Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is ... joy ..."

The beauty of the love of Jesus will be accompanied by the beauty of His joy. Like His love, it is a spontaneous manifestation of His nature in us. It simply needs freedom of expression. Notice:-

It is the joy of God - where there is love there is joy. God is love and therefore full of joy.

	"the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10 KJV)
	"in thy presence is fulness of joy" (Psalm 16:11 KJV)
	"Enter into the joy of your lord" (Matthew 25:21 NKJV)
	"that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13 KJV)
	"that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11 KJV)

The Hebrew word 'esher' is translated "blessed" 18 times, and "happy" 17 times, It really means "happiness". The use of the word reveals what a happy God and joyful God we have. See the difference when the word 'esher' is translated as "happy" in the following:-

	"Blessed (happy) are all they that put their trust in him" (Psalm 2:12 KJV)
	"Blessed (happy) is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity" (Psalm 32:2 KJV)
	"Blessed (happy) is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12 KJV)
	"Blessed (happy) is the man You choose" (Psalm 65:4 NKJV)

The logic of these verses surely is that if God gives so much happiness then He must be a happy God Himself. The Greek word 'makarios' translated "blessed" means "happy." It is twice applied to God, in the New Testament. Again changing blessed to happy we have :

	"According to the glorious gospel of the blessed (happy) God (1 Timothy 1:11 KJV)
	"who is the blessed (happy) and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15 KJV)

Joy is part of the nature of the Godhead. God is joy and gives joy. Before men ever laughed in time, God had laughed throughout eternity. Before there was a song on the lips of man there was a song in the heart of God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, hold within themselves, eternal joy.

Did God create you to know and experience His Joy?

On the night before His crucifixion, with all the associated agonies of the cross in view, Jesus bequeathed His joy to His disciples.

John 15:11 "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

In substance our Lord says, "When My joy, the joy that now fills and thrills My heart, shall be yours, your joy shall be full." His joy was fulness of joy - joy filled to the brim. Man of sorrows as our sin-bearer, He was - at the same time the gladdest man who ever walked the earth. He was and is, eternal joy.

Did the disciples find it strange that Jesus spoke of His joy?

Jesus speaks of His joy (John 15:11 ), the preceding verse gives insight into loves joy.

John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."

This evidences that the joy of Jesus was in doing the Father's will. His nature in us, finding full expression, this will bring forth delight in His will. "Sweet will of God, still fold me closer." When we can say that and mean it the fruit of the Spirit "Joy" is finding expression.

John 15:8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."

The connection is with His and our joy in John 15:11. His joy was in bearing fruit for God - to see Christ was to see the Father - Jesus had the joy of showing the Father by the Father being seen in the fruit of His life. This resulted in expressed joy. As we abide in Christ and obey His Word, the fruit of His beautiful nature will be seen in us, and we shall know the fulness of the joy of expressed fruitfulness.

As the good Shepherd He could say over and again,

Luke 15:6 "... Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost."

Joy over the lost being found is expression of His joy in us. A young lady had her first opportunity to lead a person to Christ, she came and told me with shining face wet with tears, "I have never know such joy." From that time she lived to win the lost.

Luke 10:21 "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."

Here was expressed delight in the fulfilment of the Father's will, and contemplation of its wisdom and all its infinite excellence. The word translated "rejoice" in this verse means "to exult" or "to rejoice exceedingly" - translated "be exceeding glad" in Matthew 5:12 - and "greatly rejoice" in 1 Peter 1:8 R.V. where it is accompanied by the very suggestive phrase, "with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Such was the expressed joy of Jesus in the Father's revealed will. And His joy in us will find expression in the fulfilled will of God.

His source of joy was God the Father Himself - seen in a prophetic picture of the coming Christ of God.

Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God ..."

Christ claimed the opening verse as referring to Himself (Luke 4:17-21 ). The deepest expression of Christ's joy was God Himself. Joy in God is unchangeable and inexhaustible. He waits to express His joy in God, in us.

John 15:11 "... that my joy might remain in you ..."

Christian joy is Christ's joy in the Christian. This joy is not found anywhere else, except in Him - it is unique joy.

John 15:11 "... and that your joy might be full."

"Remain in you". Not an intermittent but permanent experience. Illustration of the joy which is unaffected by natural circumstances and conditions.

	Our Lord experienced joy in the shadow of the cross (John 15:11 ).
	Paul and Silas must have and of course did have Christ's own joy (Acts 16:25 ).
	"rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20 KJV)

It remains because it does not depend on anything temporal. The wonderful thing about Christ's joy is, it is actually prompted by such things as trials and testings.

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

	Do you see your various trials as a welcome opportunity for the fruit of the Spirit "Joy" to be displayed?
	What kind of joy is the fruit capable of when you are tested and persecuted? (1 Peter 1:8, 4:13 ).

We may only have His joy by having Him. "And there was great joy in that city" (Acts 8:8 KJV), because "Philip ... preached Christ unto them" (Acts 8:5 KJV). "The eunuch ... went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39 KJV), because "Philip ... preached unto him Jesus" (Acts 8:35 KJV).

	What exhortation do whose who have received Him, need to obey? (Philippians 4:4 ).
	Is the secret of the growth of the fruit of joy centred joy in Him?

Luke 10:21 "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit ..."

Luke 10:21 "In that hour Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy." Weymouth

At this moment the Lord Jesus is exalted. The perfect Man in a perfect human body is in heaven. But His unique joy remains with us by the Holy Spirit - the fruit of the Spirit is joy.

	Do you know in your human spirit rapturous joy in the Holy Spirit?
	Do you find the fruit of the Spirit "Joy" is shown in praise and thankfulness when others receive revelation? (Luke 10:21 ).
	Can you having received the Spirit baptism, blame your natural disposition for withholding praise and joy among God's people?

Therefore:

Ephesians 5:18 "... be filled with the Spirit;"

With the fulness of the Spirit we have the fulness of Christ, and therefore the fulness of His joy.