Prophet’s Reading Plan: Isaiah 17-21
And the fruit of the
Spirit is… joy…
John 15:10-11 (NIV) If you obey My commands, you will remain
in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love.
I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your
joy may be complete.
Jesus gives us a nugget of truth here: Joy is made
complete in obedience. We live in a society that paints obedience as a
restraint – boring and unimportant. Children are the only ones who ought to obey, but even they are expected not to. Christianity is very
counter-cultural in this way. Even as adults we are to live in total submission
to Jesus Christ, and in mutual submission to one another. This is also why we
must train our children in obedience – if they cannot respect their parents who
they can see, how will they ever learn to respect God?
Jesus says that fruit only comes out of our lives when we
are abiding in Him. We are the branches and He is the Vine; if we are cut off
from Him, we lose our source of life. We abide with Him when we spend time in
His presence, reading His word and talking with Him, worshiping and seeking His
truth for our lives. Jesus desires to be the actual Lord of our lives; therefore He speaks specifically to our issues.
He has guidance for us and we must obey His directive. This is how we remain in
His love. When we are obeying Him, we feel His pleasure. It really pleases Him when we obey – it shows Him
that we really do trust Him. When we obey, we are in a right place with Him and
He loves that! And with our submission comes His joy. He promises that when we
love Him through obedience, He will give us HIS
joy, and our joy bank will be full! Jesus had incredible joy, even on the
cross. Though there was pain in the process, His joy remained because He knew
He was glorifying the Father through His obedience, and nothing could rob Him
of that joy.
PRAYER AND
MEDITATION
1. Are
there any areas/situations where obeying God feels like a nuisance to you? If
so, ask Him to speak to you about these negative feelings. Ask Him if there are
any lies you believe about His character that are contributing to your
negativity.
2. Ask
God how you can please Him with obedience today. What is one thing He is asking
you to do? Ask Him for a promise about His joy.
3. In
prayer, ask God for an increase of Jesus’ joy in your life.
