{"id":10894,"date":"2024-07-12T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=10894"},"modified":"2024-06-25T05:22:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T10:22:25","slug":"joy-filled-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/joy-filled-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Joy-Filled Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As the Father has loved me,\u00a0so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as\u00a0I have kept\u00a0my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you,\u00a0that my joy may be in you, and that\u00a0your joy may be full.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 15:9-11<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love unites Christ\u2019s followers, the branches that attach us to His divine vine. By becoming part of Jesus\u2019s family, we develop obedience and joy. Obeying God causes fruitfulness that results in joy. Jesus wants us to live a whole life in Him and doesn\u2019t want us burdened but spontaneous and happy instead. The more obedient we become, the more joy-filled our life. As we see the fruit produced by following Christ, we will experience more joy as we realize we couldn\u2019t do it on our own strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To live spontaneously in Christ, obey His commands, and do them, we must first know what Jesus wants us to do. In Mark, when asked what commandment we should prioritize above all others, God\u2019s Son gives a simple answer:\u00a0 love God and others with all we have. And so, when faced with everyday life situations, the question we should ask ourselves remains the same: How can I love God and this person in this moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must dig into the scriptures to discover how to love and see what Jesus did. Learning how the Lord responded to non-believers, religious zealots, and everyone in between helps us know how to do so. Christ always responded with love, putting His heavenly Father\u2019s wants and desires first, others next, and His own last. Joy comes to those who put Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A joy-filled life comes when we follow Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lord, thank You for giving us Jesus for our salvation and showing us how to live a joy-filled life. Please help us become more and more obedient as we get to know Christ better and do what He did while on Earth. Let us show our love for You by loving others and receiving the joy that comes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IJNIP. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One-minute read. As the Father has loved me,\u00a0so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as\u00a0I have kept\u00a0my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you,\u00a0that my joy may be in you, and that\u00a0your joy may… Continue reading Joy-Filled Life<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10894"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10897,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10894\/revisions\/10897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}