Joy is Life

Joy is one of my favorite topics to write on.  I live in a constant state of joy yet I can’t make others experience it.  I wish I could.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10

God came so we could have LIFE.  In the Strongs Concordance this word refers to “life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ”

To have LIFE, to have real LIFE, is to have JOY.  It is not the kind of joy you feel when everything is going your way, it is the kind of joy you feel when you just LIVE.  If you do not have joy, in my humble opinion, you are not living.  You are just existing.  Going through the motions of a LIFE un-lived.  You really never came to LIFE if you walk around in a bitter, ungrateful state.

Again, it is a choice.

You can start living today, in fact.  You can just stop thinking to much, just start opening your mind to the possible, to the things that make life worth living.  All those things you have that you do not even deserve are things that are added to you.  It is the abundance.  God actually came to give you an abundantly useful and joyful life and it is available to all.

Its like finding a treasure.  Not everyone is looking for it.  It is there all along.  You can begin to search and seek for this treasure or allow the devil to steal from you that treasure by distracting you from finding it.  He would love that you look around at all that you don’t have instead of enter into this LIFE giving treasure house of joy overflowing.  Once you get this treasure, which is free, you LOVE LIFE.  You start to feel so filled up and RICH.  I feel like I have found this treasure and it has made me rich beyond worldly riches.  Every moment feels like another gift I open up and get this surprise of my life all over again.  I wake up.  Surprise.  Another amazing day.  I walk outside.  Surprise!  The morning sun and the birds.  Another gift.  I look at the clouds.  I see another gift.  A painting just for my eyes from God.  Wow.

Most people have learning to live life in dread and regret.  They are sad about what they did or did not do.  They think about the things they can’t change.  They worry about tomorrow and dread the things that may or may not happen.  Fear paralyzes them and they can’t focus on the surprises that are already there.  I am not sure why it took me so long to find this treasure.  One day without joy is like a thousand years of death to me.  Some of you have lifetimes of weary, heavy burdens, that you just carry and drag around.  Just be for a moment.  Set aside you ideas of what makes you feel happy or not happy.  Those things that define your mood or value.  You have value.  Just being you is valuable.  Sometimes you just need to be still and LIVE in that moment.  Seize the treasure God has for you, and just have Joy.  No matter what is going on, you can just smile and have the most joyful experience.

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”
James 1:2

It sounds hard to count it joy when you have troubles.  It seems like you can’t even think about joy at a time like that.  The joy comes from what you learn through the experience of going through those valleys of life…

Patience…

“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
James 1:3-4

It is a perfecting.  A refining that happens. It is the treasure.  Its how you respond to LIFE that makes LIFE more enjoyable.  You can take that lemon, the sour and bitter things of life, you can pucker your face and feel sad…OR…you can make lemonade!  You add a little joy which is the sweetness of LIFE and then you have a drink that will not only satisfy your own thirst but it becomes a refreshing drink to all those around you.