Joy
Joy
People today are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. This is true also among Christians. Being spiritual babies we do not know the true joy of the Lord. Our "joy" is the same joy as the peoples of the world. They seek fun and we seek fun—like so many children.
The image of the Father is joy. Christ, who always reveals the Father’s image in Himself, is a Man of joy. He gives His joy to us. The Spirit-filled saint becomes increasingly joyous even though his afflictions are numerous. The elect are accounted as sheep for the slaughter, but they experience more joy in their imprisonments than do the worldly in the height of their prosperity.
Satan is filled with misery. Hell is filled with misery. The Christian who is walking in the flesh rather than in the Spirit is filled with misery because the fires of Hell are burning in his personality. The way of the backslider is hard and he demonstrates this in his life. The servant of the Lord proceeds from joy to joy as he makes his pilgrimage to Mount Zion.