Joyfulness

Today, I would like to share with you, something I tend to struggle with. Now, if you are a google freak such as I, you will understand. Before I came to have a personal relationship with Jesus, google was my go-to on everything. Now, when I need to look up anything pertaining to Christ, The Bible, or anything from God’s goodness, I use the concordance in my Bible as my go-to. I am not saying google is a bad thing, but when “googling” God, His Word is where I see it best, for me. Some articles are good for a deeper Spiritual truth. You just have to be extremely careful with what you read. 

Let’s do an experiment together. Go to google, and search the word, “joyfulness.” Pick one and read about it. Then look in the concordance of your Bible, if you have one, and if not, download the You Version Bible App. I highly recommend it. Anyways, look up “joyfulness” in your Bible, or the search engine in the app, and you will notice a dramatic difference. What the world paints of joyfulness is entirely different than where joyfulness actually comes from. I’ll share with you the one I picked from google, and the one from The Bible that spoke to me the most.

Google: Joyfulness means “the state of quality, of being full of deep, exuberant happiness, contentment, and delight often characterized by a positive attitude, sense of wonder and (here it is) finding pleasure in life.” Now, let’s reflect on these underlined words for a moment. What do you think of when you read them? To me, I think of worldly desires, and what the “world” says we should “feel.”  If you have read my previous blog about, “emotional feelings” then you know, “feelings” are not of God because living for, and loving God is a choice.

Now, let's look at what The Bible says about joyfulness. In John 15:10-12 it states, “10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in My love, just as I obey My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 “I have told you these things so that you (wait for it) will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is My commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you,”

Wow!! So, do you see that google and The Bible have two very different aspects of joyfulness? Also, do you see that joy can only come from Jesus, Himself? We cannot be “filled” with joy from worldly things. Friends, please do not confuse happiness with joy. Our joy only comes from Jesus, and Him alone. Money, cars, expensive houses and luxurious items are of this world. That may bring you a happiness, but not joy, and friends, I am here to tell you that happiness is only temporary, just as the materialistic things of this world. That is why Jesus touched base on this when He preached His sermon on The Mount. “Do not store up earthly treasures but rather store up your heavenly treasures” found in Matthew 6:19-20. You cannot take your material items with you when you pass away from this world.

Here is where I struggle sometimes. I tend to let my “feelings” cloud my judgement of joy. Being human is rarely easy and often exhausting. However, if we focus on Jesus, then there our joy will be. In Galatians 5:19-26 it states, “19 When you follow the desires of your own sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit The Kingdom of God. 22 But The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 26 Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

As I have said before, all our instructions on how we are to live our lives are in His great book. Joy is the strength we find in God’s love for us. Joy is not a mental “feeling” from happiness. Happiness is of the world; joy is from Jesus. If we do not have Him, well, let’s be honest, we are miserable souls seeking fulfillment from items that I can promise, will lead you to emptiness.

I want to take a different approach with this blog, than I have with the others. It is heavy on my heart to pray for each and every one of you, reading this blog. I do not know what each of you are going through, but the weight of this world can be very HEAVY and EXTREMELY DIFFICULT! When the enemy attacks, and sometimes we allow him to steal our joy, let our faith in God be stronger and mightier than the attacks of our enemy.

Father God,

I thank You for who You are. I thank You for Your Son Jesus. I am thankful for Jesus dying on the cross for me, as I do not deserve it. I pray that above all, we seek You, and Your glory. May You fill us with Your joy that we know can come from You and You alone, Father. Examine our sinful hearts and pluck out the desires of our sinful ways. Separate us from the evil one and give us a fire that burns deeply for You. Let us become hungrier and thirstier for Your Word. When the enemy strikes, let us suit up like a soldier preparing for battle, and fight for the joy that only You can fill us with. Let us all submit to You and resist the devil. Hold us, guide us and fix our eyes upon You. I thank You, Father for Your joy, for Your peace, for Your love, for Your kindness and for Your mercy that You give us all daily, even when we all fail You, when we are undeserving and full of doubt. As it is stated in Your Word, replace our hostility with joy, anger with patience, envy with kindness, and hatred with love. Let us keep Your commandments, that we must love The LORD our God with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our minds. To love our neighbors as we love ourselves, also. I give You all the praise, honor and glory for it all. In Your precious Name I pray,

Amen

So, when you are out in the world today, focus on the goodness of God. Give yourself a little grace, as God knows you are not perfect. He just wants your hearts, and for you to be the sons and daughters that He has called you to be. When the enemy tries to creep in, take a step back, and tell him that your joy comes from Jesus, and it is not his to steal, kill or destroy. Tell him to flee from you, and he must!

Matthew 22:37-40

37 Jesus replied, “You must love The LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Romans 14:17

For The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in The Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 1:8-9

8 You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him: and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls.

I really hope you enjoyed the message God provided for us all today.

This is a blog post from Remain In Faith, praying you have a blessed and joyful in The Lord kind of day!