31 Faith-Building LessonsSample

LESSON 30

That Your Joy May Be Full

Joy is a spiritual force that has been understood very little by most Christians. In fact, it has often been mistaken for happiness. Realize that there is a very distinct difference between the two. Happiness comes from the environment and is produced by the senses. Many times, it will cause an emotional reaction. On the other hand, joy is a product of the re-born human spirit. This can be clearly seen from Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…

Joy is born into the human spirit at the time of the new birth, just as faith is. This spiritual force can also be developed just as faith can, or as Jesus said, that your joy may be full (John 16:24). When joy comes, it has the ability to strengthen the whole man – spirit, soul, and body. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Let’s take a closer look at how the joy of the Lord is produced and how it affects the believer. Let’s look first of all in John 15: 5-11:

5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Notice verse 11 again. Jesus said that the things that He had spoken would cause joy to be made full. What are the things that He was referring to? There are four major areas that will produce this joy:

1. Abiding in Him

2. His Words abiding in you

3. Bearing fruit (answered prayer)

4. Continuing in love

When you are functioning in these four areas, the result is that your joy is made full, and it will cause you to be strengthened.

JOY COMES FROM ABIDING IN HIM. Joy comes when one knows that he is abiding in and linked up with Him. There can be no fear or weakness when this fact becomes a reality in your heart. Jesus prayed in John 17:11-13 that they may be one, as we are…that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. He wanted them to realize who they were in Christ. Being in Christ makes you free from the dictates of this world, vs. 14, even as I am not of the world.

We read in Colossians 1:13, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, and in Ephesians 2:6, And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Can’t you see how these “in Christ realities” will cause the joy of the Lord to rise up within you? I’m convinced this is the spiritual force that enabled and motivated Stephen to face death without any fear whatsoever. The joy of the Lord was made full within him as he fell asleep and was received with open arms by the Lord Jesus (Acts 7:54-60).

JOY COMES WHEN HIS WORD IS ABIDING IN YOU. When the Word is abiding in you, it causes you to make joyful confessions of faith. Romans 10:8 states, The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach. A faith confession is always a joyful confession. It confesses that the need is met even before it can be seen with the physical eye. It confesses perfect healing even though there may be pain still in the body. A reluctant, hesitant confession indicates that the one who is speaking has not had his joy made full as a result of God’s Word not abiding in him. He is uncertain as to whether the Word will make good or not. When the joy of the Lord has not been fulfilled in you, it causes the inner man to become weak and unproductive.

Your confession is based upon the Word living in you. When your heart is being nourished by the Word, then your confession will be one of victory even in the midst of the hard places. This causes the joy of the Lord to rise within you and causes you to become as confident as the Apostle Paul when he said, And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform (Romans 4:21). You then fearlessly act upon the Word knowing that victory is as sure as the rising of the sun. Remember this: a hesitant confession is a forerunner of failure; a joyful confession is the forerunner of victory.

JOY COMES FROM BEARING FRUIT. In John 16:23-24, Jesus spoke these words: 23And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

Jesus said that answered prayer causes your joy to be made full. Using the name of Jesus in prayer produces joy in a measure that we have never known before. Many times, we have missed out on this kind of joy because we didn’t believe we received it when we prayed.

Joy is made full the moment you believe you receive, not after you can feel or see that the prayer has been answered. Real joy comes in knowing that the Father has heard your prayer and is meeting the need regardless of circumstances or feelings. James1:2-4 states, 2My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

You see, the moment it begins to look as though the prayer is not being answered and Satan is testing your faith, then you are to count this as another opportunity for the joy of the Lord to get you over. The instant you do this, the force of patience will step in and undergird your faith and cause you to be perfect, entire, and wanting nothing.

JOY COMES FROM CONTINUING IN LOVE. Continuing in love has been one of the weaker areas for the Body of Christ, and as a result, Satan has been successful in causing our joy to not be made full. Joy comes when one refuses to retaliate in strife and unforgiveness but responds in love. Jesus said in John 13:35, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

In other words, the world should be able to point us out by our love for the other. Notice the writings of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:29-32: 29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 30And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

When this becomes a working reality in our lives, the joy of the Lord is made full within us.