Enjoy!

Grape growing is the largest food-based industry in the world. Grapes are one of my favorite fruits. They are tasty and versatile. You can eat them fresh, or preserve them for later. It's hard to decide which way I like to eat them best, but I do know life is sweeter with them in it!

Why am I talking about grapes? Well, this is a blog mostly about faith, partly about food. People need food for physical nourishment, and most definitely as creatures who are made to worship God, we also need spiritual truth to feed on so that we develop into mature believers. Growing grapes- the ones still on the vine- are used in the Bible to convey a message about the abundant life found in "abiding" in Jesus, the one true vine. He is our source of life, and in this life, he gives us joy. So much that we can't contain it! John 15:11 is an account of Jesus describing our life with him, "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" Some translations use different words to describe this joy- complete, full, overflow[ing], fulfilled, perfect. At any rate, joy is what we have when we recognize God's favor.(1)

This morning I read an account of a woman who was injured as a result of a shooting spree in a Colorado theater. The bullet went through her brain, yet she is still very much alive! This is a good example of what it looks like to have joy, especially in the midst of trying circumstances. Read more about it here.

In the last post, which was concerning love, I mentioned the satisfying nature of scripture. All the promises it contains get released into our lives by believing that what He says is true. So we consume God's word, taking it in as our lifeline. Then we are full, knowing that all of our needs have been met. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come to us and show us how to live in abundance. He promised that our joy would be complete, the joy that is his. C. S. Lewis wrote that God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

Isaiah 51 tells of the deep anguish and sorrows that are soon to be replaced with the joy that only the Lord can provide. He will deliver them. He will comfort them and provide and they will sing songs of thanksgiving out of their gladness. He will bring mercy and his justice will follow. He calls himself the Lord of Heaven's Armies. The Sovereign LORD, your God and Defender. Who wouldn't be filled with joy at another fighting the difficult battles on our behalf?

“Stay with me, and I am in you. Just as the branch cannot yield fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither do you unless you stay with me.” John 15:4 (AramaicNT)

In the article above, and in the passage of Isaiah 51, we see that a grateful heart gives way to joy. I'm sure you've noticed that when there is a lack of gratitude, appearances turn sour. Grace has left. Satisfaction is unattainable. Joy is nowhere to be found. So, to me it seems that the base of joy is thankfulness. And eventually we have so much thankfulness it just comes pouring out of us. There is no place inside to store it. It must come out, or I don't know what will happen. Maybe it will sour? 

Paul reminds the people of Thessalonica that he is inconceivably grateful to God, because of the joy they have brought to him.(2) Oh, that the people of God would be to the human-world what grapes are to the food-world!

Father, your grace is enough to get us through any and all circumstances. It is my prayer that your people would prove your greatness in expressing the joy we have in you. We are complete in you, oh God. There are a myriad of ways we can take delight in you. May our praises be an honest reflection of our deepest affection, and in tune with your Holy Spirit. Our lives sometimes seem to be heavy and pressing like grapes being trampled in the wine press, and yet you are our strength. Thank you that you give us new mercies everyday and that each trouble we have brings us closer to you. May our joy be a sweet sound, and a pleasing aroma, as it flows, spilling and splashing our friends and family with the stain of your glory.

(1) http://concordances.org/greek/5479.htm

(2) 1 Thessalonians 3:9


The next in the Fruit of the Spirit Series is peace. Be still and know...!