Kekuatan Sukacita - ROCK Sydney Indonesian Church

ROCK Revelation
By Ferdinand Haratua
Overflowing Joy
here is a war
Tthat takes
place within the
heart, mind,
soul, and body
of every believer;
the passions of
the sinful nature
are at war with
the desires of
the regenerated
nature. The Bible
says, “For the
desires of the
flesh are against
the Spirit, and
the desires of the
Spirit are against
the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to
keep you from doing the things you want to do”
(Galatians 5:17). As believers we are called to live
by the Spirit and not to indulge the flesh.
Galatians 5:19-21 tells us what are the passions
of the sinful nature, and in verses 22-23, the
desires of the regenerated nature. The Bible
tells us that good tree produces good fruits and
bad tree makes bad fruits (Matthew 12:33);
now, the Spirit is a good tree that produces
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
After “love” comes “joy” (Greek. Chara). Joy
does not mean earthly, human happiness. John
MacArthur writes, “Joy speaks of the exhilaration
of the heart that comes from being right with
God.” The Apostle Paul repeatedly exhorts
Christians to rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 3:1,
4:4), this joy is “joy in the faith” given by God. We
could say that the origin of joy is God Himself
(Romans 14:17) and because of that, joy does
not depend on external circumstances, but rather
based in one’s eternal identity in Jesus.
Therefore, our joy cannot be undone by any
tribulation and sorrow; in fact this joy will shine
through and show its power precisely in the
midst of tribulation and sorrow (Romans 5:3; 2
Corinthians 6:10, 8:2).
About the churches in Macedonia, Paul writes,
“for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance
of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed
in a wealth of generosity on their part” (2
Corinthians 8:2). Did you see that? Read the
verse again. It says that in a severe test of
affliction, not just any affliction, but in severe
affliction, the believers in Macedonia are joyful.
And in their extreme poverty, not just poverty,
but extreme poverty, they are overflowing with
generosity. Joyful person is generous, not matter
how bad his own circumstance is, his joy does
not stay within but it overflows for others to enjoy.
Finally, as believers, we are not only called to be
joyful always, but we are also to rejoice with those
who rejoice (Romans 12:15).
1
4 • ROCK Sydney Bulletin • December 2011