Filled With Joy

For the past few months, many people at Bognor Vineyard have shared what they sense God is saying to us, which I compiled in this document. The three main themes:

1. Like the army of Gideon, the time of reduction is over and it’s time to advance / attack. We’re meant to risk and be strong and courageous.

2. God will accomplish amazing things in us and through us

3. God will do it and we shouldn’t try to make things happen.

This was confusing at first because it seemed to send a mixed message: is God commanding us to take action or are we to wait for God to take action? But this is very similar to the way God commanded Joshua and the people of Israel to take the Promised Land while demonstrating that he would be the one who would make it happen. And then last Sunday, there was a strong theme of joy in worship: Alan read multiple Bible passages about joy and after worship, we received multiple words about joy. I was confused at first by what seemed like a mixed message until I realized that many of the recent words we’ve received about joy are aligned in a similar way:

1. Joy is a command: Derek noted the number of times joy is mentioned in Philippians, especially Paul’s command in 4:4: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!’

2. God’s joy will accomplish amazing things in us and through us: Clive saw a picture of a padlock and key and felt there were some whose lives were very ‘locked up’ through habit patterns and more, and that joy was the key to their release. 

3. Joy is God’s gift: In May, Tracy had a picture of a woman with a really pregnant belly, but not with a baby: ‘It’s like a bubble, and it’s a bubble of joy. And I think that God wants to give us that gift - the Holy Spirit gift.’ Joy is a fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

These same three themes could also extend to love: we’re commanded in the Bible to ‘love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins' (1 Peter 4:8), and yet love is also a gift given by God and listed as the first fruit of the Spirit.

I also want to mention a fourth theme. Last week’s Winepress video was a response to a series of words we received on Sunday 25 June: because of the power of the Holy Spirit, we carry the light and life of Jesus with us when we walk into rooms, but this usually happens when we feel fragile and weak like jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:6-11), and not when we feel strong and our lives look perfect. Thus, God’s powerful work in us and through us is not in the absence of our challenges or despite our challenges, but in the midst of and often because of our challenges. This aligns with another word shared by Jopie last Sunday: we’ve already been given joy and peace from the Holy Spirit, but we usually spend more time looking at our circumstances which will cause us to lose our peace and joy.

Let’s keep recognising and responding to the good he’s doing and have confidence that he wants to empower us more and accomplish more in us and through us. Let’s not be discouraged by our ongoing challenges, or if we’re not yet experiencing the love and joy of the Holy Spirit, but let’s continue to meet together and press into what he has for us!