BREAD
15 What
has happened to all your joy? Galatians
4:15 (NIV)
“For the joy
of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah
8:10 (NIV)
21 He
will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Job 8:21 (NIV)
20 He
sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. 21 Let
them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for
men. 22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his
works with songs of joy. Psalms 107:20-22 (NIV)
13 I was
pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The
LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts
of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right
hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right
hand has done mighty things!” Psalms
118:13-16 (NIV)
1 When the
LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. 2 Our mouths
were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was
said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” 3 The LORD has
done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 4 Restore our
fortunes, O LORD, like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes
out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying
sheaves with him. Psalms 126:1-6 (NIV)
1 Clap
your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 How
awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! Psalms 47:1-2 (NIV)
4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let
your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not
be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)
12 Be
joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 (NIV)
16 Be
joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
1 Finally,
my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same
things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Philippians 3:1 (NIV)
BUTTER
“The world
around us is training us to think we need more to be more joyful, when the
truth is, if we’d just daily train ourselves to be more thankful, we get to be
infinitely more joyful. The more we need
— is more thankfulness.” Ann Voskamp
“Joy does not
come from positive predictions about the state of the world. It does not depend
on the ups and downs of the circumstances of our lives. Joy is based on the
spiritual knowledge that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in
darkness, God has overcome the world. Jesus says it loudly and clearly: ‘In the
world you will have troubles, but rejoice, I have overcome the world.’ The surprise is not that, unexpectedly,
things turn out better than expected. No, the real surprise is that God’s light
is more real than all the darkness, that God’s truth is more powerful than all
human lies, that God’s love is stronger than death.” Henri Nouwen
“You miss out on fully living the joy of your life,
when you keep waiting for another life to make you joyful.” Ann Voskamp
“The
perspective he gives me in my low place has helped me see His love more
clearly. Habakkuk had that view too. He
said, ‘Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes
on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty
and barren… yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of
my salvation!’ (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NLT) We can rejoice when our perspective changes even if
our problems don’t. Habakkuk
didn’t rejoice because his problems changed; he rejoiced because his
perspective changed. God lifted His lowly prophet to ‘tread on the heights’
with Him. (Habakkuk 3:19) And God will
do that for you too. He will love you through your low place. If you find
yourself in a low place, don’t assume it’s a waste of time, or a waste of your
life or a waste of an opportunity. Instead, do what Habakkuk did – climb
the watchtower of your faith, one wobbly step at a time and seek an answer from
the God who loves you. If He doesn’t give you an answer – or an answer you
want – it’s because He wants to give you something far better – a greater sense
of purpose, time in His presence, and a new perspective. When you climb toward God, you see
your life from God’s view. And,
from that place, you may still see rubble, but, you may just rejoice at the
sight knowing that God’s loving purpose is right there! ‘For He works all
things together for our good (Romans 8:28).’” Jennifer
Rothschild
“What is your personal version of: this
shouldn’t have happened. Frankly,
dear reader, I’m sure something that ‘shouldn’t have’ has happened to
you. Because
we live in a broken world. Therefore,
since life as we know it is inherently flawed and culture is a poor conduit of
true, soul-satisfying happiness, where does that leave us? Is it possible for happiness, sadness, and
even ‘badness’ to coexist? And
if so, how do we orient our lives to be authentically joyful while not ignoring
or becoming immune to the calamity and chaos around us and sometimes in
us? The key to hanging on to our
happy—our deep sense of fulfillment, contentment, and delight—when horrible
things happen is to recognize this: Real, God-imbued happiness is not the absence of
sadness or badness. Rather, it is hanging on to the truth of His sovereign
goodness regardless of what’s going on within or around us. The Bible makes it abundantly clear
that happy and sad are not mutually
exclusive. Delight and despair absolutely
coexist. They ebb and flow like the tides.
Grief may surge while
happy hangs back a bit, and vice versa.
However, in Christ, each wholly exists in the heart
of mankind. Circumstances
may prompt one to rise to the occasion and eclipse the other for a while. And our personality bent may compel
us to manifest one more readily than the other. But the proverbial bucket that dips
into the well of our souls has the potential to scoop up both genuine joy and
profound sorrow.” Lisa Harper
“We
can find optimism in this life when Christ lives within us. We can find joyful
hope when we put our relationship with Christ first and spend regular time
fellowshipping with Him in prayer. A close relationship with God will give us
joy in the midst of trouble, victory in times of temptation, fruitfulness and
blessings in times of uncertainty. A solid prayer life will give us confidence
when everything else is crumbling around us.” Michael
Youssef
“The Christian life is a joyful
life. Christianity was never meant to be
something to make people miserable. The
ministry of Jesus Christ was one of joy.
The Bible teaches that a life of inward peace and outward victory is a
Christian’s birthright. ‘What a witness
to the world Christians would be,’ wrote Amy Carmichael, ‘if only they were
more evidently very happy people.’ Joy
is one of the marks of a true believer.
Will others see the joy of Christ in your life today?” Billy
Graham
HEART
SAVOR
·
The joy
of the Lord is our strength.
·
True
joyfulness is fueled by thankfulness.
·
Don’t be
waiting for joy to arrive at your doorstep or for some perfect circumstances to
overtake your life prior to joy permeating it.
Truth is, if that is what you are thinking is going to bring you lasting
joy, you will be sorely disappointed.
All but Christ comes up wanting.
The Bible tells us to be joyful in hope even in the hard. Our souls are fully capable of both joy and
sorrow at the same time.
