This week of daily devotions in the Book of First John center on the Apostle’s Prologue to his letter. You’re going to need your Bible and I’ve provided the Study Notes on this website that you can either bookmark, or print. Be sure to scroll down to the notes outlining and commenting on the PROLOGUE.

I hope this helps those of you who are committed to journaling this year.

Week 2: 1 John 1:1-4

1 John PROLOGUE Day 1: Happiness or Joy?

1 John PROLOGUE Day 2: No Substitute for Experience

1 John PROLOGUE Day 3: Have you lost your joy?

1 John PROLOGUE Day 4: The Fruit of Joy!

True joy flows out of our relationship with Christ. This is John’s point in his prologue to 1 John: I want you to know the full joy of fellowship with Christ and His people. This is why I’m telling you the way it really is—the truth about Christ and eternal life. I know; I was there!

Paul would agree with John. Read Galatians 5:22. Notice that Paul lists joy as a fruit of the Spirit. True joy, the joy that lasts, is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives—it’s not forced or even coerced and you can’t fake it!

This is why we need to be careful with what we settle for as true Christian joy. In some religious circles, joy is equated with denial—acting like you’re full of joy when you’re not.

Think through your own experience with religion or church. Can you remember a time when someone made you feel ashamed for not being “full of joy” when your heart was breaking? How about a time when you met someone who just did not ring true in his or her joy?

Let’s make a commitment together right now not to take care of God in all of this. If it’s true that genuine spiritual joy is a work of the Holy Spirit in our life, there is great harm in counterfeiting His work. Ask God to give you an authentic walk before others. Ask Him for joy and then promise Him to wait for His definition of joy for you!