Real Joy

[Starise]

Not the kind of joy people pretend to have.

No I mean real joy.

If you have it, how did you get it? 

What is your joy dependent on? I depend on Jesus Christ for all of my provision including His strength to my inner man so long as I stay away from sin and seek to follow all of His ways, yet as a melancholy I don't have that dynamic sort of inner joy some people claim to have.

If you have it, how would you describe it to the rest of the world? Does is wane at times? Or could we be confusing emotion over something else?

JOY- A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

How does one have this joy amidst life's demands? The world can temporarily substitute this with drugs and other vices.

In truth we are told that on this earth we will have trouble, so I see pleasure in the faith that one day we will all be relieved from this old earth the way it presently is. Until then we must either learn how to be content in trouble or fall to it.

You can have contentment with out joy but you can't have joy without contentment. A content person is not a complaining person. A joyful person is not someone who is constantly complaining.

We are told to be content as Christians. God hates the complaining attitude as can be seen in the OT where the Israelites complained about eating the same manna every day among many other things. Yet many of us are constantly looking for Friday every week or looking for pay day or vacation or retirement. We are always looking to get to something we don't have and therefore we seem to function on different levels of sadness rather than progressing shades of happiness. 

It is much easier to be content and even joyful when life is treating us well. When life begins to get difficult how far does our contentment go then? 

If what we have is better than what the 'world of the unsaved' has presently, then why do some of us live as if we are worse off than they are? Why do many of us pursue the exact same things as they do?

Something should be different about real Christians.

Our faith sustains us through the promises given to us that MOSTLY apply to our future. In similar ways to my above comments on how men always look ahead, this is also looking ahead to a better day. What about the here and now? 

[AnOrangeCat]

As someone with chronic depression joy is a bit scarce for me but it does happen. Sometimes it really does just happen for no discernible reason. Sometimes there's a reason. I was certainly joyful when I finally heard from a friend who'd been missing for around three months and that she was okay. I'm happy that a potential door to better my situation in life has been opened. What may be the weirdest and most reliable source of joy stems from something I refer to as reconnecting with myself. It consists of revisiting important events in my past and things that I associate with myself and the more happy or comforting memories I have. It might be a bit vain of me to feel this way but I love myself. I'm very thankful to God for making me the way He did and for the people and events that were part of the process. Psalm 139:14 says "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." I really take that verse to heart and believe it's true of us all on multiple levels from the amazing way the human body is engineered down to the intricacies of our personalities. Sometimes it's just really exciting and fulfilling for me to bask in that and be thankful to God for it.

[Sower]

12 hours ago, Starise said:

Not the kind of joy people pretend to have.

No I mean real joy.

If you have it, how did you get it? 

I've wondered the same/similar thoughts, Starise.
I think when I have felt the joy scripture refers to is when I often see myself in a situations with no out, or some inevitable bad situation that has to run its course, yet I 'feel' a certain the knowledge, or joy in the knowledge/faith/trust, that everything is going just as God has planed, he is in control, and as my wife is always telling me when I get worried about something, she says 'it will all work out' And it does. And I count it all joy. I thing my understanding is that joy shows up in the struggles.

[Ani Tefillah]

10 hours ago, Starise said:

Not the kind of joy people pretend to have.

No I mean real joy.

If you have it, how did you get it? 

What is your joy dependent on? I depend on Jesus Christ for all of my provision including His strength to my inner man so long as I stay away from sin and seek to follow all of His ways, yet as a melancholy I don't have that dynamic sort of inner joy some people claim to have.

If you have it, how would you describe it to the rest of the world? Does is wane at times? Or could we be confusing emotion over something else?

JOY- A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

How does one have this joy amidst life's demands? The world can temporarily substitute this with drugs and other vices.

In truth we are told that on this earth we will have trouble, so I see pleasure in the faith that one day we will all be relieved from this old earth the way it presently is. Until then we must either learn how to be content in trouble or fall to it.

