Many people desperately want to be happy but they are frustrated.  People often use happiness and joy interchangeably but they are quite different.  Happiness depends upon my circumstances or “happenings” whereas joy is an inner state of contentment regardless of my circumstances.  Where does joy come from?  It certainly doesn’t come from an absence of sorrows in one’s life, it’s much more substantial.  Biblical joy comes from knowing the fullness of God through Jesus Christ; therefore it’s been said, “The opposite of joy is not sorrow.  It is unbelief.”

You may wonder “How can I experience that type of joy?”  One way is by heeding the words of Jesus.  In the upper room discourse Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).  Jesus wants you to experience fullness of joy in your life.  As you learn His words and obey His commandments an outcome is that you will experience His joy in your life.

Jesus also presents another means of experiencing joy in your life.  In John 16:24 Jesus tells His disciples, “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”   Jesus is referring to the power of prayer in His name.  How is your prayer life?  Are you asking God for the fullness of His joy?

If you can gain a glimpse of God’s incredible love for you then you can’t help but be joyful.  When you’re plagued by unbelief however, and question if God really loves you, with all of your flaws and failures, that is when you lose your joy.  If you have surrendered your life to Jesus and believe that God fully accepts you through the sacrifice of Jesus then you can have an assurance that He accepts you and loves you.  The truth is that there is nothing you can do to make God love you any less and conversely there is nothing you can do to make Him love you any more.  When you grasp the implications of that statement you are filled with joy inexpressible.

My previous blog post examined how to develop peace in your life.  Joy and peace are really two sides of the same coin.  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).