JESUS JOY
John 15:11
John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
The first thing we need to do is talk about is the origin of joy and the difference between joy
and happiness.
The Origin of Joy
Joy begins in the Garden of Eden
Man was made for Joy
It was sin that destroyed joy.
After Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, they were kicked out of
garden of Eden and hardships began.
Genesis 3:17-19
To Adam, he said, \”Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, \’You must not eat of it,\’
\”Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil, you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it, you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.\”
Disobedience is a death sentence.
In the garden, there was no trouble. There was only complete harmony with
the Father. There was work, but it was pleasurable. The Bible says that in the cool
of the evening, God talked with Adam and Eve. Can\’t tell you what the discussion
was, but I can imagine it was a great conversation. In my mind, the greatest storyteller
is God Himself. Can you imagine the joy of sitting in a circle with God telling you
How He created everything from nothing?
It was after man sinned that God said
Job 14:1
14 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
Notice, Job was the man that God said there is none more righteous than him.
God loved Job evidenced by all He gave him. Yet god put Job to the test.
To test Job’s love for God, he was put to test with trials. All Job\’s and animals were
destroyed. Job’s seven children were killed. Job’s body was filled with sores.
Job never cursed God as Satan predicted. Job keeps his focus on God the Father.
A lot happen to Job, he certainly wasn’t happy, but his joy remained in the Lord.
There is a difference between joy and happiness
In the Bible, the Greek and Hebrew languages rarely used the word happy. The King James
translation has a number of verses with the word happy in them which in Hebrew and Greek
are joyful, merry, or blessed.
Happiness is what happens to us, outside of the soul
The English definition of happy is a feeling or showing pleasure or contentment,
a sense of confidence
Joy is what happens in the Soul. It has its source in Jesus\’, not agreeable circumstances.
In John 15:11, (I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete),
The first thing we notice is Joy come from knowledge of the Word of God
The false illusion of Joy is that it is the absence of problems, trials, and tribulations.
Quite to the contrary, joy exists in the midst of trials and tribulations. Jesus was headed
to the cross with joy.
Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Greek word for Joy in this text is chara which means calm delight, and cheerfulness.
Joy comes from the Word of God. Joy comes from our relationship with Jesus.
Starting in 15:1, Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches. As long as we abide in
the Word, He will abide in us. The desire of the Father is that we produce fruit.
He prunes us ( trials and tribulation) to produce more fruit.
Jesus\’ joy comes with promises
As long as we remain in Jesus we have the promise that we can ask what we want and it will be
given to us.
I will never leave you or forsake you. Even when you are experiencing the worst time
of life, Jesus is standing beside you.
Consider Job’s ordeal. His three trusted friends shows up at his worst and started beating
him down. YOU DID SOMETHING TO DESERVE THIS. Nothing but the devil.
Most of the chapter of the book of Job is about the conversation with his friends. Instead of
being a source of comfort, they were a source of pain.
Can you see yourself hurting and in pain and wondering where is the God of your life?
Can I tell you He is present with you doing work pruning you?
In the worst of your life, God is getting you prepared to produce more fruit.
In John 15:11, (I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete),
the first thing we notice is Joy come from knowledge of the Word of God
Joy is the result of our obedience to God’s commands. You cannot love God without being
obedient to His commands.
Our obedience guarantees God’s love for us. In your worst situation, God’s grace and mercy
is flowing all over you.
The second thing we notice is it is Jesus\’ Joy that is transferred to us.
The old saying that this joy I have, the world didn’t give it and the World
can’t take it away is a true statement. Joy does not come from the world, because the
world doesn\’t know joy. The world is focused on happiness and pleasure, both flee
as the situation changes.
Joy is a transformation in the soul. From sadness, frustrations, internal conflict, guilt,
sorrow, and doubt, to Jesus\’ joy. Jesus\’ joy brings peace and calmness. Jesus\’ joy results in trusting
the Lord. Jesus\’ Joy is confidence in who you serve and why you serve. Jesus\’ joy is your joy
relationship with Him and not the world.
The third thing I notice is the word might.
Might is the option to stay in your sad state or pursue Jesus\’ Joy.
Jesus\’ joy is dependent on your faith in Him.
It is dependent on your obedience. It is dependent on your love for Him. You have
access to Jesus Joy, but it is not automatic.
Jesus\’ joy requires work on your part. You got to get up with your mind focused on the Word
of God.
Your adversary, the devil wants you to focus on your situation. Easy to do, because you are
dealing with it. It is easy to lose hope when all you can think about is your circumstances.
Joy is a leap above your circumstances into the comfort of Jesus.
To fight the MIGHT you got to focus on the word.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
God has a purpose for what you are going through. It is His will not yours.
Jesus is the vine and we are the branches
Jesus is the fountain and we are the stream
The fountain is infinite and the stream is finite in us.
The fountain is independent, it is the source
The stream is dependent on the source
The stream only flows if it is connected to the fountain. The branch cannot
produce fruit unless it is connected to the vine.
JOY IS A CHOICE. IT IS YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE
It takes strength to make that choice when trouble is all around you.
When we are troubled, we have to allow the Joy OF Jesus to flow into
our lives.
The fourth thing I noticed is you have some joy, but not complete joy.
It takes some work to have some joy, but complete dedication to have complete joy.
Your level of spiritual maturity determines the quality and quantity of your Joy.
You are not going to have complete joy without the continuous study of God\’s Word.
Most Christians take for granted the value of personal Bible Study.
Most folks are not going to leave work and run to Bible Study. We will leave
work and run to the club, run to the shopping center, run to eat dinner, or
run home and sit down.
Complete joy requires you to have a complete understanding of God\’s Word.
It doesn\’t take much work to have surface joy. Surface joy gets in the MIGHT range
when trouble arises. But complete Joy leaps over trouble into
the comfort of Jesus. LOOSE EVERYTHING AT PRAYER
You are not going to have complete Joy without trusting God in all things.
You are not going to have complete joy with partial obedience
Complete joy requires complete dedication to the Lord.
Complete Joy requires you to focus on pleasing God all the time.
Complete joy requires you to see God working in your trials
Complete joy is the absence of complaints with continuous praise
Complete joy is full of praise and worship.
Complete joy requires you to love your neighbor as yourself.
Complete joy requires you to show yourself as a disciple of Jesus and to publicly
claim to be a disciple of Jesus
Leap LOOSE EVERYTHING AT PRAYER
The fifth thing I see is we are participants in Jesus’ Joy
John 15:11
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
It is Jesus\’ Joy that is transferred to us
Jesus has all joy. And we participate in His joy with the Father.
Jesus completed His joy in the Father on the cross
The Father said this is my Son in whom I am well pleased
Jesus had the Joy of complete harmony with the Father
Jesus had the Joy of self-sacrifice
Jesus had the Joy of complete trust
Jesus had the joy of the Father’s love
We Participate in Jesus\’ Joy
With our faith
With our service
With our devotion
With our prayers
With our praise and worship
THIS JOY I HAVE THE WORLD DIDN\’T GIVE IT AND THE WORLD CAN\’T TAKE IT AWAY
CLASS TESTIMONY
WHAT IS YOUR WAY OF BEING JOYFUL IN THE
MIDST OF TROUBLE?
