness of joy. Lots of it.
- And, Jesus didn’t promise joy just to those who knew Him when He was on earth.
I love what Peter says in his letter—1 Peter chapter 1 verse 8:
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy… (1 Peter 1:8)
“Though you have not seen Him.” That’s us today. You and I have not seen Him physically on this earth. But, the moment you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. And, He gives you God’s glorious, uncontainable joy. Someone once said,
“Joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ.” (William Vander Haven)
Joy is a fruit of His presence. When we know Jesus, we will know joy.
- Joy is most often linked in the New Testament with God’s work in fellow believers whom we love and whom we serve. Several times in Philippians (as with his other letters), Paul says that the recipients are his “joy” or that he considers it a “joy” to pray for them. He rejoices in serving them and in them serving him and each other. Joy in knowing Jesus is contagious. It wells up within us and motivates us to serve others in love.
- Even those who don’t know Jesus can know happiness as they find it in the good things that God has given to all human beings so generously. But, the Christian knows a heightened joy that is rooted in the bond that exists between the believer and the Lord and the bond that exists with other believers whom we have come to love. The deeper our relationship with Jesus and with His people the greater the joy that awaits us and the less that joy is dependent on external circumstances.
- Throughout Philippians, you will see that Paul continually says, “rejoice in the Lord.” The focus is on our living Lord, the one who promises to complete His work in us. The one who supplies our every need. The one who gave Himself up for us on the cross. The one who gives us the motivation and the power to serve Him with joy. The one who strengthens us in every circumstance. The one who causes us to be content. The one who supplies our every need from His glorious riches. The one whom we can know in a personal relationship. The one who longs to produce joy in our lives.
Do you know Jesus? If you don’t, then you can never know true joy.
Do you know Him but feel like you have lost the joy? Draw closer to Him – abide in Him – get to know Him better so He can give you full joy.
The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said scornfully about Christians of his day, “I would believe in their salvation if they looked a little more like people who have been saved.” Yikes!
Jesus paid for your sins on the cross so you could have eternal life and have it more abundantly. That truth is enough to rejoice in the Lord regardless of anything going on in your life. But, knowing Christ more and more will increase your joy.
I heard it once said that joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian. But, it’s no secret because you can know Jesus and know joy. That will lead to a joyful walk.
Want to have joy in your life?
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with the fullness of His joy. Then, live in that joy!
Joyful Walk Bible Studies by Melanie Newton are available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.