It might surprise some people to know that God is concerned about our joy.  Some, (in fact many?), probably consider God to be a "kill-joy!"  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God is the most joyful being in the universe and has invited us into Trinitarian joy.  If that is really true then why do we have so many grumpy people in the world and in the church?  John Piper reminds us in a great little book titled "When I Don't Desire God, How to Fight for Joy."  This book outlines the dilemma and the cure.  The reason we have to fight for joy is because joy is a by-product of pursuing the Joyful One.  The enemy and this world system suggest many other things will give us joy.  As long as we are pursuing joy in relationships, possessions and other kinds of "blessings" we will be disappointed.  This disappointment is the result of misplaced affections and expectations.  It is a fight to keep our brain and heart engaged with the Invisible God.  Our text for this Sunday will reveal more about this as we study Jesus' marvelous words "...that your joy may be full." 

When you read the title question what comes to mind?  Do you think of healings, speaking in an unknown tongue, people slain in the Spirit or...Jesus?  When we ponder of the work of the Holy Spirit we often gravitate to various phenomena associated with His ministry.  God has certainly done some powerful and unusual things throughout history but the primary emphasis of the Holy Spirit is NOT the Holy Spirit.  In a day when the promotion of ourselves is so common we don't even recognize the narcissism of it all, we would assume the Spirit is into self-promotion like much of the human race.  However, when Jesus described the ministry of the Spirit in John 16, He made it very clear that one of the primary ministries of the Spirit would be the glorification of Christ.  Christ made much of the Father and the Holy Spirit makes much of Christ.  What are the implications of this for the believer today?