The Journey of Joy (Part II): Digging Wells & Planting Gardens of Joy

In this study you will learn about the nature of joy, the truth behind joy and become a source of joy to others.

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Joy of the Spirit is coming into play big time at the End of the Age. Endurance rises and falls on the joy of the Lord. I am always indebted to how Jesus was able to “consider joy”— a specific calculation—in order to “endure the cross”. How much more should we “consider joy” to prepare ourselves to face our greatest tests? Some of you have contributed to my “well” of joy…thank you!

As usual, these blogs are not simple proof texts with a catch phrase or two. I try to really do my in-depth exegesis to bring a accurate word of truth in season. Study is required.

Grace,
Jeff

(This photograph is of the ancient wells of Abraham, Issac & Jacob. Note the rope grooves in the wellstones from centuries of use)

“Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they argued with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. 22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” (Genesis 26:22)

Jesus Already Dug an Artesian Well in Your Heart for His Spirit to Flow Into You & Through You

All the Patriarchs were well-diggers, altar-builders and tent-dwellers. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the “roots” of our faith.

Isaac was the promised supernaturally conceived son of Abraham and Sarah. Isaac means “laughter” or ‘bringer of joy’. Isaac was a well-digger, not a warrior like his father Abraham. Isaac is a clear type of Messiah Jesus who promised He would dig a well of eternal life in us through which His Spirit could flow and grow the fruit of the Spirit in our character.

Jesus, the Greater Isaac, is a Joy-Bringer. If you are at all like me, this well often gets plugged up with all kinds of garbage. We are either becoming a fragrant vineyard of joy or a putrid garbage dump of bitterness. Thankfully by God’s grace and our repentance, we can cultivate a new harvest of joy by trusting the Lord. We simply break up the fallow ground in our heart with the spade of graceful truth, sow seeds of faith in God, carefully water and watch God bring the growth.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:37-39)

Joy is the Fruit of the Spirit Cultivated in Us by God’s Grace & Love

The will of God is for us to be continually filled with the joy of His Spirit. Joy is a fruit of love and is the work of God’s Spirit.  The Spirit is strongly warring against our flesh or carnal nature to bring forth the character of the Son of God on the branches of our lives. 

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. (Galatians 5:16-17)

Like a well-watered garden, the Holy Spirit is building a “well of salvation” in our hearts in order to irrigate the soil and bring forth His fruit to help others and glorify Him. Joy will be a critical character quality we must draw from to face the deep darkness and difficulty at the end of the age. Jesus, our Chief Example, endured the cross because He understood the power of the resurrection would be evidenced in victorious joy over death, sin and the world.

We must protect our hearts from the toxicity, poison and garbage of this world.  

Joy is the awareness of God’s grace– His favor, His favorable disposition.  In the language of the New Testament, “joy” is ‘chara’ (khara).  The Greek for “grace” is ‘charis’. The Greek word for “rejoice” is ‘chairo’.  Grace, joy and rejoice are cognates, sharing the same root ‘char-’.  

• Charis = grace= God’s unmerited favorable disposition 
• Chara = joy = grace recognized
• Charo = rejoice = joy because of grace

Joy is for All Seasons of Life

Certainly, joy involves the feeling of great pleasure or happiness. However, joy is deeper than emotional moments. The Spirit-joy is the perpetual awareness of the saving grace and presence of God in our lives. Joy is a deep spiritual disposition or a possession rooted and grounded in the full assurance of salvation and the resurrection victory of God. However, the fruit of joy is also cultivated by consistently yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Recently, it dawned on me joy is for all seasons flowing deep in the spirit by the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes I have to “consider it joy…” by dropping a bucket deep into the wells of salvation. Other times, joy flows effortlessly like an artesian spring of crystal clear water refreshing my soul.  

Saint Francis was a Troubadour of Joy

Richard Foster commented about St. Francis and his life of perfect joy in Christ:

“Two things immediately strike me about the life of St. Francis: his merry abandonment and his instant obedience.

Francis was called ‘God’s troubadour,’ so marked was he by a carefree, happy exuberant abandonment to God. He tramped the villages and towns of his day, joyfully announcing the presence of the kingdom of God and wonderfully demonstrating its life and power. He also obeyed, without hesitation, any word he believed to be the command of Jesus Christ. The two are connected, of course. Only as we let go of all other loyalties and securities are we free to live obedient lives. Merry abandonment, instant obedience: excellent virtues for us to strive for in our world of a thousand competing loyalties.” (Devotional Classics, p. 319)

St. Francis describes where  the “perfect joy” can be found– in suffering for the sake of Christ and loving your enemies in that moment of pain. Clearly, I need a deep yielding to the Spirit of Jesus to bring forth this kind of joy in due season. 

May the joy of the Lord be your strength today.  May we spread the joy of the Lord to others. 

(Please read on for an extended deep dive into 28 reflections on joy.)

How to Dig Wells of Joy or Cultivate/Yield to the joy of the Holy Spirit:

A quick biblical survey of Joy is distilled for you. Like a wine tasing room, sample each bottle of joy. There are 260 verses on joy in the Sacred Scriptures. Many more verses could be given to support the truths revealed in this study. Each particular nuance of true joy is presented with a scriptural reference. Just like it takes time to fill up your car with gas, it takes time waiting on the Lord to fill us with His Spirit. Here is my suggestion on how to take advantage of this study.

