Joy: A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
- "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief."
- Proverbs 14:13Meditaion:
Every single person has had a glimpse or taste of happiness at some point in their lives, hence our earnest pursuit of it.
But our brief experience with happiness will always remain a laugh in a heart that aches, or a joy that ends in grief, as long as we do not accept Jesus as Lord of our lives.
I pray yours is a journey that ends in the everlasting joy of Jesus. - "Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart."
- Psalms 97:11 - "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,"
- Galatians 5:22
Meditation: One of the results of the Spirit of God in a persons life is JOY. The presence of the Spirit of God = joy and joy = the presence of the Spirit of God. - "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
- 1 Peter 1:8,9 - "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit," - Romans 14:17
- "and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
- Isaiah 35:10Meditation: Did you know that gladness and joy are in pursuit of you?
- Charles Spurgeon
- "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
- Psalms 126:2-3 - ...do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. - Nehemiah 8:10Meditation: The Joy of God is so important because without it we are weak.
Find strength for today by seeking the joy that is only found in Jesus. "'Philosophers', said the wise man,'can dance without music.' and true believers in God can rejoice when outward comforts fail them. - "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:12Meditation: Christians are to be joyful in hope because Christians ALWAYS have a hope worth rejoicing in!
If you have met an unhappy Christian, you have met an ignorant or forgetful one. "A Christian ought to be the most cheerful of men." - Even in grief a Christian has joy in sure hope:
"Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them."
- Psalms 126:5-6 - "So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."
- Jesus (John 16:22)Meditation: NO ONE, NOTHING, can take away the joy a Christain has in seeing Christ again!
"Let us acknowledge the Lord ; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
- Hosea 6:3 - You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. - Psalms 16:11Meditation: Joy is found in the presence of Jesus "Be happy that life isn't fair, if it were we would all be headed to a very hot place." (Hell)
May God grant us grace, then, to rejoice in our deepest distress, because the Lord is our sure possession, our perpetual heritage of joy."
- Charles Spurgeon
- CS Lewis
- Wyne Riddering
"To praise God is heaven. When immersed in adoration, we are completely filled with happiness, but to be totally devoid of gratitude is to be totally devoid of joy."
- Charles Spurgeon
"I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy."
- CS Lewis
Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.