The Joy of Abiding

"I have told you these things so that your joy will be full and overflowing." -John 15:11

When we aware of the Jesus in us, and have a right relationship with Him we experience joy to it's fullest. Abiding in the vine (Jesus), means living out the new life in Christ. What makes us alive in Christ? It is the pruning as we learned in the first post of this series. It is when God trims us so we keep producing, and when He also cuts off the things that are dead so it won't affect us and our growth. Colossians 3:3 says, "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Joy is absolute surrender of self, it is sacrificing self; death to self so that Christ can become alive in us. Jesus, "because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross..." (Heb.12:2). In this, Jesus found joy in doing what the Father sent Him to do. The same should be true for us.
Even in the greatest of circumstances we can still have joy because joy isn't happiness. A Spiritual mother in the Lord put it this way:

Happiness is when we get what we want all the time, do what we want to do, go where we want to go, eat what we want to eat, and spend time with who we want to be with. They soon realized that all those things that being us happiness are fleeting along with the "happy" we get from those things. The only way we can experience joy, is by thinking about God. God has created us to be joyful, not happy. God wants us to have a lasting joy that can only be ours through a relationship with Him. Focusing on the object of "happiness" which is fleeting, is not where the real joy comes from. Joy comes from focusing on our loving heavenly Father that allowed us the experience that happiness, and who promises a hope of eternal joy if we are willing to trust His will for our lives. We have "joy" living is us as the Holy Spirit. Tapping into that resource of Joy that "lives" inside of us, helps us regain joy in the midst of tragedy. "The joy of the Lord is our strength." There is no strength in sadness and the sense of loss. Let's regain our strength, think about the goodness of the Lord, and make a difference in this world of deceit, bitterness, wrath, and fleeting pleasures. Only then can we shine for Him, people will see our good works, and glorify our Father in heaven.-KC

So, joy not a feeling as much it is a truth. When we get caught up in our circumstances is steals our joy. Our eyes are off Jesus and put on what happened to us. Our minds become infatuated with the things of Satan, rather than the truths of Jesus. In the last post we learned that when we focus on what is bad around us we get irritable and it ends up choking out the word (Mark 4:19). In turn we become unfruitful. A good thing to start doing is when you catch yourself focusing more on the bad than the good to stop and intentionally focus on the truths of God's Word and His promises. Your circumstances might not change, but your attitude sure will and you will be able to overcome.
A few chapters over in John 17 Jesus prays for us, saying:

"Now I am coming to you[The Father]. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one."

Up until His Jesus was protecting His disciples from Satan. After His death the Spirit was sent to protect them and all who would receive the Spirit. When we have joy, and produce any fruit of the Spirit it is the Spirit protecting us just as Jesus promised. Do you not think Satan will flee from you if you have joy? Or if you love another with Christ's love? When you control yourself? When we read our Bible we are being empowered and filled with Jesus Himself. Satan can't stand it. Jesus' power is too much for Satan, he's already been defeated anyway.
Essentially, we do not follow God when we feel like it. Abiding with joy is an all the time thing not when it's convenient and accommodates our lifestyle. We don't just follow Jesus when it's a good day. We follow and abide even we face loss, severe suffering and persecution (especially then for the sake of Christ!), when our hearts ache, when we are poor and have little, in times of testing. We abide with Him joyfully in all circumstances. Who better to be found in when things are falling apart than in Christ Alone?!
If you are not abiding in Him come back to Him, it's never to late, and your lacking thereof is not unforgivable. His grace is always more, you just have to talk to Him, and accept it. That's the joy of abiding, getting what we don't deserve in a loving way and being so aware of it.
God bless you as you seek Him.