Article taken from: Fatherly Talk – The Joy of the Lord
Dearly Beloved,
In exegetical teaching through the book of Philippians, which is a book of New Testament joy (Greek words 'chairo' and 'chara' as expressed by Paul writing from prison, I saw more clearly the place of joy in the Christian life (the sermons are available free online in the Singapore cathedral of glory site – 8 sermons in all with notes from Philippians 2 onwards). Paul spoke of the joy of faith (Philippians 1:25) and called the Philippians his joy and crown (Philippians 4:1). We do know that this joy is spiritual and supernatural and not from ourselves. It is the joy of Jesus in us and can be at different levels, the highest being full (John 15:11). It is as real as and more important than food or drink (Romans 14:17). It is the result of our believing and faith; believing fills us with joy and peace which crushes Satan underneath us (Romans 15:13; 16:20). Joy is something which we cannot quite express with words and it is the strength through which Jesus underwent the cross successfully (1 Peter 1:18; Hebrews 12:2).
The fact is that many Christians have a measure of peace through forgiveness of sins but not many Christians seem to have joy. All of us are greatly loved by God our father but yet this joy of the Lord promised to us by Jesus is not sufficiently demonstrated by many Christians. There are several attributes to the joy of the Lord that we need to know:
1. It is not dependent on outward circumstances
