The Fullness of Joy

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Continuing in Dallas Willard’s work on the lack of and need for fulfilling of the Great Commission by the body of Believers in the Christian church, he next communicates in the personal soul care in attending to our feelings. Emotions are a real component of life and of our lives in Christ. Yet, some allow emotions to defeat them.

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Love is the foundation of spiritual life and “joy” is a key component in the Christ life. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary define the word “joy as: 1. The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits. Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of a good. 2. Gayety; mirth; festivity. 3. Happiness; felicity. 4. A glorious and triumphant state. Yet, joy is not pleasure, a mere sensation, but a pervasive and constant sense of well-being. Hope in the goodness of God is joy’s indispensable support.

Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

This verse addresses the profound needs of the emotional side of the Christian’s life. The great central terms of life in Christ are “faith”, “hope”, “love”, and “peace”. In substance, they are not feelings. They are conditions involving every part of an individual’s life. They serve to equip us for the engagements of life. They do, however, have feeling that accompany them, and these positive feelings abundantly characterize those living in the presence of God. These feelings displace the bitter and anger feelings that characterize sinful life “in the flesh” – a godless life in human energies only. They even transform the sickening emotional tones that permeate and largely govern the secular world around us – even, many times, the church-world itself.  

1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”

Willard concludes that Jesus taught us to abide in God’s love, that God’s joy may remain in us, and that our joy may be complete. Abiding in God’s love provides the unshakable source of pure joy, which is in turn the source of true peace. All is based on the reality of God’s grace and goodness. Faith, hope, love and peace – the magnificent five – are inseparable from one another and reciprocally support each other. Just imagine any one without the other. The fullness of joy is in Jesus Christ, and the joy of the Lord is our strength.

In Christ, Brian