Joy is an emotion, not a state of mind. Joy is "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness," as the dictionary on my Mac puts it. That means you feel it. You don't think it. You don't carry it around as a mindset. If you have joy, then you will be joyful. That sounds like a no-brainer but, really, how many of us actually believe it? So often people say that they have the joy of the Lord but they don't actually feel joyful. Because "joy isn't the same as happiness." "Joy is something you have to cling to, even if you're depressed."
No. I disagree. You can't say rightly that you have the joy of the Lord if you walk around bummed out all the time. That's just not truthful. If you have the joy, it will look like joy. It will feel like joy. Did you notice how the definition of joy includes the word "happiness?" So yes, joy and happiness are intertwined. In fact, it seems to me that joy is even more extreme than happiness. Happy is defined as "feeling or showing pleasure or contentment." Joy is, once again, "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness." So it's happiness and then some.
Union with Christ should produce "a feeling of great pleasure and happiness." Christians should be the happiest people in the world. Instead, we go around with frowns on our faces, bemoaning the state of our lives, the state of the world. Well, no more for me. I'm ready to give myself over to the joy of the Lord. I'm ready to live a life of joy, to live a life of great pleasure and happiness. I feel it welling up inside of me, a transformation that happens from the inside out.
That's where joy is born: inside of us. And then it springs out into the world. It's what draws people and changes people. To be happy, to be joyful, in the midst of adverse circumstances, in the presence of a world full of conflict and pain. That's what Christ died for: to restore us to joyful union with Him! So go ahead. You have permission to feel joyful. Not only permission. It's what the Gospel is all about. The Glad Message of the Happy God! Amen.
- Jesse
Jesus endured the cross for the Joy set before Him. James says, "to rejoice through various trials." Joy doesn't mean that we don't suffer, it just means we have something beyond the natural, beyond human understanding. Okay, So here is some for for thought: What if the passion of Christ had it wrong? What if Jesus wasn't greatly distressed, and depressed as He carried His cross? What if He looked like a crazy mad man who laughed, hootered, and hollard His way to calvary? What if His 40 days in the wilderness were the best 40 days of His life? What if He enjoyed life so much that nothing could take it from Him, not even death itself? just some thoughts...love ya. Dave Grove
ReplyDeleteYes, what if? ha ha The joy is what get us through the suffering, the trials and tribulations. The joy of being in His presence, of being enraptured with Him. And yes, He's happy. ha ha Then and now. :)
ReplyDeleteI think if we went back in time we would be surprised by His joy. :)And by the joy of the saints in general. Love you bro.
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