“True joy is the earnest which we have of heaven, it is the treasure of the soul, and therefore should be laid in a safe place, and nothing in this world is safe to place it in.” (John Donne, Sermons, 1624)
God has given us a recipe for living joyfully. If we ignore heaven’s instructions, we pay an awful price in heartbreak coin. God frowns on haphazard living and smiles on conscientiousness. When we submit to Holy Spirit directions, joy floods our inner being.
Forgiveness precedes joy. A guilty conscience spoils life. Confession and repentance brings pardon, enabling us to get up off the floor and stand tall. Unburdened, we can run with a spring in our step.
Focus is an essential ingredient to experience joy. Without a goal, we are a tumbleweed in capricious winds. Ecstasy unknown on plains of egocentricity is found on heights of dedication. Aimlessness and apathy go together; so do purpose and enthusiasm.
Thankfulness is a third component essential to joy. When we are grumbly hateful, sourness clouds the day; when we are humbly grateful, good attitude brightens the day with sunshine.
Friendship with Jehovah is a fourth element critical to joy. Our eternal Friend sustains us every mile of our odyssey. Aware of His Presence, we can whistle in the dark, and sing through the storms. “And He walks with me and He talks with Me, and He tells me I am His own; And the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” (C. Austin Miles)
“Fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fire on the altar. When the people saw all this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.” (Leviticus 9:24 NLT)
Johnny R. Almond
Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity
[This devotion based on Day 64 of Gentle Whispers]
Interim Pastor, Nomini Baptist Church; Montross, Virginia
Blog http://GentleWhispersFromEternity-ScripturePersonalized.com/
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