A baby's laugh, the love of a child, tears of happiness running down your face when united with a friend or loved one..JOY.
Joy by most standards is a feeling... but we can also see joy, hear joy, and be joyful, EVEN WHEN WE DONT FEEL IT! We are to rejoice and be glad. So here's the question: Are We?
"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
-Psalm 118:24
HOW DO WE PLANT THE SEED?
It's a bit of hard truth to say, but having joy is NOT conditional. It is a willful choice... We will rejoice and be glad... the Bible doesn't add a but, unless or only if to this verse... it just says to rejoice and be glad. So our choice is whether to obey him or not.
"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."
-Isaiah 61:10
Wow! I mean look at this verse in Isaiah. We can daily rejoice because we are SAVED! Praise the Lord! We are now clothed with salvation and covered in righteousness. If there is nothing else... we can start right there. We should be just as giddy and joyful about serving the Lord as if it were our wedding day and we were preparing for our groom!!
"Lord thank you for saving my soul and loving me.... me, enough to die on the cross and defeat hell and death to claim the victory over my life."
We talked about love in the last blog post. And there was no greater act of Love than that of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for Our Sins... Now we are to abide in His love and keep God's commandments...when we do, it will bring JOY.
"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you."
-John 15:9-12
With this full joy comes strength...“The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)... not of ourselves... but if we are weak, troubled, depressed, anxious, overwhelmed... the one place we can find strength is here. In the joy of the Lord!
Counting our blessings starting at the cross... So let's start the conversation... what are you rejoicing in? Who are you showing love to today? How can you use the JOY of the Lord today, knowing that it is our strength??
Growing in Grace,
Marianne