Flying with joy a Thursday's Word re-post by Brenda Smith

Hello All!

Last week's word was Comfort. So if you are comforted (you know the Comforter has come) then riding on the heels is JOY.  Comfort and Joy!!!

Alyssa Smith

Today's Word is JOY.  Joy is defined as a deep feeling or condition of happiness or contentment. To make joyful; gladden. An outward show of pleasure or delight; rejoicing. Now to contrast happiness: pleasure, bliss, delight, enjoyment. Happiness is the result or possession of attaining what one considers good. Happiness is depending on an outward source to make you happy. Joy is what is on the inside that bubbles over with delight. You just cannot contain joy. 

"These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11

Joy is the birthright of the child of God. Every child oug
ht to have a conscious, conspicuous, continuous, and contagious joy. If you are not living a life of joy, you are living beneath your privileges as a Christian.  Your source of joy is Jesus.  Jesus wants to place joy in your lives.  Yes, he is the Man of Sorrows, but there was a genuine joy in Jesus, and if you do not have that you are not demonstrating one of His characteristics.  Let's think of it as the Three "S" Joy Principle.

The STABILITY of Joy. Jesus not only wants you to find His joy. He wants you to keep it. This is not a joy that comes and goes. Philippians 4:4 says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice." Whenever you see "Re" on a word it tells you it is a prefix, meaning again.  You had joy before. You know what it means to be joyful. So, Jesus wants you to remember again what it feels like to have joy and to keep it!  Even when the tears are coursing down your cheeks, and when your heart is breaking, you feel as if you are not going to make it, there should be something deep on the inside of you that will give you Joy. That Joy is Jesus. If you get your joy from amusement; when you can no longer be amused, your joy is gone. Jesus is always there, and that is why your joy remains.  He is your stabilizer in this world of chaos and instability.

The SUFFICIENCY of Joy. The joy of the Lord is enough. Just like He tells us in His word that His grace is sufficient. His Joy is all you will need to live in this world. Paul prayed three times asking the Lord to remove his thorn. Jesus told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."  I am not going to remove the thorn, but the grace I give you will be sufficient to stabilize and strengthen you. It will hold you up and it will not allow you to fall. But, if you do fall, you will be able to Rise again.

The SECRET of Joy. Even though joy is available to us, not every Christian has joy. You can be a Christian and still be miserable. As a matter of fact, the most miserable man on Earth is not an unsaved man but is a saved man out of fellowship with God. David, after he had committed sin, prayed in Psalm 51:12, "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." He had not lost his salvation, but he had lost the joy of it. The secret of joy is found in John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing."  A branch is absolutely dependent upon a vine. The vine sustains the branch and provides everything needed. The branch never has to worry about its provisions.  All God asks of that branch is to abide on the vine.  What we do on our own has no eternal value. The value comes when we abide on the vine and stay nourished and fed the wonderful Word of God. Do as the Word says.  The branch must surrender to the vine in order to be useful. It is the vine that produces the grapes - Fruit of the Spirit - which includes JOY!  In order for there to be dependence and restfulness, there must be total surrender.

We sing a song in Church...This joy that I have the world didn't give it to me. The world didn't give it and the world can't take it away!   This is the Jesus Joy that lives in you.  God is  good to us.  He is mercifcul and He is faithful.  This joy is not for future happiness. This Joy is for NOW.  If you are suffering right now, the joy comes in knowing...This too shall pass.  "...Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning!  -Psalm 30:5.

This may also be expressed this way: "At nightfall weeping comes as a guest to tarry; but in the morning Joy comes to stay." This may mean that sorrow goes and gladness comes; or that the morning the grief of the previous evening is changed into joy. 

The Master's Joy!

Ooooh Joy!

Down in my soul!!!

God bless you is my prayer.

Brenda Smith