Joy Devotions

Monday 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law,” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)

Paul, the author of Galatians, likens the characteristics of the Spirit of God to fruit because we, as believers, have to grow to become more like Jesus. We don’t just wake up fully loaded with an abundance of mature, bright fruit, like love, peace or joy. No, having the attributes of God oozing out of our personalities takes time, growth and nurturing. Joy can grow within us, much like fruit coming to maturity. 

Fruit trees go through many stages. The first stage is dormancy. This stage reminds me of the time we are in before we personally know Jesus. During this time, buds are inactive and protected from elements with a hard outer shell. A new believer may be filled with a lifetime of wounds and keep the pain hidden behind a protective exterior. I can remember this painful stage myself, wanting to open up and feel love, but continuing to nurse inner wounds. 

When more sunlight is absorbed by a tree, the buds swell and then burst. Growth happens in response to nurture. To nurture joy we need to spend time with the Creator of joy and His creation. God wants us to feel this precious emotion and wants it to grow within us. 

Buds turn to blossoms and it would be easy to stay in this beautiful stage. It’s the prettiest. But to stay in this stage would be a mistake. We may experience some of God’s joy and be content to stay here, but God wants us to experience His fullness. He wants us to move into the next stage of bearing fruit - the one that produces an abundant harvest! Pray with me today on this devotion about joy: 

Lord, don’t let me stay in a stage that does not produce the best harvest of your qualities, especially joy. Teach me how to nurture, foster and care for the joy you impart. Help me to learn ways to prune and foster the ripest joy I can bear.

Tuesday 

“So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you,” (John 16:22, ESV) 

During their last supper together, Jesus shared many insights with his disciples. One of them was about joy. Jesus shared that his disciples would go through many trials, but their joy, that only comes from Jesus, would not be taken from them. How can one experience joy in the midst of trials? 

There is a difference between the elated feeling of joy and the lasting contentment of joy that comes from having hope in God and having a relationship with Him. Jesus promised that when He left, He would send the Holy Spirit to live inside of us and be our helper, counselor and teacher (Jn 14:16). In Romans 15:13, we learn that the power of the Holy Spirit fills us with joy and peace as we believe. Believing in God’s word provides joy. It gives us hope and hope leaves us in a state of contentment, knowing that God is faithful to fulfill all the promises in His word.

A good example in the Bible of someone who suffered many trials and tribulations is David. Yet, even when he felt that his life was consumed by anguish and that he was the contempt of his neighbors (Ps. 31:10-11), David rejoiced in God. In Psalm 31:7 (ESV), David cried out to God, “I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul.” Truly knowing God and having a personal relationship with Him, produces the ability in us to rejoice, even during painful circumstances. 

Are you going through a difficult time and need the contentment of joy? Pray with me on today's devotion about joy:

Lord, you see my fears, anxiety, sorrow and pain. You see it all. Help me to find the joy that provides me with peace and contentment. Show me my identity in you and the rich, personal relationship that I’m entitled to as your child. 

Wednesday

“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound,” 

(Psalm 4:7, ESV) 

Having struggled with depression my whole life, the truth about joy has been essential for me to understand, yet it sometimes remains a mystery. According to the above scripture, God is the giver of joy. He puts joy into our hearts. Then, why am I not filled with joy on a regular basis? I understand that we are created with many emotions, in His image, but I wonder if there is something on my part that I could do to remain in a joyful state?

Webster’s has many variations on the definition of joy. It describes joy as a state of mind, due to the acquisition of things, not necessarily material things. Yet, the psalmist in the passage above is convinced that God’s joy is better than any earthly pleasure. The most common Hebrew word used to define joy is ‘simchah’ meaning gladness and mirth. It comes from the root word, ‘samach’ meaning to rejoice and be glad. 

There is a rejoicing that takes place, from God to us, and from us to God. Psalm 16:11 explains that in God’s presence there is fullness of joy. This tells me that my joy is not complete if I do not have it centred on God. But it also makes me realize that I can have more of it; that my joy can be full and complete. It also helps me to see that God is joyful when I spend time with Him. Do you desire to feel the warmth of His joy today? Pray the below prayer with me on today's devotion about joy:  

Lord, help me to see and comprehend your definition of joy. Please pour more of your joy into my heart, mind and spirit. Open my eyes to see your beauty around me, to see you in everything that I do. I rejoice in knowing that I am your child. I rejoice that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14) in your image. I rejoice in your goodness towards me.

Thursday

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice,” (Philippians 4:4, ESV)

Too often I find myself focusing on the negative things in my life and I can feel energy drain from my body and a hopelessness comes over me. In these times, I do not feel joy. God is not happy when we can’t see the blessings around us. Look at the Israelites wandering the desert for forty years. After God delivered them out of Egypt, they complained! They told Moses it would have been better had God left them in Egypt, where they were slaves (Ex. 16:2).

Did you know that you can improve your mental health and experience joy simply by being grateful? There is a remarkable science behind gratitude. In “The Neuroscience of Gratitude and Effects on the Brain,” Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury explains that our bodies react positively when our mind focuses on being thankful. By being grateful on a regular basis, stress and negative emotions are reduced and “feel-good” chemicals in our bodies are released, producing joy. This scientific discovery is not new information, though. King Solomon, the wisest man on earth, wrote how, “a joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones,” (Proverbs 17:22, ESV).

I find it incredible how God, our Creator, designed our bodies so that focusing on how he has blessed us and being grateful for those things actually improves our mental health. What an amazing God! I can see that there is an action that we can take to change our thoughts–gratitude! 

Do you need a change in your thinking patterns?  Pray this prayer with me on today's devotion about joy:

Lord, help me to train my mind to focus on seeing and thanking you for all of my blessings around me. Thank you for creating me in such a way that I can change my outcome based on my thoughts. Show me when my thoughts drift into a cesspool and help me to shift my thinking onto your goodness. 

Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, BA, “The Neuroscience of Gratitude and Effects on the Brain,” PositivePsychology.com, accessed Oct 16, 2024, https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/#depression

Friday

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5, ESV)

I spent many decades trying to fill a void, to feel loved and experience joy. Even after inner healing, I struggled to feel joy. It remained out of reach and unobtainable. Yet, I was trying to fix myself, by myself and this only led to failure. 

At the last supper, Jesus explained to His disciples the importance of remaining close to God. He described himself as the vine, and His father as the vinedresser (John 15:1, ESV).  The vine is the lifeline. A vinedresser prunes and cultivates the grapevine daily, ensuring the best fruit for harvest. In John 15:4 (ESV), Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”  

God is both the creator of and the giver of joy. No matter how hard we try, we will not experience the contentment of His joy without Him. Jesus gave His disciples the solution to bearing fruit, one of which is joy–to abide in Him. By having a relationship with Jesus and allowing God to work on our hearts, we can experience true, lasting joy. Please pray this prayer with me on today's devotion about joy:

Lord, thank you for being my vine and vinedresser. Holy Spirit, remind me when I am not abiding with Jesus and gently lead me back. Help me to fully surrender myself to the pruning of the Father so that I may bear the best fruit for your glory, honor and praise.