My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  (John 10:25-26).  I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing … If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.  (John 15:5, 7-8).  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nor any powers.  Neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:35, 37).

1. Who are the sheep in the John 10 passage?  What does Jesus give them – and what does that mean?

2. What voices do you find yourself listening to?

3. In John 15, what does Jesus say He is?  What are we?  When a person remains in the Vine, what does Jesus promise will happen?

4. In the list of powers and – things – from Romans, which cause you the most pause?  Have any threatened your peace, causing strife or anxiety?

 Now, maybe even say this out loud to remind your soul:
 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? – No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  Nothing, neither                                                                    , nor death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nor any powers.  Neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I love CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.  As God was developing the idea of gathering together thoughts about the fruit of the Spirit, the kids and I were making our way through his second book in the series, Prince Caspian.  In Prince Caspian, we find the four siblings – Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy – back in Narnia after thousands of Narnian years elapsed.  The land is familiar, yet different.  They learn that a war is begun which will either restore the rightful heir to the throne or ensconce the wicked usurping uncle.  Time is of the essence, but with no smart phones – not even a map – the children can only make educated guesses at how to arrive at their desired destination.  They reach a gorge and must decide which way to go.  Lucy sees Aslan – the great, majestic lion, son of the Emperor over the Sea – instructing them to go the exact opposite direction they have decided upon.  Nobody else sees him, so – with the exception of Edmund –  they vote and go a different way.

Of course, after hiking through the woods and up a mountain, they are nearly killed by enemy arrows as they reach the only point to cross a great river.  As they hike back the way them came as quickly as they can, they all realize that Lucy’s desired course of direction was better than the way they took.

Finally, after hiking as far as they can, the settle in to camp for the night.  Lucy awakens, feeling someone call her name.  She follows the voice into the wood and meets Aslan who directs her to wake the others and tell them to get going, right away.  She does so and finally, after following Him – without seeing him – for some time, the others finally see Aslan:

 [N]ow Aslan had stopped and turned and stood facing them, looking so majestic that they felt as glad as anyone can who feels afraid, an das afraid as anyone can who feels glad.  The boys strode forward: Lucy made way for them: Susan and the Dwarf shrank back.

 Oh, Aslan,” said King Peter, dropping on one knee and raising the Lion’s heavy paw to his face, “I’m so glad.  And I’m so sorry.  I’ve been leading them wrong ever since we started and especially yesterday morning.”

 “My dear son,” said Aslan.

 Then he turned to Edmond. “Well done,” were his words.

 Then, after an awful pause, the deep voice said, “Susan.”  Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying.  “You have listened to fears, child,” said Aslan.  “Come, let me breathe on you.  Forget them.  Are you brave again?”  Prince Caspian, p. 153-154, Harper Collins 1979.

The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will sent in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  (John 14: 26-27). 

1. Who is speaking in the John passage?  Who did the Father send?  What will this Person teach?

2. What did Jesus promise he left with the disciples?  How does Jesus give?  What are some examples of ways the world gives?

3. Going back now, to the Narnia passage – when have you listened to fears?  Were you able to find your way to Jesus’ voice? 

We’re designed to get our inner peace and affirmation from the sufficiency and love of Jesus.  His sufficiency gives us a bottomless reservoir from which to serve and be generous. … I’ll summarize it this way: We are not to look to our family as the source of the inner peace and affirmation that only Jesus can give.  We’re not to need our family to treat us a certain way in order for us to be at peace.  (Gary Morland, A Family Shaped by Grace, How to Get Along with the People Who Matter Most, p. 76).

Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send?  Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD?  You have seen many things; but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing…So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war.  It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart. // But now, this is what the LORD says–he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel; “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”  (Isaiah 42:19-20, 22; 43:1-2)  For if, while we were God’s enemies he were reconciled us to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  (Romans 5:10).  There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  (1 John 4:18).  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ. (Phil. 4:4-8).  You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  (Isaiah 26:3).

