Saturday, February 18, 2012

Lifted Up in the Completeness of God's Joy

Everlasting joy is found in God alone.  If we depend on others to produce joy, then we only experience temporary moments of it, and we are never satisfied. I write this from experience.  I depend some days on a hug or a compliment or an acknowledgement from certain people in my life, and when I do receive one, I feel joy and elation.  The days when I don't receive one, I feel more insecure and dejected.  I hinge joy on a hug!  How crazy is that!?  Therefore, I repeat, more for myself than anyone else, EVERLASTING JOY is found in God alone.  Period.  The joy that I receive from others just comes and goes.  It's erratic and inconsistent.
If we live our lives depending on others to produce joy, then we will live our lives in disappointment and dissatisfaction.  Only God can produce complete joy.  "For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete." (Deuteronomy 16:15) 

I found joy in the past week by serving others because in essence I served the Lord.  I also was filled with joy when I spent time in God's Word and shared with others the wisdom gained from it, when I took care of the little things that hung over my head like tacky, irritating ornaments; and when I poured out love onto others even when I knew it might not be reciprocated or that it might be rejected.  Joy was in my heart because God was there, and I relied on His love, His faithfulness, and His goodness. 

The beauty of God's joy is that because it is complete, I'm overflowing with it when I do receive the hugs, the compliments, or the acknowledgments from certain people.  There's nothing better than to be flying above the clouds because of God's propelling joy and to have a gust of wind--bits of joy that comes from other people--lift me up even higher.  May God joy fill your hearts this day and may you receive the extra blessings that come!

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