{"id":23403,"date":"2014-12-18T00:20:22","date_gmt":"2014-12-18T05:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=23403"},"modified":"2014-12-17T11:05:50","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T16:05:50","slug":"23403","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/18\/23403\/","title":{"rendered":"What IS Joy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gchSHadventjoygraphic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As I began to study JOY<\/strong><\/em><\/span>, one question kept coming to mind \u2013 what is joy<\/span>?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 The more I researched…the more frustrated I became. \u00a0Oh, there is LOTS of information out there about joy. \u00a0Most of the information is very vague and I wanted concrete.<\/p>\n

Then I stumbled across Rick Warren\u2019s definition of joy<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cJoy<\/span> is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life,
\nthe quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright,
\nand the determined choice to praise God in every situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I love that! \u00a0Joy<\/span> is a ‘settled assurance…a quiet confidence’ in God. \u00a0Lexham\u2019s Bible Dictionary<\/span> defines joy<\/span> as \u201ca natural result of having received salvation. \u00a0Joy<\/span> comes on account of what Christ has done, irrelevant of whatever circumstances are happening in one\u2019s life<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Psalm 92: 4 (NLT) puts it like this,<\/p>\n

You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!
\nI sing for joy<\/span> because of what you have done.<\/p>\n

When I recall all He has done<\/strong> for me, I can look forward to what He will do<\/strong> with assurance and confidence. I trust Him. \u00a0That is true<\/strong> joy<\/strong><\/span><\/em>. \u00a0According to Matthew Henry, \u201cFrom a joy<\/span>ful remembrance of what God has done for us, we may raise a joy<\/span>ful prospect of what He will do.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I continued to think about what Christ has done for me, two things came to mind:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. He has given me a future<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. He has given me hope<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) states \u201cI know the plans I have for you\u201d\u2014this is the Lord\u2019s declaration\u2014\u201cplans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope….\u201d<\/p>\n

    And Psalm 16:11 (HCSB) says \u201cYou reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy<\/span>; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Happiness is often associated with joy. \u00a0Joy<\/span> is so much more than being happy. Happiness is a temporary emotion while joy<\/span> is an attitude, a state of being. Happiness often comes from external situations or material things. The joy<\/span> of the Lord is found within and gives us strength no matter what we are experiencing. \u00a0Joy<\/span> is the result of our choice to trust Him.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s where I find my joy<\/span> \u2013 in Him alone<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0* \u00a0 \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271d \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2605 \u00a0 \u00a0* <\/span><\/p>\n

    Father, thank You for being the source of my joy<\/span>. You are my Strength and my Portion forever. Remind me when I struggle that joy<\/span> and happiness are not the same thing. May I always look to You and recall all You have done, and will do, in my life. That is my true joy<\/span>. In Jesus\u2019 name I ask this \u2013 Amen, so be it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As I began to study JOY, one question kept coming to mind \u2013 what is joy?\u00a0 The more I researched…the more frustrated I became. \u00a0Oh, there is LOTS of information out there about joy. \u00a0Most of the information is very vague and I wanted concrete. Then I stumbled across Rick Warren\u2019s definition of joy: \u201cJoy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":23370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[8014,4651,5889,3367,1287,425,551,8026,577,5953,4073,8017,900,3174,8027,8028],"class_list":["post-23403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-3rd-week-of-advent","tag-advent","tag-cynda-cottrill","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jeremiah-2911","tag-jesus-gives-us-joy","tag-joy","tag-matthew-henry","tag-psalm-1611","tag-psalm-924","tag-rick-warren","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-true-joy","tag-what-is-joy","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/gchSHadventjoygraphic.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s39pHp-23403","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23403"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23443,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23403\/revisions\/23443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}