Season 2 Episode 002: Radiant Joy
This season we are focusing on living a radiant life for Christ through evident transformation of the Holy Spirit. Evidence found in Galatians 5:22-23,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This episode focuses on joy, but I realize joy can seem like an impossibility in some situations. We often confuse joy and happiness. Happiness is based on the circumstances around us. Joy is a choice, an inner attitude we choose regardless of circumstances.
Have you ever lost your keys? Shortly after my oldest turned 16, he lost his keys. He looked for them everywhere. His room, his laundry, and cleaned out his car. Do you know why he didn’t find them right away? Because he wasn’t looking in the right place! He needed his mom to find them, in his pants pocket from the previous night.
Joy might seem hard to find if we’re looking for it in the wrong places. Where have you looked for joy? I have looked for my joy in my coffee in my bank account, in chocolate, and in the faces of other people.
Where have you looked for joy? In a relationship? In a job? In a certain item, like a coach bag?
You might find momentary happiness in those things. However, happiness fades, especially when expectations aren’t met.
It is because we confuse momentary happiness with the gift of Joy, and tie happiness to the wrong things. In her book, Made to Crave, Lysa TerKeurst talks about how her happiness was tied to food. “Tying my happiness to the wrong things is partially what caused my weight gain in the first place. There were too many experiences I enjoyed primarily because of the food that was attached to them. The movies were tied to popcorn. A birthday party was tied to cake. A ballgame was tied to a hotdog. School parties were tied to cookies. A morning meeting was tied to gourmet coffee. Getting gas was tied to snack crackers and a soda. Watching TV was tied to chips. A summer outing was tied to ice cream.”
Where is the right place to find joy? If it’s not money or food or a new job, where is it?
We find our answer in John 15:11.
“I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
Jesus was teaching His followers our joy is complete in Him. Not partial, not here today and gone tomorrow, not affected by our circumstances our moods, or our weight but complete in Him. We must look for our joy in Him and understand what he meant by “these things”.
Starting at the beginning of chapter 15 we can learn what Jesus meant by “these things” and understand how we can have complete joy.
John 15 begins…
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1-2)
Producing joy in my life begins by eliminating the unnecessary.
Pruning: cut away dead or overgrown areas to increase fruitfulness and growth,
As a mom, I know for my kids to grow into reasonably productive adults there are things in their lives, from diet to electronic devices, I must prune or eliminate, or control.
I am not, however, a gardener. I am fully aware I do not possess a green thumb, but I do know pruning allows new flowers to grow or a plant to flourish. Not all growth on a tree is good. Epicormic shoots or suckers will also crowd the canopy, compete for energy, and make trees more vulnerable to storm damage.
In our lives, there are things capable of sucking the joy right out. Things like bitterness which if left unattended will grow and take over your life. How do we prune those things, and keep our lives in a position to choose joy?
When we choose to align our lives with the word of God, the Holy Spirit will work in us to remove, to prune parts of us capable of killing our joy.
Sometimes we want to hold on to things God says need to go. We need to recognize he is the master gardener and he knows best. We need to pray,
Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)
We try to do so many things at one time that none of them get done with excellence. To get ahead in our society, we have to be faster and more capable than the next guy. Especially for moms, we must be able to talk on the phone, drive, drop our kids off at daycare, and schedule meetings from our cars, all while trying to listen to the Bible on audible or the latest naked marriage podcast! And count our macros and get our cardio in. What gets done well? Probably none of those things. What ends up happening? Well, you drop your kid off at the pool for practice, go run a few errands, get home and start working on dinner, and receive a call practice has been over for 30 minutes and your kid is still waiting for a ride.
When we permit him, he can cut away the stuff we can’t see or may not even realize is causing us harm.
Producing joy in my life means I’ll need to stay connected to the source of my joy.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you…(John 15:4)
When my oldest first left for college, I tried to give him space, I would only allow myself one phone call initiated by me a week. He didn’t initiate any phone calls that semester. I remember thinking, he doesn’t even need me anymore. The next semester he joined the National Guard and left for basic training. Suddenly all the letters home were his lifeline of connection. When you’re cut off you realize just how much connection means.
In verse 1 Jesus said, I am the vine you are the branches.
Remaining connected to the vine is imperative for our lives! Like nutrients in a tree flow to the branches through the root, so joy flows to us as individuals through Jesus Christ.
In John 15:1-11, Remain or Abide is used 10 times in 11 verses. I often repeat the same thing to my kids when they go out to do something. They roll their eyes, “I know” But I want to make sure you KNOW how important it is. Why does Jesus say it so many times?
Being in a relationship with him, remaining or abiding with him means something is being built, it is growing. A true relationship will grow, it will deepen, it will become stronger. God never intended to be a check-off list. Your relationship with him now will and should look different in a year, five years, ten years. Because it’s growing it’s becoming deeper.
When we remain, we stay green and soft and pliable, we don’t break with redirection – not good for burning, but for producing fruit for eating and leaves for shade; but when we are cut off we dry up, and we become defensive when we make decisions. When we remain, we grow and flourish, even though we might be getting pruned regularly for our good.
Finally, producing joy happens when I cultivate gratitude.
Every plant must have a root system to survive. According to research from Harvard Health Publishing, gratitude leads to greater happiness. How? By giving people a desire to enjoy their lives, to feel good about their health and relationships, and to push through difficult circumstances. It means gratitude is the root of joy. The level of joy we possess is determined by how much we cultivate the seed of gratitude.
My daughter is twelve, and no matter how many times I say, “yes”, she gets upset every single time I say, “no”. Shopping the other day, we began with overpriced but delicious drinks from our favorite coffee shop. We both found some cute things at the dollar spot but when I told her, “Not today” when she asked for a new Lego set, her world crumpled. A phrase I’m using during this stage of parenting is, “I need you to be thankful for what you’ve gotten to do instead of focusing on what you cannot.”
I wonder how many times the Lord has gently reminded me of the same thing. If I’m going to produce joy, the root of gratitude needs to run deep. My generosity toward myself, and towards others, must exist.
Yes, there will always be circumstances beyond my control, and I realize many circumstances are much more serious than not being able to purchase new Legos. I am not minimizing those situations.
Choosing joy, and focusing on gratitude, will not fix your issues, but it will change how you handle them.
I believe that is why Paul gave us this key,
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you all.
Praying without ceasing means you are choosing to bring God into every area of your life, the good and the bad, the mundane and the exciting. It is how you will cultivate gratitude and choose joy.
Easter is right around the corner and as I researched joy, I read this verse from Hebrews 12:2,
For this joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus wasn’t happy about the cross. He prayed, asking the Father if there was any other way. He fulfilled his mission because his motivation, his joy, was found in His Father’s will.
Jesus told his followers in John 15:16,
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit…
Living radiantly means finding joy in every situation, allowing it to become strength both for you and those around you.
Let’s pray God would help us be grateful and choose joy.
Father, thank you for loving me enough to give me your word. Help me remember the source of my joy is found in staying connected to you, and I can choose joy because nothing, not mistakes or circumstances can separate me from your love. Let my joy spill over and affect the lives of everyone we meet, in Jesus’ name Amen.
Let’s go live joyfully and radiantly.
XOXO,
Laura
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Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
John 15
1 Thessalonians 5
Hebrews 12
All scripture NIV unless otherwise noted
