Have You Seen My Joy?

Have you seen my Joy?

Illus. By Chris Jordan

A little girl once went to visit her grandmother in the country. Things were fine until Sunday. This lady went to a very old-fashioned church that kept the Sabbath by forbidding all work, fun, playing.

The little girl woke up Sunday and started right off playing and laughing, as little girls do. Her grandmother immediately rebuked her for breaking the Sabbath. The little girl quieted down, went to church and later went for a walk out by the barn.

She went over to an old mule, a droopy eyed, sad faced, long-eared mule. She looked at the mule for a while, and said, “Mr. Mule, you look like you go to my grandmother’s Church!”

Does anyone remember the old chorus?

Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of my heart, the castle of my heart, the castle of my heart. Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of my heart, and the king is in residence there.

For a lot of people, they are caught on the treadmill of life and feel as though life is passing by with very little or no enjoyment on the horizon.

In the land where the common knowledge known around the world knows there is plenty for every one, far too many feel depressed. Some blame it on a midlife crisis, but the problem is far deeper. It’s a feeling of discontentment and the Self Actualization, that something really is missing and there is a void that needs to be filled!

The age-old question is what do we want from life? The answer is almost always a simple reply, to be happy!

It’s natural for people to struggle with happiness, after they have been through a disappointment or loss, or someone has stolen something from them.

But for far too many, real happiness in life eludes them! They experience no real unhappiness, but neither do they experience real joy either. They just trudge through life, on a course that will never take them to the destination, deep down they long to go to!

In the Bible the Words happiness and joy are almost interchangeable. In our spiritual walk, when we strive for the fruit of the spirit God has provided, Partaking of Gods joy imparts an internal change of our heart, mind and soul and fills the void we all have by Gods design, for a relationship with Him.

Illus. From the book “a life beyond amazing”

A worldwide study of 90,000 people showed the 10 richest countries in the world also had the highest rates of depression. United States had the second highest rate, exceeded only by France. This tells us that joy and happiness arent dependent on wealth and circumstances. Those who have the most reason to be joyful are often the most depressed.

Far too many are guilty of playing the peanut and shell game, or the slight of hand game. Always trying to guess which shell the peanut of happiness is under, only to be continually disappointed by the wrong guess the road of bad decisions leads them down!

Far to many fall prey to the theft of their God given right! I’m not talking about the constitution here and our inalienable rights, this is far bigger than that. This is God’s covenant of relationship every Christian is entitled too, but far to few realize and experience!

Satan is and has always been in the business of ripping off things that don’t belong to him!

Only, unlike today’s modern cyber thief, who try’s to steal your identity and get all they can at one time. I’m not saying the devil wouldn’t do that, but he’s even more crafty than the cyber thief.

Satan steals little by little, morsel by morsel, day after day and thing is, most people don't even realize they’ve been robbed until it's to late and everything they value is gone.

You see, satan not only attacks physically, but through words, actions, thoughts, dreams, ambitions and whatever else he views as an opportunity, to be taken advantage of!

Jesus said in JOHN 10:10 RSV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The MSG. Says: I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

While some might be thinking of personnel items and I'm not saying the devil wouldn't try to try to get to you, by stealing your net worth. After all the devil took everything Job had including his possessions and his family.

But the devil doesn't need your car or your house, or your money, he is more interested in stealing all the Spiritual treasures that you have access to. The important things that have value with God are spiritual and of eternal significance.