1. The opposite of peace is                                                                    .

2. In the Isaiah 42/43 passage, what did the people do when they saw and heard God’s signs and messages?  How did God respond to their willful ignorance?  – Yet, after His wrath, what promises did God make?

3. What was our heart posture toward God when He sent Jesus?  Thus, do we have any reason to fear God now? 

4. From the Phillipians passage, what guards our hearts and minds in Christ?  What are believers directed to do rather than be anxious?

5. In the Isaiah 26 verse, who does God keep in perfect peace?
6. Meditate upon God’s love today – the abundance of it when we were so great unworthy and rebellious.  Particularly if anxious thoughts or strife come your way, bring to mind some of the great passages about God’s grace and mercy to you. 
  
  

Like all the aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, peace has different facets.  Staring into true peace is staring in God, and we could do this forever and not know the depth and breadth of Him!  This week, I hope to explore at least two of these different aspects of peace in some depth – but there are surely more than two, and there is surely more depth! 

But the fruit of the Spirit is … peace.  (Gal. 5:25).

The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5).  Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, hat his glory may dwell in our land.  Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.  (Psalm 85:9-10).  For he himself is our peace … His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to you who were near.  For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.  (Eph. 2:14, 15b-18).  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Col. 1:19-20).  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3:18).  Endure hardship as discipline: God is treating you as sons.  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  (Hebrews 12:7, 10, 11).

1. If only                                                         , then I would have peace.

2. According to Isaiah, what brought us peace?  Why was this necessary?  (See, for example, Isaiah 59:2 or Eph. 2:3, Col. 1:21)

3. Who is our peace? 
4. What is reconciliation?  (See the Ephesians and Colossians passage above)

5.  Look at the Psalm, James and Hebrews passages above.
  In the Psalm: what virtues kiss?
  In James: what do peacemakers sow in and then reap?
  In Hebrews: what harvest can God’s discipline produce?
 Why do you think these virtues are linked together? (Can you think of other passages where they are mentioned together?)
6. In Hebrews, what are we to endure as discipline?  Why does God discipline us?  Who are those to whom God’s discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace?

7. Are you experiencing hardship in your life?  How can you submit to that hardship as discipline and training for holiness?

As we conclude this week of gathering truths about the true fount of joy, I’d like to share with you the words of Richard Foster in his exploration of the classic Christian disciplines.  While we can be tempted sometimes to think of joy as an emotion which we must produce within ourselves – the opposite of grief, sadness or depression – Foster explains:

1. As you prayerfully consider your week, where have you seen joy?

2. In what ways is God working joy into your character?
 

Months ago, as the idea of truly studying the fruit of the Spirit was germinating and growing in my heart, I began reading A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson.  The book is on the Psalms of ascent.  When I got to Psalm 126, his exposition struck a deep chord with me, and I’d like to share it with you.

Psalm 126:

Eugene (do you think he’d mind me calling him that?) says:

 Joy is a characteristic of Christian pilgrimage. … That is not to say that joy is a moral requirement for Christian living.  Some of us experience events that are full of sadness and pain.  Some of us descend to low points in our lives when joy seems to have permanently departed.  We must not in such circumstances or during such times say, “Well, that’s the final proof that I am not a good Christian.” … Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence.  It is not what we have to acquire in order to  experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience.
    
We come to God (and to the revelation of God’s ways) because none of us have it within ourselves, except momentarily, to be joyous.  Joy is a product of abundance; it is the overflow of vitality.   It is life working together harmoniously.  It is exuberance.  Inadequate sinners as we are, none of us can manage that for very long.

 We try to get it through entertainment.  We pay someone to make jokes, tell stories, perform dramatic actions, sing songs.  We buy the vitality of another’s imagination to divert and enliven our own poor lives.  The enormous entertainment industry in America is a sign of the depletion of joy in our culture.  Society is a bored, gluttonous king employing a court jester to divert it after an overindulgent meal.  But that kind of joy never penetrates our lives, never changes our basic constitution.  The effects are extremely temporary–a few minutes, a few hours, a few days at most.  When we run out of money, the joy trickles away.  We cannot make ourselves joyful.  Joy cannot be commanded, purchased or arranged.

