Gospel Life Cathedral- Pat Shaku

11/06/2026

11/06/2026

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

JOY: Part 3

3. WE CAN LIVE IN JOY IN THE MIDST OF A NEGATIVE WORLD.

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJ)
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;"

God tells us to choose life instead of death, blessing instead of cursing. Similarly, we have the ability to choose joy instead of sadness and sorrow. It is all in the choosing! God wants us to walk in dominion instead of the negative world around us dominating us and determining how we feel.

James 1:2-4 (NKJ)
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Counting it all joy is a conscious effort on our part in the midst of negative circumstances.

Jesus said that He came that we might enjoy life to the full!

John 10:10 (NIV)
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Jesus came so we could enjoy life to the "full." We can enjoy every part of our life, even the difficult times if we will focus on growing and developing the fruit of joy on the inside of us.

Like all the other fruit, the key to growing the fruit of joy is to gird up the loins of our mind and not allow our minds to dwell on the negative, but on the Word of God.

Nehemiah 8:10-12 (NK)
Then he said to them,
"Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom
nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved. "12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.

As you grow in the knowledge of the Word, you will learn to "rejoice greatly, because you understand the word that God has declared to you."

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Example.
When Jesus faced persecution, He focused on the joy that was set before Him.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJ)
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

What was that joy? The joy that Jesus saw was that after He was raised from the dead, He would bring many sons into glory.

The joy was Jesus' strength to enable Him to endure the Cross.

In order to live in joy in the midst of a negative world, we must stay focused on the Word of God and what He has already done for us in Christ.

Joy in you is more powerful than the circumstance you face.

10/06/2026

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

JOY: Part 2

2. THE FRUIT OF JOY IS EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE WALKING IN FAITH.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJ)
"Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen."

We serve a God of the now! God said, "I AM," not "I was" or "I will be."

Romans 15:13 (NKJ)
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

When we put our faith in God and in the integrity of His Word, there will be an inner joy and peace which is evidence that we believe.

John 16:24 (NKJ)
"Ask, and you will receive that your joy may be full."

When we come to God in faith and ask Him for something He has promised us in His Word, if we believe we have received the thing we have asked for we will experience an inner joy.

If we are not experiencing the fruit of joy, then we need to check up on our believing!

Faith asks, faith believes, faith receives and faith experiences an inner joy!

09/06/2026

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

JOY: Part 1

1. THE DEFINITION OF "JOY".

We are studying the nine fruit of the spirit which deal with Christian character, namely the Christ-like qualities in the life of the believer. In this session we will look at the fruit of "joy" and how the believer can develop this fruit in their lives.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

"Joy" - Greek "chara"

Bible dictionaries: "a state of gladness, state of rejoicing, great happiness, delight, merriness,
the absence of sadness or sorrow"

Collins Dictionary: "a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment, a source of happiness, an outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing"

Joy is not based on our circumstances. Happiness may be based on circumstances, but not joy.

Joy comes from knowing that we are saved.

Psalm 51:12 (NKJ)
"Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."

Isaiah 12:3 (NKJ)
"Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."

We have a supernatural reservoir on the inside of us called "the wells of salvation" from which we can draw joy.

Even in the midst of trials we can experience an inner joy if we learn how to draw from the wells of our salvation.

1 Peter 1:8 (NIV)
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

At salvation, Jesus filled us with His supernatural "peace and joy." It is a joy that the world does not understand because it does not know Him.

This "joy" that we are talking about is one of the fruit of our recreated spirit.

08/06/2026

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

LOVE: Conclusion

7. TO SHOW LOVE IS TO REVEAL GOD.

1 John 4:12 (NIV)
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”

Nobody has seen God. However, when we walk in love, we demonstrate God because "God is love." (1 John 4:8)

a. Every time we show love to somebody, God is there.

b. Every time we are kind to someone, God is there.

c. Every time we give somebody something, God is there.

d. Every time we apologize to somebody, God is there.

There is much teaching on the presence of God and what we can do to bring the presence of God into our midst; however, when we walk in love, God's presence is there.

1 John 3:17 (AMP)
"But if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?"

As born again believers, we have the fruit of love in us, which means we have a heart of compassion.

8. WALKING IN LOVE IS A CHOICE.

Walking in love for the believer is not a feeling, rather, it is a choice. You can decide to open or close your heart of compassion.

1 Corinthians 14:1a (NKJ
"Pursue (go after with all you have got, chase after it) love, and desire spiritual gifts ..."

Example:
Jesus did not only operate in the gifts of the Spirit; He walked in the fruit of the spirit. He ha compassion on the sick, and He healed them.

Matthew 14:13-14 (NKJ
"When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”

Even though Jesus was tired and hurting as a result of hearing about the death of John the Baptis when He saw the great multitude in need, He chose to walk in love and healed their sick”

9. LOVE IS EVIDENCE OF OUR SALVATION.

1 John 3:14 (NKJ)
"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren."

This Scripture does not say that we know we have passed from death to life because we speak in tongues and move in the gifts of the Spirit, but because we love our fellow brothers in Christ.

We do not just talk the talk, but we also walk the walk.

06/06/2026

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

LOVE: Part 4

5. THE EXCELLENCE OF LOVE.

Love excels; it is doing our best in every situation. We cannot be a person of excellence and not walk in love, and we cannot walk in love and not be a person of excellence.

Daniel is an example of a man who walked in love and was excellent in spirit and God promoted him.

Daniel 6:3 (NKJV)
"Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm."

When we walk in love we will treat people in an excellent manner, even our enemies!

6. HOW DO I DEVELOP THE FRUIT OF LOVE?

a. Spend time reading, and meditating on the Word of God.

b. Meditate on the Scriptures that relate to the new creation and who you are in Christ.

c. Practice walking in the fruit of love daily.

c. Look for opportunities to walk in love.

d. The more you use the fruit, the more it is developed.