Vanessa Gracia Cruz - Joy: More Than an Emotion, a Fruit of the Spirit

More than an emotion, a fruit of the Spirit

joy

a devotional by

Vanessa Gracia Cruz

Copyright 2019 Vanessa Gracia Cruz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-6285-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6287-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6286-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019907095

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/10/2019

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Dedicated to Levi, my miracle baby. I asked the Lord for you, and He heard my prayer, and out of my sadness came the greatest joy. You were so worth the wait.

Contents

Last year, when the first edition of this book was released, I had still yet to see many of the promises I was believing for. No one knew at the time, but I began writing Joy in the wake of two miscarriages and two years of infertility. I was dealing with a few different conditions that made it not only hard for me to conceive, but uncomfortable to carry out my ministry because of the pain it caused, and side-effects of the medication I had to take.

I wrote this book at a time when I felt anything but joyful. I felt hopeless. In fact, not many people know, but I actually did not come out of that season of infertility and sickness until the book had already gone to print. Throughout the entire writing process, I felt the Lord prompting me to write in faith.

I would continuously question why He had put in my heart to write about joy in the midst of one of such a sad season. Wouldnt it have made more sense to put this topic on my heart while I was a joyful honeymooner or when my ministry was at a highpoint? I struggled while writing it and often wanted to give up. Sometimes out of anger, other times out of frustration, but mainly out of doubt. I would think: surely, Lord I am being a hypocrite What authority do I have to speak on joy right now? But, time after time I would hear the Holy Spirit whisper: I use broken things, and then I make them whole. I kept writing because I had faith that God would restore my joy, and use my testimony to help others also be restored. It was while writing this book that I realized that pain doesnt disqualify from having joy. In fact, it is precisely what qualifies you.

What I did not know at the time the first edition was published was that two weeks after the final book was printed and we prepared to release it, I would learn I as pregnant with my son, Levi. In fact, as I write and revise for this second edition, my miracle is asleep in the room next to me. However, what was even more surprising than finally receiving what was promised, was that by the time I did, I no longer felt empty or hopeless. I had learned to cultivate joy in my heart even in the midst of loss and uncertainty. The Holy Spirit taught me how to change my heart without needing to change my circumstances; and I think thats the greatest lesson in this book.

The main message of this book is that you do not need everything in your life to be in order in order to live with joy. What you need is a relationship with the giver of joy: The Holy Spirit. If you dont learn that principle you will never have joy, even if you receive exactly what youve prayed for. You will be the mother who prayed for children but complains about their behavior; the wife who wishes for a husband, but disparages her marriage. Through this process, if there is anything I have learned it is that even when everything in your life is out of your control: having joy is within your grasp, because a relationship with God is within your grasp. And once you learn that, you will enjoy the journey to the promises God has for you.

I developed this devotional as a way for me myself to learn to cultivate joy after loss and sadness. I recognized that I needed a change in perspective more than I needed a change in my situation. I got that through spending time with Him and His word through daily study and meditations that Ive written here for you. This book is meant to be read in pieces; one lesson at a time for fourteen days. I recommend that you find a quiet place, away from distractions, and read with an open heart. Set apart lots of time for you to meditate on the word, journal, and pour your heart out to God. The word meditate as used in the bible is translated literally as to chew or to digest. Ive discovered that the word of God is so much richer, and deeper, when Ive turned it over and over in my mind and heart; when I mentally digest it throughout the day. Each lesson becomes clearer still when I process it by talking to God about it in prayer. Which is why at the end of each lesson, youll find questions for meditation, and a prayer.

In this second edition of Joy Ive revised some of the chapters, because now I have seen with my eyes what I used to only perceive in my Spirit: that while writing this book, even in my saddest season, I was on the verge of a breakthrough. Perhaps in this moment you find yourself in a time of grief or anxiety because of all the things in life you cannot control. Perhaps you have lost someone precious to you, or simply do not know where life is taking you. I pray that through this devotional the Holy Spirit gives you a new perspective on joy, and the ability to receive it, cultivate it, and live in it. Of course, this is by no means a complete theology. There are so many answers that you will need you seek in your time alone with God, that no one else can reveal to you. However, my prayer is that somehow, the words that the Lord spoke to me serve as a tool for you to learn how to produce joy in your heart, through time in the presence of its Creator, who loves you more than you know.

With Love,