 But there is something we can do.  We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs.  We can decide to live in the environment of a living God and not our own dying selves.  We can decide to center ourselves in the God who generously gives and not in our own egos which greedily grab.  On of the certain consequence of such a life is joy, the kind expressed in Psalm 126.

 It is clear in Psalm 126 that the one who wrote it and those who sang it were no strangers to the dark side of things.  They carried the painful memory of exile in their bones and the scars of oppression on their backs.  They knew the deserts of the heart and the nights of weeping.  They knew what it meant to sow in tears.

 One of the most interesting and remarkable things Christians learn is that laughter does not exclude weeping.  Christian joy is not an escape from sorrow.  Pain and hardship still come, but they are unable to drive out the happiness of the redeemed.

 A common but futile strategy for achieving joy is trying to eliminate things that hurt: get rid of pain by numbing the nerve ends, get rid of insecurity by eliminating risks, get rid of disappointment by depersonalizing your relationships.  And then try to lighten the boredom of such a life by buying joy in the form of vacations and entertainment.  There isn’t a hint of that in Psalm 126.

 Laughter is a result of living in the midst of God’s great works (“when God returned Israel’s exiles we laughed, we sang”).  Enjoyment is not an escape from boredom but a plunge by faith into God’s work (“those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing”).  There is plenty of suffering on both sides, past and future.  The joy comes because God knows how to wipe away tears, and, in his resurrection work, create the smile of new life.  Joy is what God gives, not what we work up.  Laughter is the delight that things are working together for good to those who love God.  (Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, pp. 96-97, 100.)

1. Have you ever come to a momentous occasion in your life where you should feel joy and … not felt it?  Please share.  Why do you think this dissonance?

2. Eugene says that, when joy trickles away, “We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs.”  What abundance of God exists in your life?  How can you better live in it?

Let’s look more closely today at what the joy set before Christ was:

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.  And, having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.  (Col. 2:13-15).  On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever.  The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.  The LORD has spoken.  (Isaiah 25:7-8).  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Rev. 21:5). Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  (1 Cor. 5:17).  And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant –  these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.”  (Isaiah 56:6-7)

1. From the Colossians verse, when did God make us alive in Christ?  How much of our sin has been forgiven?  What other effect did the cross have as explained in this passage?

2. What has God swallowed up forever?  From the Isaiah 25, what else will God do?

3. Who has God made new?  In what areas of your life is God making something – has God recently made something – new?

But the fruit of the Spirit is … joy.  (Gal. 5:22). [T]he joy of the LORD is your strength.  (Nehemiah 8:10).  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  (Hebr. 12:2-3).  Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work in you so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  (James 1:2-3)

1. In a believer’s life, what is our strength?

2. Why did Jesus endure suffering at the hands of sinful man, according Hebrews 12?

3. What was the “joy set before” Jesus? 

4. What should we do when we grow weary and lose strength (otherwise known as “lose” our joy)?

5. What trial are you currently facing?  Have you considered it joy?  How can you do so?
       

“We should, to begin with, think that God leads a very interesting life, and that he is full of joy.  Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe.  The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy.  All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness.”  (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, 62.)

But the fruit of the Spirit is … joy …  (Galations 5:25).  Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.  He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.  He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.  His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”  (Psalm 147:7-11).  For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.  (Psalm 150:4).   Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4).

1. What comes to mind when you think of joy?  Share a joyous experience from your life.

2. What brings God delight?  (Feel free to use other passages of scripture as well). 

3. When does the Psalmist say God gives us the desires of our heart?

Think over your week – prayerfully.

 1. What have you learned about God’s love?

 2. In what areas of your life have you been prompted to love better, more, or truer?

 3. Have you felt God’s love this week?  Please share with someone in your life.  Tell a friend.  Share it here,  in the comments.  Email me.  But, go and share.