The Spidle's Letting the Son Shine In
Pam shares the Word of God from the Bible and thoughts from her heart.
(The next message will be posted the first of July)
JOY Is Here to Stay!
According to Webster's Dictionary, joy and happiness mean pretty much the same thing, but God's Word doesn't use these two words synonymously. Joy is quite different from happiness. Happiness is a feeling brought about by people, things, or events in our lives that are good or cause pleasure. Needless to say, we aren't overwhelmed with happiness 100% of the time. Joy comes from the inside! Joy comes only by knowing God. Joy is fruit of the Spirit and lasts for eternity.Galations 5:22 -23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.Nehemiah 8: 10 ...for the JOY of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah and Ezra were explaining the law of Moses to the people in this chapter. The people cried when they heard the words of the Law; they were convicted of their sins. Nehemiah told them not to be sorrowful. He knew God would forgive them. He told them to remember the JOY of the Lord.)Psalm 16:11 David said to the Lord, "You will show me the path of life: in your presence is fullness of JOY; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore." St. John 15:10-11 Jesus said, " If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken to you, that my JOY might remain in you, and that your JOY might be full."Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all JOY and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.There are Bible passages that speak of happiness, and there are those that speak of JOY. JOY is associated with God. Read your Bible. Read about JOY.People, things, and circumstances cannot take our JOY in the Lord unless we allow them to crowd out our time and fellowship with our Savior. We are living in difficult times, and we have a tendency to dwell on the negative. We must not let those things steal our JOY! Things on Earth last only for a season, but our time with our Lord lasts for eternity. Make sure you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and your JOY will be full.