“And such as violate the covenant he shall pervert and seduce with flatteries, but the people who know their God shall prove themselves strong and shall stand firm and do exploits [for God]” (Daniel 11:32, Amp).
COMMITMENT FOR CONTINUITY
JOY
Everyone wants to be happy –Joy is simply a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. It is an emotion we all want to express one way or the other. Joy is that special element that gives texture and flavor to our daily life. Without it, we are left with closed hearts and minds. We need to learn how to find, grow, and share it.
Now, we must understand that Joy is different compared to Happiness. While happiness is an emotion in which one experiences feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to bliss and intense pleasure, Joy is a stronger, less common feeling than happiness. Happiness can be experienced from any good activity, food, or company. Joy is a byproduct of a moral lifestyle.
Joy can also be characterized as a deep inner feeling. Happiness is an outward expression while Joy endures hardship, trials and connects with meaning and purpose. A person pursues happiness but chooses joy. Witnessing or achieving selflessness to the point of personal sacrifice frequently triggers this emotion.
How do we classify joy in emotion?
Generally speaking, Joy as an emotion is a feeling of extreme gladness, delight, or exultation of the spirit arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction. The feeling of joy may take two forms: passive and active. Passive joy involves tranquility and a feeling of contentment with things as they are. While active joy involves a desire to share one’s feelings with others. It is associated with more engagement of the environment than is passive joy.
Joy comes in different dimensions:
One of the richest sources of joy is getting immersed in an activity, and putting all our soul and talent into it. The joy of creating or accomplishing something can give us an incredible boost of power.
Joy has something very pure and innocent about it. It is a feeling that reminds us of the innocence of childhood and all its endless pleasures. A pure mind, open to the charm of the world, can find joy everywhere.
Souls who are capable of love are also capable of immense happiness and joy. Joy is the path that leads to both love and happiness. Once we devote ourselves to cultivating joy, we discover that we are surrounded by love.
Besides the chances that life gives us, we are responsible for our own choices. If we want a life of joy, we need to make the choices that can lead us there. We need to be excited about our jobs or relationships otherwise, we cannot feel the joy of living.
We seek joy as it would be a magic portion and sometimes we connect it to different goals or achievements. The truth is that joy does not belong to the material, pragmatic world. It is the inner territory of our hearts, which we can visit whenever we want.
Our experience of the world is defined by the way we perceive things. We can choose to dwell on sorrows or to fight them through joy. We can decide to be miserable about the bad things or to focus our energy on celebrating the good things. The truth is that God wants us to discover how to have authentic joy in every season (yes, even that really difficult one you’re going through right now)
Joy in Business
Specifically, no business whether circular or other can strive without the joy factor. Joy is the driving force that keeps every worker going. That means that whatever work-space or field you find yourself in, you should be enjoying what you do. If not, then there is a major problem. Hence, you need to find a clear purpose in what you do.
The Joy of the Lord
The joy that the world offers is a pale imitation of the true joy only God can give us. The joy that unsaved people experience is a temporary joy that comes and goes depending on the situation that person is in at the time. If things are going well, there is joy. There can be no true joy apart from God.
Choosing joy during challenging life circumstances is never easy, especially when we are tempted to ignore God’s wisdom and to follow our own ways.
It seems strange to find joy by trusting in someone else, but I’ve seen over and over in my own life that my deepest joy comes when I learn to just be still before God and trust that He is figuring everything out for my good and yes, this involves faith.
Biblical reflections on Joy
I love that joy is the very essence of God’s character!
(1 Chronicles 16:27) says that “strength and joy fill his dwelling.” (Psalm 16:11) reminds us that joy and “eternal pleasures” are found in God’s presence.
By spending time with God in prayer and daily Bible lessons, we can enter into God’s wonderful joy-filled presence and allow His truths about joy to fill our hearts.
God calls us to follow Him and to trust in His wisdom (as we read in Proverbs 3:5-6) even if it isn’t easy or it doesn’t make sense. God promises real joy (not just happiness) when we decide to listen to Him and live by his principles!
(Psalm 1:1-3) promises that if we “delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night,” then we will be filled with joy and we will be prosperous because we will bear fruit in every life season.
One thing I’ve learned about joy in the Bible is that God doesn’t promise that joy has to make logical sense for the circumstance. He just promises that He will provide it when we trust him (Proverbs 16:20, Psalm 28:7).
We must see Joy as an invaluable gift of God that often radiates to others. There are so many Bible verses about joy that share that God simply wants to give us the gift of joy when we choose to trust in Him:
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
(1 Peter 1:6-8) reminds us to choose joy, even during the most difficult trials.
Of course it seems contradictory that joy would come during hard times! But that’s one of the best promises about joy in the Bible.
Conclusively, a joyful life has more to do with the people around us, how we live our lives, the way we spend our time, and how we perceive ourselves and understand our life experiences. No matter where they are or what they are doing, Joyful people recognize that they always have something to be grateful for. Appreciate what you have and live a joyful life and I can assure you that things will only get better.
A Joyful human is one with optimism.
God bless you!