A Nugget from New Life Network

(by Dr. Larry Ollison)

Scripture for the Day (May 19, 2017)

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation (2 Corinthians 7:4).

The apostle Paul talks here about joy in a way that sounds impossible to attain, but a little later on he tells us why, in fact, it is very possible: joy is one part of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). That means that Christians have the seed of joy inside of them. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit moves inside of us and actually takes up residence inside of our bodies. Our bodies become the temple of the Spirit of God and all of the characteristics of His Spirit we now have (1 Corinthians 3:16).

A major characteristic of the Spirit of God is joy and when His Spirit is in you, you have no excuse for not being joyful. When you know the enemy is defeated or can be defeated and that victory is within your grasp, you cannot help but have a smile on your face.

Years ago, I attended the final game of the World Series. I was blessed by being able to sit on the front row behind the dugout. The game was intense and the crowd was really into it. But when the final out was made, I observed a distinct difference between the two dugouts. The team that had won was having a victory celebration. They were leaping on each other, jumping up and down and having a great time. While in the other dugout, the dugout of the losing team, there was great sadness.

Where there is victory, joy is automatic. As Christians, we must know that we are victorious. We must know that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). We must know that all things are possible to those who believe and we are believers (Mark 9:23). We must know that Satan has been defeated and we are on the winning side. With this knowledge, there should be great joy. The way things look should never change what we know. If things look bad, we can still have joy because we know the truth and the truth is this: The way things look is not reality. Reality is the truth and the truth is, Satan is defeated and we have the victory.

We can “count it all joy when [we] fall into various trials” (James 1:2)!

 

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