Joy is not Happiness!

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:11)

Joy DOES NOT MEAN Happiness.

Happiness is subject to what happens, Joy is not.

The word is filled with Christians who are filled with Joy, but their circumstances are often far from happy.

There are countries where it is a capital crime to just have a bible, yet people risk death just to carry around God’s Word! If you want to see more about this, there is an interactive map on The Voice of the Martyrs website showing the countries around the world where bibles are:

(1) difficult/dangerous to obtain,
(2) illegal or highly restricted, and
(3) strictly illegal and only available through covert smuggling. (www.persecution.com/bibles/)

Why do Christians in these countries persist in having a bible?

Because they know the joy that comes from a choice to live a life that is God focused, not self focused or world focus or event focused. They understand the only way to have that life is to read what God has spoken to us.

We have such freedoms here in America, yet we are so divided and irritated with the events happening around us. Trust me, I’m not always happy with where America is at spritually, or the road we are on, but we are still a far cry from other countries around the world. We (at least for now) have absolute freedom to read and share the Word with others. A post like this would land me and likely my family in jail or worse, just for communicating the Scripture to others.

When we intentionally life a life of Joy, we are different people. We should be different – those around us should see our actions and hear our words and wonder what we have that sets us apart. They should wonder why we have joy in the middle of a world filled with chaos. We may live a life that never sees some of the promises of God – there are people dying daily who left this planet without seeing the blessed hope they were anticipating to see in their lifetime, yet their joy was undiminished.

Choose today to have joy in the midst of your day, even if what is happening around you may not seem very “happy”.