For years I was a miserable woman. I was filled with hurt, sorrow, grief, bitterness, complaining, self-pity, negativity etc., and this was all coupled with loads of drama and trying to drag everyone into my troubles. Every once in a while I would have a few sprinkles of joy on top of my mountain of misery, but the joy was fleeting. If it’s possible to be addicted to misery, I think I was. Now mind you I have had tons of really hard stuff in my life. But I have since learned that joy is possible and promised no matter what we go through in life WHEN WE ARE FOLLOWERS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND LIVE THE WAY WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE. HUMBLY AND LOVINGLY AND REVERENTLY AND DEVOTEDLY SURRENDERED TO GOD!
I am one of those people whose life story is such that I struggle with one thing or another on a daily basis. But no matter how my days are now, whether relatively easy or extraordinarily hard or somewhere in between, I now have a clear understanding that JOY is promised me by God and that I have access to it 24-7. I am not promised to always have joy in my life’s circumstances and the world around me, but I can have it every breath I take by finding joy IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND IN A FOREVER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD! Today I don’t just have joy. I overflow with it whereby those around me get to see it and be drawn to God through it. This is the JOY OF JESUS, and I could not be more thankful for “THE JOY OF THE LORD.” Got joy?
In my experience, the #1 way to EN-JOY the JOY OF GOD is to spend time alone in His presence and reading and meditating on the Bible – loving, adoring, praising, worshiping, singing to, praying to, seeking, hearing, obeying, experiencing, enjoying, growing in, being transformed by, communing with, having intimate fellowship WITH THE LORD! Be thankful for the joy of Jesus!
“… for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 KJV
“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” Psalms 32:11 KJV