Where Is Your Joy?

In Galatians 5, the last point of the chapter discusses walking in the Spirit (Gal 5.16-26). A major point of that discussion is “the fruit of the Spirit” in vv. 22-23. Preaching through the passage, a list like this gives me a glorious opportunity to slow right down in my usual “glacial” method of Bible…

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Prayer that Leads to Joy

The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prepared his disciples for the challenges they would experience when he left them (John 16:1-4, 31-33). He assured them that though he would leave them soon through death, he would return to them soon through the resurrection (John 16:19-22). By leaving them, he would make it possible for the…

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No Greater Joy

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 Jn 4) It’s past midnight, I usually have the P&D post up by now, but I just returned home from a late night visiting a friend in ICU. We usually think of this verse when we think of our flesh…

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“Sorrowful yet Always Rejoicing”

I don’t like sorrow. You might respond, “Of course, who does?” I mean, I really don’t like sorrow. My natural instinct is to flush it out as quickly and aggressively as possible. I don’t want to think about what is wrong, and I especially don’t want to talk about what is wrong. I want to…

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Joy in the Life of the Believer

Mike Yarborough Principal Rainy, of whom a child once remarked that she believed he went to Heaven every night because he was so happy every day, once used a fine metaphor about a Christian’s joy. “Joy,” he said, “is the flag which is flown from the castle of the heart when the King is in…

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The Value of Suffering

Steve Pettit Suffering is one of the main avenues by which God brings revival. Perhaps no one understood this concept more than the apostle Paul. His writings are full of references to God’s power entering through the pathway of pain. In 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, he mentions his “thorn in the flesh,” a physical infirmity. He…

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