Having and Keeping Joy

Do you have that one person, that when you see them, they appear excited to see you? How about that person that you pass on a frequent basis, that always has a smile on their face? What about that certain someone that you know, that always finds a kind word or something positive to say to you? What do these people have that makes them stand out? It. Is. JOY. You can’t hide joy. Why would you want to? You can’t leave it at home on a rainy day. When you have joy, it permeates your being. It becomes the very essence of you.

How do you have joy and even more importantly, how do you keep it? We defined joy on Monday. Tuesday, we talked about finding it. Wednesday, we learned you can lose it or have it stolen. Today, we want to find out how to keep it.

It’s easy to keep joy. Notice I didn’t say have or get. You simply ask God the Father to forgive you of your sins, believe in Him, and accept His forgiveness. When your heart is not overcome with sin, filled with daily burdens, harboring resentment, jealousy, or hatred, then you have room for joy. When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then the Joy will flow into your life. It becomes a gift that you can open every single day. All of a sudden you see the trees, the blue sky, the flowers blooming, hear the birds calling. You simply see and feel things in a new way. It is a gift you receive with salvation.

Keeping joy is a job but it’s an easy job. Don’t isolate yourself. Find fellowship with like-minded believers. Do things that make you happy but most importantly, do things that make others happy. This brings the most joy and the secret is, the more you do for others the more joy you will have. You may say, “well I don’t have anything to be happy about.” Find something that if it were not in your life you would be worse off. Recently, my 87-year-old mother, fell and broke her hip. That in and of itself is traumatic for an elderly person but you add to that the indignity of having your clothes cut off of you by strangers, not knowing what’s happening, clueless as to what will happen next, having no idea how long it will take to recover, or if you ever will. And as she lay there in pain, she said, “well, all of my children are here”. That was her silver lining. We were all together.

Now let me emphasize that Joy is a gift that can be given and received. You have to accept it from God as a gift for your salvation. So, get right with God. Find a Bible believing church and stay in God’s word and joy will overflow. Yes, there will be difficult times. There will be fun and easy times. There will be times when you wish Jesus would hurry up and smite the enemy. But, if you search for opportunities to share and give joy to others, then you are helping to nourish and grow your own joy.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Acts 20:35b Truly, as Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” Finally, I need not wait until I have more to bless others. The practice of living a life of generosity can begin by looking for small opportunities to give. Whether it is a gift of your time, a kind word spoken with feeling, a note of thanksgiving or empathy, a phone call that is overdue, a random act of kindness, or just doing a task that no one else wants to do. There are thousands of ways to give joy and the return on the investment is immeasurable. If this is all new to you, look around and see who fits the bill. Follow their lead. Eventually, through God’s grace, it will become as natural as eating. My prayer for you today is that you will find many ways to fill other’s lives with tiny pieces of joy, therefore, setting the example and nourishing and growing your own.