Art by Floyd Cooper
Joy is such a tiny word, three letters to express
Delight, exuberance, strength and happiness…
Like an apple or a strawberry, fruit so sweet and good…
Joy, given from heaven, sometimes misunderstood.
Joy is more than an emotion, more than feeling glee
Why it’s produced by the Spirit, where Jesus sets us free
To live totally in grace, with songs of victory!
Rejoicing with the angels, even when hard times call
Girded with truth and peace and hope, surrounded by these walls
Fire cannot penetrate, floods parted in the wake, mountains moved
When the earthquakes…Joy will be mine to take
Through all of life’s heartaches…
Joy, a constant in the battle that conquerors every fear, every doubt, every torment
Joy will shout, in silent resilience to the foe that comes to defeat…
Joy is concrete, Joy makes us complete…
In the Spirit where God meets…
Our saddest moments and deepest longings…
Joy will be sweet…
As morning gives way to joy…we will not weep
Nothing will steal our joy; it is ours to keep!
~Marla Shaw O’Neill January 5, 2022
John 15:10-12
Holman Christian Standard Bible 10 If you keep My commands you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.
11 “I have spoken these things to you so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. 12 This is My command: Love one another as I have loved you.
Psalm 30:4-6 King James Version 4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 6 And in my prosperity, I said, I shall never be moved.
Galatians 5:22-23 The Passion Translation 22–23 But the fruit[a] produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions:[b]
joy that overflows,[c] peace that subdues, patience[d] that endures, kindness[e] in action, a life full of virtue,[f] faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.[g] Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.[h]
Footnotes
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5:22–23 The Greek word here can be translated “harvest.”
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5:22–23 There is clear textual inference that the “fruit” (singular) of the Holy Spirit is love, with the other virtues displaying aspects of the greatest quality of Spirit-life, agape love.
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5:22–23 This translation has chosen to supply action to these virtues, for they are not meant to be abstract virtues, but made visible with actions.
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5:22–23 The Greek word for patience is taken from a verb that means “ever tapping” or “never quitting.”
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5:22–23 The Aramaic word can be translated “sweetness.”
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5:22–23 Or “goodness.”
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5:22–23 The word self is not found in this verse; however, most translations render this as “self-control.” The word is actually “lordship,” or by implication “spirit-strength.”
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5:22–23 Literally “there is no law set against these things” or “there is no conflict with Jewish laws.”
