September 21 What is Joy?

Luke 24:52-53 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
 
With Great Joy – Part 1
 
BEFORE we leave Luke, I would like to share with you some thoughts on “joy”. “With Great Joy” is the disciples’ worshipful expression toward the Lord as they experienced Jesus’ ascension. Worship and joy was their response to all they had seen and heard. They looked past Jesus’ death and saw his life. They have witnessed his promises fulfilled into their lives. How could they not be joyful?
     Easily, though, we will miss their joy unless we stop to consider this life-changing emotion. We may believe joy is a fleeting, rare emotion that occurs when life is just as we desire it. But as we’ll see, true joy is not only found in the Lord’s salvation, joy comes from the Lord’s own expressions of delight and happiness to his own. The eternal God is joyful – filled with, even overflowing with joy! And he wants you to live with great joy.
     What is joy? Joy is delight, happy, bliss and elation. Yet it is difficult to define because emotions are very personal. Let’s look, then, to the following illustration to understand a Jesus-centered joy.
     A young lady writes: “If I place my joy in my job, what do I do when circumstances cause a bad day at work? If I place my joy in material possessions, what happens when those things become useless? If I put my joy in a quiet and secure mind, what do I do when I worry about my job and my things?
     “The problem with attaching my joy to the circumstances and things in my life is that when something goes wrong – and something always does – I had none of the joy I expected. ‘Where’s the joy in life I so desperately long for and all the world has promised me?’ I asked.
     “Do you know what? As I began to mind my mind to focus on who God is, my life changed. My life changed because I began to link my mind with the promises and blessings of God displayed in the Holy Bible. More and more I learned of God’s magnificent love. I anchored my mind to truly believe I could live everyday in a diligent pursuit of true joy. Faithfully, I began to know that regardless of what happens each day, I am securely linked to the eternal God who doesn't change.”
     One way to know true joy is to know what it’s not. Joy is not happiness and pleasure in temporary things. Sadly, our pursuit of worldly joy will rob us of any sense of secure happiness. We try so hard to get into that place where we are “happy”, the effort wears us down. We don’t even know if or when we’ve arrived.
     What is joy? We begin to know joy when we understand our well-being, our life, is grounded and established in Jesus’ gospel. Joy is the deep emotion of well-being, knowing all is well in Jesus. Regardless of what happens in the world, when we know Jesus as Lord and Savior, we must know our Lord has us for eternity.
     And remember, joy is a fruit from the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. The Spirit’s fruit draws us nearer to God. Joy is a gift of worship from God as we delight in him! This is why we must know for ourselves the disciples’ great joy. God’s gifts are worth opening. Let’s open joy. 
 
Prayer: From Psalms 43:4 Then will I go to the altar of (you) God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Amen.