joy down deep in my soul

Alright folks, today we are here to talk about joy. What is joy? Glad you asked!

Joy (n) ; a feeling of great pleasure or happiness.

Ok, hold up. Lets pause. Since falling in love with Jesus, my perspective of joy has changed. I used to see it as a fleeting moment of ~good vibes~, but I don’t think I would agree with that or the definition above nowadays. 

That fleeting sensation could better be described as happiness, or “a state of well-being and contentment; a pleasurable or satisfying experience.” In my opinion, joy is biblical and everlasting, happiness is not.

Rick Warren puts it beautifully; “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

I have touched on this lightly in previous blogs, but I haven’t always seen myself as joyful. In fact, I saw quite the opposite. I saw the mellow & aching parts of my heart that desperately needed healing. But, what I have learned from being a follower of Jesus is that joy isn’t an outcome of a circumstance, its the heart posture you take on based on where you fix your perspective. There is still injustice in the world, and my heart still needs healing, but my gaze is transfixed on the good news of the gospel, therefore I have joy.

Now that we have established the basics of what joy is, let’s dive into scriptural joy!

Joy is supernatural. James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” One of the biggest testaments to our faith is the way we respond to circumstances. The way we take our thoughts captive is reflective of what we serve (aka either the Lord or this world). The Lord uses the gift of joy to reach out to those caught up in the nitty-gritty of this world, the people who are unable to rejoice in gratitude.

Joy is a response. Luke 15:7, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” When the Lord shows up, we have the ability to rejoice. Even when we dont see Him working, we can rejoice. Our God is the everpresent, always working King of kings. There is an abundance of things we can praise our God for!!

Joy is a gift. 1 Peter 1:8-9, “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” The Lord could have left us in a pit of despair if He really wanted to. Praise the lamb, He didn’t!! But for real, we need to weigh the measure of the cross more often. We need to take a step back and MARVEL at what the cross brought us. It brought us joy. It brought us the holy spirit. It brought us full redemption through salvation. Hallelujah & Amen.

 I’m thankful for what Abba has been teaching me about joy these past 4 months. Thanks to Him, I am able to say in CONFIDENCE that the Lord gives me JOY down deep in my soul.

Song suggestion!!! Joy by Housefires