When Joy Goes Active Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: When Joy Goes Active ----------------------- Date: 06/16/1999 Keywords: "joy" "perspective" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. eXXit advertises itself as a web site designed to help you "stand strong in the face of sexual temptation." In Galatians 5:22-23, the apostle Paul lists nine "fruit of the Spirit," fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in the life of the believer. Each of these fruits - if produced - will greatly aid a believer who seeks to "stand strong". At eXXit, we believe: that the fruit of the Spirit is produced in the life of a healthy Christian, just as apples appear on a healthy apple tree; that if there is any love or joy or peace in a Christian, it is ultimately the work of God; that Christians can cooperate with the Spirit's desire to produce His fruit in their lives by yieldedness, faith, obedience and involvement in ministry. We hope you enjoy and benefit from the next month and a half's meditations on Galatians 5! Send us any feedback. We'd love to know what you think. Passage: Hebrews 12:2-4* 2. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Questions 1. How did joy help Jesus endure the cross?   2. In what ways can we follow his example in our struggle against pornography?   Practical help Human beings seem almost doomed to view life from a time-bound perspective. We worry about our sports teams, our mortgages, our families. While these things have some degree of importance, Jesus focused on something else during his earthly ministry. That thing was heaven. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus was able to endure the cross "for the joy set before him." How much more, then, should we tap into visions of eternal glory to help us resist the temptations of temporal squalor. But how? The answer lies in grasping the joy that awaits us and backing it up with a commitment to action. Note that Scripture points out that we “have not yet resisted to the point of shedding [our] blood.” Perhaps in following Christ’s example, we should consider drastic measures: accountability, Web site blockers or (gasp!) cutting of the Internet altogether. A joy-based perspective of life might require that -- and much more. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 1999 by eXXit * Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.