This topic couldn't be more fitting for this week because lately everywhere I turn I have been hearing the words "joy", "celebrate", and "free". I've been thinking a lot about these things lately and about how we were created to be joyful, and to celebrate this gift of life that we have been blessed with.
So many times we can confuse joy with happy, when really the two words are as different as night and day. Happiness is more of a feeling that is driven by our outward circumstances and situations, whereas joy is an inward state of the heart. It is a strength that sustains throughout difficult seasons and spills out carrying us over to the other side.
So how does joy equal strength, and what does it have to do with celebrating and being free if it isn't happiness? Well for me joy brings strength because it causes me to change my focus from the present circumstances, and to look toward God and His faithful promises. These promises bring hope because they shift my perspective into an eternal one instead of a here-and-now one. When I look at eternity, and more specifically eternity in Heaven with my Savior, I become free from the effect of the cares of today, which are fleeting and momentary (as the Bible says) and am strengthened to carry on in celebration of what lies ahead.
STOP! (Okay...so I went 5 min over again...so-o-o-o-ry! Still a newbie here) ;)
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