You can have contentment with out joy but you can't have joy without contentment. A content person is not a complaining person. A joyful person is not someone who is constantly complaining.

We are told to be content as Christians. God hates the complaining attitude as can be seen in the OT where the Israelites complained about eating the same manna every day among many other things. Yet many of us are constantly looking for Friday every week or looking for pay day or vacation or retirement. We are always looking to get to something we don't have and therefore we seem to function on different levels of sadness rather than progressing shades of happiness. 

It is much easier to be content and even joyful when life is treating us well. When life begins to get difficult how far does our contentment go then? 

If what we have is better than what the 'world of the unsaved' has presently, then why do some of us live as if we are worse off than they are? Why do many of us pursue the exact same things as they do?

Something should be different about real Christians.

Our faith sustains us through the promises given to us that MOSTLY apply to our future. In similar ways to my above comments on how men always look ahead, this is also looking ahead to a better day. What about the here and now? 

Thank you for the share! 

I believe that a part of an old hymn went like this "the sorrow and the joy (or the gladness), they are wandering together". 

That's how it is in my life, anyway. 😊 

I've learned that if I am thankful (to Abba Father) in all kinds of situations and circumstances, I can always have His Joy (and Peace/Shalom). 

 

[Starise]

9 hours ago, Sower said:

I've wondered the same/similar thoughts, Starise.
I think when I have felt the joy scripture refers to is when I often see myself in a situations with no out, or some inevitable bad situation that has to run its course, yet I 'feel' a certain the knowledge, or joy in the knowledge/faith/trust, that everything is going just as God has planed, he is in control, and as my wife is always telling me when I get worried about something, she says 'it will all work out' And it does. And I count it all joy. I thing my understand is joy shows up in the struggles.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

There's a lot of peace, a lot of rest in knowing this. No matter what happens we have the assurance that it's all going to work together for good.

[Dennis1209]

I have briefly talked about lasting joy in my personal testimony. Trying to fill that empty lonely void with something material for temporary happiness. I could compare it to drug addiction, getting a fix and it wears off, then wanting more and better stuff. There is no inner peace and satisfaction with that. True and lasting joy comes from knowing your eternal status, where your eternal home is, and what the Lord Jesus did for us to redeem us. 

I'm not making light of the seriousness of the subject at hand. But I'd like to play the devil's advocate with a parody for a moment. 

I suspect "manna" was a seed or grain, that was ground to make unleavened bread. I can imagine myself walking around the desert each day, given a loaf of flat Wonder Bread to eat, day after day. I should be thankful and grateful to the Lord for His provision. But my human nature is accustomed to variety with some meat. I'm a carnivore, and some cooked quail would be mighty fine to complement that manna. Now, what's for dessert and where's the beef 

Have you ever thought about how much quail it would take to feed around 2-3 million people? How many 12 ga. shotgun shells it would take to harvest all those quail  It sure would be nice if those quail were as dumb today. I wouldn't have to get a hunting license or migratory bird stamp, a gun, and hunting gear, look over my shoulder for the Game Warden because I was well over my limit. I'd just walk on over to them and pick them up. 

I forget where it mentions it in the Bible, but I recall manna as having a honey taste? No matter how nourishing or how good something tastes, like ice cream, if that's all you eat, I think it's human nature to get bored and tired of the same thing day in and day out? 

[Ani Tefillah]

31 minutes ago, Starise said:

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

There's a lot of peace, a lot of rest in knowing this. No matter what happens we have the assurance that it's all going to work together for good.

Amen and Amen! I always use that verse during trials, tests and tribulations, and it gives me faith, hope Peace and joy! 😊 

[Sower]

7 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

I forget where it mentions it in the Bible, but I recall manna as having a honey taste? No matter how nourishing or how good something tastes, like ice cream, if that's all you eat, I think it's human nature to get bored and tired of the same thing day in and day out? 

