Marks of Belief

Acts 13-14

I am struck by some of the marks of the believers in the New Testament church... the believers were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. You'd think that our churches would similarly be filled with people who were full of joy and the Holy Spirit, but that really seems to be more the exception than the rule in the modern church. I wonder if somewhere along the way we traded the glory of God for some paltry worldly substitute and it can never fill us with the joy that Christ gives because it is a sham. Seems to me that if this is so, we need to throw out the substitute and get the real thing and we'll know when we succeeded by the marks of joy.