Finding JOY

I have started a new Bible study with my Tuesday ladies, and it is titled "Contagious Joy" by Christa Kinde. I was digging into Scripture and saw some really awesome things I would like to share with you. Let me list a few things and then I'll dig into the Word.

1. JOY is different than happiness or glee.
2. JOY can be present even when other emotions are in our heart.
3. JOY is a trait often mentioned in the Bible as present with the children of God and absent from those who are not children of God.
4. Finding JOY is a matter of discovering what has always been available to Christians, of opening our eyes to a new way of seeing.
5. We can pray for JOY.
6. We can search for JOY in God's Word.
7. If we seek JOY, Father will open our eyes to it.

Psalm 30:5 says, "He gets angry once in a while, but across a lifetime there is only love. The nights of crying your eyes out give way to days of laughter" (The Message) and NASB ends that verse with, "But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

In Psalm 25:4, David says, "Make me know Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths." In this verse, "Your ways" and "Your paths" are metaphors for "Your covenant" and "Your testimonies." Verse 10 reminds us, "All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies."

It seems to me the way to find JOY is to pray and seek it and to look in Father's Word for it. I need to understand Father's covenant and His testimonies (His love and His salvation offered to me) and then I need to keep them. When I keep Father's love in my heart, I find JOY. Even during those times I feel JOYless, if I look to Father and ask Him to open my eyes, He promises to help me find JOY.

Father cares for me with an everlasting love. I may cry for a night, but I will shout with JOY in the morning. When I awaken and renew my love for Him, when I die out to self each day and commit to being obedient to Him, my JOY is refreshed.

Let me encourage you! Father has a JOY to offer you that is unaffected by your circumstances or emotions. Ask Father to open your eyes to a new way of seeing His JOY!