The Holy Spirit and Joy

Today I was praying and I invited Jesus and the Holy Spirit to fill me with love and joy. After stilling myself and listening, I clearly heard, “I am your joy.” For the first time, I realized that the joy I was feeling was in fact God in me. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, “With the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” Wow! The joy I was feeling had been given to me by the Holy Spirit. As it says in Galatians 5:22, ” the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy …” I was feeling the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I had asked and God allowed me to know that the joy was actually His presence. Our experience with God can be so subtle and yet so profound. I ran to tell Martha about this discovery. Once again, the Scripture is true. Let me leave you with the prayer of Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy.”