Got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Saturday, July 21, 2018
by Jessica McKinnon

Ask a hundred people what they want most in life. Right off the bat, 99 will say, “to be happy!”

Believe me. I have asked hundreds of people this question in life and the answer never surprises me.

If you were to dig in a little deeper and ask, “What does happiness look like you?” there is no doubt you will get varying answers. Happiness is:

• a healthy family 
• being debt free
• retirement
• a new house
• a new boat
• a truck
• to travel the world
• to make so much money that I would never have to worry again….

On and on the answers would come. 

I spent a great deal of time thinking about this subject and I have pressed on with this follow-up question.
“What does JOY look like to you?”

      I wish that for so many people I could take a snapshot of their faces or record the conversation. Not all but many have a blank look -- a quietness in their conversation as if to say, “I just told you how I wanted to be happy. Is this a trick question?”

     Think about this for a moment. Are happiness and joy the same thing?

      I feel that happiness is an emotion that God created for us to experience.
It is such a wonderful emotion. I am so happy when:

• I spend time with friends and family and they make me laugh.
• I see a funny movie.
• I get new clothes.
• I get my hair done.
• I travel somewhere new and try new foods or meet new people.

What I have found, though, is that when I wake in the morning, my happiness is not the same. What I felt the day before is no longer as evident. I have memory of it – I can reflect on it. But the happiness is fleeting. 

Joy
It is a choice -- a lasting fire inside our souls.
Where can we find it?

This is a gift from Abba Father.

He enjoys seeing His children happy.
But it just so incredible that
His joy remains 

when everything else fails.

Joy
Have you ever lost someone you love deeply?
I have lost many loved ones and I knew that my broken heart would mend. But it hurt.
My JOY was always there, though, because I knew the love would never leave me.
They would be safe in God’s hands and I would see them again.
That brings me joy.

Joy
It comes in ways we cannot understand.
If I could visualize joy, I would say it is the LIGHT inside people that can never be put out.
The light of God lights up our heart, mind and soul when we are in a good relationship with Him.
And the outward evidence is Joy.

You know the song… I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy…. HA!!
I knew it!
You’re singing it in your head.

We can decide today to choose JOY or we can choose today to allow the world and all the negativity that whirls around us to steal our joy. What we can always do is to allow God to light the fire that will NEVER be put out, even in times of despair or grief. It is by far the one thing that people really do want most in life. To be filled with JOY. 

What do you choose today?

I want to pass along some joy today if you will accept it. Here are two gifts I share with you. Some bread of life and a song. Today, I choose joy and today I give some of that abundance to you.  

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

Please listen to this song. My friend passed it to me and I pass it to you. May it bless you and move you. It is all about JOY!  Be careful. You may find yourself smiling and dancing!

A song from Jessica