_Blue.png)
Staying positive in a negative environment is a difficult task. All the negativity that takes place in our world today has a tendency to steal our joy if we are not careful in guarding our hearts and minds. Throughout the Bible, Christians are encouraged to be joyful. If there is a group of people that should smile and be joyful, it should be Christians because Jesus lives in our hearts.
Paul encouraged Christians to rejoice in Philippians 4:4: "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."
In the NT the word joy is mentioned 60 times and the word rejoicing about 72 times. Joy in Greek is chara – meaning "a joy that is founded in God." The Greek word for joy (chara) and grace (charis) are almost identical. If we know God’s grace, we can experience His joy because joy is produced by the Holy Spirit of God.
"There is a marvelous medicinal power in joy. Most medicines are distasteful; but this, which is the best of all medicines, is sweet to the taste, and comforting to the heart. This blessed joy is very contagious. One dolorous spirit brings a kind of plague into the house; one person who is wretched seems to stop all the birds from singing wherever he goes...[But] the grace of joy is contagious. Holy joy will oil the wheels of your life’s machinery. Holy joy will strengthen you for your daily labor. Holy joy will beautify you and give you an influence over the lives of others." — C.H. Spurgeon
Let’s be encouraged today with the fact that...
Joy is the result of salvation
To know that we have received the gift of salvation that can never be taken away from us should give us tremendous joy. The joy of our salvation is not a superficial feeling; it is a marvelous joy produced by our permanent relationship with God the Father. Once we were strangers and alienated from God; now we are God’s children and precious in the sight of God.
Romans 15:13 "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."
Joy is found in God’s love
1 Peter 1:8 "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:"
Those who put their faith in Him became recipients of His love. The love of God alone is more than enough to give us a reason to be joyful each day no matter what situation we are in.
In 1917 Frederick M. Lehman wrote a beautiful hymn:
The Love of God The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell; It goes beyond the highest star, And reaches to the lowest hell; The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure The saints' and angels' song.
Joy is the fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,"
Joy is a result of an inward transformation. Those who placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Joy flows in a man’s heart when he is filled by the Holy Spirit.
Joy is a disposition produced by the Holy Spirit. Remember that the joy of the Lord is permanent and can never be taken away from us!