• Read all points quickly. A couple may jump out, note them and come back later to meditate on those truths.
• Read again slower and prayerfully.
• Read again with Scripture reference, dig down into the biblical truth.
• Write the Scriptures down for quick reference or memorization.
• Kneel down and pray Jesus would fill you with His Spirit of joy.
  • Pray your joy will be His joy.
  • Pray the joy of your salvation will be strong and contagious
  • Sing in the Spirit
  • Sing songs with joy to Him without or with music.
  • Shout aloud for joy
  • Pray your joy will be mature in all seasons

Jesus said, ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one, after drinking old wine wants new; for he says, ‘The old is fine.’” (Luke 5:37-39)

• Joy is a communicable attribute of the divine nature to our human nature. It is part of the image of God in us.  Our Heavenly Father is gracious, and is therefore, effortlessly and eternally joyful.  As  born-again (re-generation) children of God, we have the capacity to receive, experience and give joy to others (2 Peter 1:4).  We can strengthen one another with joyful graciousness. 

• God the Warrior declares His victory of us with joy in both quietness and jubilation (Zeph.3:17).  Listen closely to the shout of triumph of Jesus over your life battles. 

• Joy is rooted and grounded in the exclusive soil of the love of God and His saving grace (Gal.5:22; Isaiah 12:3; Eph.2:8-10). “God is love”, joy is the fruit of His love. Ultimately, this fruit of joy  is deepest when we experience biblical fellowship together (Phil.2:1; Eph.3:14-21). 

• The God of hope fills His people with joy and peace through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom.15:13).

• The joy of the people of God is not contingent upon temporal results but the eternal inevitabilities of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the resurrection from the dead and the reward of God. 

• Joy is the immediate and future reward of obedience to the will of God (Heb.12:1-3;Matt.25:21).  This joy requires pain, death to self and the resurrection power of the Father.  This is perhaps the deepest well of joy.  

• Joy supplies divine strength to the human spirit to accomplish the work of God (Nehemiah 8:10).  This joy is experienced after an assignment of God is completed for His glory. 

• Joy prophetically anticipates the impartation of wisdom and maturity through the necessity of trials (James 1:2).   When we can honestly surrender and humble ourselves to be refined in the fiery trials of life, joy eventually crowns our soul.

• Joy embraces “anguish” as it’s fraternal twin. Our anguish over the severe dealings and seeming delays of God often gives birth to a deep joy in our hearts (Isa.53:11; Jer.4:19; Jn.16:21).  Israel’s ultimate apocalyptic millennial joy will be birthed for all the nations to see when the final judgments of God sweep through His people and a remnant emerges to rebuild the nations. 

• Joy can find us in unexpected places and difficult times. Joy leaps where barrenness once existed. Joy is a supernatural provision of God. Joy can break out and  flow like an artesian spring in the desert (Luke 1:41; Isa.35:6).  Joy often flows in the places of our hearts that are secretly surrendered to the will of God and His word. 

• Joy expresses itself in shouting, singing, dancing, serving, working and praying in all seasons of life. “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, Rejoice!” (Phil.4:4)

• Joy can fade, crumble or dissipate in the midst of sin and life’s challenges.  Therefore, the joy of  salvation can be restored through confession, repentance and cleansing. (Psalm 51:8,12)

• The wells of consistent joy can be plugged up with the  spiritual garbage of this world. We can redig the wells of salvation like Isaac dug again the wells of Abraham. (Genesis 26)

• Entire communities can be filled together with the Holy Spirit and joy. (Acts 13:52)

• Redemptive joy defeats excessive sorrow and depression. (Is.35:10; 51:11)

• The prophetic words of God bring joy to those who are alone and rejected. (Jer.15:15-17)

• Joy is a crown of reward given by the Lord to those who lead others to the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil.4:1; I Thess.2:19)

• The Father, the Vinedresser, will prune us in the winter to bring forth more abundant fruit (joy).  We must prophetically see our future joy under the careful hand and discipline of the Father (John 15). 

• Ultimately, “great joy” is the resurrection presence of Jesus Christ resulting from His victory through the cross over the enmity of the  world, the flesh, death and the devil (Matt.28:8). This “great joy” is the power behind all missionary endeavors.  Missionaries sharing the stories of God’s salvation coming to the lost can release great joy in the church. (Acts 15:3)

• Joy is released in our spirit when the Father reveals something about Himself to us or we see His power set others free from demonic strongholds or sickness. (Luke 10:21)

• Persecution for the sake of “the Son of Man” is a cause of rejoicing and reward. (Luke 6:22-24)

• “No greater joy” is experienced when we see our children walking in the truth under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. (3 John 1)

• Repentance and faith of sinners toward God catalyzes great joy in heaven. (Luke 15:10)

• The voice of the Bridegroom Jesus brings joy to His friends who are preparing for the wedding (Jn.3:29).  When we are truly “lovers of His appearing”, we become better listeners and anticipatory joy marks our journey. 

• The crucible of affliction can be the source of abundant overflowing joy. (2 Cor.7:4; 8:2;I Thess.1:6)

• Joy comes when we see someone we love face-to-face (2 Tim.1:4; 2 John 1:12).

• Reading Scripture fills us with joy (1 John 1:4).

• The Second Coming of Jesus Christ will bring inexpressible eternal joy (Jude 24; 1 Peter 1:8).  

• Finally, there is always joy in the Presence of our LORD.  The Spirit of the Risen LORD always dwells in us.  Therefore, His joy has already been abundantly supplied to us.  We must simply continually draw, drink and be filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will dwell securely.

10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;

You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.

11 You will make known to me the way of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Psalm 16:9-11