JOY IN THE LORD

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my
salvation.
Habakkuk 3:18

We're living in difficult times and those difficult times affect we of the faith just as much as anyone else. People are always looking for happiness, but it is a far cry from true joy. We know joy to be from the Lord and our relationship with Him. However, happiness and joy are no way near the same thing. Atheists can be happy people because happiness rests on circumstances. Christians can be happy also because of circumstances, but enjoy the permanence of true joythat comes only from the Lord.

I've wondered in everything going on in our land if we are losing some of our joy. We are very distracted these days, that can include our being distracted spiritually as well. We have God-given joy available all the time, but it's depth will depend on the depth of our relationship with our Lord.

Negative circumstances can cause us to think negatively even though we have access to Scripture and songs we have sung for years:

“I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart...”
“Joyful, joyful we adore Thee...”
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come...
“The joy of the Lord is my strength...”

It may seem at times like our joy is leaking, but that doesn't have to be. We must determine to stay focused on the things of God and not of the world. Satan knows how easily you and I are distracted and may not even have to work very hard in playing with our minds.

Distractions are going to be different for each of us, but we can determine to focus on more positive things. We are such blessed people. We may not have everything we want or even need, but can on a daily basis, look for those blessings that are all around us without too much thinking required. Most of those things will not involve money, but are God-given gifts to us for our enJOYment from a loving Father.

It must be added, as God's children, our Father feels such joy over us. That might be hard for us to conceive, but Zephaniah 3:17 tells us:

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee
is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice
over thee with joy; he will rest
in his love, he will joy over thee
with singing.

Just in those benefits from God we can be a people of joy. No matter what life or the world throws at us we have a God who is in the middle of our lives, who saves and rejoices over us with joy. His love is settled and He even sings over us with joy. Wow!

Father, thank You for Your being all we need. Thank You for Your gift of joy and for the way You love us. Thank You for singing over us as a mother would over her baby. You are too wonderful to describe and we love you. In Jesus name...Amen