Day 16 of 21 Days

Can you believe that it’s been 16 days? We’re just a few days away from day 21. Congratulation Fasting family and friends for hanging in there with us. Today, I want to just share a few words about chapter 16 of John’s Gospel. Jesus is teaching his disciples because they are about to endure something unlike they had in there life. There happiness is about to be challenged but He promises joy that will come with the Spirit of God. Now in order to really understand what Jesus is saying we have to deal with the difference between “happiness” and “joy.” So let’s jump right in…

We tend to equate “happiness” with joy but they are two totally different ideas because they each spring from a different source. One comes from the world around me. The other originates directly from the Spirit of the Living God. Happiness is conditioned by and often dependent upon what is “happening” to me. If people treat me good, if things are going well in my life, then I’m happy. If my circumstances aren’t favorable, then I’m unhappy.

Joy, on the other hand, throbs throughout Scripture as a profound, compelling quality of life that transcends the events and disasters, which may dog God’s people. Joy is a divine dimension of living that is not shackled by circumstances. The Hebrew word means, “to leap or spin around with pleasure.” In the New Testament the word refers to “gladness, bliss and celebration.”

Jesus continues teaching and preparing His disciple for crucifixion. Chapter 16:1 & 4 “I have said all these things to you to keep you form falling away.” “But I have sad these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

This outline should allow you to see a very difficult situation in a very different light. How God wants to give us joy over happiness in spite of persecution.

• Jesus warned that religionists would persecute and kill believers (v.1-2)
• The reason for the persecution religionists do not know God nor His Son (v.3)
• The preparation for persecution (v.4-6)
• The Holy Spirit helps believers (v.7)
• The Holy Spirit convicts and convinces the world (v.8-11)
• The Holy Spirit convicts: Of sin, righteousness, and judgment (v.8)
• The Holy Spirit guides believers (v.12-13)
• The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus (v.14-15)
• The Resurrection perplexes people (v.16-19)
• The Resurrection brings joy—irrepressible joy (v.20-22)
• The Resurrection gives open access into God's presence (v.23-24)
• The Resurrection reveals all about the Father (v.25-27)
• The Resurrection validates the Messiahship of Jesus (v.28)
• The Resurrection exposes weak faith (v.29-32)
• The Resurrection makes available true peace (v.33)