Joyful, Joyful

I want to encourage Mary L on January 29, 2011 6:50 AM you had wrote about the two children showing up at Bible study. You have obviously impacted those children in a positive way!!:) Yes, please continue the Bible study. Remember keep in mind, it doesn't matter "how many" come, what matters is that you are sharing Christ with others. You are doing a good job!! I will be praying for your husband:) I believe the topic on the 29th was..........Others Are Watching. For me this is a reminder (to the both of us) Others are watching. By what you have shared it has been really encouraging to me. I look at my own children and see their interest in learning more about Christ. They are watching me, yes that is a scary thought, but is is so cool to be able to see Christ working in and through me and how God has changed me and opened my eyes to so many things, and I have the opportunity to share that with my children, and to be able to share what a REAL God we serve. Keep up the good work!!

For me, true joy is only experienced when I'm living out my intended purpose. This means realizing that I was created by God, for God. He has a purpose for me. He is Master. He has the plan and knows all of the details. I am on a "need-to-know" basis. Denial of self and submission to His authority is key.
We live our lives trying to avoid conflict, pain, illness...
Joy is somehow equated as being the absence of turmoil. But true joy shines through in the midst of turmoil, heartache, despair. True joy comes only from above because "God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). When you can "rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Romans 5:3,4), you're there (and you'll KNOW it). True joy is found in the hope that is the final product of suffering itself! This hope produces the knowledge that you can endure ANYTHING that this life throws your way and that knowledge leads to true joy.

I don't get how reading about someone elses joy is supposed to make me joyful. Are we supposed to praise God to avoid judgement? Isn't that bribery? I've praised God and I've not praised God. My life still sucks!

Amen to that Tom D.!!!

Brings back memories of an old saying or motto I use to hear.

Jesus first, Others Next, Yourself Last = JOY!
Jesus and Others and You! . . . . JOY!

There are different Hymns about JOY, . . . I don't know the names of the hymns. I don't know all the words either, but can hum most of the tune.

i am responding to A statement, reading about someone else joy within the Lord do gives you comfort whether believe it or not, because reading about their situation and i that during that hard deal they still can find joy within the Lord gives you the reader hope that no matter what you can still have joy in the Lord.

Dear "A",Please consider: We praise our Lord because of who He is, because of what He's done, and, of course, because we love Him, but, always because we know how much He has loved us (John 3:16)

What has He done? He has created all things. Nothing good comes from any other source, only from "The Father of Lights". He is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End, the First and the Last,the firstfruits of the resurrection (Praise His Name forever!), and...Dear "A"...this one still blows me away every day of my life...it is: "the Author and Finisher of my faith". He has begun it in me, and He will complete it in me!!!

The life that is hidden in Christ is bound to be identified with some suffering. Jesus died on a bloody cross for the sins of the world (for all who would receive Him), He arose victoriously from the grave (so that we, also, will rise to be with Him and to reign with Him, one glorious day.

Dear "A", we are only overcomers through the blood of Jesus, and....while this life is not filled every day with all things our flesh desires, and does not proceed day to day according to the wishes of our carnal natures, there is nothing the Christian suffers that he or she suffers alone. Jesus has known our pain (and then some), and weeps for His loved ones. He is with us, to the end of the age and forever! Praise His holy name!!!

So, Please, Dear A, reconsider, just praise Him, because of who He is, and for what He has done, and for what He IS doing in the life of a soul. I decided early on, as a little girl, that I will wait as long as it takes, until due time, for any reward. Mine will be in heaven, where my citizenship is, and where my new place is being prepared by HIM! I will be where He is!

Blessings, to all on the Powered by 4 Blog!!!

I can relate A, but like Tom D. Said true joy comes from above, thru the Holy Spirit. Day by day, prayer by prayer and obedience to his word.

I forgot...just a few words about praise, plus JOY...while we are not saved BECAUSE we praise GOD, surely, most want to praise the One who has saved them from their sins, and has truly set them free! Remember, the Bible teaches that, one day, every knee shall bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Wouldn't you rather praise Him now?

Joy.. is not as difficult for me to "muster up", while keeping the clear Hope of the Ages, that Blessed Hope, in my view! If He is in your view, then you won't forget that He is with you, that He understands all, that HE WILL SAVE YOU, and that all the saved will one day be IMMORTAL and INCORRUPTIBLE. Do you want to live forever? Through sadness, grief, and all the day to day "stuff that (as you might say) sucks", HE must be the One who is in your view. Keep your eyes on Him. That is how I manage joy through everything, and through the cross (His cross) that, sometimes, we must bear. John Wesley, on his deathbed, said, "The best of all, is God is with us!" Blessings, and much peace and joy to you, Dear "A."