Got Joy?

Got joy?

I do!

…Way down deep!

It overpowers everything, every other emotion that I have.

And because of it I have to use a lot of wrinkle crème! I have the potential for lots and lots of laugh lines and crows feet...because I smile constantly!

Do you remember this old Bible School song:
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Where?
Down in my heart to stay.

That’s why I smile all of the time!

Joy is my over-riding emotion… In fact, it overflows and I like it that way. It’s a good place to dwell, and I can’t keep from smiling! Sometimes my face actually hurts from smiling so much! My joy wells up, bubbles over, oozes out.

And I’ve been this way for quite a while, though I just really realized it not too long ago.

I’ve realized that I have joy when I am happy, joy when I am glad, joy when I am excited.

You may be saying, “Big whoop, lady! I don’t get the big deal, aren’t you supposed to be joyful when you are happy?”

Well, you’d be surprised!

I’ve known a lot of people who were happy about a particular circumstance, but deep down they were depressed, or angry, or disillusioned, or had a chip on their shoulder. I’ve known a lot of people who were all kinds of positive emotions, but those emotions were tied to a particular person or event in their life, and when things weren’t going well with the person, or when the event or circumstance came to an end, the bitterness welled up and overflowed.

See, I am also filled with joy, joyfulness, joy overflowing when I am upset, irritated, exhausted, sad, mourning, confused, and just down-right ticked-off.

And because of JOY, even when I feel those negative things, they don’t last long and they don’t run nearly as deep as they would otherwise ~ I’m just sure of it!

From where does my joy come? My joy comes from the Lord. (My take on Psalm 121:1…it actually says “help”, but I really like how it reads with the word joy subbed in!)

I guess I really realized all of this a few months ago after something kind of big didn’t go my way and I was pretty down about it, yet at the same time I felt an overwhelming sense of joy. In that moment it dawned on me: that is what the old Bible School song is about. It’s one of those simple little childhood melodies that we sing without thinking about the true and deeper meaning.

But HOW, you may be wondering, just exactly does one acquire this joy of which I speak?

Three ways, I believe:
1.) Continually praising, even through the crud.
This very well may involve asking God for help, and I am quite sure that it will certainly involve practice. You to have practice becoming your own best spin-doctor. When things are cruddy, convince yourself of any aspect of good, because it is there if you look hard enough. Someone in a seminar once taught me to “change the story”, meaning instead of cussing that horrid driver that just cut you off, you say “oh, that poor man, I hope he gets to the hospital in time…as fast as he is driving, his wife is obviously in labor!”
Well, the more you “change the story”, the more you start to automatically think like that, and the more you practice praising God, the more that will be your natural reaction, your natural way of thinking and praying, thus your natural state of being will become positive and joyful. Try it. For the next 30 days. I triple-dog dare ya! What’s that worst thing that could happen? It may just change your life!
Romans 5: 1-3
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance."

2.) Being obedient.
God tells us to be joyful in Him, to delight in Him, to bask in the goodness and glory and hope of Him.
If we are really believing, really studying His word, seeking His truth, and living by faith, our joy can not help but grow. Nothing can compare to the home that awaits us in Heaven!
God commands us:
Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
So if we are following His commands, we are at least making our very best attempt to do just that; delight ourselves in Him.

3.) Accepting His gift.
Jesus was born so that we may know this joy. That’s the only way we can get it, but all of us can have it. All of us. There is plenty to go around. Regardless of past mistakes, previous blunders, mishaps big or small. Regardless of age, race, background, which side of the tracks you grew up on… None of that “stuff” matters. You are forgiven.
All you have to do is take the gift, accept the gift, open your heart to the gift that God has given you in the miracle of this baby, yet king, sent to save the world and to fill it with joy!

From a great old Christmas hymn:
Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Joy! Joy! Jesus Christ was born for this
He has opened heaven's door
And man is blessed forevermore
Christ was born for this
Christ was born for this…

Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save

My Christmas wish for you: May you know the true JOY of a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus, down in your heart to stay!

Question: Have you "Got Joy"? If not, what will you do to work on getting it?