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ramblings about the fruit of the spirit called JOY...
i used to be more of an outwardly joyful person. it was obvious when i was enthusiastic, excited or happy. life's junk seemed to rob me of my joy(or so i thought). circumstances set my attitude bar. i also thought that other people, i.e. john, were supposed to make me happy. once i figured out that no one was responsible for my joy except me, i decided to do it on my own. it was exhausting! i just couldn’t keep it up. i thought i was disappointing God because i didn't seem 'happy/joyful' all the time. if happiness wasn't pouring out of me, others would not be drawn to Jesus, right?
one day in my car, joyce told me that joy means 'calm delight.' this was really hard to believe. i knew when i 'felt' joyful, it certainly was not calm. delightful, maybe, but not calm. joyce must have really missed it. i mean, i had lead bible studies on joy, spoke and sang about it often, but still had not experienced anything very calm.
i was on the wrong track: mixing up happiness, which depends on my circumstances... with joy, which is a deep knowing that can only be found in Holy Spirit. joy comes from the heart of God. it is a deposit when we receive the Holy Spirit. all this i knew, yet still i was not getting the 'high' of outward joy.
do you know what joy means in the bible? you guessed it...'calm delight.' how could this be? there it is, joyce was right, as usual.
i don't have to perform for God or others to show my joy. what a great relief. He says i can have this calm delight at any time. even in the midst of trials that joy is accessible. i still have explosive joy-filled moments! i can't help it. God is so good, always.
praising and worshiping Him stirs up my joy. He doesn't need to be reminded of His awesomeness, but i do!
(oh yeah, joyce is joyce meyer. she's pretty wise.)
joy is expressed many different ways in the bible: shouts, songs, clapping, dancing, praising, celebrating...in exchange for sadness and mourning, in fullness, in His presence... open up the word of God and read it! it's full of JOY and so are you! just start counting your blessings and see if that doesn't bring delight.
as you journey along life's road, stir up the joy within and deposit it in the people you meet along the way. wear your smile!
i used to be more of an outwardly joyful person. it was obvious when i was enthusiastic, excited or happy. life's junk seemed to rob me of my joy(or so i thought). circumstances set my attitude bar. i also thought that other people, i.e. john, were supposed to make me happy. once i figured out that no one was responsible for my joy except me, i decided to do it on my own. it was exhausting! i just couldn’t keep it up. i thought i was disappointing God because i didn't seem 'happy/joyful' all the time. if happiness wasn't pouring out of me, others would not be drawn to Jesus, right?
one day in my car, joyce told me that joy means 'calm delight.' this was really hard to believe. i knew when i 'felt' joyful, it certainly was not calm. delightful, maybe, but not calm. joyce must have really missed it. i mean, i had lead bible studies on joy, spoke and sang about it often, but still had not experienced anything very calm.
i was on the wrong track: mixing up happiness, which depends on my circumstances... with joy, which is a deep knowing that can only be found in Holy Spirit. joy comes from the heart of God. it is a deposit when we receive the Holy Spirit. all this i knew, yet still i was not getting the 'high' of outward joy.
do you know what joy means in the bible? you guessed it...'calm delight.' how could this be? there it is, joyce was right, as usual.
i don't have to perform for God or others to show my joy. what a great relief. He says i can have this calm delight at any time. even in the midst of trials that joy is accessible. i still have explosive joy-filled moments! i can't help it. God is so good, always.
praising and worshiping Him stirs up my joy. He doesn't need to be reminded of His awesomeness, but i do!
(oh yeah, joyce is joyce meyer. she's pretty wise.)
joy is expressed many different ways in the bible: shouts, songs, clapping, dancing, praising, celebrating...in exchange for sadness and mourning, in fullness, in His presence... open up the word of God and read it! it's full of JOY and so are you! just start counting your blessings and see if that doesn't bring delight.
as you journey along life's road, stir up the joy within and deposit it in the people you meet along the way. wear your smile!
grace and peace and JOY to you
(Oh, and today's quote from joyce: keeping “self” happy is a full time job, but the pay at the end of the week is disappointing.)
I am always so proud of my kids, especially when they write the beautiful, joyful, peaceful things that seem to come to them so easily. Thanks Margie for reminding me...."Don't let people steal your joy" is what you very often tell me.
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