Time with God

Joy

Where does joy come?

A moment with God….

So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:11

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” Zephaniah 3:17

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Philippians 4:4-5

Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. Philippians 4:11-12

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces… Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Psalm 34:5, 8

Thoughts from God’s Word….

We are an emotional being because God created us with feelings!! It is not unusual or abnormal to experience emotional and spiritual highs and lows. However, the joy and contentment to which these verses refer run much deeper then the emotions of the moment. Real joy is more than happiness. This kind of joy is like a strong current that runs beneath the stormy surface of our feelings. In essence, joy is the celebration of walking with God. It is a sense of security that can come only from being held by an eternal God. It is peace, knowing God accepts us for who we are and that He wants us in heaven with Him forever. You experience joy through the quiet confidence that God is guiding us at all times and in all things and through knowing that wherever He guides us, we will have peace of mind.

For Christ's love compels us....

2 Corinthians 5:14-19 NIV

.....because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who *reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of *reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

*To reconcile is to bring enemies together as friends.

*Reconciliation brings God and humanity together in friendship and peace.

Notes about the above passage:

Paul gets right to the point about difficult issues that all Christians face; how much can we live in the world, and how much should we live in the Spirit? Paul urges us to go "all the way", as it were. He says that "everything" has become new.

We can no longer regard other people like we once did. We do not dislike them, no matter what their acts of wrong are; for we are taught to love other people as God loves us. We are also told to forgive those who hurt us, just like Christ forgives us*. When we get angry at someone, or find our self judging someone or starting to dislike them, we should tell our self that they are made in God's image, so then when we dislike or judge people it is like judging or disliking God Himself.

So let us take this passage to heart and put it into practice in our lives this week.