Unless your starving.... ( oh the joy of meals on wheels wings home delivery)

I think the vast majority in America have not an iota of understanding of real hunger, worldwide.
But I'm like you, Dennis, and as for food, although I'm a meat and potatoes simpleton (with hot sauce/peppers),
I adhere to the "variety is the spice of life" habits. I can eat leftovers 3-4 days in a row.
But each time I spice it up with whatever I can find (browsing) in the fridge or my bottles of peppers and sauces.

 

[Starise]

Manna casserole? Creamed manna? Grilled manna on palm leaves? I see your point there @Dennis1209. I might have liked the chocolate covered manna.

Being a meat and potatoes man myself I can see where the same food for a long time could get a little boring. My prayer might be " Lord this isn't absolutely necessary, but if you could please rain a few slices of cheese and some greens down I would greatly appreciate it.Maybe a chicken wing or two?" 

Recollecting back before this the Israelite had been in bondage for 400 years to the Egyptians. They were slaves treated like cattle. All of the miraculous things that had happened to get them where they were was nothing short of amazing.All of the plagues sent to Egypt that none of them felt, but all of them seen. 

How quickly a sense of entitlement sets in. Who knows? Maybe the manna was a test from God. We tend to take each stage of blessing for granted and then want something else it seems. 

Ecclesiastes 1:7-9

…7All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to the place from which the streams come, there again they flow. 8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.…

the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.

....and apparently the belly is never satisfied either. Men seem to always think MORE will solve the problem.

We drive by some very rich neighborhoods here sometimes. HUGE houses. Three and four car garages. Enough room for four families in one house. You get the picture. What are they doing to some of these houses? Adding on more space to them.

Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon is building the largest yacht in the world. This yacht is so large he is paying to have a bridge removed temporarily so he can get it from port to the ocean. They now have submarine yachts. These ships are also submarines that can stay under water for extended periods of time.These are private vessels not military.

I believe this goes to show that men are never satisfied. No matter how much money they have. No matter how much you give someone they want more.

I sometimes hear conversations among Christians about what they are up to and it's surprising how much of these conversations are centered around the same kinds of things the world is after. They are doing this and doing that and going here and going there. I am often involved in a home repair project, so you might see me discussing some of that too. My point though is, that if we're going to brag, lets brag about Jesus. The best thing that ever happened to us should be Jesus. If it wasn't, then we are no different from the world.

 

 

[Dennis1209]

3 minutes ago, Sower said:

Unless your starving.... ( oh the joy of meals on wheels wings home delivery)

I think the vast majority in America have not an iota of understanding of real hunger, worldwide.
But I'm like you, Dennis, and as for food, although I'm a meat and potatoes simpleton (with hot sauce/peppers),
I adhere to the "variety is the spice of life" habits. I can eat leftovers 3-4 days in a row.
But each time I spice it up with whatever I can find (browsing) in the fridge or my bottles of peppers and sauces.

 

From someone accustomed to excesses of plenty all his life, it becomes difficult to even imagine the plight of those starving around the world. I've heard stories of people coming to America from third-world impoverished nations. Walking into one of our supermarkets, they're jaw-dropping in awe and disbelief, from the overwhelming abundance of food, and the quality thereof.

I believe it is going to become much worse, including hyperinflation, leading to a day's wages to feed oneself. But people today here in the U.S. are accustomed to overflowing grocery shelves, and they have the "entitlement" mentality. Because I'm American, use owes me. Why should I work? You owe me a living because I am, you have more than I do, it's not fair and equitable.  

We are now seeing firsthand the ripple effect of many shortages, and the causes. People (including myself) are complaining about these insignificant and sporadic shortages already. I'm afraid America is in for a rude awakening and reality check. I believe the Tribulation is ever so near, and America has lost its blessing from God, for obvious in our face reasons. 

There might be an ebb and flow here and there, but the general global trend and outlook are not promising at all. We now have the most incompetent, inept, God-hating, antisemitic government and administration in the history of the United States, in my opinion. From here on out, I don't believe things are going to bode well for the U.S. 

Fortunately, we all know our eternal destiny, and I believe it is at the door.