40 MORE DAYS OF JOY - 05
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 MORE Days of Happiness and Joy
Day 05 | GOD – FULL OF JOY!
40 MORE Days of Happiness and Joy
Day 05 | GOD – FULL OF JOY!
GOD – FULL OF JOY!
John 15:11
“I have said these things to you so that my JOY might be in you and that your JOY might be full.”
If you look at the nine fruit of the Spirit, you’ll see LOVE, JOY, and PEACE as the first three listed. (Galatians 5:22)
Jesus said to His 70 followers: “Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. In that very hour, He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 10:20-21; AMP)
Robert Culver Duncan, theologian and professor at Wheaton College, said: “God transcendent in heaven and immanent in all creation is supremely happy.”
As a kid who went to Sunday School at age 5, I don’t remember hearing about God or Jesus being happy or joyful. Jesus was “a man of sorrow and acquainted with many griefs,” we knew that God was upset when we sinned. But happy? Joyful? No, not really.
It wasn’t until I grew up and pondered John 15:11 that it dawned on me that Jesus must have been FULL of JOY if He could help his followers have HIS joy in them and their joy to be FULL.
And Jesus – the Son of God – is part of the Trinity, is God, and was God in the flesh when He was on earth.
Therefore, God is FULL of JOY!
JOY and HAPPINESS are synonyms. (Other synonyms include gladness, exultation, bliss, blessedness, elation, and more.) So why do so many Christians believe it’s OK to be Joyful but NOT OK to be happy?
Can happiness and joy become warped, selfish, superficial and sinful. Of course, just like most every other gift of God.
But we Believers should not abandon joy and happiness as we walk with our LORD and enjoy all the blessings He has lovingly poured out on us!
Prayer: LORD, thank You for the JOY and HAPPINESS You offer to us children as we follow You. Amen.
John 15:11
“I have said these things to you so that my JOY might be in you and that your JOY might be full.”
If you look at the nine fruit of the Spirit, you’ll see LOVE, JOY, and PEACE as the first three listed. (Galatians 5:22)
Jesus said to His 70 followers: “Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. In that very hour, He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 10:20-21; AMP)
Robert Culver Duncan, theologian and professor at Wheaton College, said: “God transcendent in heaven and immanent in all creation is supremely happy.”
As a kid who went to Sunday School at age 5, I don’t remember hearing about God or Jesus being happy or joyful. Jesus was “a man of sorrow and acquainted with many griefs,” we knew that God was upset when we sinned. But happy? Joyful? No, not really.
It wasn’t until I grew up and pondered John 15:11 that it dawned on me that Jesus must have been FULL of JOY if He could help his followers have HIS joy in them and their joy to be FULL.
And Jesus – the Son of God – is part of the Trinity, is God, and was God in the flesh when He was on earth.
Therefore, God is FULL of JOY!
JOY and HAPPINESS are synonyms. (Other synonyms include gladness, exultation, bliss, blessedness, elation, and more.) So why do so many Christians believe it’s OK to be Joyful but NOT OK to be happy?
Can happiness and joy become warped, selfish, superficial and sinful. Of course, just like most every other gift of God.
But we Believers should not abandon joy and happiness as we walk with our LORD and enjoy all the blessings He has lovingly poured out on us!
Prayer: LORD, thank You for the JOY and HAPPINESS You offer to us children as we follow You. Amen.
Posted in JOY 2