06.08.22 | The Fruit of Joy
In Galatians 5, Paul encourages the church of Galatia to walk in the Spirit –something we all desire to do as followers of Jesus, as we commit to practicing his way. In verses 22-23, Paul then specifies that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This week, we will be focusing on the fruit of joy as we continue through the four steps of FAST:
- Focus: Find a quiet place to settle your mind and open yourself to the Holy Spirit’s presence.
- Adoration: Spend time honoring and exalting God, tell him what you appreciate about him. Contemplate on who he is and what he has done. You might even be able to get a sense of his presence with you.
- Speak: Commune with God, taking moments to both speak to him about what’s on your heart and to pause and listen for his voice. Use journals to write down what you hear him say. Ask simple follow up questions like, “is there anything else you’d like me to know about [fill in the topic]” to really get to the heart of what Jesus wants to communicate to you and what you want to say to him or plead for while you fast.
- Transform: Commit to taking active steps to change or address what the Lord revealed during your time of fasting.
During the third step, Speak, ask God what he wants to reveal to you about his joy. Scripture refers to the joy of the Lord as our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). Spend time asking God:
- What does it look like to live into joy?
- What is God joyful about?
During the last step, Transform, spend time with the Spirit, focusing on finding ways to express God’s joy to others. Explore ways that you may partner with the Spirit in joy so that others may experience the joy of the Lord as well. It may be something as simple as letting someone know you are glad to be with them or glad they are in your life – and then commit to following through and sharing joy this week.